Thank you for buying this ebook, published by Hachette Digital.
To receive special offers, bonus content, and news about our latest ebooks and apps, sign up for our newsletters.
Copyright 2015 by Katie Higgins
Cover design by Amy Sly
Photographs by Lara Ferroni, Sara Kiesling, and Katie Higgins
Cover copyright 2015 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the authors intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the authors rights.
Grand Central Life & Style
Hachette Book Group
1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10104
GrandCentralLifeandStyle.com
twitter.com/grandcentralpub
First ebook edition: January 2015
Grand Central Life & Style is an imprint of Grand Central Publishing.
The Grand Central Life & Style name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
The Hachette Speakers Bureau provides a wide range of authors for speaking events. To find out more, go to www.hachettespeakersbureau.com or call (866) 376-6591.
The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
ISBN 978-1-4555-9969-1
E3
This cookbook is dedicated to every single person who has ever visited my website, chocolatecoveredkatie.com. When I started the blog, I didnt believe anyone would actually read it, and I appreciate you all more than you will ever know!
The book is also dedicated to my mother, a woman who exemplifies the most courage, compassion, and selflessness of anyone Ive ever met. Her unwavering support and encouragement give me the confidence to reach for my dreams, chocolate-covered spatula in hand.
So many people have made this book possible, and I am incredibly grateful to each one of you.
Thank you, first, to my parents and grandparents for instilling in me a culinary passion and for teaching me early on the importance of food in a social setting. Parties just would not have been the same without Mimis macaroni or Grandmas stuffed cabbage.
To my sister , my cooking, baking, and potion-making partner in crime, who always let me have the bigger half whenever chocolate was involved. I love you so much and am proud to be your sister (even if it did take years of biting you and pulling your hair to realize this).
To Sara Weiss , my editor at Grand Central Publishing, who patiently guided me through the process of writing my first book. You were a complete joy to work with, and I found myself constantly marveling at your incredible work ethic (hour-long phone conversations when I needed reassurance, responding to e-mails at 9 p.m. on a Saturday, the list goes on and on). I cannot say enough good things about you.
To the talented Lara Ferroni and Sara Kiesling for making this book beautiful. I hadnt met Sara Kiesling before she arrived at my home one day to take author photos. But seven hoursand many animated conversationslater, she left as one of my dear friends.
To Lisa Grubka at Fletcher and Co., and to Amanda Englander , who envisioned this cookbook before I did and talked me into writing it. Thank you for believing in me.
To Amy Sly , the books designer, for lending your artistic eye to the project, and to Deri Reed , and Siri Silleck at Grand Central Publishing, for helping me through the long editing process.
To my recipe testers and friends , for giving me your honest opinions and for helping me to eat batch after batch after batch of brownies and cookies!
And finally, to everyone who picked up a copy of this book. Thank you for making my dreams come true.
All of the recipes in this book come with a nutritional analysis located at the bottom of the page. Nutritional analyses are meant to serve as general guidelines, and, due to ingredient and brand variations, may not completely reflect the specific ingredients you are using. Analyses have been calculated with spelt flour whenever it is listed as an option and Silk almond milk when milk of choice is called for. Optional ingredients or crusts are not included in calculations, and when more than one option for an ingredient is listed, nutrition facts are based on the lowest calorie option. When a serving range is given, nutrition facts are based on the smallest serving size.
Many diet books on the market today will tell you that in order to lose weight or get healthier, you need to cut back on the sweets. But when you forbid yourself your favorite foods, what happens? You end up craving those treats even more! Denying yourself what you desire most can be a recipe for disaster, often resulting in massive sugar binges that leave you feeling guilty and dangerously out of control.
Instead, why not do your body a favor and honor your true cravings? With this cookbook, you need never skip dessert again. Youll learn easy ways to say YES to cinnamon rolls, milkshakes, and chocolate cream pie while still fitting into your skinny jeans, feeling great, and achieving the best, most-vibrant health of your life.
Six years ago, frustrated with what was passing for good healthy desserts, I started a small food blog called Chocolate-Covered Katie (chocolatecoveredkatie.com). Using only real ingredientsno artificial sweeteners, no fake diet foodsmy goal was to prove that healthy desserts can taste just as rich and luxurious as their fat-and-sugar-laden counterparts and sometimes even better!
Ive always been passionate about dessert. While classmates cited popcorn and pizza among their favorite foods, my own young life revolved around brownies, cookies, and hot fudge sundaes. It wasnt uncommon for me to buy two Snickers bars at the movies, or dive headfirst into a giant piece of chocolate cake for breakfast.
Eventually, however, the massive quantities of fat and sugar in these beloved chocolate treats began to leave me feeling completely drained of energy, and during my freshman year of college it finally went too far. With bed, books, and food crammed into a tiny dorm room, chocolate was never more than an arms-reach away, and I took full advantage. I kept the mini fridge stocked with cakes from my favorite bakery (conveniently located just miles from campus) and would often eat multiple slices by nightfall. I was constantly tired and experienced sugar high headaches at least once a week. Something needed to change.