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How to Substitute Chocolates

Chocolate is a finicky ingredient, so it's always best to use the type called for in a recipe. But in a pinch, here's how to substitute these common kinds.

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Unsweetened Chocolate Substitutions

Use the following substitutions in recipes that call for small quantities of chocolate or to replace the unsweetened chocolate in a recipe that calls for both unsweetened and bittersweet or semisweet chocolate.

To replace 1 ounce unsweetened chocolate:

• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder + 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

• 1 1/2 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (remove 1 tablespoon sugar from recipe)

Caution: If making chocolate cake, brownies, or any other intensely chocolate-flavored baked good, do not replace all of the chocolate with cocoa powder; it will have a drastic effect on the texture.

Bittersweet or Semisweet Chocolate Substitutions

These are pure chocolates to which sugar, vanilla, and emulsifiers have been added. The terms themselves are not surefire indicators of relative sweetness. They can be freely interchanged in most recipes, but expect variations in flavor.

To replace 1 ounce bittersweet/semisweet chocolate:

• 2/3 ounce unsweetened chocolate + 2 teaspoons sugar

Caution: Unsweetened chocolate is starchier than sweetened chocolate, so while the above substitution will work well with fudgy brownies, it could wreak havoc on a delicate custard or an airy cake.

Dark Chocolate Chip Substitutions

These morsels of sweetened chocolate have added stabilizers to help them hold their shape when baked into cookies. As a result, we don't recommend using them in chocolate sauces or puddings, but they do produce acceptable results when substituted for bittersweet or semisweet chocolate in a simple brownie recipe.

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