Milk Chocolate Chip Ratings

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After reading several threads about chocolate and the ensuing 
discussion, I decided it was time to consult the professionals and post 
the ratings for dark chocolate, chocolate chips, and milk chocolate. The
 winners may surprise you!

							Published May 1, 2009.
From  Cook's Illustrated.

					We were looking for a chip with intense chocolate flavor, moderate sugar, and a goodly amount of cocoa butter.

						products tested (listed alphabetically)
						Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Chips
Guittard Real Milk Chocolate Chips
Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Chips
Nestlé Toll House Real Milk Chocolate Morsels

				See Product Comparison Chart

						If intense chocolate flavor, moderate sugar, and a goodly 
amount of cocoa butter make for a superior dark chip, what factors 
contribute to the best milk chocolate morsel? Surprisingly, the same 
three characteristics. Milk chocolate, by definition, contains enough 
milk solids and milk fat to give the candy a distinctly milky flavor, 
but when we compared the four top-selling brands of milk chocolate chips
 (plain and in cookies), tasters still overwhelmingly preferred the chip
 with bolder chocolate flavor, higher fat content, and lower sugar 
content. In this tasting, our winning dark chip brand tanked for a milk 
chocolate chip that was “saccharine” sweet and texture like “Styrofoam.”

						Product Tested

						Sugar

						Fat (cocoa butter and milk)

						Price*

						Recommended

						Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Chips
						“Great chocolate flavor—I don’t believe this is milk 
chocolate!” exclaimed one taster. This chip had the same fat-to-sugar 
ratio as the brand’s second-place dark chocolate chip and was praised 
for its creamy texture and a flavor that was “a little nutty, with hints
 of caramel.”

53%

30%

						$2.50 for an 11.5-ounce bag (22 cents per ounce)

						Recommended with Reservations

						Nestlé Toll House Real Milk Chocolate Morsels
						Tasters applauded this chip’s “good cocoa flavor” but noted 
that it tasted “a little acidic,” as well as being “pasty,” “grainy,” 
and “a little too sweet.” Some noted a “fake” vanilla taste.

57%

29%

						$2.50 for an 11.5-ounce bag  (22 cents per ounce)

						Recommended with Reservations

						Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Chips
						Though the “caramel” and “butterscotch” flavors in this chip 
were favorable, many tasters couldn’t get past its “saccharine-like” 
sweetness—it contained the most sugar of all the chips. Its low fat 
content resulted in a texture that tasters ridiculed as “Styrofoam-like”
 and reminiscent of “fake, low-fat ice cream.”

67%

23%

						$3.50 for an 11.5-ounce bag (30 cents per ounce) 

						Not Recommended

						Guittard Real Milk Chocolate Chips
						“What is this? White chocolate?” commented one taster. Many 
questioned if this “toothache-sweet” chip, with a flavor “like sweetened
 condensed milk,” was really made of chocolate.

60%

30%

						$3.29 for an 11.5-ounce bag (29 cents per ounce)