Milk Chocolate Ratings

products tested (listed alphabetically)

• Cadbury Dairy Milk Milk Chocolate
• Dove Milk Chocolate
• E. Guittard Milk Chocolate
• Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Baking Bar
• Hershey's Milk Chocolate
• Lindt Excellence Extra Creamy Milk Chocolate
• Nestlé Superior Quality Milk Chocolate
• Newman's Own Organics Milk Chocolate
• Perugina Milk Chocolate
• Scharffen Berger Milk Chocolate

See Product Comparison Chart

Although pastry chefs might debate the merits of various bittersweet chocolates, no one talks about milk chocolate—despite the fact that 65 percent of Americans prefer it to the dark stuff, according to the Chocolate Manufacturers Association. Most of us assume there's no reason to pay "gourmet" prices for a bar of boutique milk chocolate—or is there? To find out, our staff tasted 10 brands of milk chocolate, plain and in chocolate frosting. Tasters were shocked at the wide diversity of flavors and textures among brands.

Milk chocolate must contain at least 10 percent chocolate liquor, which consists of cocoa butter and cocoa solids (the source of chocolate flavor) and 12 percent milk solids; the remainder is sweeteners and flavorings. To figure out exactly what's in each brand, we sent the chocolates out to a food lab, which focused on chocolate solids, fat (the cocoa butter), and sugar.

Most tasters put a premium on flavor. Consequently, the chocolates with the highest percentage of chocolate solids were the taste-test winners. Overly sweet chocolates or brands with little chocolate flavor were downgraded. A second (smaller) group of tasters focused on texture. They placed a premium on creaminess, giving high marks to the brand that contained the most fat among the brands tested.

Product Tested		Chocolate Solids	Sugar	Fat	Price*
Highly Recommended
	Dove Milk Chocolate Though some found the flavor "too sweet," most tasters praised the "great flavor" and agreed that this was a "good all-around piece of milk chocolate."	7.96%	54%	32.5%	80 cents for 1.3-ounce bar
Recommended
	Scharffen Berger Milk Chocolate Most compared the "dark" flavor favorably to bittersweet chocolate, though a minority called it "burnt." Likeable, but "it doesn't seem like milk chocolate."	11.18%	40%	21.4%	$4.15 for 3-ounce bar
Recommended
	Lindt Excellence Extra Creamy Milk Chocolate Tasters praised the "very creamy" consistency of this top-rated bar that had a "good balance of milk and chocolate." One taster wrote, "What a treat!"	5.22%	50%	37.5%	$2.50 for 3.5-ounce bar
Recommended with Reservations
	Perugina Milk Chocolate Some complaints about a "slightly waxy" texture and "not enough" chocolate flavor, but overall very good.	6.61%	55%	30.3%	$2.00 for 3.5-ounce bar
Recommended with Reservations
	Nestlé Superior Quality Milk Chocolate Several tasters noted the "chalky, grainy" texture and "fake flavor" that tasted "cheap." Better in our frosting test than when eaten out of hand.	6.46%	60%	28.6%	$2.00 for 5-ounce bar
Recommended with Reservations
	Hershey's Milk Chocolate "I bet this is Hershey's," wrote one taster; several others easily recognized the familiar flavor described as "chalky" and "very sweet."	6.81%	51%	30.2%	$1.59 for 6-ounce bar
Recommended with Reservations
	Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Baking Bar This "middle-of-the-road" chocolate was praised by fans as "milky sweet" but mostly rejected as "hard and waxy," with an "old musty flavor."	5.49%	53%	32.6%	$3.19 for 4-ounce bar
Recommended with Reservations
	Newman's Own Organics Milk Chocolate Tasters complained of the "very mild chocolate flavor" that many felt was dominated by "coffee" overtones.	7.92%	51%	32.9%	$1.99 for 2.8-ounce bar
Recommended with Reservations
	Cadbury Dairy Milk Milk Chocolate Several tasters noted lots of "caramel" undertones "but not much chocolate flavor." As one taster noted, "a little one-dimensional."	3.95%	53%	30%	$1.59 for 4.5-ounce bar
Recommended with Reservations
	E. Guittard Milk Chocolate While fans praised this bar as "very milky," most tasters dismissed the "fake chocolate" flavor.	6.05%	46%	37%	$2.50 for 2-ounce bar