Vegan + Chocolate? OH YES, MY FRIENDS! :)

It starts as a fruit on a tree...

... Chocolate is made from the cacao plant. It's a bean, that is roasted just like coffee beans are, then ground to make what we know as chocolate. Vegans can definitely enjoy this delectable treat, just in a different way. Here's a pictorial of how we get chocolate...

The beans (=cocoa!) are inside!!

These are the cocoa beans...

And the rest of the story goes like this: How cocoa beans are roasted and turned into chocolate....

SO- what this means for vegans...is that it's plant based, natural, and doesn't contain animal products! Well, unless milk has been added. Then it's no bueno. 

BUT lots of chocolate IS produced without milk or butter. Specifically, baking chocolate or high % Dark Chocolate bars (cheap) and specially-made-for-vegans-chocolate (NOT cheap). I'll opt for the baking/bar variety that's naturally vegan, thank you! :) Check out Peta's "Accidentally Vegan" website for a pretty comprehensive list of vegan items that can be found in any grocery store. On the list: Bacos, Oreos,  Sara Lee's Cherry Pie, and Hershey's Syrup to name a few... pretty great resource!!

This weekend, Bryan and I fed our collective sweet tooth...s (teeth?) by indulging in Hot Chocolate and Homemade Double Chocolate-Mocha Cookies. Here are some pictures...

OMG, so yummy!! (Hershey's Chocolate Syrup, Coconut and Soy Milk)

My Homemade Double Chocolate-Mocha Cookies! Adapted from the Toll House recipe...

And yes, they did taste as good as they looked!! Next time I'll add more chocolate I think, but besides that, I was very pleased with my first attempt at Vegan Cookies!

... I am super happy that I can still have all the foods I had before, just in a different way. It's like a reinvention of what I've always known into a tastier, healthier version; what's to lose? Love this stuff!!!

Happy eating, everyone!!

<3

Courtney