The Complete Handbook of Baking Chips

Chapter 1: Understanding Baking Chips

A baking chip is a small, shaped piece of a fat-based, flavored mixture, engineered to hold its shape during transport and at room temperature, but to soften or melt when exposed to the heat of an oven. That is the simplest definition that covers the range of products on the market, from a standard semi-sweet chocolate drop to a white chip made with palm kernel oil. The key word is "engineered." A chip is not just a chunk of chocolate that got cut into a small piece. It is a manufactured item with specific performance characteristics designed into it, primarily through the selection of fats and the control of particle size.

To understand what a chip is, you have to separate it from its close relatives: a chocolate bar, a cocoa nib, or a chunk. A bar is designed to be broken or bitten and to melt slowly on the tongue. A nib is a piece of roasted cocoa bean and is mostly fiber and cocoa solids. A chunk is usually an irregular piece cut from a larger block of chocolate. A chip, in contrast, is a uniform, three-dimensional shape, often a teardrop or a flat disc, with a surface area that has been optimized to mix into a dough or batter without breaking down, and to soften in a controlled way during baking. The uniformity is what makes it a chip; it sizes consistently, flows easily for automated dispensing, and melts at a predictable