Best Reviewed
Baking Chocolate
- Best baking chocolate overall Callebaut Intense Dark Chocolate L-60-40NV *Est. $8
- Best supermarket chocolate Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Bar *Est. $3
- Best gourmet dark chocolate Valrhona Manjari *Est. $4
- Best unsweetened chocolate Scharffen Berger Unsweetened Pure Dark Chocolate *Est. $9
- Best chocolate chips Guittard Classic Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips *Est. $2
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Best chocolate chips
- Melts well and tastes creamy
- Rich in flavor and complex, with coffee and fruit notes
- Achieves a just-right balance of sweetness and bitterness
- Processed like fine dark chocolate
- Chips don't hold shape when baked
- May be hard to find
We read a small number of reviews of chocolate chips. These appeared in Cook's Illustrated and its sister magazine, Cook's Country. Other publications mention Guittard, but we're not sure whether they're reviewing the company's chocolate chips or bar chocolate.
Reviewers agree: When it comes to overall quality and value, Guittard makes the best chocolate chips. They are said to be velvety in texture and rich in flavor, with notes of coffee and fruit. Unlike some chocolate chips, these glossy discs are made with high-quality chocolate. They don't hold their shape in baking, but testers don't seem to mind. If you can't find these, Nestlé Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunks (*est. $2.50 for 11.5 ounces) earn higher scores than chocolate chips from Hershey's or Mrs. Fields.
Our Sources
1. Cook's CountryDetails/Subscribe
Editors taste nine brands of chocolate chips, which contain less cocoa butter and more sugar than bar chocolate. Guittard Classic Semi-Sweet Dark was liked for its moderate sweetness and "lovely, silky texture."
Review: Chocolate Chips, Editors of Cook's Country, Dec. 2005
2. Cook's Illustrated MagazineDetails/Subscribe
Twenty-two tasters, including several Boston-area pastry chefs, sampled seven semisweet chocolate chips plain and in chocolate-chip cookies. Tasters rate the chips on mouth feel, flavor and overall appeal.
Review: Chocolate Chips, Editors of Cook's Illustrated, Sept. 1998
Dorie Greenspan, one of the world's foremost baking experts, provides a brownie recipe and tips. She keeps E. Guittard on hand for baking, but we don't know whether she's referring to chips or bars.
Review: Baking with Dorie: Les Brownies, From America to France and Back Again, Dorie Greenspan, Aug. 23, 2007
4. Food & Wine MagazineDetails/Subscribe
Food & Wine polled 100 chefs on their favorite ingredients and essential tools. Many use Guittard, but they don't mention whether they use chips or bars.
Review: Chefs' Advice for Home Cooks, Ratha Tep, July 2007
Emily Stone interviews Elizabeth Falkner, owner of San Francisco restaurant Citizen Cake, about her favorite chocolates. Falkner prefers Scharffen Berger but likes Guittard.
Review: Chocolate Rosebud: Wisdom from Elizabeth Falkner, Emily Stone, Oct. 29, 2007
Baking Chocolate Runners Up:
3 picks by top review sites.
