Plano Learns: Chocolate

September 13 is International Chocolate Day – let the library help you celebrate! Dive deep into the history and usage of chocolate by browsing our collection. Search “chocolate” in the library catalog for an exhaustive list of titles about and including chocolate – below is a snapshot of suggestions.

History and Knowledge

The Story of Chocolate by Gloria Koster Print
Chocolate is a favorite treat for many people, but where does it come from? What is it made from? How is it turned into the sweet treats people love? Tackle your hunger for knowledge with this informative book on chocolate.

Why Can’t Dogs and Cats Have Chocolate? by Madeline King Print
Using humor, answers questions about household pets, as well as other animals familiar to kids.

How Does Chocolate Taste on Everest? by Leisa Stewart-Sharpe Print
An adventure to experience all five senses at the world’s most extreme locations.

Edible Economics: a Hungry Economist Explains the World by Ha-Joon Chang Print
For Chang, chocolate is a lifelong addiction, but more exciting are the insights it offers into postindustrial knowledge economies; and while okra makes Southern gumbo heart-meltingly smooth, it also speaks of capitalism’s entangled relationship with freedom.

Edible Houseplants by Laurelynn Martin Print
Laurelynn G. Martin and Byron E. Martin show you how to successfully plant, grow, and harvest 47 varieties of tropical fruiting plants – in any climate! Includes coffee, vanilla, citrus, chocolate and 43 other tropical plants.

Cocoa Beans by Amy Rea Print
his book introduces readers to how cocoa beans are grown, harvested, and prepared.

Let’s Explore Chocolate! by Jill Colella Print
Introduce young readers to chocolate: how cacao grows, what a cacao farm looks like, and how cacao becomes chocolate. Simple recipes invite readers to work with this common treat.

Taste the World: Chocolate by Shawn Brennan Print
Presents chocolate history, facts, and recipes and features large illustrations and photographs.

Lonely Planet’s Global Chocolate Tour by Matthew Ankeny Print
Packed with find chocolate makers across six continents, and with tips on everything from where to get Germany’s best black forest cake to the hotspots for hot chocolate, our experts show you where to treat your sweet tooth. Includes Tokyo, Brussels, London, Sydney, Johannesburg, San Francisco, Oaxaca, Toronto and more.

Cooking and Baking

Joyfull: Cook Effortlessly, Eat Freely, Live Radiantly by Radhi Devlukia-Shetty Print
A clinical dietician with a holistic approach to well-being presents 125 plant-based recipes to balance health with taste and meal satisfaction including French Toast Casserole, One Pot Lemony Spaghetti, Creamy Red Lentil Daal and Chocolate Mud Pie

Mini Snacks to Make and Munch by Rebecca Felix Print
Looking to satisfy a midday craving? Think mini! Make bitty bean tacos using corn chips. Prepare a batch of teensy chocolate-dipped granola bars. Then munch your bite-sized creations. Easy instructions and step photos will help you become a miniature master.

Stuffed: the Sandwich Cookie Book by Heather Mubarak Print
From classics with a twist to creative, sophisticated treats you haven’t seen anywhere else, Mubarak helps you whip up irresistible cookie sandwich recipes for every occasion. With a whole chapter dedicated to different cookie-filling pairings, the possibilities are endless!

Africana: More Than 100 Recipes and Flavors Inspired by a Rich Continent by Lerato Umah-Shaylor Print
Combining recipes passed down the generations but with her own modern and inventive style, food writer and cook Lerato shares her own stories of Africa with a delectable sense of adventure. Includes a chapter on chocolate, cakes and puddings.

Snackable Baker by Jessie Sheehan Print
Sheehan’s fuss-free approach, dynamic energy, and kitchen-savvy advice are all on display in this must-have new cookbook. Includes a chapter titled “For the chocolate lovers”, this of-the-moment book will be loved by anyone with an impatient sweet tooth.

Cocoa Bombs: Over 40 Make-at-Home Recipes for Explosively Fun Hot Chocolate Drinks by Eric Torres-Garcia Print
These hollow chocolate spheres melt into your cup of warmed milk, making them a delicious alternative to hot chocolate powder mixes, while also magically releasing mini marshmallows into your drink! This super-cute book give you step-by-step instruction on preparing chocolate shells, filling and assembling bombs, as well as amazing ideas for decoration and gift packaging.

