Baking chocolate was traditionally an unsweetened bar of chocolate used for baking purposes.
However, in recent times, it is possible to buy a wide range of sweetened baking chocolate products too.
These chocolate bars tend to be ‘cheap and cheerful’ options rather than premium chocolate products, and their affordable pricing reflects this.
We may find four different types of baking chocolate in stores:
Unsweetened
Bittersweet
Semisweet
Sweet
Sweet baking chocolate has the highest sugar content, while unsweetened, as the name suggests, contains no added sugar.
2) Brewed Cocoa
Interestingly, it is possible to use cocoa beans in the same way as coffee.
Brewed cacao is an increasingly popular drink made from ground cocoa beans.
Although it may sound similar, there is a big difference between brewed cocoa products and regular cocoa powder.
For one thing, cocoa powder undergoes processing that removes a large proportion of the cacao butter.
In contrast, brewed cacao products are pure cacao beans that have been roasted and then ground into a texture conducive for brewing.
In other words, they are made in the same way as ground coffee products. Although brewed cocoa is relatively low in caffeine, it contains large amounts of theobromine.
Brewed cocoa has a rich chocolatey taste, and it contains no calories or sugars.
Chocolate spread is another popular cocoa-based product.
There is a wide range of chocolate spread products available, and many of them also contain hazelnuts. Perhaps the most famous of these chocolate spreads is Nutella.
However, these products tend to consist of sugar and oil mainly, so they don’t offer the same nutritional benefits as other cocoa products.
For example, according to the USDA, a typical chocolate spread contains more than 54 grams of sugar per 100 grams (5).
Due to its sugar and oil content, chocolate spread has a soft texture and a sweet taste.
The product remains spreadable even after refrigeration, and people tend to use it on bread or wheat-based products like pancakes.
Cocoa butter is simply the pure fat extracted from cocoa beans during their processing. Although it is possible to buy pure cocoa butter, it is most commonly used for making chocolate bars.
However, cocoa butter is costly and among the most expensive isolated fats. For this reason, some chocolate products use cheaper alternate fats such as palm oil.
The primary fatty acid in cocoa butter is stearic acid, which is a type of saturated fat.
Interestingly, stearic acid has a less significant influence on blood lipids (cholesterol) compared to other saturated fatty acids (8).
However, cocoa butter does tend to have slightly more of an effect on cholesterol than olive oil and other cooking oils. This is because it also contains high amounts of palmitic acid, a saturated fatty acid that does raise cholesterol (9, 10).
As the ‘powder’ part of its name suggests, cocoa powder is a powdered form of cocoa.
After extracting cocoa butter from cacao beans, the remaining cocoa mass is dried and then ground, which results in cocoa powder (11).
Since it has a lower fat content, cocoa powder is arguably more nutrient-dense than cacao nibs, with a higher proportions of vitamins and minerals per gram.
Among these nutrients, cocoa powder is an especially significant source of magnesium, manganese, and copper (12).
Cocoa powder is also one of the most significant dietary sources of flavonoid polyphenols, which are bioactive compounds that may offer potential benefits (13, 14).
Cocoa powder is a popular ingredient for making homemade chocolate drinks and for its use in baking.
Dark chocolate typically has three primary ingredients: cocoa mass, cocoa butter, and sugar. However, it may also contain additional ingredients, including various flavorings—such as vanilla—and emulsifiers.
Dark chocolate may have some nutritional benefits, but the exact cocoa percentage it contains is important.
For example, dark chocolate bars with a higher cocoa percentage offer more polyphenols, fiber, and essential minerals like magnesium. In contrast, bars with a lower cocoa percentage will contain higher amounts of sugar at the expense of these other nutrients.
Depending on the exact cocoa content, dark chocolate can range from relatively sweet (35-60%) to progressively bitter (61% +).
Hot chocolate is another popular cocoa product, and it is sometimes referred to as ‘drinking chocolate.’
The product is typically a pre-mixed chocolate powder containing cocoa powder, sugar, and milk powder used to make an instant drink.
Such products just require the addition of hot water or milk, and they typically have a sweet taste as they contain high amounts of sugar.
For example, a typical hot chocolate powdered mix made by Nestle contains 60% sugar by weight (17).
Nutritionally, a homemade hot chocolate using cocoa powder or dark chocolate is probably a better option.
10) Milk Chocolate
Milk chocolate bars contain a combination of cocoa solids, sugar, and milk powder.
In the United States, milk chocolate has a ‘standard of identity’ that mandates it must contain at least (18):
10% cocoa solids
3.39% milk fat
12% milk solids
However, this varies around the world. For instance, a chocolate product can only be called ‘milk chocolate’ in the UK if it has at least 25% cocoa solids, 14% milk solids, and 25% total fat (19).
Milk chocolate has far higher levels of sugar than darker varieties of chocolate, with a typical bar of milk chocolate containing more than 50% sugar by weight (20).
That said, milk chocolate still provides a moderate range of vitamins and minerals. Notably, it contains a higher amount of calcium than dark chocolate due to the milk it contains.
11) White Chocolate
Interestingly, white chocolate contains no cocoa solids.
In fact, the only product from the cocoa bean that it contains is cocoa butter.
Regarding its ingredients profile, white chocolate features a combination of cocoa butter, sugar, and milk powder. Since it only contains cocoa fat, white chocolate is lower in vitamins and minerals than other types of chocolate.
White chocolate also tends to have the highest sugar content among chocolate bars, typically providing almost 60 grams of sugar per 100 grams (21).
The fact that white chocolate contains no cocoa mass gives it a much sweeter and creamier taste than other chocolate bars.
First, the lack of cocoa removes any hints of bitterness, and the extra milk solids and sugar increase the sweetness.
There are many different chocolate and cocoa-based products around the world. This list of eleven options features some of the most popular choices.
For those looking for potential nutritional and health benefits: dark chocolate, cacao nibs, cocoa powder, and brewed cacao probably offer the most benefits with fewer drawbacks.
For people mainly interested in the taste of chocolate, all these options have their own unique properties and taste.
Michael works as a nutritionist in a community setting and holds a Master's degree in Clinical Nutrition. He is a Registered Associate Nutritionist (ANutr) with the Association for Nutrition (AfN), and has published peer-reviewed research.
