When it comes to vegan chocolate chips, not all are created equal. There's a big difference between vegan chocolate and carob, namely the flavor. Cocoa and carob are also completely different things that come from different plants, but while carob has often been substituted into vegan recipes in place of traditional chocolate, some food brands have come up with vegan chocolate to use instead. One company, Enjoy Life, created a gluten-free, dairy-free vegan chocolate baking chip that is my go-to any time I bake . . . and my go-to snack, if I'm being honest.
To help guide you in your vegan baking, or just your gluten-free and/or dairy-free adventures, I tested out five vegan chocolate chips I found at my local Whole Foods to see how they bake into cookies. (Spoiler alert: I didn't use a vegan recipe, but it is gluten- and dairy-free [1].)
Some of the chocolate chips definitely performed better than others, and some definitely taste better. Ahead, find my definitive ranking of exactly which ones I think you should use and which ones you should skip.
Sunspire Vegan Carob Chips
How they taste: These have a very strong carob flavor that somehow got stronger after being baked. These chips might work better in a cookie recipe that has more flavor in the base.
How they bake: The Sunspire chips melted into goo when baked. There was no semblance of a chip shape by the time they came out of the oven, which also resulted in the cookies sticking to the pan.
How much they cost: $6 for 10 ounces
Lily's Dark Chocolate Chips
How they taste: These have no sugar added, which is obvious, in that they're pretty bitter. They're hard to eat on their own, unless you really love dark chocolate.
How they bake: These chips melted slightly when baked and definitely still maintained their bitter flavor. In a supersweet cookie base, these might work better.
How much they cost: $7 for 10 ounces
Chatfield's Carob Chips
How they taste: For being carob chips, these were surprisingly creamy and had a very subtle carob flavor.
How they bake: These didn't melt in the slightest. The carob flavor also got stronger after being baked.
How much they cost: $7 for 10 ounces
Chocolate Dream
How they taste: The Chocolate Dream chips taste just like conventional chocolate chips. They're creamy and have no weird aftertaste. They also taste just as creamy after being baked.
How they bake: These chips didn't melt at all. They completely held their shape and stayed a bit hard.
How much they cost: $6 for 10 ounces
Enjoy Life Morsels
How they taste: Enjoy Life's gluten-free, dairy-free chocolates are my favorite to use. They taste exactly like conventional chocolate chips and have no weird aftertaste.
How they bake: These dark chocolate morsels melted just ever so slightly — in the perfect way — in my cookies. They still held their shape but became gooey. The chocolate also stayed soft as the cookies cooled.
How much they cost: $6 for 10 ounces