Chocolate options for every sweetheart

Valentine’s Day is as good of an excuse as any to dive into the candy jar. If you’re about to hop on the blood sugar rollercoaster, roll past those saccharine Peeps and Sweethearts and go for the good stuff — chocolate.

From sweet and creamy to rich and silky, chocolate has as many textures and nuances as wine or cheese. And like both of these foods, it has a surprising amount of health benefits when eaten in moderation.

Chocolate is rich in flavonoids — compounds found in plant-based foods that have antioxidant properties. Think of flavonoids as the defenders against your neighbor’s secondhand smoke or your prescription-power acne cream. In addition, the properties of chocolate are said to encourage lower blood pressure, better cholesterol and increased endorphins and serotonin.

While chocolate is high in fat, it’s mostly either monounsaturated or harmless saturated fat, but don’t look for salvation in a Snickers bar. Milk chocolate undergoes so much processing that most of the antioxidants are lost. To get the most bang for your heart-healthy buck, go for chocolate that’s 65 percent cocoa or higher.

When you go beyond Hershey and Nestlé, the world of chocolate becomes much more interesting. There are countless varieties of chocolate: dark, milk, flavored, filled, raw and air-trade — and they can spark as many “who’s better” debates as a cheese tasting can.

Not all chocolates are created equal. While personal taste is always a big factor, some brands just rock more than others. But if you want to make a good impression on Valentine’s Day, look closely.

For plain chocolate that is delicious but reasonably accessible, Divine, Scharffen Berger and Dagoba are all good options. Divine is creamy and smooth; Scharffen Berger is tantalizingly complex; and Dagoba is a snap to the taste buds.

Yet maybe for Valentine’s Day you want your chocolate to be extra special. If so, check out Intentional Chocolate. Not only is it made from sweet and tangy Hawaiian chocolate, Intentional Chocolate is meditated over and infused with good thoughts. Hokey, perhaps, but it can’t hurt.

Neither can fair-trade chocolate, which focuses on humane working conditions and fair wages for the cocoa farmers. By good fortune, most fair-trade chocolate tastes much better than your Walgreens’ checkout variety. A few especially tasty fair-trade brands are Green & Black, Rapunzel and Equal Exchange.

While straight-up chocolate is great, perhaps you crave an added surprise. Many brands of chocolate are flavored with herbs and spices, and others are filled with neat little add-ins — Dagoba makes a rainbow of flavors from Lavender Blueberry to Lemon Ginger. Another fair-trade brand, Endangered Species, packs its bars with everything from almonds and cranberries to pecans and maca root.

For those of you who are truly adventurous — or want to impress a wild sweetheart — take a plunge and try Vosges Haut-Chocolate’s bacon-infused chocolate. Besides having a very creamy chocolate base, the bacon gives it a sumptuous mix of sweet and salty, much like salted caramel. And for those wanting the perfect Valentine’s Day gift, Vosges also crafts many artisan and non-bacon-laced truffle collections that make Godiva look beggarly.

And don’t forget a few chocolate alternatives. Cacao nibs and cacao powder are essentially raw chocolate — think of them as crunchy little dark chocolate bombs. Since they do not contain dairy or sugar, they are diabetic and lactose intolerant-friendly and come packed with magnesium, iron and chromium. Some companies add them to regular chocolate to give it a sharp-tasting crunch. SweetRiot, a New York-based company, specializes in cacao-chocolate treats. Their most popular item is chocolate-dipped cacao nibs, which are like the delicious, evolved version of chocolate chips.

There is also carob, which comes from a Mediterranean evergreen shrub. Carob chips and carob powder resemble a malty, spiced version of chocolate. While you would not mistake carob for real chocolate, it’s tasty in its own right, and it is a great alternative for those with chocolate allergies.

But don’t stop your chocolatey adventures with bars and bricks. What makes chocolate so awesome — in addition to the great taste and health benefits — is that it’s so versatile. Melt some chocolate, break out the strawberries and you have a sexy little fondue pot just waiting for the new Glee episode. Hot chocolate — made from real sipping chocolate, not that sissy Swiss Miss stuff — can be like drinking liquid heaven, especially if it’s topped with toasted marshmallows or mixed with peppermint schnapps. Cacao butter can even be used as a great massage oil.

So go cocoa crazy — you’ll get an endorphin rush, and the heart-health benefits taste way better than Cheerios. Just remember that, like all the best things, moderation is key. The best part about gourmet chocolate is that it is so rich you won’t want to devour the whole bar — not by yourself at least.

Mimi Honeycutt is a sophomore majoring in print journalism. Her column “Gingersnaps” runs Wednesdays.