Can You Eat Baking Chocolate? Here’s an Explanation!

Most people would never consider eating baking chocolate since they only use it for cooking and they regard it as an ingredient for the preparation of the end product. Also, not many people like the bitter taste of baking chocolate, so they do not believe that baking chocolate would be appropriate for consumption. But let’s see if can you eat baking chocolate.

You can eat baking chocolate and you sometimes consume it but in a different form. For example, it is included in the final baked good you have prepared. This means that it is no harm to eat it, but you might not like the bitter taste. Baking chocolate contains 100% cocoa and no sugar.

If you are not sure about eating just baking chocolate, you should read the explanation about it in this article. I have included all the differences between dark and baking chocolate, so you would get a clearer image of the nutrients found in both. Also, I have written some guidelines about how to choose the best chocolate for baking, so you will not be confused when you try to pick one.

Before diving into the nutritional details, please review our Nutritional Disclaimer page for important context and clarifications.

Is it Okay to Eat Baking Chocolate?

Taking into consideration that you consume baking chocolate whenever you eat some chocolate baked goods, it is clear that there is no harm in eating baking chocolate without preparing it.

Therefore, it is not a question of whether you can eat it, but whether you are willing to eat it. Since baking chocolate does not contain any sugar, and it is 100% made of cocoa, naturally it has a bitter taste. [1]

So, if you do not mind the bitter taste, you can freely eat baking chocolate. You might be accustomed to the sweet and creamy taste of regular chocolate, so the bitterness that baking chocolate contains can be quite shocking for your palate. A person who is not regularly a sweet tooth will definitely not mind the taste at all.

On occasions when you really need something sweet, but the shops are closed and the only thing you have is baking chocolate, it could be a good substitute if you combine it with some milk. It will not be the same as the sweet milk chocolate, but it would still be something.

Some people claim that baking chocolate causes constipation or that they eat it when having diarrhea so that it can help them. But this is not a proven fact. However, some ingredients like caffeine can lead to dehydration and, therefore, hard stools. [2] So, let’s say that it is best to consume baking chocolate in moderate amounts.

Can You Eat White Cooking Chocolate?

White cooking chocolate is the same as dark cooking chocolate with the only difference in the amounts of cocoa used in them.

Usually, white cooking chocolate might include a small amount of sugar, so you might find it sweeter than the dark one. However, some people do not like the taste of white baking chocolate since it is quite different from the brown one, and it is not the taste we are usually accustomed to when it comes to chocolate.

Generally, when it comes to choosing between brown and white cooking chocolate, what you will choose will mostly depend on your taste. Both of the types do not taste like regular chocolate, but the white one might be slightly sweeter in a way.

Are Baking Chocolate and Dark Chocolate the Same Thing?

The main difference that is noticed between baking chocolate and dark chocolate is that the latter does not contain sugar or milk, so it has a slightly more bitter taste than the former one.

Cooking chocolate also contains low amounts of sugar, but the structure is suitable for cooking, that is why that is its main purpose. However, both of them are healthier choices for you in comparison to regular milk chocolate with a sweet taste. [3]

Baking Chocolate

Baking chocolate is mainly intended as an ingredient for cooking. Therefore, it is not supposed to have any particular taste.

Baking chocolate is also known as cooking chocolate, unsweetened chocolate, bitter chocolate, or plain chocolate. The reason why this kind of chocolate is intended for cooking is due to the fact that it does not contain any milk solids or sugar, so there is no particular flavor in it.

Baking chocolate is primarily made of 100% cocoa and cocoa butter, and it has a bitter taste that does not really give the sense of chocolate. However, there are some kinds of cooking chocolate that might contain a low amount of sugar. Some people tend to choose some cooking chocolate with a little bit of sugar, so they would make their baked goods sweeter.

Dark Chocolate

Dark chocolate is slightly bitter, but not as much as the baking kind. It does not contain any milk solids, however, there are some flavors that make this type of chocolate tasty. Dark chocolate is usually made of cocoa beans, sugar, flavors, and emulsifiers.

Generally, dark chocolate can have different tastes when it comes to sweetness since this depends on the amount of cocoa and sugar that are combined in it. It is usually sweeter than baking chocolate, but it is bitter in comparison to milk chocolate. People who enjoy dark chocolate are familiar with the percentage of cocoa added to the chocolate, so they exactly know how sweet will the chocolate be.

How to Choose the Right Chocolate for Cooking and Baking?

Depending on your recipe and your own choice of how sweet you want your food to be, you will know what kind of chocolate to choose. Usually, cooking chocolate is always a good option for any kind of cooking or baking.

However, if you want the food you are making to be sweeter without adding any sugars, then you can choose bittersweet chocolate because it contains 35% of chocolate liquor.

In addition, if you want to intensify the sweetness in your food, then you can opt for semisweet chocolate. This type of chocolate contains a slightly higher amount of sugar and it is a suitable substitute for bittersweet chocolate.

What Are the Best Cooking Chocolates?

Since there are a lot of options for cooking chocolates on the market, I have made a narrowed-down list of cooking chocolates that are proven to work well in recipes.

Baking chocolate is suitable both for cooking and eating, so you just have to decide whether you have a preference for bitter chocolate. It is definitely a healthier option when it comes to chocolate, but not everyone can enjoy bitter and unsweetened tastes.