There is nothing cozier in the winter months than the aroma of baking treats while your oven kicks out enough heat to remind you of the warmth of summer. My personal favorite smell is my mother’s chocolate chip cookies. Cocoa and chocolate are essential ingredients in any baker’s kitchen. Chocolate baked good are loved for their rich delicious flavor, but these ingredients may provide benefits beyond pure enjoyment.
Cocoa and chocolate consumption have been associated with decreased risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease, reduced blood pressure, improved immune function and better cognition and memory. The class of antioxidant chemicals that is most likely responsible for these favorable health effects are flavanols. Flavanols have extremely potent antioxidant activity and are present in the non-fat solid portion of the cocoa bean. Initial concentrations vary based on the species of bean. Normal processing into cocoa powder and chocolate typically causes degradation of a portion of these disease-fighting little molecules. Nonetheless, the final products usually still contain a healthy amount of antioxidant activity.
Recently, a study by several Hershey scientists investigated the effects of baking on cocoa’s antioxidant activity. These chocolate researchers baked a bunch of different cookies and cakes and made frosting and hot cocoa. They then measured the final amount of health-promoting activity in each baked good product and ranked them from best retention of antioxidant activity to least. Chocolate frosting won the contest, closely followed by hot cocoa. Cakes and cookies, however, displayed interesting results. Some recipes lost essentially all of their favanol activity while others retained almost all of it.
So what about these various recipes influenced the differing final antioxidant activities? The variability was attributed to the pH, which was most severely impacted by the type of leavening agent (i.e. baking powder vs. baking soda) used. Flavanols can’t survive well in high pH environments. Recipes using baking soda result in a much higher pH and greater loss of favanols, while baking powder, being more acidic, helps retain flavanol concentration. So as you select tasty-looking recipes to bake during the holidays, keep in mind those best suited to retain antioxidant activity.
Chocolate Chip Cookies by elana’s pantry.
