Black Cocoa Powder substitute

Best substitute

Dutch-process cocoa powder plus espresso powder

Use the same amount by weight, plus ½ tsp instant espresso powder and a pinch of salt per ¼ cup as the black cocoa powder you are replacing

Best for cookies

Close match

Black cocoa is doing two things a normal cocoa cannot: producing a near-black colour, and delivering that flat, roasted, almost ashy flavour with no fruit or acid behind it. Dutch cocoa is the same process taken less far, so it is the nearest relative.

Other black cocoa powder substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2A dark cocoa blend
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
Products sold simply as dark cocoa are usually a blend of Dutch-process and black cocoa, which puts them roughly halfway between the two.
What changes
Best for
cookies, cakes, brownies, anything where colour matters
The best supermarket option, and the one worth looking for. Colour lands at a deep brown-black, flavour is noticeably less fruity than plain Dutch cocoa. Fat content sits between Dutch and black, so no real adjustment is needed.
3Natural unsweetened cocoa powder
Different taste
Use the same amount by weight, with a leavening caution
The most likely thing in your cupboard.
What changes
Natural cocoa is unalkalized, so it is the opposite of black cocoa on the one axis that matters most: acidity.
Best for
brownies, cookies, frosting, puddings
Two things change. The colour comes out light reddish-brown, which is the biggest visible loss. And because natural cocoa is acidic while black cocoa is essentially neutral, a recipe developed with black cocoa is usually leavened with baking powder; adding natural cocoa introduces acid that reacts with any baking soda present, giving extra lift and a sharper, tangier flavour. Add 1/8 teaspoon baking soda per 3 tablespoons of cocoa to neutralize it.
4Dutch cocoa plus black gel food colouring
Close match
Use the same amount cocoa, colour added a few drops at a time
The purely cosmetic route, for when the black colour is the whole point, as in Halloween bakes or a dark cookie shell.
What changes
Best for
cookies, cake batter, frosting, novelty bakes
Colouring adds nothing to the flavour, so combine it with the espresso powder trick above. Be aware that a lot of black colouring is needed to reach true black, and it can leave a faintly bitter, chemical taste and stain mouths and hands. Gel is much better than liquid here, since liquid colour adds enough water to loosen a dough.
5Half Dutch cocoa, half finely ground dark chocolate cookie crumbs
Different texture
Replace up to half the black cocoa by weight with crumbs; keep the rest as Dutch cocoa
A sideways solution that works well in no-bake bases, crusts and cookie doughs.
What changes
Dark sandwich cookie crumbs contain black cocoa already, which is what you are chasing.
Best for
cheesecake crusts, no-bake bases, cookie crumb coatings, ice cream mix-ins
It works because the crumbs bring genuine black cocoa flavour and colour, but they also bring flour, sugar and fat. So do not use this in a cake batter, where the extra flour and sugar will throw the recipe off. In a crust or a crumb topping it is close to perfect.
6There is no substitute for it: a genuinely black bake
Different taste
The colour of black cocoa comes from an extreme degree of alkalization that no home process and no other cocoa reproduces.
What changes
If you need a black cookie or a black cake, you need black cocoa, and it is easy to order online.
Best for
knowing when to change plans
The least-bad version is the darkest Dutch cocoa available, plus 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder and a pinch of extra salt per 1/4 cup, plus black gel colour if the appearance matters more than the flavour. Accept a very dark brown result. Do not use activated charcoal to darken food; it can interfere with the absorption of medications.

What is Black Cocoa Powder?

Black Cocoa Powder is Black cocoa powder is cocoa that has been alkalized far more heavily than ordinary Dutch-process cocoa, which strips out nearly all of its acidity and most of its fruitiness and leaves a very dark, low-fat powder with the flavour of a chocolate sandwich cookie.

Cooking tips

Black cocoa is unusually low in fat, often around 10% to 12% against 22% to 24% for regular cocoa, which makes it drying. That is why most recipes use it for only a quarter to half of the total cocoa rather than all of it. If you are substituting a fattier cocoa in, your dough will be slightly softer and may spread more, so chill it.
Because black cocoa has almost no acidity left, recipes built on it usually rely on baking powder rather than baking soda. Any substitution that reintroduces acid, meaning natural cocoa or raw cacao powder, changes the leavening behaviour as well as the flavour.
Black cocoa on its own tastes flat and slightly ashy, which is why the classic dark sandwich cookie flavour is really black cocoa plus a lot of sugar and salt. If your substitute bake tastes thin, add salt before you add more cocoa.
A pinch of espresso powder is the single most effective way to make any cocoa taste darker and more roasted. It does not make the bake taste of coffee at these amounts, it just deepens the chocolate.
Black cocoa stains everything it touches, including dough hooks, silicone spatulas and countertops. Line pans with parchment and wipe spills immediately rather than letting them sit.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use regular cocoa powder instead of black cocoa?

Yes, 1:1 by weight, and the recipe will work. What you lose is the near-black colour and the flat roasted flavour. Adding 1/2 teaspoon of instant espresso powder and a pinch of extra salt per 1/4 cup of cocoa gets the flavour surprisingly close, though not the colour.

Is black cocoa the same as Dutch-process cocoa?

They are made the same way but to very different degrees. Dutch-process cocoa is moderately alkalized; black cocoa is alkalized so heavily that it is nearly neutral in pH, almost black, and much lower in fat. They are not one-for-one equivalents in flavour, colour or dryness.

Can I just leave black cocoa out?

Not without replacing it with another cocoa. Cocoa is a dry ingredient with real bulk, so removing it leaves a batter that is too wet and no longer chocolate. If you truly have no cocoa at all, reduce the flour by the same weight and accept that you are making something else.

Will black cocoa make my cookies taste like Oreos?

It is the main reason that flavour exists, yes, but not on its own. That taste is black cocoa plus a lot of sugar, a firm pinch of salt, and a fat that is neutral rather than buttery. Substituting Dutch cocoa plus espresso powder into such a recipe gets you a recognisable but browner and fruitier version.

How much black cocoa should a recipe use?

Most recipes that use it well cap it at a quarter to half of the total cocoa, with Dutch-process cocoa making up the rest, because black cocoa alone is dry and bitter. If a recipe calls for 100% black cocoa, follow it, but expect a very intense and slightly drying result by design.

Related substitutes

More baking substitutes

Black Cocoa Powder substitute

Other black cocoa powder substitutes

2A dark cocoa blend

3Natural unsweetened cocoa powder

4Dutch cocoa plus black gel food colouring

5Half Dutch cocoa, half finely ground dark chocolate cookie crumbs

6There is no substitute for it: a genuinely black bake