Tips for Baking with Chocolate (Plus a Delicious Brownie Recipe!)

Don’t let all the cocoa percentages and varieties of chocolates in the baking aisle confuse you! Join pastry chef Colette Christian in this lesson to gain the confidence you need to choose the right chocolate for your next baked creation. Colette provides valuable insight into how chocolate is produced and what each percentage means. She briefly discusses extra ingredients like sugar, milk solids, oils, vanilla, and flavorings and why they are added to chocolate. Included is a side-by-side comparison of dark, semi-sweet, milk, white, and even chocolate chips.

Then, Colette shares two methods to gently melting chocolate, all while protecting it from its two enemies, water and heat. Finally, she whips up a dense, fudgy brownie in just one bowl. Don’t miss Colette’s tips and tricks on mixing an even batter, easily removing brownies and bars from pans, eliminating excess air bubbles in batter, and testing for doneness. Once you have mastered this classic recipe, make it your own by adding nuts, chocolate chips, and other spices!

For more tips on better baking, check out Colette’s video on using nuts, spices & salt.