Are Chocolate Chips Vegan? 9 Vegan-Friendly Brands
Some people usually ask if chocolate chips are or are not vegan. Some others think that if chocolate is dark is vegan. Today we will break this myth and explain how to know if chocolate is vegan and what brands offer this specificity today in the market. But first, are chocolate chips vegan?
Not all chocolate chips are vegan. Instead of having milk or butter, vegan chocolate chips, have cocoa butter and cane sugar. Some brands like Evolved, Pascha, or Enjoy life are organic and produce everything vegan-friendly, so those are the brand you can trust. Otherwise, you have to control the list of ingredients carefully.
In this article, I’ll delve into the intricacies of what makes a chocolate chip vegan and spotlight nine brands that offer guilt-free indulgence for vegan sweet-tooths everywhere. Are you ready?
How Do You Know If Chocolate Chips Are Vegan?
Every time you want to buy vegan chocolate, you need to carefully check the labeling of the package to see what precisely contains the box. Most chocolates have milk or other dairy products like milk powder.
If you don’t see any animal product in the ingredients list, then that means that the chocolate is vegan. For example, if the chocolate chips contain milk, milk solids, milk fat, butter, whey or casein, they are not vegan.
Furthermore, there is a high possibility that there will be one of the “vegan” labels on the packaging. These “Certified Vegan” labels mean the product has undergone scrutiny by a third-party organization to ensure it doesn’t contain animal-derived ingredients and hasn’t been tested on animals. There are several labels and certifications that are commonly seen worldwide. Here they are:
If you are still not sure, ask the company directly. The customer service number is usually listed on the back of the packaging.
What Brands of Chocolate Chips Are Vegan?
Evolved
This brand operates with the philosophy that chocolate is food and not candy, and they mean it. Using organic coconut sugar instead of natural sugar, those will not be the sweetest chocolates you have ever eaten. Instead, most clients have characterized it as bitter but satisfying chocolate chips.
In these brands, all dairy-free, soy-free, and gluten-free products are perfect if you are intolerant to one of those products. In addition, the cacao beans are cultivated and exported from the Dominican Republic and Africa, offering the best territory to harvest some good cacao beans.
This brand offers organic productions and is certified by Bay State Organics. Coconut sugar is organic and sustainable and does not contribute to deforestation.
Evolved chocolate chips are offered in 4 varieties: semi-sweet, sweet, dark, and baking chocolate chips. You can choose your favorite type to consume in small pieces in your everyday life or even better to bake with them all the most excellent recipes from brownies to cakes or just pancakes.
If, for you, it is essential to buy organic products and want to try them now, go to eatingevolved.com and order them immediately.
Pascha
Have you ever dreamed of a company that can offer different quantities of cacao in a bar of chocolate? From 55% of cocoa to 100%, Pascha provides a wide variety of vegan chocolate chips. Not only those but also white chocolate chips and no milk baking chips. A lot to try, right?
Free from all the allergens like nuts and peanuts, dairies, or gluten, Pascha fulfills all parameters to be considered vegan chocolate. This is a chocolate 100% plant-based and sugar-free, perfect for the bitter taste lovers because I have to warn you, this will be bitter, and if you are not used to this taste before, maybe you won’t like it.
Besides that, this brand has a lot of certifications that prove good quality, starting with USDA certification, non genetically modified organism. This brand is good for the environment, forests, and farmers.
Maybe you can find cheaper for the price that Pascha is selling, but considering that this company is an alley of organic production and respecting the farmers, it is perhaps worth it!
Enjoy Life.
Another good vegan selection for chocolate chips is Enjoy Life brand. They created this company in 2000 to make vegan people enjoy life better with some excellent chocolate selections free from animal products and 14 allergens like nuts, eggs, soya, etc.
One of the best advantages of this type is the price, and it is chosen by home baking businesses to bake their muffins and brownies or cupcakes. Completely organic, made with cane sugar instead of regular sugar and sustainable harvest cocoa beans, this chocolate has 7 grams of sugar per serving.
You can order it online on Amazon; the only disadvantage is that you cannot order Enjoy life chocolate chips in small quantities, so you will be obliged to contain at least a pack of 4 or 6 chocolates on their website.
Artisan kettle
`Cacao is produced in South America,` this quote sounds very fancy, as it gives the idea of very authentic and good quality cacao. Artisan Kettle brand is about: high-quality cocoa produced by small farmers in South America and then imported to Watertown to produce amazing chocolate chips.
With colorful packaging, this brand offers you at least six varieties of chocolate chips with different sugar and cacao percentages starting from 44% to 72%. The price is a little expensive, but reviews from most clients look good.
And who better than the company itself knows their products best? You can check their website for many excellent recipes you can prepare with those vegan chocolate chips.
Equal exchange
A business philosophy builds on the principles of fair trade that want to empower the farmers and give them a better position in the market. For example, this brand has 19 types of vegan chocolates, but only 2 are chocolate chips. You got semi-sweet chocolate chips and bittersweet chocolate chips.
