What do you do when you love chocolate but are concerned about the calories, caffeine, and other harmful substances in it?

That’s the question my mother grappled with while I was growing up. My father is a borderline sugar diabetic, but he has a sweet tooth, particularly when it comes to chocolate. Her all-time favorite cake is still the German chocolate cake. Mom searched for healthy alternatives to chocolate and discovered carob powder.

Because they taste so similar, carob powder is a great cocoa substitute, and it’s very easy to use: just replace the prescribed cocoa powder in any recipe with the same amount of carob powder. By doing so, you’ll get the chocolate flavor you crave without putting your health at risk.

UCLA professor Arthur C. Gibson teaches a course on economic botany and has written the manual that is used as the textbook for the course. In his informative essay on carob found on the UCLA Botanical Garden website, Professor Gibson describes the nutritional advantages of carob powder compared to cocoa powder:

“Although this product tastes slightly different from chocolate, it has only one-third the calories (totaling 1,595 calories per pound), is virtually fat-free (chocolate is half the fat), is high in pectin, does not it is allergenic, high in protein, and free of oxalic acid, which interferes with calcium absorption. Consequently, carob flour is widely used in health foods to flavor chocolate.”

Carob powder is usually available in health food stores and can also be purchased online.

Here’s a recipe from Barry Farm Foods to get you started on your path to guilt-free indulgence:

SWEET CHOCOLATE

2 tbsp. sugar

6 tablespoons of carob powder

2 butter spoons

2/3 teaspoon milk

pinch of salt

1 t. vanilla

Combine sugar, milk, salt, and carob powder. Bring the mixture to a boil, do not stir. Boil to soft ball stage (234-238°F). Add the butter and vanilla and chill without stirring until the butter is melted. Beat the mixture until creamy and the thickening and shine disappear. For in a pan well greased with butter. Cut into squares.

NOTE: If you want nutty candy, add 1/2 tsp. chopped walnuts when adding the vanilla.

Enjoy your “chocolate” indulgence guilt free!