Valentine's Day Heart-Healthy Chocolate Desserts

February 8, 2011

Chocolate Hearts

This February, treat your sweetheart (and yourself) to something beautiful and healthy that only tastes decadent. Whether you are looking for a light accompaniment to a special Valentine’s Day dinner or a healthy sweet treat in honor of National Heart Month, these dessert ideas are perfect for the occasion.

dark chocolate

Chocoholic Fruit-and-Nut Bark: There are tons of great recipes for chocolate bark. My favorite one listed here is packed full with tart dried cherries and heart-healthy walnuts.  I like to sprinkle my bark with a little sea salt on top to give the chocolate a contrast of flavors. These chocolate bark recipes make terrific Valentine's Day gifts for friends and loved ones!
Recipes to Try: Winter Dried Fruit and Nut Chocolate Bark, Dark-Chocolate Bark with Walnuts and Dried Cherries, and  Dark Chocolate Cranberry Bark

Sweetheart Strawberry Smoothies:  For Valentine’s Day, you can turn these strawberry smoothie recipes listed here into decadent desserts with some shavings of good quality dark chocolate.  Just make sure the chocolate contains real ingredients—no fillers, has a high cocoa content—70 percent or greater, tastes rich, and has a low sugar content. Beautiful served in chilled, long-stemmed wine glasses.  Cheers to good health and loving yourself!
Recipes to Try: Strawberry Smoothie and Strawberrry Smoothie That is Healthy and Cheap

Chocolate Sandwich

Chocolate Heart Sandwiches:   There's nothing better than creamy peanut butter sandwiched between rich, dark chocolate! When you make these, again, look for the best quality chocolate that you can afford.   I like to spread one chocolate square (or chocolate heart) with peanut butter and the other chocolate square with a mixture of fresh strawberries (mashed up) and honey — my version of strawberry jam!
Recipes to Try: Chocolate & Nut Butter Bites and Grilled Dark Chocolate Sandwich

Chocolate Fondue

Fondues For Twos: Chocolate fondue, with its creamy texture and incredible aroma, can be both a romantic dessert to enjoy with your sweetheart or a fun treat to enjoy with your friends. Whether you are surprising that special someone for Valentine's Day or throwing a get together for your girlfriends, it's nice to choose their favorite goodies for dip-ins. The tastiest winter fruit for dipping are bananas, tangerines and clementines. You can also try dipping some dried pineapple and dried mango...Angel food cake, granola bars and pretzels also work great! A lot of fondue recipes recommend that you keep the dip-ins bite-sized, but forget that, I like to go for the whole shebang—A large frozen banana dipped in melted chocolate and then coated in chopped nuts! Yum!
Recipes to Try: Dip Into This Spicy, Healthy Chocolate Fondue , Valentine's Chocolate Fondue Recipe and Chocolate Fondue

For more healthy chocolate dessert ideas, check out Foodista.com here. Enjoy!

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Comments

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ChocolateCentral's picture

Fondue - that's my favorite romantic chocolate idea for Valentine's Day too. I like your banana photo. It is quite suggestive, or is it just me who sees that? I've always cut the fruit up myself. You're fun!

priscill ajlaw's picture

So light some candles, uncork your favorite bottle of wine and add some healthy romance to your life with these homemade meals for two!