Chocolate chip champs outrank the clunky clumps
Dreamy sweet and melty, milk chocolate permeates the history of American sweets. It’s the gooey inside of a s’more, the sweet coating on a chocolate bar and the powder we stir into our milk. Store shelves are stacked with options — from chunks and bars to syrups — but for this Taste-Off, we concentrated on milk chocolate chips.
We snatched up every milkchocolate chip on local store shelves and followed it by a tasting of the chips in both grabfrom-the-bag and baked form. The results were surprising.
Unlike more pure forms of chocolate, milk chocolate includes a handful of necessary additives, including sugar, milk, added fat and flavors. When those ingredients are top-quality and perfectly balanced, they transform the bitter flavor of cacao into a fresh, decadent, milky bite.
Unfortunately, far too many milk chocolate chips miss the mark. Too much sugar, bad milk powder, odd flavored fats and those so-called “natural flavors” make for some strange-flavored chips that will ruin just about anything they touch.
Labels aren’t much help, either. Nearly all these chocolates contain milk, sugar, cocoa, vanilla and lecithin. The best have the fewest ingredients, use fresh milk and always use real vanilla. They also have at least a touch of sodium. But some of the worst have the same list of ingredients — in different proportions.
Here’s the scoop on the best milk chocolate chips — and the inedible failures. Nutrition details refer to a 15-gram serving, which is about 1 tablespoon of chocolate morsels.
Ghirardelli Premium Milk Chocolate Baking Chips
Everything about these extra-rich, medium-sized chips is right. Their deep chocolate and fresh milk flavors work eaten out of hand and in baked goods. 70 calories, 3.5 g fat, 10 g sodium, 10 g sugar. $4.49 for 11.5 ounces at Whole Foods; widely available. ★★★★
365 Jumbo Milk Chocolate Chips (27 percent cacao)
Creamy rich and seductively fruity, these oversized chips boast bold chocolate flavor, underscored by a hit of chocolate liquor. A bit more sodium would kick it to the top. 80 calories, 4 g fat, 5 mg sodium, 10 g sugar. $3.99 for 10 ounces at Whole Foods. ★★★½
Guittard Milk Chocolate Baking Chips (31 percent cacao)
There is precious little chocolate flavor in these oversized chips, but the milky caramel flavor and buttery texture are big wins, especially when the chips are baked into a salty cookie. 80 calories, 4.5 g fat, 10 mg sodium, 9 g sugar. $4.99 for 11.5 ounces at Whole Foods; widely available. ★★★½
Hershey’s Mini Kisses Milk Chocolate Chips
The extra hit of salt in these creamy, familiar-tasting chips is genius, as it tones down the sugar and balances out the flavors. 70 calories, 4.5 g fat, 20 g sodium, 8 g sugar. $2.11 on clearance for a 10-ounce bag at Target. ★★½
Nestle’s Toll House Milk Chocolate Chips
Out of hand, these are familiar — yet bland and lackluster. Tucked into a ball of cookie dough, they move up a notch. The slightly acidic flavor of the chip works well in extra-sweet cookies. 70 calories, 4 g fat, no sodium, 8 g sugar. $3.99 for 11.5 ounces at Safeway; widely available. ★★½
Hershey’s Kitchens Milk Chocolate Chips
The taste of cocoa powder is pleasant, but grainy texture and way too much sugar make for a lesser chocolate chip, especially when baked into a cookie. 70 calories, 4.5 g fat, 10 mg sodium, 8 g sugar. $2.49 at Target. ★★
Signature Kitchens Milk Chocolate Chips
Silky and creamy? Yes. But the unfortunate stale milk and too much sugar smother the chocolate in these chips. 80 calories, 4.5 g fat, 10 g sodium, 9 g sugar. $2.50 on sale for 11.5 ounces at Safeway. ★
Sunny Select Real Milk Chocolate Chips
These oversweet, unbalanced chips taste like a cheap chocolate bunny, the week after Easter. 80 calories, 4 g fat, 5 g sodium, 10 g sugar. $2.99 for 12 ounces at Lucky. ½ a star
Market Pantry Milk Chocolate Chips
These taste so much like warmed-up plastic, you might as well chop up the wrapper and add it to your cookie dough. The wrapper might even add flavor. 80 calories, 4 g fat, 5 mg sodium, 10 g sugar. $2.29 for 11.5 ounces at Target. (No stars)