The five main kinds of bar
Unsweetened
Also sold as baking chocolate. It is pure chocolate liquor, so it has no sugar and tastes harsh on its own. Older American recipes for brownies and fudge often call for it and add plenty of sugar elsewhere.
Bittersweet and semisweet
Both are dark chocolate with sugar added. Bittersweet usually has more cacao. The two names overlap, so check the percentage. These are the workhorses for ganache, mousse, sauces and most cakes.
Milk
Milk chocolate has milk powder or condensed milk in it. It melts at a lower temperature than dark chocolate and scorches more easily, so heat it gently. Its sweetness pairs well with salty peanut butter.
White
White chocolate is cocoa butter, milk solids and sugar. It has no cocoa solids, which is why it is pale. It is the most delicate to melt. Products labeled "white chips" or "white baking pieces" without the word chocolate may use other fats instead of cocoa butter, so read the label.
Cocoa powder
Cocoa powder is what is left when much of the cocoa butter is pressed out of chocolate liquor, ground fine. It comes in two styles:
- Natural cocoa is lighter in color and slightly acidic. Recipes that use it often rely on baking soda, which reacts with the acid to help the batter rise.
- Dutch-process cocoa has been treated with an alkali. It is darker, milder and not acidic, so recipes that use it usually call for baking powder.
The baking guide explains when you can swap one for the other.
Chips, chunks and wafers
Chocolate chips are usually made to hold their shape in a hot oven. Many have less cocoa butter than a bar, and some include other ingredients to keep them firm. That is ideal in cookies and less ideal when you need a smooth, fluid melt. For dipping or ganache, a chopped bar or baking wafers usually behave better.
Couverture is chocolate with a higher share of cocoa butter. It melts thin and fluid, which is why it is used for coating and molding. It needs tempering to set with a snap.
Compound coating, sold as candy melts or coating wafers, replaces some or all of the cocoa butter with other fats. It sets without tempering, which makes it easy for dipping, but it tastes less like chocolate and has a waxier bite. It is useful for decorating. For flavor, real chocolate wins.
Picking a type
| Job | Good choice | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Cookies | Chips or chopped bar | Chips keep their shape. Chopped bars give melty pools. |
| Brownies and cakes | Semisweet or bittersweet bar, or cocoa | Even melt and strong flavor |
| Ganache and sauces | Bittersweet bar | Smooth, sets well, not too sweet |
| Dipping and bark | Tempered bar or couverture | Fluid when melted, snaps when set |
| Peanut butter cups | Milk or semisweet | Sweetness balances the salty filling |
| Hot cocoa | Cocoa powder or a chopped bar | Powder is lighter. A bar is richer. |
Questions
Is carob a kind of chocolate?
No. Carob comes from the pod of a different tree. It is sometimes used as a chocolate substitute, but it tastes different and contains no cacao.
Can I use chips instead of a bar in a recipe?
Usually, by weight. Melted chips can be thicker and less glossy, so they are a weaker choice for ganache, glazes or dipping.