Our Expert Bakers Found the Best Chocolate Chips
Updated: Feb. 13, 2024
Before you make that next batch of cookies, find out what the best chocolate chips are for stirring into the dough. Our pro bakers sampled eight brands in a blind taste test.
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Bakers, we know that you keep a few basics on hand at all times for spur-of-the-moment baking: flour, sugar, baking powder and soda, butter—and chocolate chips, of course!
These morsels are essential for all kinds of bakes ranging from chocolate chip cookies to magic bars to scones. And the easiest way to take these bakes from good to great? It’s choosing the best chocolate chips.
While we encourage you to try all kinds of baking chips at home, our Test Kitchen did the very hard work of finding the best semisweet chips on the market.
For this taste test, our expert bakers sampled eight of the most popular chocolate chip brands on the market—including dairy-free and gluten-free options. Our Test Kitchen team stuck to semisweet chips here because it’s the most common chocolate chip used in dessert recipes.
Just like any other test, our pros sampled the products blindly all the while keeping these judging categories in mind:
- Appearance:Â Before you measure out the chips for your cookies, you want them to look tasty on their own. The best chocolate chips should be rich in color, glossy and uniform in size.
- Texture:Â Great chocolate chips should be smooth and melt in the mouth. Any products with a gritty texture or ones that don’t melt down into smooth chocolate won’t get our pros’ stamp of approval.
- Flavor: As always, flavor is the category that matters most. A semisweet chocolate chip should walk the line between milk and dark chocolate. Rich cocoa flavor (which can naturally include vanilla, coffee or even fruity notes) should be present—nothing artificial.
For this delicious test, four brands of chocolate chips earned the title of Test Kitchen-Preferred.
Best Classic Chocolate Chips
Nestle Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
This blind taste test proved that sometimes go-to brands are our go-to’s for a reason. Such is the case with iconic Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chips.
Before our team even tasted these chips, many testers were oohing and aahing. Josh Rink in the Test Kitchen had this to say: “This chip is the prettiest to look at: nicely shaped, dark color and absolutely no flaws.”
You know that these Nestle chips are so much more than picture-perfect morsels, though. These chips have a deep, rich chocolate flavor with hints of creaminess that push this chip to the slightly more milk chocolate end of the semisweet spectrum. There are no off-tastes or artificial notes here—just smooth, delicious chocolate.
As for the texture, these chips have a nice bite when munched on right out of the package (we’ve all done that) but they melt easily and have an incredibly smooth texture. These are the sorts of chips that would be welcome in any semisweet chocolate recipe but would be particularly welcome in this one-bowl chocolate chip bread recipe (it has five stars!).
Creamiest Chocolate Chips
Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
When you find a recipe that calls for melted chocolate chips, reach for Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips.
Our Test Kitchen team found that these chips melted down very easily and had a super creamy texture. That’s just what you want for these chocolate cheesecake bars, easy homemade truffles and five-star chocolate ganache.
Of course, these chips are so much more than great texture. Mark Neufang in the Test Kitchen explains that these chips have “a bit more cherry fruity notes” as well as being creamy. Overall, these chips have a depth of complex flavor that would be especially pleasing to more adult palettes—though no kiddo would turn down a batch of monster cookies made with these Ghirardelli chips.
Best Chocolate Chips for Dark Chocolate Fans
Guittard Semisweet Chocolate Baking Chips
Semisweet chocolate walks the line between milk and dark, though how close to one end of the spectrum the chips vary from brand to brand. If you like your chocolate on the darker side, snag a package of Guittard Semisweet Chocolate Baking Chips.
These chips gained high marks for their deep chocolate flavor; a taste reminiscent of the dark chocolates in your favorite box of Valentine’s Day candy. You won’t get a lot of sweetness in these chips, but there are some tasty vanilla notes.
Pouring these chips out of the bag, Mark says, “these chocolate chips have a really nice shape to them.” Guittard chocolate chips are uniform and stand tall with pointed peaks.
These chips take a little longer to melt and seem a touch dry at first blush, but once they melt into that batch of cookies, you’ll find yourself reaching back into the cookie jar for another piece of chocolate chip cookie brittle.
Best Vegan Chocolate Chips
Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Mini Chocolate Chips
Do you eat vegan, dairy-free or gluten-free? Don’t think for a second that you can’t enjoy a great chocolate chip. Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Mini Chocolate Chips are free of gluten, dairy and other common allergens like nuts and soy.
Besides the fact that these chips are safe to serve at any allergen-free school bake sale, you can take comfort in knowing that these mini morsels are absolutely delicious. With a flavor reminiscent of hot cocoa, these teeny chips would make an extra sweet addition to treats like these GF brownies, dairy-free chocolate biscotti or vegan chocolate chip cookies.
Check Out More Test Kitchen-Preferred Products
Our Test Kitchen is constantly testing kitchen gadgets, cleaning gear and food looking for brands that deserve the right to be called Test-Kitchen Preferred.
If you’re looking to fill your pantry and fridge with the best products, check out these tests:
