Carob Powder substitute

Best substitute

Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

Use the same amount by volume, minus 2 tbsp sugar per ½ cup as the carob powder you are replacing

Best for brownies, cakes and cookies

Different taste

The best substitute for carob powder is unsweetened cocoa powder, one for one by volume, with the recipe's sugar cut by about two tablespoons per half cup because carob is sweet and cocoa is not. Dutch-process cocoa plus a spoonful of molasses is the closest imitation of carob's raisiny darkness. If you chose carob specifically to avoid caffeine or chocolate, cocoa is not a substitute at all and roasted chicory or malt powder is the honest answer.

Other carob powder substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Dutch-Process Cocoa plus Molasses or Date Sugar
Close match
Use ½ cup cocoa + 1 tbsp molasses (or 2 tbsp date sugar) for every ½ cup
The closest imitation, because it puts back the raisiny sweetness that plain cocoa lacks.
What changes
Best for
cakes, energy bars and no-bake slices, smoothies, matching carob's colour and flavour together
You get the dark colour, the mellow low-acid character of Dutch cocoa and the dried-fruit sweetness in one go, which is genuinely close. If you use molasses, remember it is wet, so take a tablespoon of liquid out elsewhere in the recipe.
3Raw Cacao Powder
Different taste
Use the same amount by volume, minus 2 tbsp sugar per ½ cup
Cocoa's unroasted cousin: more bitter, more acidic and more strongly flavoured.
What changes
Best for
raw slices and energy balls, smoothies, health-food recipes that already call for it
The most bitter option on this list, so it needs the biggest sugar adjustment. Its extra acidity also matters in a recipe leavened with baking soda, where it will react more than carob does and give a slightly different rise and a redder crumb.
4Roasted Chicory or Dandelion Root Powder
Different taste
Use the same amount plus 1 tsp sugar per tbsp
The right answer if the reason for carob was avoiding caffeine and chocolate altogether.
What changes
Best for
caffeine-free hot drinks, chocolate-allergy baking, adding roasty depth without cocoa
Deeply roasty and gently bitter, caffeine free like carob, and much closer to coffee than to chocolate in aroma. It is not sweet at all, so add sugar, and it is more strongly flavoured, so start with three quarters of the amount if you are cautious.
5Malted Milk or Toasted Milk Powder
Close match
Use the same amount by volume
Covers carob's malty, biscuity side and none of its colour.
What changes
Best for
milkshakes and smoothies, frostings and fillings, flavouring rather than colouring
Surprisingly close on the palate, because a lot of what people like about carob is that malty sweetness. It will not make anything brown, so it is wrong wherever the recipe is meant to look like chocolate, and it is not dairy free.
6Carob Syrup or Carob Molasses
Different texture
Use 2 tbsp syrup for every ¼ cup powder
The same ingredient in liquid form, which is common in Turkish and Levantine shops.
What changes
Best for
sauces, drinks and wet batters, drizzling and glazing, when the syrup is what you happen to have
Identical in flavour and even more sweet, so it is the most faithful option going. Because it is wet, remove about two tablespoons of other liquid per quarter cup of powder replaced, and do not use it where the powder was providing dry bulk in a mix.

What is Carob Powder?

Carob Powder is the dried, roasted and ground pulp of the carob pod, a Mediterranean legume, sold as carob powder or carob flour, and although it looks like cocoa it is naturally sweet, almost fat free and contains no caffeine or theobromine at all.

Cooking tips

Sift it. Carob powder cakes hard in the bag and the lumps do not break up once batter is wet, so you end up biting into pockets of dry powder.
It has almost no fat and it scorches easily, so bake carob goods about 25F or 15C below what a chocolate recipe specifies, or simply pull them out five minutes early.
Carob absorbs more liquid than cocoa. If a chocolate recipe comes out dry when you swap in carob, add one to two tablespoons of milk or water per half cup and it will be right.
Because carob is already sweet, taste the batter before you tip in all the sugar. Carob versions of chocolate recipes usually need twenty to twenty-five per cent less.
If your powder tastes flat, toast it in a dry pan for a minute or two, stirring, until it smells nutty. Most bagged powder is already roasted, and the darker the powder the more roasted it is.
Carob is naturally low in fat, so it cannot melt or set the way chocolate does. Recipes that rely on cocoa butter, such as ganache or a chocolate shell, need real chocolate or added fat rather than carob powder.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use cocoa powder instead of carob powder?

Yes, one for one by volume, but reduce the recipe's sugar by about two tablespoons per half cup because carob is naturally sweet and cocoa is bitter. The result will taste like chocolate rather than carob, and it will bring back the caffeine and theobromine that carob does not contain, so it is no help if that was your reason for using carob.

Does carob taste like chocolate?

Only at a glance. It is brown, it smells vaguely similar and it behaves a bit like cocoa in a batter, but the taste is malty, raisiny and sweet rather than bitter and rich, and it has none of cocoa butter's mouth-coating fattiness. People who expect chocolate are usually disappointed; people who take it on its own terms often like it.

Is carob powder the same as carob flour?

The two names are used for the same thing, the ground roasted pod. What is not the same is carob bean gum, also sold as locust bean gum, which is milled from the seeds inside the pod and is a thickener and stabiliser with no flavour or colour. If a recipe wants gum and you add powder, or the reverse, neither will work.

Can I just leave it out?

Not in a bake, because it is a dry ingredient providing bulk as well as flavour, and removing half a cup of powder throws off the whole batter. Replace it with an equal volume of cocoa, or with plain flour plus a little sugar if you want the structure without the flavour. In a smoothie or a hot drink you can simply skip it.

Is carob really caffeine free?

Yes. Carob contains neither caffeine nor theobromine, which is the main reason people choose it over cocoa, along with chocolate allergy and the fact that it is naturally sweet enough to need less added sugar. If you are substituting for one of those reasons, chicory root or malt powder are the swaps to look at, since cocoa and cacao both put the stimulants straight back in.

Related substitutes

More baking substitutes

Carob Powder substitute

Other carob powder substitutes

2Dutch-Process Cocoa plus Molasses or Date Sugar

3Raw Cacao Powder

4Roasted Chicory or Dandelion Root Powder

5Malted Milk or Toasted Milk Powder

6Carob Syrup or Carob Molasses