The Ingredient We Wouldn't Expect From Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Chips

Freshly baked chocolate chip cookies are hard to resist, and most bakers agree that when it comes to the chips, dark chocolate is the way to go. The slight bitterness pops against the sweetness of the cookie dough, and to really level it up, a sprinkle of sea salt makes it complete. And though good dark chocolate is bitter, it should also have a bouquet of other subtle sweet flavors that peek through, including floral, caramel, and fruity notes. This interesting flavor profile coupled with the health benefits of eating dark chocolate, has created an explosion of dark chocolate chip choices in the baking aisle in recent years.

One of the best and original dark chocolate chips, however, has always been the tried and true brand Ghirardelli. This chocolate company is known for its high-quality chocolate and mandate that includes using only the highest quality, sustainably sourced beans available. It was also the first brand to make a larger-than-usual chocolate chip and to proudly display the cocoa percentage on the bag. Its dark chocolate chips, Ghirardelli 60%, have become the go-to for many bakers over the years. So it comes as a surprise to find out that the company's dark chocolate chips have milk fat added to them. 

Though milk fat is not a big red flag when it comes to dark chocolate, it does make a difference to purists who expect their dark chocolate to have just the most essential ingredients, like cocoa solids, cocoa butter, and sugar. In fact, this award-winning dark chocolate boasts just two ingredients, proving that when it comes to high-quality dark chocolate, less is more. 

Milk fat, which is the natural fat found in milk, is often dried into powder and sometimes added to chocolate to soften the texture, giving it a creamier feel. While this is exactly what you want in milk chocolate, it's often not ideal for dark chocolate. Dark chocolate still has a soft texture but it should be a result of the cocoa butter content, not any added emulsifiers. Dark chocolate doesn't need dairy. It gets any creaminess it has from cocoa butter. Great dark chocolate has a perfect ratio of cocoa solids to cocoa butter so that it maintains a bold flavor and still melts in your mouth.

Flavor and texture aside, another more practical reason that it's not ideal to have milk fat in your dark chocolate is that it then becomes a product with lactose in it, and those who are lactose intolerant or vegan cannot eat it. If you happen to be making dairy-free cookies and quickly grab a bag of dark chocolate chips assuming they won't have any milk in them, this will obviously be a problem. So while we won't abandon Ghirardelli chocolate chips just yet, we're watching the ingredients, and keeping an open mind when it comes to trying out different chocolate chip brands available on store shelves.