What's a better alternative to Nestles Chocolate Morsels?

[no_hypocrisy]

They don't taste like chocolate at all.

[supernova]

1. Buy blocks of Callebaut or Valrhona

chocolate. You can take a chef's knife and shave/chop it yourself. Superior tasting chocolate because you can pick the % of cacao you want and no fillers like fake vanilla or wax.

Most upscale grocery stores have both brands.

http://www.worldwidechocolate.com/shop_callebaut.html

http://worldwidechocolate.com/shop_valrhona.html

Edit: There are a ton of other gourmet brands at that sight, but these two are widely available. There is also Guittard and Ghirardelli if you can find them.

[EFerrari]

2. Of the stuff in grocery stores, I switched to Ghirardelli bittersweet.

It doesn't cost an arm and it has better flavor.

[GoCubsGo]

8. I second that.

Another alternative, if you have a Kroger (or Fry's, King Sooper, Ralph's, etc.) nearby, is their Private Selection chocolate. It's made in Belgium, and even the low quality Belgian chocolates beat most American-made, mass-produced chocolates hands down. I have bought it in the past, and half the bag never made it into the cookies. :-)

Yes, I am a chocoholic.

Also, if you have an Aldi in town, their chocolates are excellent. I haven't used their baking chips, other than the unsweetened ones they sometimes get in, but they might be worth trying out, especially if they are imported like many of the bar chocolates. Their Choceur brand bar is inexpensive. A one pound bar is a buck and a half. Made in Germany, as good as Lindt, and better than that overrated Godiva stuff. Get a bar and chop it up, as suggested elsewhere in this thread.

[GoCubsGo]

9. One more suggestion.

Wilbur chocolate: http://www.wilburbuds.com/docs/category/Drops1.html

The link is for their cookie chips. I also highly recommend Wilbur Buds. Have one of those, and you'll never again want a Hershey Kiss. You have to mail-order, unless you live in PA. But, worth the effort to get them.

[TuxedoKat]

12. I think the quality

of Hershey's Kisses has gone down in recent years. The last few times I've bought them they haven't tasted good or like they used to years ago.

[EFerrari]

10. The three most amazing food experiences

I've ever had have been very simple ones. Pineapple in El Salvador, steak in the midwest and Belgian chocolate. The stuff around here is barely worth the trouble after having the real thing. lol

[Denninmi]

3. Buy your favorite brand of chocolate bar and crush it up.

Simple, easy.

[housewolf]

4. Here are the rankings for Cook's Illustrated's Taste Test - Dark Chocolate Chips

This particular tasting tested dark chocolate chips. There's another one for milk chocolate chips. I'm assuming you're looking for dark chocolate but if you want the rankings for milk choc, I can post those for you too.


H - Highly Recommend R - Recommend N - Not Recommended

Dark Chocolate Chips
H Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips (adult chocolate, lower sugar content = less sweet)

R Hershey's Special Dark Mildly Sweet Chocolate Chips (“simple yet strong cocoa flavor,” made w/ dutched cocoa)

R Guittard Real Semisweet Chocolate Chips (“smoky,” “complex” chip with cinnamon and caramel undertones, less chocolate flavor, more sweetness)

R Hershey's Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (good cocoa flavor but very sweet, insufficient chocolate flavor, “milky” flavor)

R Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chips (a bit too sweet," lacking the "strong chocolate flavor)

R(with Reservations) Baker's Real Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunks (coffee and cinnamon tones” also “off, coconut-like” more sweetness than chocolate flavor)

N Nestlé Toll House Real Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels (unpleasantly sweet, "fleeting" choc flavor like cheap Halloween candy, strong "fake" taste may be artificial vanilla)

N Nestlé Toll House Real Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunk Morsels (odd flavor, didn't melt enough)

[Lucinda]

5. I still like Nestles Special Dark if you are looking for chips

I also use the blocks for my truffles. It's good stuff.

[Lucinda]

6. And depending on what you are making with them...adding a little coffee

will enhance the chocolate flavor.

[Warpy]

7. Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips

They're not icky, sickly sweet, have a huge punch of chocolate flavor, and are made with real vanilla, not lice killer. Most health food stores stock them if the grocery doesn't.

[TreasonousBastard]

11. Nestle's SUCKS!! They changed their formula earlier this year and no one...

knows why they took the chocolate out.

Hershey's is still that same mediocre stuff it always was, but they are reliably mediocre.

Around here Ghiradelli is big in the supermarkets and when it goes on sale I stock up. They have several varieties so you can have even more fun.

In a pinch, I'll grab some decent candy bars and break them up. The big secret is that CVS, Walgreen's and other drug chains often have lots of really good Swiss chocolate bars on sale, and if you can get them home without gobbling them down on the way, they are great for baking.

Drug stores as a source for chocolate? Makes sense, doesn't it.