MAKE LIFE A LITTLE SWEETER
Dessert with health benefits
By NewsUSA

Food Network's Sandra Lee shares semi-homemade secrets to make your gathering simply better with chocolate.

Thinking of the perfect dessert for a festive fete with family and friends can bring about unwanted stress and frantic rummaging through the kitchen cabinets. That is, until you start thinking chocolate and how to use it.

Whether it's milk or dark, white or semi-sweet, chocolate has a knack for pleasing many as a satisfying after-dinner treat. Chocolate also contains a wealth of health benefits that only make it more attractive for guilt-free consumption.

The following chocolate tips will give you some fresh new ideas:

• Melt together 1 cup of chocolate chips and 3/4 cup of cream; add 1 teaspoon of the extract of your choice for a custom chocolate sauce.
  
• Stir 2 to 4 ounces of bittersweet chocolate into a finished pot of chili or stew.
• Stir 1/2 cup of chocolate chips into sweet baking mixes or pancake and waffle batters.
• Melt chocolate chips in the microwave and use them to coat your favorite store-bought cookies or fruit.

Creating a dessert worthy of anyone's palate is easy with a quick recipe, such as a delicious hot chocolate cherry crumble.

Hot Chocolate Cherry Crumble
• 1½ cans (21 oz.) cherry pie filling
• ½ teaspoon almond extract
• 1 box (6.88 oz.) chocolate
   biscotti cookies
• 2 envelopes hot cocoa mix
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 cup milk chocolate chips
• 6 tablespoons melted butter
• Chocolate syrup (for serving)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9-inch-square glass baking pan with cooking spray and set aside. Stir together cherry pie filling and almond extract. Spoon into prepared pan and set aside. Crush biscotti cookies in a food processor. Add hot chocolate packets, sugar, flour and baking powder, and pulse until combined. Pour into a large bowl and toss with chocolate chips. Drizzle in melted butter and stir until mixture comes together. Sprinkle over top of cherry mixture. Bake in preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes or until bubbling. Serve warm with a drizzle of chocolate sauce over top. Makes 8 servings

Find additional recipes and tips featured in the newly released "Semi-Homemade Cooking 3." For more ideas and quick tips, visit www.semihomemade.com.