Chocolate is Forever by Maida Heatter Print
Throughout Maida’s nearly 50-year career as a “genius” of baking (New York Times), one thing was constant: her passion for chocolate. She created hundreds of recipes for chocolate cakes, puddings, pies, cookies, and more. Now, Chocolate Is Forever collects her very best, most irresistibly chocolatey delights-including The World’s Best Hot Fudge Sauce.

Everything Chocolate from America’s Test Kitchen Print eBook
A celebration of chocolate, sweet, rich, complex, luxurious – chocolate’s allure knows no limit. There are no limits on this collection of more than 20 sumptuous recipes to indulge in.

Chocolate Bible from the Cordon Bleu Print
Here is the ultimate collection of tempting classics as well as a selection of new and original creations. Success is guaranteed because the recipes have been created by the chefs of the world’s oldest and best known culinary institution, Le Cordon Bleu, which is famed for presenting cookery expertise in ways that are clear and simple to grasp.

Deep Dark Chocolate by Sara Perry eBook
Recipes using bittersweet and semisweet chocolate, cacao nibs and beans – the darker the better. Author Sara Perry tells you everything you need to know about the types of dark chocolate in the marketplace, what the percentages mean, and which ones are best to cook with.

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Other, Including Murder Mysteries

Amigurumi Chocolate Cozies by Sara Scales Print
Chocolate treats are a popular gift all year round, especially in winter, so why not crochet a personalized cosy to make your small sweet presents extra special? In this delightful book, learn how to crochet 20 cute cozy designs.

YOU Chocolate – Magazine Special on Libby

Food Network: Chocolate – Magazine Special on Libby

Dying for Chocolate by Diane Mott Davidson eBook
Goldy Bear is the bright, opinionated, wildly inventive caterer whose personal life is a recipe for disaster, with bills taking a bite out of her budget and her abusive ex-husband making tasteless threats. Determined to take control, Goldy moves her business to the ritzy Aspen Meadow Country Club. Soon she’s preparing decadent dinners and posh society picnics—and enjoying the favors of Philip Miller, a handsome local shrink, and Tom Schulz, her more-than-friendly neighborhood cop. Until, that is, the dishy doctor drives his BMW into an oncoming bus. Convinced that Philip’s bizarre death was no accident, Goldy begins to sift through the dead doc’s unpalatable secrets.

Chocolate Covered Murder by Leslie Meier eBook
No one in their right mind would vacation in Maine this time of year, but to boost the economy, the town of Tinker’s Cove is launching a travel promotion for Valentine’s Day. As a reporter for the Pennysaver, Lucy Stone is assigned a puff piece on upscale Chanticleer’s Chocolates, and its deliciously handsome owner, Trey Meacham. Soon Lucy discovers there’s another tantalizing tart behind the counter. Sultry store manager Tamzin Graves is only too eager to serve her male customers. With a throng of jealous women in her wake, it’s almost no surprise when Tamzin turns up dead, her body covered in chocolate. There’s no sugar-coating murder, and Lucy must crisscross the snow-covered landscape as she tries to find a heartless killer…

Death by Chocolate by G. A. McKevett eBook
Business has been a little slow at the Moonlight Magnolia Detective Agency, but P.I. Savannah Reid doesn’t have time to drown her sorrows in a box of double-chocolate truffles. She’s too busy watching the Gourmet Network–and drooling over the sinfully scrumptious confections that Lady Eleanor (“The Queen of Chocolate”) whips up on-air. But someone isn’t sweet on the Queen’s charming chatter–and wants her to hang up her oh-so-quaint apron–for good…

The Chocolate Box by Agatha Christie eBook
Poirot investigates a murder in which the only clue is a box of chocolates.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke eBook
Hannah already has her hands full trying to dodge her mother’s attempts to marry her off while running The Cookie Jar, Lake Eden’s most popular bakery. But once Ron LaSalle, the beloved delivery man from the Cozy Cow Dairy, is found murdered behind her bakery with Hannah’s famous Chocolate Chip Crunchies scattered around him, her life just can’t get any worse. Determined not to let her cookies get a bad reputation, she sets out to track down a killer. But if she doesn’t watch her back, Hannah’s sweet life may get burned to a crisp.