Vegan Chocolate Chips
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Learn how to make your own vegan chocolate chips with just two ingredients! Perfect for cookies, brownies, or any desserts that call for chocolate chips, they are affordable and take seconds to make.
Vegan chocolate chips
Vegan chocolate chips are just like regular chocolate chips, minus the dairy. They can be used just like traditional chocolate chips can, or even eaten on their own! While many grocery stores stock them, I prefer to make them at home.
Packaged vegan chocolate chips often contain emulsifiers, stabilizers, and additives you don’t actually need, but my version is as simple as it gets: unsweetened chocolate melted with unrefined sugar. I usually use 1/4 cup of sugar, but you can go up to half a cup if you like them super sweet.
I’ve tested them in vegan brownies, vegan chocolate chip cookies, and vegan blondies, and they bake up just like any good chocolate chip.
What I adore about this homemade version is how much more affordable they are than store-bought ones: Enjoy Life Foods and Pascha start at around $12 a bag. I did the maths, and my recipe costs less than two dollars.
Key Ingredients
- Unsweetened baking chocolate. 100% unsweetened chocolate bars designed specifically for baking. These chocolate bars contain no added sugar and, on their own, are extremely bitter. I used Guittard chocolate, but Ghirardelli and Baker’s also make 100% unsweetened chocolate bars.
- Raw sugar. Raw sugar or unrefined sugar. You must only use these two kinds of sugar, as traditional white or brown sugar blends use bone char (from animals) in the processing. In testing, I also found that regular sugar would seize the melted chocolate rather than blend smoothly.
How to make dairy-free chocolate chips
Start by melting your chocolate using the double boiler method or in the microwave. Once the chocolate has melted and is glossy, whisk in the sugar until combined. Remove the melted chocolate from the heat.
Now, pour the melted chocolate into a pastry bag fitted with a small round tip. Pipe tiny portions of the chocolate into a chocolate chip shape onto a plate or tray lined with parchment paper. Let the chocolate chips cool to room temperature, before peeling off the parchment paper and using as you would traditional chocolate chips!
Which brands of chocolate chips are vegan?
You can skip the homemade version and simply buy your own! Here are four brands that are dairy free-
Pascha– These chocolate chips are also sugar free, perfect if you are watching your carbs or sugar.
Enjoy life– An easily accessible and popular brand of dairy free chocolate chips. I love using their mini chips and baking morsels for many of my cookie and brownie recipes.
Sunspire– They have both dairy free and traditional chocolate chips. More costly than other brands, their vegan carob chips have a slightly earthy flavor.
Guittard– My absolute favorite dairy free chocolate to use for baking. I’ve found this at Costco and several specialty supermarkets.
Frequently asked questions
Semi-sweet chocolate chips are richer and have a darker flavor than milk chocolate chips, but this does NOT mean they are vegan. Many brands still contain added dairy, even those with higher cocoa content.
Vegan chocolate chips are readily available at most grocery and health food stores. If you struggle to find them in stores, either make your own or purchase them from an online retailer.
The biggest difference between baking chocolate and regular or eating chocolate is the sugar content. Most baking chocolate (like the one used in this recipe) has minimal or no added sugar. Furthermore, baking chocolate often has higher cocoa solids, making it easier to melt.
Baking chocolate is preferred, but if you use a good-quality chocolate bar (like Lindt or Green and Black’s), it can be used instead.
For non-dark chocolate chips, I recommend using a store-bought option, as making your own could be slightly more time-consuming, but it IS doable!
Vegan milk chocolate chips– Melt a vegan milk chocolate bar and whisk in one teaspoon of coconut oil. Add to the pastry bag, then pipe chips onto the parchment paper.
Vegan white chocolate chips– Melt a vegan white chocolate bar and pipe out chips using the pastry bag. Vegan white chocolate can be temperamental to melt, so go low and slow, microwaving in 15-second increments.
I tested this recipe with Swerve and Allulose, and it worked successfully. I don’t recommend using monk fruit sweetener or erythritol, as they made the chocolate grainy and difficult to pipe.
Storage tips
To store: Like traditional chocolate chips, these homemade ones can be stored at room temperature, in an airtight container. The chips will keep well for up to 2 months.
To freeze: I don’t recommend freezing the chocolate chips, but if you must, place them in a ziplock bag and store them in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Vegan Chocolate Chips
Ingredients
- 2 cups unsweetened chocolate chopped
- 1/4 cup raw sugar or unrefined sugar
Instructions
- Line a large tray or plate with parchment paper.
- Using a double boiler method or in the microwave, melt your chocolate until smooth and glossy. Remove it from the heat. Whisk in the sugar until smooth.
- Transfer the chocolate into a piping bag fitted with a round tip. Pipe out tiny dots of chocolate onto the parchment paper. Let them cool at room temperature until firm.
Notes
Nutrition
Recipes using vegan chocolate chips
Originally published August 2021
What would I need to do to make dark chocolate? Thank you.
Hi Linda, this recipe is in fact dark chocolate-style chips, not milk chocolate, as the baking bar is 100% chocolate (no added milk solids or dairy). Hope this helps!
Can I make thin chocolate bars on baking sheets if I don’t have a piping bag?
You sure can! You can just break these into “chunks” if you need. You just won’t have that classic “chocolate chip” shape.
The chocolate you have linked says “may contain Milk” so unfortunately this recipe doesn’t work for us. Darn.
Hi Meghan- that is super odd- I’ve actually contacted the company who makes them, and it’s a general disclaimer but they definitely do not contain milk 🙂
This was so easy, thank you!
So welcome, Vincent. so glad you enjoyed them!
Finally I know now. Before I was buying often those choco drops but now I enjoy my ooking and everyday new food.
This is really cool! Could I use cacao nibs instead of a bar?
Hi KG- No, that won’t work sorry. Cacao nibs don’t melt down like chocolate does.
Hello! How can i make this milk chocolate (vegan)?
Hi Saldivar- I’ve updated this post to include FAQ’s where I share my method for making it milk or white chocolate 🙂
Thanks for sharing Arman, that’s brilliant!! Vegan choc chips are so expensive to buy. I do a lot of vegan cooking (my daughter is anaphylactic to eggs, ALL nuts, most seeds & gluten) although we aren’t vegan. We have vegan friends, so I look forward to making the chips to go in brownies. The Amazon link above of what chocolate you use isn’t working at the moment though. Thanks again!
Can choc chips be made with swerve?
I don’t see why not!