Of Chocolate and Vegans

For people who need a health-based justification to indulge, studies show that dark chocolate is a great source of flavonoids, which are antioxidants that help increase heart health. As a naturally vegan ingredient, adding milk to chocolate is just not necessary.

While chocolate chips should be assumed to not be vegan due to their milk content, there are many vegan chocolate chip brands that do create a vegan-friendly treat to be enjoyed by all. 

Some brands make dairy-free chocolate chips purely by chance, while others go out of their way to market towards this demographic. Whatever the reasons the company has, it’s important to remember that dark chocolate is what will be vegan, while milk chocolate is not. You’ll want to keep your eyes peeled for anything that is derived from milk, such as casein, whey, milk solids, and milk fat.

Sometime between the vegan cookie sampling and the hot chocolate taste-tests we took the plunge for science and tried a bunch of vegan chocolate chip brands when we came up with this list of 6 vegan chocolate chip brands that are not only cruelty-free but also undoubtedly delicious.

The Best Vegan Chocolate Chips

1. Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips chocolate chips are not only vegan, but also gluten, nut, and soy free. They are also verified as non-GMO and Paleo friendly. Enjoy Life Foods presents the best of both worlds with all of its products being free from the top 8 allergens without compromising on flavor.

What’s In These Chips?

Ingredients in these chocolate chips include:

• evaporated cane juice
• non-dairy cocoa butter
• non-alcoholic natural chocolate liquor

One tablespoon of these chocolate chips contains 7 grams of sugar.

Many people report that they love these chocolate chips even if they do not maintain a vegan diet. They are delicious while containing less sugar than other chocolate chips, making people feel a bit less guilty for enjoying them. These are one of the best vegan chocolate chips and have become extremely popular in recent years.

2. Dark Chocolate Chips (68% Cacao) by Gerbs

These dark chocolate chips are in line with the company’s pledge to never include trans-fats, chemicals, preservatives, GMO’s, or artificial ingredients n its products. The philosophy of Gerbs is that food should be eaten the way it was intended, which is made from scratch to benefit our health while tasting great.

These chocolate chips are produced in 100% dedicated packaging equipment so there is no chance for cross-contamination of any kind.

What’s In These Chips?

The ingredients in these chocolate chips include:

• organic sugar
• non-dairy cocoa butter
• unsweetened chocolate

Plus get this: each tablespoon of these chocolate chips contains 6 grams of sugar. One thing that people really appreciate about this product is that it contains very few ingredients, yet still tastes great.

3. Lily’s Dark Chocolate Chips

Lily’s dark chocolate chips use Stevia as a sweetener, which means that calorie count is dramatically lower than what you find with other chocolate chips.

What’s In These Chips?

The ingredients in these chocolate chips are:

• unsweetened chocolate
• erythritol
• non-dairy cocoa butter
• inulin
• natural vanilla
• soy lecithin
• stevia extract

While these are not as natural as some of the other vegan chocolate chips on the market, they are perfect for people who are trying to watch their sugar intake. You can throw these chips into your favorite baking recipes or just munch on them as a sweet treat throughout the day. According to the raving reviews, the chips have great texture and are well worth the higher price tag.

4. Guittard Chocolate Baking Chips

This is Guitard’s classic version of the chocolate chip that has a semi-sweet chocolate flavor with a few hints of vanilla. Guittard uses sunflower lecithin as an emulsifier when making their chocolate chips.

This helps to create their smooth consistency. Often, lecithin is made from animal products, so the fact that sunflower lecithin is used in these chocolate chips makes it a great dairy-free option. This brand is affordable and accessible, as it can be found in most grocery stores.

5. SunSpire Carob Chips

SunSpire carob chips are all natural, containing no artificial flavors, colors or preservatives. They are no hydrogenated oils in these chips and the company supports sustainable, chemical-free agriculture.

To make these chocolate chips, sun-drenched Mediterranean carob is mixed together with Sunspire’s signature malted grain sweetener and some palm kernel oil to help the chips maintain their shape.

These chocolate chips go down smooth and are easy to use in any recipe that calls for chocolate chips. The ingredients in these chips are malted corn and barley, carob powder, palm kernel oil, and soy lecithin. They are manufactured in a factory that does use milk in some of their other products, so cross contamination is a minor possibility.

Non-Vegan Brands of Chocolate Chips

• Nestle Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
• Hershey’s Chocolate Chips
• Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
• See’s Candies baking chips
• 365 Everyday Value Chocolate Chips and Chunks

Do you have a favorite chocolate chip that is vegan-friendly but not listed here? Share so other people can enjoy your favorite sweet treat without having to search through lists of ingredients. Also, remember that some companies offer a vegan option of their traditional chocolate chip (such as 365 Everyday Value) so if you know that you love a certain brand, but want to eat vegan, you may still have that option.

Are you just not in the mood for baking? These 7 mouthwatering vegan cookie brands will save you time without any compromise on the taste.