What Kind of Chocolate is Best for Chocolate Chip Cookies?

When it comes to chocolate chip cookies, we all know the most important ingredient is your choice of chip—that can literally make or break them. Because a chip’s meltability, shape, and how to it’s used all play an important role in the outcome. But before we get to some expert insights in this area, let’s start at the beginning with the back story of how chocolate chips came to be.

History of Chocolate Chip Cookies

According to Nestlé, these chocolate chip cookies were created at the Toll House restaurant in Whitman, Massachusetts in 1939. Operated by Ruth Wakefield, the addition of broken pieces of Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate into a batch of cookies she was making had an unexpected result. Instead of the chocolate melting—which was her original intention—the bits not only maintained their shape but also softened and revealed a delicate, creamy texture, one that we all know, love, and continue to strive for today.

Amy Guittard Courtesy of Guittard

Chips, Chunks, or Wafers?

While chocolate chips may be the most traditional choice, many recipes use other types of chocolate and debates rage on about which kind of chocolate is best. One person who has considered this question in depth is Amy Guittard. As the great-great-granddaughter of the founder of the Guittard Chocolate Company and the company’s marketing director, she’s been immersed in this industry all of her life. When asked about chips or chunks she adds yet another form factor, wafers. She explains, “In a chocolate ‘chip’ cookie, your chocolate serves two purposes: It contributes fat—a necessary cog in the wheel that makes all that kitchen science work—and it provides structure since the actual shape of the chocolate you use can help hold up (or flatten) a cookie.” She adds, “The main difference between chips, chunks, and wafers is the amount of cocoa butter. A baking chip generally has less cocoa butter than a wafer—that’s why it stands upright versus a wafer that’s a bit flatter. Chunks are often of the same family as wafers in that they contain a bit more cocoa butter.”

The amount of cocoa butter in a piece of chocolate determines how it melts, she adds, and making a cookie with a baking chip will yield a cookie that’s a bit higher (physically) because the chip serves as an architectural component holding the cookie dough upright without melting from the oven temperatures. “If you were to make that same cookie using a wafer or chopped baking bars,” she notes, “you would get a slightly flatter cookie as the wafers and chopped bars would melt quicker. Using wafers would also give you that puddly gooey goodness.”

Of course, when it comes to shapes, it’s not all about the classic drop shaped chips or jagged chunks these days. In fact, Dandelion Chocolate recently released a new chocolate chip faceted design proving that they can come in a range of sizes and forms. It all started in 2018, when the company’s Executive Pastry Chef Lisa Vega and founder Todd Masonis decided to develop the ideal chocolate chip tailored to their recipes. They selected product designer Remy Labesque to collaborate on the task, based on his love of craft chocolate and expertise in industrial design. Because Vega prefers larger chips for her “Maybe The Very Best Chocolate Chip Cookie” recipe to counterpoint the ratio of chocolate to sugar and fat, Labesque proposed a novel prototype that was square and faceted with the chip’s edges tapered to as thin as possible without compromising structure.

Experimentation Yields Success

As with anything baking-related, it’s a delicious process that’s all about expressing yourself and having fun with flavors—so it should be no different when it comes to chocolate chip cookies. “I always encourage experimentation. For fun, try making your favorite thick and crispy cookie—half with baking chips and half with wafers or chopped-up baking bars,” suggests Guittard. “Pick a chocolate around roughly the same cocoa percentages, so you’re only playing with one variable. Do a side-by-side comparison and experiment with how the different chocolate affects the shape, texture, and even delivery of flavor.” Having the knowledge to know what type of format and chocolate will yield what kind of cookie will open a world of options, she adds. “Maybe one day you’ll make a cookie with wafers, perhaps another you’ll want to make it with chips. It’s all about knowledge and the power of choice.”

Guittard Bittersweet Baking Wafers photo courtesy of Guittard

Mixing it Up

Chips, pistoles (another word for chocolate wafers), or both…oh my! Since there are several different ways to create chocolate chip cookies, it’s understandable if consumers may not be sure of which way to go—but it’s clear there are some significant differences between them. “Pistoles, or wafers, tend to have more fat in them. While the pieces might be larger than chips, they will yield an entirely different texture to the end product,” says Guittard. “Chocolate chips melt, but they hold their shape better than chocolate bars or wafers because chips have less cocoa butter. As such, one could argue that making a cookie with loads of chocolate chips not only delivers on nostalgia but also creates consistency—allowing for adding other inclusions with more predictability.” Using wafers just gives a different texture and eating experience, she adds, that’s neither good nor bad. It’s just a matter of preference and the desired end result. “If you’re looking for something different, try mixing chips with wafers or give our super cookie chips a try—sort of a chip/wafer combo that adds an element of mystique to a cookie.”

Guittard Super Cookie Chips photo courtesy of Guittard

Looks Matter Too

When it comes chocolate chips, there are several shapes to consider as well when you are preparing to make your perfect cookie. Whether it’s chip, chunk, or wafer/pistoles, the reasoning behind chef and consumer choices can depend on what their ultimate goal is. “I do think in the age of social media that how a cookie photographs plays a factor. Sometimes, wafers will get mixed into the dough as well as placed on top of it either pre-bake or mid-bake; the effect of this is puddles of chocolate resting on top and the satiating allure of how that chocolate cookie attracts consumers,” explains Guittard. “That said (and I would like to think) flavor always wins, so regardless of whether it looks good—how does it taste?” It’s a fine balance and one that must be left to the creator, she adds. There’s tremendous benefit in differentiation, but also in a pointed and purposeful direction. “Our pastry chefs have a recipe for chocolate chip cookies that are made with our organic wafers, but they’re baked in tart rings to maintain shape, create a nice crust, and still give those puddles of chocolate that comes from the higher cocoa butter content wafers.” Differentiation gives someone a reason to try something new, she concludes, yet at the same time, you can’t beat a great tasting chocolate “chip” cookie either—traditional or otherwise.

Ultimately the quality of the chocolate might just matter as much if not more than the shape of the chocolate. Both Guittard and Dandelion chocolate offer excellent products, not to mention recipes.