Last May when I flew to Miami for the BlogHer Food conference, I started craving chocolate chip cookies. Something about traveling triggers that craving (don’t ask me why!), so during my layover in Houston, I wandered around the terminal looking for a bakery or sandwich shop that offered treats.
I stumbled upon a stall not too far from my departure gate and walked up to the counter to ask the server whether any of their jumbo chocolate chip cookies were soft and chewy. In my world, that’s exactly how they should be—not crisp, crunchy, or stale!
Because the individual cookies were firmly wrapped in plastic, she kindly prodded each one for me before handing over the one that felt the softest. After giving her my money, I happily strolled down the walkway back to the gate to slowly enjoy my treat while waiting for the plane to arrive.
While I nibbled, I wondered about how chocolate chips were made. There were hundreds (okay, not really, but it looked like it!) of miniature ones studded throughout the cookie, but I completely forgot about that thought until my friend Lee posted her recipe for DIY vegan chocolate chips a few weeks ago. That inspired me to try making my own, so today I’m share how to make Homemade Dark Chocolate Chips!
I wanted to come up with a really easy recipe, so I narrowed this down to just 2 ingredients: unsweetened chocolate and sweetener. In order to make these healthier than store-bought, it’s really important to start with 100% unsweetened baking chocolate. The only ingredient on the label should be “chocolate.” Both Baker’s and Ghirardelli sell 4-ounce bars, and I love and use both of them.
For the sweetener, I chose Truvia. It’s my favorite sugar-free sweetener and one I always stock in my pantry. However, its crystalline form doesn’t quite dissolve, so these chocolate chips are slightly more grainy that store-bought. If you prefer a smoother chocolate, try powdered Stevia or agave instead.
So all you need to do is melt the chocolate, stir in the sweetener, and pipe little dots using a zip-topped bag with the corner snipped off. You want the chocolate to still be warm when you start piping. As it cools, the ensuing chocolate chips will began to have what looks like a light brown coating dusted on them. That’s okay! Those chips will still taste the same; they just look a little different.
When you first start piping, the chocolate chips won’t hold their tips. They’ll look more like dots or round blobs. Once you’ve piped about half of the chocolate, take a toothpick (or just use the tip of your finger!) and lightly touched the center of the dot; then lift up. This reforms the iconic tip, but it’s totally optional. If you don’t care how they look, then leave them as dots!
Of course, I had to test out how these Homemade Dark Chocolate Chips actually worked in cookies… Which was incredibly hard because I just wanted to eat them all. But I managed to save enough, so stayed tuned!
| Homemade Two-Ingredient Chocolate Chips | | Print |
- 1 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
- 1 tsp (5g) Truvia
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add the chocolate to a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH for 20 seconds. Stir for at least 2 minutes. If the chocolate is still not completely melted, microwave on HIGH for 5 seconds; then stir for another 2 minutes. Continue until the chocolate is completely melted. Stir in the Truvia.
- Microwave the chocolate mixture on HIGH for 6 seconds. Spoon it into a small zip-topped bag. Snip off one corner, and pipe dots onto the prepared parchment paper. After piping about half of the chocolate mixture, gently touch a toothpick (or your clean, dry fingertip) into the center of each dot, and lift it up to create the iconic point. Continue with the remaining chocolate. Let the chocolate chips harden completely before transferring them to an airtight container.
For the unsweetened baking chocolate, I recommend Ghirardelli or Baker’s bars.
If the chocolate hardens in the zip-topped bag before your finish, let it completely cool. Peel open the bag, and roughly chop the cooled chocolate to make chocolate “chunks.”
Powdered Stevia may be substituted in place of the Truvia for a smoother, less grainy texture. Agave may work as well, although I haven’t tested it myself.
{gluten-free, vegan, clean eating, sugar-free}
More chocolate chip recipes from other food bloggers…
♥ DIY Vegan Chocolate Chips by Fit Foodie Finds
♥ Homemade Chocolate Chips by Whole New Mom
♥ Homemade Chocolate Chips by All Day I Dream About Food
is the sweetener mandatory? Will it still taste ok without it?
It depends! If you know you like the taste of 100% unsweetened chocolate, then it’s fine to omit. If you find that 100% unsweetened chocolate is too bitter for your tastes, then I’d recommend using some type of sweetener. 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think if you try making these chocolate chips!
can I replace the sweetener with sugar,Willits come out fine?
I’m honored that you’d like to try making this recipe, Oye! If you have confectioners’ style (powdered) sugar, I think that would be the best sugar to try because it will yield a slightly smoother texture. Otherwise, regular granulated sugar should be fine. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these chocolate chips if you try making them!
There are not food safe, silicon chocolate chip molds! You can find some on Amazon even! Just wanted you to know! Saves time!
