10 Superb Artisan Craft White Chocolate Bars
White chocolate
Gone are the days when chocolate connoisseurs would spend hours debating the merits of whether white chocolate was even chocolate. Thanks to the rise of numerous craft white chocolate bars garnering international awards, white chocolate is now being taken far more seriously by chocolate aficionados everywhere. However, not just any white chocolate will do; it is white chocolate of the specialty kind which makes the cut, thanks to the usage of plenty of quality cacao butter, sans additives or synthetic flavorings. Karl Betram Schade, a Utah based chocolate educator of Opening Chocolate, puts it best, ‘White chocolate is real chocolate when it is real white chocolate.’
What is White Chocolate?
Bean to Bar Chocolate
In her book Bean to Bar Chocolate Megan Giller defines white chocolate as "cocoa butter combined with other ingredients like sugar, milk or cream powder, and vanilla." It seems simple enough, indicating that a great white chocolate shouldn’t need anything more than that. Larger makers agree with this stance too. Emanuel Schmerling of Milkboy, a US chocolate company making chocolate bars in Switzerland, shares that "The best white chocolate is made from high-quality ingredients, the right amount of vanilla, and the perfect refining technique to obtain a fine and smooth chocolate."
Milkboy white chocolate bars
Yet, there remains an abundance of poor-quality white chocolate on the market. "There’s a high demand for cheap products which lead to poor ingredients, more sugar and absence of vanilla. Sometimes the vanilla is replaced with artificial flavoring." Emanuel explains. Editor's note: Milkboy offers an award-winning white chocolate bar with bourbon vanilla and a white chocolate bar with bourbon vanilla and raspberries that was introduced in 2024.
According to Giller in the US, white chocolate must contain at least 20 percent cocoa butter, 14 percent total milk solids, and 3.5 percent milkfat to legally count as white chocolate. EU and UK legislations strike similar chords. In the specialty chocolate world, most white chocolate’s cacao butter content tends to begin at 35%. This, along with the use of undeodorized cacao butter to preserve aromas and fine flavors of its origin, sets these white chocolates apart.
What Makes for a Stellar White Chocolate Bar?
Celine Francis, a Belgium based specialty chocolate expert and educator shares what she looks for in a white chocolate bar. “I will either look for comfort or surprise. A fantastic white chocolate can be comforting when it has the right amount of sweetness and creaminess. I usually think it's the creamiest with a good milk powder. Even better, when the milk powder was caramelized […]You get this caramelly, sweet and salty bar I am fond of. I can't get enough of these bars.” She adds, “I will also look for a white chocolate with a high percentage of undeodorized cocoa butter. You end up with a chocolate which is usually less sweet than an industrial dark chocolate and is flavorful.”
If you love white chocolate, here are 10 of the best white chocolates which are worth getting your hands on. If you don’t like white chocolate, these are so good, they just may change your mind.
10 White Chocolate Bars to Try
Akessons Madagascar 43% photo credit Akessons
An unusually high percentage of undeodorized cacao butter from Bertil Akesson’s renowned estate in Sambirano Valley (northwest of Madagascar) will make you rethink white chocolate as you know it. Said to be the world's first single plantation cocoa butter, this organic bar is a deep beige colour, thanks to said high amount of cacao butter and offers notes of cream, citrus and honey, with a slightly savoury cheese-like note.
Heinde & Verre Piura 37% photo credit Heinde and Verre
Dutch makers Heinde & Verre have crafted a floral and fruity white chocolate with cacao butter pressed from beans from the APROCAP farmers. These beans, better known as Piura, are grown in the Morropón region of Peru. Floral aromas greet you, with tasting notes of soft fruit and caramel coming through a smooth and silky texture.
Lurka Chiapas Tonka Bean 36%
Lurka Chiapas Tonka Bean 36%
From Basque country comes this small batch specialty chocolate, artfully crafted by chocolatier-pâtissier Pablo Ibarreche. Embracing his Mexican and Basque roots, Ibarecche lends sophistication to his white chocolate creation with a touch of tonka bean from Chiapas in southeast Mexico. A creamy bar reminiscent of a well-made crème brulee.