The best advantage of Equal exchange is that you can order plenty of other unique, organic products together with chocolate chips on their website. The weak point is that you cannot contain only one pack of chocolate, but at least 12, but chocolate does not get easily molded so you will have them for a long in your kitchen. However, in the end, the price for one pack will be very affordable.
Lily`s
This company does not have a full vegan menu, but you can find some: 55% Dark Chocolate Baking Chips, 45% Semi-Sweet Baking Chips, Chocolate Salted Caramel Flavor Baking Chips and 55% Dark Chocolate Keto Baking Chips.
Although these products have been produced on equipment that also processes dairy products, the company does not recommend consuming them if you have a dairy allergy; otherwise, it should be fine.
Other people’s reviews for this product are also excellent, as it obtains a 4,7 out of 5 on Amazon by more than 6000 consumers. So if you don’t mind that this company produces other non-vegan selections, you can go for it without problems.
Amanda`s own
This brand offers many vegan chocolate options but what is the most interesting is the packaging. Starting with a princess and unicorn packaging, Christmas, Halloween, or Valentine’s theme, those chocolate chips will look so funny and cute on all occasions for all ages: from kids to grown-ups.
In addition, you can subscribe to Amanda’s Own website, and you can take benefits from all holiday treats that they announce from time to time.
The disadvantage is that you have to order them only through their website, as you cannot find this brand on Amazon.
California gourmet
Belgian chocolate has never been near that of California gourmet, which offers a vegan type ready to be enjoyed by all-vegan consumers. This product is free of soy, nut, dairy, and gluten, entirely naturally produced.
This may be considered a clean product, as it does not contain any artificial flavors, not vanilla. Furthermore, 48% cacao is also a quantity of cacao preferred by many people; not very bitter.
If you use Amazon prime, then California Gourmet comes to you with zero cost of delivery, which sometimes can be more expensive than the product itself. Overall, this product is reviewed well by the majority of clients.
Chatfield’s
They converted the family traditions and knowledge of chocolate into innovation by producing natural dark chocolate with eight allergen-free and completely vegan. All Chatfield’s products are made with date sugar, 100% granulated dehydrated dates converted into sugar to replace the white or brown ones.
They have three selections of vegan chocolate chips, one of with is with Carob, a Mediterranean fruit that can interchange chocolate and does not have caffeine but has two times more calcium than cacao.
If you want to experiment with a new recipe, maybe Carob chocolate chips are your new challenge. But, of course, you can always order it on Amazon or find a store near your location to buy it yourself.
Are White Chocolate Chips Vegan?
Not all white chocolate chips are vegan. In fact, in white chocolate, one crucial ingredient is milk, so in this case, it contains animal products.
But just like dark chocolate, you can find vegan white chocolate in specific brands. Pascha, for example, is one of the companies that offer vegan white chocolate. For only $6,95, you can have it in your home to enjoy it from a fantastic brand that produces under organic principles.
What Are the Best Vegan Chocolate Chips?
If you go through all the mentioned brands above, you will see that all brands have advantages and disadvantages. For example, one of the brands offers chocolate chips free of 14 allergens, but the chocolate may be a little bittered; another brand offers sweeter selections but is prepared on the same equipment that also prepares non-vegan chocolate.
So overall, it is difficult to determine which is the best among everything. Although I am sharing my personal opinion, I would go for Pascha, as it contains at least seven labels that prove their sound quality, the fact that it is organic and vegan, and good for the planet.
The branding also is exquisite and has a lot of selections. They also have an excellent social media presence, which means many consumers also like this brand.
What Are Some Vegan Chocolate Chunks?
Some of the mentioned brands in their variety of chocolates also offer chocolate chunks. Enjoy Life brand offers the chocolate chunks on both their website and Amazon.
Another brand that sells vegan chocolate chunks is Pascha. The trick here is that you can find it only in big packs of 9 lbs which may be too much for personal consumption.
But you can find a smaller package of 9oz in Artisan Kettle that is organically produced and can be found on their website or Amazon.
What Popular Chocolate Is Vegan?
The most famous chocolate brands have become popular because of their milky chocolates. You can find some excellent dairy-free products under their brands.
For example, Ghirardelli may be an option. Most of the products contain dairy products, but they have some excellent selections without dairies. For instance, intense 72% Cacao Twilight Delight squares and 72% and 100% Premium Baking Chips are entirely dairy-free.
Famous enough to have at least 500 stores worldwide, Lindt is considered one of the most famous chocolate brands in the world. Unfortunately, most varieties of chocolate contain milk or dairy products, but they have some dairy-free selections like Excellence bars that you can choose to consume.
Among popular chocolate brands, Edge is also a brand where you can find vegan chocolate. Besides that, this chocolate is soy-free; it has a label that confirms that the product is not genetically modified but naturally produced.