Sorry typo. There are NOW food safe chocolate chip molds on Amazon. Several Kinds which save you time for your lovely recipe!!
Thanks so much for sharing, Morgine! That’s great to know!
What is Truvia? Is it only for adults?
Oh I am so sorry, didn’t mean to rate it only one star!
No worries, Audrey! If you click on the pink Truvia link in the Ingredients list (my links are the pink-colored text — I know it can be easy to miss that detail!), then you can see exactly what Truvia is! I’m not a trained healthcare professional, so I don’t feel comfortable providing advice about whether it’s suitable for children as well as adults. However, I’m sure your doctor’s office would be happy to help you figure that out, if it’s a concern! 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think of these homemade chocolate chips if you decide to try making them!
quite long reading for saying: great the chocolate and make dots with them 😄. Thank you for the info however, I’ll try.
I’d love to hear what you think of these homemade chocolate chips if you do end up making them, Jane! 🙂
I have been buying bread, pie, cookies ect. from a nice Amish family nearby. Everything is really good. The choc chip cookies had me a bit puzzled because the chips were irregular in shape and flat so thinking about it I decided the Amish must make their own choc chips. I googled and found your article…..puzzel solved! My suspicion was correct, home made choc. chips!~. thanks.
It’s my pleasure, Don! I’m happy to have helped solved that mystery. 🙂
Hey thank you so much for this can’t wait to try! I’m only going to use 70% Lindt dark chocolate ! But one question, I may have over looked but how long does this keep for ? ^_^
It means a lot that you’d like to make these chocolate chips, Stace! They typically keep for quite a while, anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. It mainly depends on how fresh your chocolate is, so check the “best by” date on your 70% Lindt dark chocolate to give you an idea! 🙂 I’d love to hear how your chocolate chips turn out if you try making these!
Awesome thank you!
So I made them and they turned out good, a question is- when you place the chocolate into the zip lock bag how do you keep it from not drooling into each droplet? 🤣 I would assume a way is to use something in between transition to cut of the drizzle but could that just become a mess in itself?
Also on the day of the comment I made these- I put in the fridge and I forgot al about them! Haha I even forgot why I wanted to make these..
But actually just today before seeing your comment I made banana bread and added the droplets into the mix, turned out amazing! ^_^
That’s too funny about forgetting about these in the fridge, Stace! That must have been a sweet surprise when you opened it to look for something else! 😉 I’m so glad you enjoyed adding them to your banana bread!
Do you mean how to stop the chocolate from coming out of the plastic bag when you’re forming each chocolate chip, so there’s a clean break between each one? If so, I just turn my wrist to tilt the bag sideways while ceasing to squeeze the melted chocolate inside of the bag. Nothing fancy!
Haha ikr! I actually remember now, it’s for cookie dough vanilla ice cream =P
Oh ok hahaha yes something very simple I was too much in a panic to try anything so there were no breaks in between but they actually seperated easily so it wasn’t too bad! Now I have to make more today for the ice cream xD
Thanks again! Take care and merry Christmas ^_^
A little belated… but I hope your second batch of chocolate chips turned out even better — and that they tasted amazing in your ice cream too! 🙂 I hope you had a lovely holiday season and your new year is off to a wonderful start!
Thanks for helping me make dark chocolate for my cookies. Really appreciated it
very beautiful blog thanks for this wonderful posting.
My pleasure! I’d love to hear what you think of these homemade chocolate chips if you try making them!
Hello! I’d love to make this recipe for cookies, is it okay if I use unsweetened cocoa powder instead of chopped? I have a pound of cocoa powder in my pantry and I want to finish using it as soon as I can 🙂
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Emphe! I’m really sorry I’m just now getting back to you; I had to take a lot more time off than I anticipated to take care of some family things. I haven’t personally tried using cocoa powder in this recipe, so I’m honestly not sure how it’ll work out.
However, some of my favorite things to bake with cocoa powder are this chocolate cake, brownies, truffles, these cookies, and these cookies! Many of those recipes (especially the first three!) call for lots of cocoa powder, if you’re mainly looking for ways to use it up. As a huge chocoholic, I also have plenty more recipes that call for cocoa powder! You can find them here, in my “Chocolate” recipe category. 🙂
If you end up trying any of those recipes, I’d love to hear what you think of your cocoa powder treats!
Thank you for your reply, Amy! I’m IN LOVE with the truffle recipe, I’m definitely going to make it this weekend! I’m a sucker for dark chocolate, and your truffles look brilliant 🙂
You’re welcome, Emphe! So glad to know I’m not the only dark chocolate truffle fan. 😉 I’d love to hear what you think of them, if you do get a chance to make them!
Hi there! What about using a liquid stevia sweetener (like Sweet Leaf LeafDrops) instead of a crystal/powder based sweetener? I wonder though if this would make the chips runny or if they would have trouble keeping form?