Out of Cocoa powder, one case

How to substitute baking chocolate for cocoa powder

4 options, ranked, with the exact amount

Use thisBest of 4 options

Use Unsweetened baking chocolate

1 oz for every 3 tbsp of cocoa powder

Use 1 ounce of unsweetened baking chocolate, melted, for every 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder, and take 1 tablespoon of butter, oil or shortening out of the recipe. Baking chocolate is cocoa with its cocoa butter still in it, so the extra fat has to come out somewhere. Stir the melted chocolate into the wet ingredients, not the flour.

Verdict —: Tweak it
The tweak —: Chop it, melt it gently with the recipe's butter or over barely simmering water, cool it 5 minutes and add it with the wet ingredients. Take 1 tbsp of fat out of the recipe for each ounce.
Best for —: brownies and chocolate cake
Pantry —: Likely in your cupboard

One casethe full cocoa powder card

Every option, one card

Ranked

Cocoa powder substitutes compared
#	Substitute	Instead of 3 tbsp cocoa powder	Verdict
1	Unsweetened baking chocolatebrownies and chocolate cake	1 ozTweak it	Tweak it
2	Bittersweet or semisweet baking barbrownies	1 oz per 1 tbspYou'll taste it	You'll taste it
3	Dutch-process cocoarecipes leavened with baking powder	1 tbsp per 1 tbspTweak it	Tweak it
4	Carob powdermuffins, quick breads and cookies	1 tbsp per 1 tbspYou'll taste it	You'll taste it
Not a swap	White baking chocolate	not a swapNot for this	Not for this

What changesWhat changes, option by option4 options

Unsweetened baking chocolate

the same unsweetened chocolate flavor, with a slightly denser, fudgier crumb

Pure chocolate with no sugar: the same cocoa solids as cocoa powder, plus roughly half its weight in cocoa butter. Check the wrapper for the weight of each piece: some bars are scored in 1-oz squares and others in ¼-oz or ½-oz pieces.

Best for: brownies and chocolate cake, cookies and quick breads, butter-based frosting, stovetop pudding and chocolate sauce
Prep: Chop it, melt it gently with the recipe's butter or over barely simmering water, cool it 5 minutes and add it with the wet ingredients. Take 1 tbsp of fat out of the recipe for each ounce.
Where it fails: Anything that needs cocoa as a dry powder: dusting truffles or tiramisu, dry rubs, and meringues, macarons or angel food cake, where the fat collapses the egg-white foam. A recipe with no fat to remove comes out heavier.

Unsweetened chocolate is not alkalized, so it acts like natural cocoa with baking soda. Leave the leavening as written.

Bittersweet or semisweet baking bar

milder and sweeter than cocoa

A sweetened bar is roughly half sugar, so it takes about three times as much to bring the same cocoa, and the sugar and fat that come with it have to leave the recipe.

Best for: brownies, recipes with ¼ cup of cocoa or less, hot chocolate and stovetop sauces
Prep: For each ounce of chocolate, take about 1 tbsp of sugar and 2 tsp of butter or oil out of the recipe. Melt it and add it with the wet ingredients.
Where it fails: Recipes with more than about ¼ cup of cocoa. A ¼ cup needs 4 oz of chocolate and about ¼ cup less sugar, and past that most recipes run out of sugar and fat to remove.

Dutch-process cocoa

darker, smoother and less sharp

If the tin in the cupboard says Dutch-process or alkalized and the recipe says natural cocoa, it is still cocoa powder and it measures the same.

Best for: recipes leavened with baking powder, frosting, pudding and hot cocoa, dusting and dry rubs, where melted chocolate cannot go
Prep: If baking soda is the only leavening, add 1/8 tsp cream of tartar, lemon juice or white vinegar for every 3 tbsp of cocoa.
Where it fails: A soda-only batter without the added acid rises less and can taste soapy.

Carob powder

malty and caramel-like; close to chocolate, not the same

A roasted pod powder that looks like cocoa and measures like it. It is naturally sweeter, with no bitterness.

Best for: muffins, quick breads and cookies, smoothies and hot drinks, when you want to avoid chocolate altogether
Prep: It is sweeter than cocoa, so cut the recipe's sugar a little.
Where it fails: Flourless cake, dark frosting and anything else where deep chocolate flavor is the point.

White baking chocolate

A white baking bar is cocoa butter, sugar and milk.

It has none of the cocoa solids that give cocoa powder its flavor and color.

Best for: nothing in place of cocoa powder
Contains: dairy
Where it fails: It adds fat and sugar and no chocolate flavor. Milk chocolate bars are nearly as weak: they are mostly sugar and milk with a small share of cocoa.

Tips for substituting cocoa powder

5 tips

Conversions with unsweetened chocolate: 3 tbsp cocoa = 1 oz chocolate, less 1 tbsp fat. ¼ cup cocoa = 1 1/3 oz, less 4 tsp fat. ½ cup cocoa = 2 2/3 oz, less 2 2/3 tbsp fat. ¾ cup cocoa = 4 oz, less ¼ cup fat.
Melt chopped chocolate in the microwave at half power in 30-second bursts, stirring between each, or in a bowl set over barely simmering water. Keep water out of it: a few drops make melted chocolate seize into a stiff paste.
Let the melted chocolate cool about 5 minutes before it meets the eggs, then add it to the creamed butter or the other wet ingredients.
If the recipe stirs cocoa into hot water or hot coffee, put the chopped chocolate into that hot liquid instead and stir until it is smooth.
In frosting, beat the cooled melted chocolate into the butter and hold back 1 tbsp of the milk or cream until you see the texture: you have added melted fat where the recipe expected a dry powder.

Questions

5 questions

How much baking chocolate equals ¼ cup of cocoa powder?

Use 1 1/3 ounces of unsweetened baking chocolate and take 4 teaspoons of butter or oil out of the recipe. For ½ cup of cocoa, use 2 2/3 ounces and remove 2 2/3 tablespoons of fat. The rule behind both: 1 ounce of unsweetened chocolate replaces 3 tablespoons of cocoa plus 1 tablespoon of fat.

Can I use a semisweet or bittersweet baking bar instead of unsweetened?

Yes, with more changes. Use about 1 ounce for each tablespoon of cocoa, and for each ounce take about 1 tablespoon of sugar and 2 teaspoons of fat out of the recipe. That works in brownies and in recipes with up to about ¼ cup of cocoa. Beyond that there is rarely enough sugar and fat to remove, and the chocolate flavor comes out milder.

Do I need to change the baking soda or baking powder?

No. Unsweetened and semisweet baking chocolate are not alkalized, so they are mildly acidic in the way natural cocoa is, and baking soda still has something to react with. The leavening only needs attention when you swap Dutch-process cocoa into a recipe raised by baking soda alone.

Can I use baking chocolate in place of cocoa powder for hot chocolate?

Yes. Whisk finely chopped chocolate into the hot milk until it melts. About 1/3 ounce of unsweetened chocolate replaces each tablespoon of cocoa and the sugar stays the same. With a semisweet bar, use about 1 ounce per tablespoon of cocoa and leave out about 1 tablespoon of the sugar. The drink is richer, because of the cocoa butter.

Why did my cake come out dense or greasy after the swap?

The usual cause is leaving the fat in. Each ounce of unsweetened chocolate carries about 1 tablespoon more fat than the cocoa it replaces, so that much butter or oil has to come out. The other cause is adding the chocolate while it is hot, which melts the creamed butter and deflates the batter.