The Secret of the Chocolate Chip
Santa Barbara Chocolate Company provides chocolate to several segments in the food industry. One of those segments is the artisan baker. The artisan baker is the baker who bakes fresh cookies, custom cakes, wedding cakes, cupcakes, tortes and more.
For most bakers the chocolate chip cookie is a regular seller and a mainstay on the menu. There are many recipes for chocolate chip cookies but some just work better then others.
But have you ever wondered why?
When it comes to adding chocolate to dough, to be a successful merger, proper fat content is critical for both the dough and the chocolate. At baking temperatures, fat from chocolate should transfer into dough while fat from the dough should transfer into the chocolate.
Have you ever seen a chocolate chip cookie where the chocolate was either runny or grayish? If it is runny, it's because the dough has too high a fat content and the chocolate chips have become over saturated with fat. If the chocolate is grayish, it is because the dough has too low of a fat content, leaching cocoa butter from the chocolate chips. These are examples where not enough fat has transferred into the chocolate from the dough and vice versa.
Through baking experiments we have discovered certain fats transfer from the dough into the chocolate better then others. For example, palm oil transfers faster than canola oil or even butter. With palm oil you can get that runny chocolate issue I mentioned above because of too much fat transfer too fast. Vegetable shortening transfers most evenly. Butter seems to be the next best option, transferring not as fast but evenly.
It is important to make sure your dough contains a fat that flows evenly, like butter or vegetable shortening. Also, your chocolate should have a lower fat content then the dough, so that the flow can occur. A good rule of thumb is to make sure to use at least an equal amount of fat by volume to chocolate (1 cup butter = 1 cup chocolate). If your recipe calls for, or if you prefer more chocolate than fat, you must use a lower fat chocolate with about 24% cocoa butter. We have a great chocolate chip designed for this exact situation.
These organic chocolate chips contain only high quality chocolate and hold their soft mound shape without the addition of ingredients like dextrose or butter oil.
Now that you know the secret of the chocolate chip, why not have a hot cookie night?
Click here to find the perfect chocolate.
