recipes with coffee

Try some recipes with coffee or espresso on the ingredients list, and add a flavorful jolt to both savory and sweet meal plans.

Cocoa-espresso waffles are a pretty good reason to get out of bed.

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—Lots of us can't imagine starting our day, let alone our week, without a steaming hot cup of joe. But have you thought about taking advantage of its rich, complex flavor while cooking and baking? Recipes with coffee in them prove that the favored bean makes a great added ingredient to baked goods, meat dishes, and of course, desserts. Adding some coffee to these diverse dishes does more than wake up the taste, since there's mounting evidence that the antioxidant-rich brew is loaded with health benefits. A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that consuming two to three cups of caffeinated beverages daily, including coffee, can lower your risk of dying from heart disease by at least 31 percent. And Brooklyn College researchers found that men who consumed four cups of caffeinated coffee a day had a 53 percent lower risk of dying of heart disease than those who did not drink it. Experts aren't sure if it's the caffeine or the antioxidants in coffee (or a combination of the two) providing these cardiovascular benefits. Additionally, a study published in the International Journal of Cancer found that coffee may lower your chances of developing colon cancer.

And there's more disease-fighting news on the java front. Regular coffee drinkers may also be less prone to developing diabetes, according to several studies. A Harvard University study found that drinking five cups of coffee daily cuts the risk of developing diabetes in half. Scientists suspect that minerals and compounds in coffee might increase the sensitivity of insulin receptors and assist the body in efficiently processing blood sugar. Also, Harvard researchers found that men who drink four cups of caffeinated coffee daily are 50 percent as likely to develop Parkinson's disease as those who don't consume the beverage. They believe that's because caffeine keeps dopamine, a brain chemical, active in the body. Future research is needed to tease out the reasons behind the data. But it's good news if you're a java fan.