The Proper Chocolate Company Salted Caramel Blond Chocolate 40% photo credit The Proper Chocolate Company
Described as “A fun crossover between white chocolate and salted caramel with a rich biscuit and caramelized milk taste and a gentle savoury finish,” Dublin-based chocolate maker Patrick Marjolet pays tribute to his homeland of Brittany, France by carefully caramelizing milk powder and adding a touch of sea salt from Achill Island in Ireland. With deep, toasty notes and an exceptionally long length on the palate, this bar is one of the most elegant blond chocolates available in the market.
T’a Milano White Chocolate with Caramel and red Hawaiian Salt
Run by the Milanese brothers Alemagna, this haute patisserie and chocolaterie in Italy makes some of the most elegant white chocolates to be found. Their White chocolate with caramelised sugar and Hawaiian red salt is a particular winner, with a nice balance between sweet and salty (as was their Milanese-style bar with saffron, unfortunately no longer in production at this point of time but worth a mention, should it ever make a comeback).
Soma Pompona Vanilla photo credit Soma Chocolatemakers
Another chocolate bar made with premium vanilla, this time of a rare ancient variety from Mexico named Pompona, thought to be the original vanilla used by the Aztecs & Maya to infuse Xocolatl, a popular drink made with cacao. Soma describes the flavour notes as ripe plums, roasted cacao, oaky, leather, allspice, dark rum and intense florals.
Castronovo White Lemon bar photo credit Castronovo
A chocolate with a cult-like following amongst craft chocolate enthusiasts, Denise Castronovo’s interpretation of Italian cookies and her grandmother’s lemon meringue pie via this bar takes you straight to Sicilian landscapes full of lemon trees and olive groves. With a tinge of lemon-infused sea salt, this is one for those who love tart and sweet desserts.
Mestico Branco 35% photo credit Mestico
One of the few Made At Origin chocolate brands to craft a pure white chocolate, this tree to bar Brazilian chocolate maker makes a truly unique white chocolate, thanks to the cacao butter which is pressed in house. The third generation of cacao producers in Southern Bahia, the cacao used comes from chocolate maker Rogerio Kamei’s own plantation. With just 3 ingredients (cacao butter, sugar and milk powder), expect the richest notes of acacia honey, a long floral finish and a slow melt in the mouth texture.
Solkiki Chuncho Cusco 42% photo credit Solkiki Chocolatemaker
A name which has quickly grown to become the fast favorite of both vegan and non vegan chocolate connoisseurs alike, Solkiki’s ultra-premium vegan white bars are generally not to be missed. This plain 42% is a striking one, even if it technically does not come under the legal definition of white chocolate as it contains no milk powder. A skilled application of pink salt and roasted cashewnuts in place of dairy to complement the citrus and pineapple notes of award winning Peruvian Chuncho Cusco cacao results in a special bar with their signature luxurious buttery melt, depth of flavour and complexity.
Solkiki also makes another particularly unique white chocolate bar, their 33% White Nought with Tahitian Vanilla and Salted Peanut. A velvety bar with a slight pink hue, likely occurring from the redskin peanuts, this moreish number will appeal to every peanut butter lover. Don’t be fooled by the lower cacao butter percentage compared to their plain white bar as there is still an abundance of fruity, slightly acidic flavours to be found here thank to organic Madagascan Sambirano Valley origin cacao. Tahitian vanilla brings these flavors together for a warm, comforting finish on the palate.
Marou Vietnamese Vanilla 44% White Chocolate Bar photo credit Marou
This signature Vietnamese bean-to-bar brand recently released its first white chocolate, made with the rarest premium vanilla from Ba Ria province and cacao butter from six distinct regions in Vietnam. Very few bean-to-bar chocolate makers in Asia craft white chocolate bars, and this one does not disappoint with its rich creamy melt and sweet, almost heady vanilla aroma. Fruit and custard notes may bring trifle dessert to mind!
Ready to take your experience even further? Read our guide to pairing white chocolate and white wine.