Out of Cocoa powder, one case
Can you substitute chocolate chips for cocoa powder?
4 options, ranked, with the exact amount
Use Semisweet chocolate chips
½ cup for every 3 tbsp of cocoa powder
Yes, in recipes with sugar and fat to spare, but it is a rework and not a straight swap. For every 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder, melt ½ cup (3 oz) of semisweet chocolate chips and take about 3 tablespoons of sugar and 2 tablespoons of butter or oil out of the recipe. Chips are roughly half sugar, so the chocolate flavor comes out milder.
- Verdict —
- You'll taste it
- The tweak —
- Melt the chips with the recipe's butter, cool 5 minutes and add with the wet ingredients. For each ½ cup of chips, take about 3 tbsp of sugar and 2 tbsp of fat out of the recipe.
- Best for —
- brownies
- Pantry —
- Likely in your cupboard
One casethe full cocoa powder card
Every option, one card
Ranked| # | Substitute | Instead of 3 tbsp cocoa powder | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Semisweet chocolate chipsbrownies | ½ cupYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 2 | Bittersweet or dark chocolate chipsbrownies and chocolate cake | ½ cupYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 3 | Unsweetened baking chocolatebrownies and chocolate cake | 1 ozTweak it | Tweak it |
| 4 | Cacao powderany recipe written for natural cocoa | 1 tbsp per 1 tbspWorks | Works |
| Not a swap | Milk or white chocolate chips | not a swapNot for this | Not for this |
Semisweet chocolate chips
milder and sweeter than cocoa
Chips are chocolate with the sugar and cocoa butter already in. It takes about 1 oz of chips to bring the cocoa in 1 tbsp of cocoa powder, and what comes with it has to leave the recipe.
- Best for
- brownies, chocolate cake and cupcakes with ¼ cup of cocoa or less, hot chocolate, stovetop pudding and chocolate sauce
- Prep
- Melt the chips with the recipe's butter, cool 5 minutes and add with the wet ingredients. For each ½ cup of chips, take about 3 tbsp of sugar and 2 tbsp of fat out of the recipe.
- Where it fails
- Recipes with more than about ¼ cup of cocoa, recipes with little sugar or fat to remove, and anything that needs a dry powder: dusting, dry rubs, meringues, macarons and angel food cake.
1 cup of chips weighs 6 oz.
Bittersweet or dark chocolate chips
deeper than semisweet, still sweeter than cocoa
Chips marked 60% cacao or higher carry more cocoa and less sugar than semisweet, so they land closer to the flavor of cocoa powder.
- Best for
- brownies and chocolate cake, hot chocolate, ganache-style frosting
- Prep
- Melt and add with the wet ingredients. For each ½ cup of chips, take about 2 tbsp of sugar and 2 tbsp of fat out of the recipe.
- Where it fails
- The same limits as semisweet chips: no use as a dry powder, and large amounts of cocoa are hard to replace.
Unsweetened baking chocolate
the same unsweetened chocolate flavor, fudgier
If there is a bar of unsweetened chocolate next to the chips, use it. With no sugar in it, the only change is the fat.
- Best for
- brownies and chocolate cake, any recipe with more than ¼ cup of cocoa
- Prep
- Melt it, cool it 5 minutes, add it with the wet ingredients and take 1 tbsp of butter or oil out of the recipe for each ounce.
- Where it fails
- Dusting, dry rubs, meringues and anything else that needs a dry powder.
Cacao powder
slightly more bitter and fruity
Cacao powder is unalkalized cocoa by another name. It is a dry powder, so nothing else in the recipe changes.
- Best for
- any recipe written for natural cocoa, dusting and dry rubs, where chips cannot go
- Where it fails
- Recipes that depend on the dark color of Dutch-process cocoa come out paler.
Milk or white chocolate chips
Milk chocolate chips are mostly sugar and milk with a small share of cocoa.
White chips have no cocoa solids at all.
- Best for
- nothing in place of cocoa powder in baking
- Contains
- dairy
- Where it fails
- Enough milk chocolate to flavor a batter brings far more sugar and fat than a recipe can give up, and the result is pale and very sweet. Milk chocolate chips do melt into hot milk for a mild hot chocolate.
Tips for substituting cocoa powder
5 tips- Conversions with semisweet chips: 3 tbsp cocoa = ½ cup (3 oz) chips, less 3 tbsp sugar and 2 tbsp fat. ¼ cup cocoa = 2/3 cup (4 oz) chips, less about ¼ cup sugar and 8 tsp fat.
- Melt chips in the microwave at half power in 30-second bursts, stirring between each. Chips are made to hold their shape, so they can look solid when they are already melted: stir before you heat them again.
- Melt the chips; do not fold them in whole. Whole chips give pockets of chocolate, but the crumb around them has no cocoa in it and bakes up pale.
- Hot chocolate: melt about 3 tbsp (1 oz) of semisweet chips into 1 cup of hot milk and add sugar only after you taste it.
- Frosting: ½ cup of melted, cooled chips replaces 3 tbsp of cocoa. Add the powdered sugar gradually and stop when it tastes right, because the chips bring sugar of their own.
Questions
4 questionsHow many chocolate chips equal ¼ cup of cocoa powder?
About 2/3 cup (4 ounces) of semisweet chips, melted. Take about ¼ cup of sugar and 8 teaspoons of butter or oil out of the recipe to make room. For 3 tablespoons of cocoa, use ½ cup of chips and remove 3 tablespoons of sugar and 2 tablespoons of fat.
Can I use chocolate chips instead of cocoa powder in brownies?
Yes, and brownies are the most forgiving case, because they have plenty of sugar and butter to cut back. Melt the chips with the butter, reduce the sugar and butter by the amounts above, and expect a milder, sweeter, fudgier brownie. If the recipe uses more than about ¼ cup of cocoa, the changes get too large to trust.
Can I use chocolate chips instead of cocoa powder for hot chocolate?
Yes. Melt about 3 tablespoons (1 ounce) of semisweet chips into 1 cup of hot milk, whisking until smooth, and add sugar only if it needs it. The chips replace both the cocoa and most of the sugar, and the drink is richer because of the cocoa butter.
Can I stir whole chocolate chips into the batter in place of the cocoa?
No. Cocoa powder flavors and colors the whole batter, and it counts as part of the dry ingredients. Whole chips do neither: you get a plain cake with chocolate pieces in it, and a wetter batter because the dry cocoa is missing. The chips have to be melted and the sugar and fat reduced.