What Is The Best Baking Chocolate? (Slideshow)

Callebaut Chocolate

Callebaut chocolate came in seventh place. The chocolate provided a cake-like brownie that was a little on the dry side, with a slightly blander chocolate flavor and a lighter color. 

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Valrhona Chocolate

Valrhona chocolate came in sixth place and yielded a very cakey brownie, and although the chocolate flavor was better than Baker's, the brownie was much drier and therefore not as good. Valrhona isn't available in most mainstream grocery stores; it had to be purchased from specialty shops (that buy chocolate in bulk, then portion them for purchase) or found online. It's also the most expensive of all the chocolate.

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Baker’s Chocolate

Baker's chocolate provided a cakeier brownie, but one that was also a bit dry. The brownies made with Baker's were lighter in color than the others, and lacked visual appeal. Baker's came in fifth place.

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Nestlé Chocolate

Surprisingly, the Nestlé pre-melted chocolate yielded a perfectly fudgy brownie, with a decent chocolate flavor. Nestlé pre-melted baking chocolate is one of the most basic baking chocolates available and can be found in most grocery stores in America. (Note: the Nestlé chocolate has some oils in it — coconut and soybean — that keep it in liquid form.) Nestlé came in fourth place.

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Scharffen Berger Chocolate

In third came Scharffen Berger. The brownies were a little less fudgy and lighter in color, but they had a distinct flavor — an almost nutty, very dark chocolate taste. Scharffen Berger is one of the hardest mainstream brands of baking chocolate to find, as it's sold only in gourmet grocery stores and online.

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Ghirardelli Chocolate

Ghirardelli came in second place, creating a very chocolaty and fudgy brownie. However, the flavor was slightly too dark and the texture slightly too dense to take the top spot.

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Lindt Chocolate

In first place is Lindt, which won by a long shot. This brownie was intensely chocolaty but had a well-balanced, not-too-dark flavor. It also had a fudgy texture, without being overly dense. It also had the nicest looking crumb and color, just how a perfect brownie should be.

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