Guittard Extra Dark Chocolate Baking Chips
July 18, 2016
Standard chocolate baking chips, most often labelled “Real Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips”, contain a minimum of 35% chocolate. A typical chocolate chip ingredient list looks something like this: Semi-Sweet Chocolate (Sugar, Chocolate, Cocoa Butter, Milkfat, Soy Lecithin, Natural Flavors).
The Guittard Extra Dark Chocolate Baking Chips are made with 63% chocolate. The ingredient list looks like this: Cocoa Beans, Sugar, Sunflower Lecithin and Real Vanilla. There a couple noticeable differences between the two lists, and I want to take a moment to talk about these.
What's Different About Guittard Extra Dark Chocolate Chips?
The first thing that jumps out at me is the placement of sugar. In the first example, sugar is the first ingredient and in the second example, sugar follows cocoa beans (in this case “chocolate” and “cocoa beans” are interchangeable).
Based on the position of sugar in the list, you might conclude that your everyday variety of chocolate chips are sweeter and less chocolatey than the Guittard extra dark. And you would be correct.
The second thing you might notice is the addition of extra cocoa butter and milkfat to the standard chocolate chips. These ingredients are added for “technical” reasons that I won’t get into today but have to do with controlling viscosity and bloom prevention. See, I told you it was technical!
Sunflower Lecithin?
The last difference that piqued my interest is the use of sunflower lecithin in the Guittard extra dark.
I am very familiar with soy lecithin but not at all with sunflower lecithin. In doing a bit of research, I discovered that in recent years, sunflower lecithin has become available as an alternative to soy lecithin.
In the past, manufacturers in the baking and candy industries were faced with the challenge of purchasing soy-sourced ingredients that were not genetically modified.
But a non-GMO soy lecithin supply was hard to find and was pricey. Today, suppliers can provide IP (Identity Preserved) soy lecithin. But even these sources can be contaminated by genetically modified variants. From what I have read, sunflower lecithin is more reliable in that regard.
How Do These Baking Chips Taste?
The Guittard extra dark chocolate baking chips have deeply rich and intense cocoa notes. They are slightly spicy with a well-developed vanilla aftertaste that lingers in spite of the strong chocolate. The chips melt smoothly in the mouth, no grittiness at all.
I have to go back to the store and buy more... not just because they are absolutely delicious, but because I ate the whole bag before I could bake anything with them!
Or, maybe I should get a 12-pack from Amazon because at the time of writing this, it is only $20.99 with free shipping.
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