The new chocolate I found at TJ’s is my newest foodie product score.
If I have no other great food discoveries in 2012, I can rest happily for the rest of the year with this find because this stuff is good. Very good.
I made something with it and realized that it melts so smoothly, so evenly, so perfectly.
Sometimes you really have to “finesse” chocolate chips in order to get them to melt and really work at it, and some brands require more finesse and encouragement than others.
That’s because chocolate chips have stabilizers in them so that when you put chocolate chips in say, a batch of cookies and bake them at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, that you don’t end up with a pile of chocolate soup all over your cookies. The stabilizers keep the chips intact; the chips melt and soften but do not liquify, which is good in cookies.
But not so good when you’re melting chocolate to make say, a homemade peanut butter cup, and you want liquified chocolate and have to keep re-heating it, stirring, repeating to get proper meltage going.
Enter the new chocolate.
It melts so easily and it’s as smooth as buttah.
I literally put a slab in a bowl, powered the microwave on, and in 40 seconds the slab had nearly melted on it’s own, no finessing necessary.
I barely touched it with a spoon and it was like a house of cards that fell apart by liquifying with great ease. It was chocolate magic.
And the flavor is rich and creamy, just like the lady told me it was.
I will never go back to other brands, i.e. Bakers, if I can help it and this is a reminder for me to stop struggling with trying to melt chocolate chips when I can just melt a few squares from a PoundPlus bar.
There may be more Pretzel Peanut Caramel Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Truffles in my future sooner rather than later now that melting chocolate just got easier.
Or more Butterfinger Bars (No Bake, 3 ingredients, Microwave with Vegan & GF options)
And maybe I’ll whip up a batch of Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge (Microwave, 3 ingredients) with it…
Or some homemade Turtles
And I made something else with it. Recipe coming soon.
Moving onto the winners of the NuNaturals Giveaway:
Rebecca @ Naturally Healthy and Gorgeous
Questions:
Do you ever struggle with melting chocolate?
Do you have a favorite brand of chocolate chips or chocolate bars?
I am partial to the TJ’s semi sweet chocolate chips.
I feel the flavor is much richer, deeper, and smoother overall compared to Nestle chocolate chips.
I rarely buy Ghirardelli or Scharffen Berger because they’re much more expensive. I have, however, heard rumors that Trader Joe’s own chocolate, both their chips and their bars, is Scharffen Berger in disguise, re-labeled according. I have no idea if this is true but I have read it multiple times over the years.
And sorry to those of you who don’t have a TJ’s nearby can can’t race out to buy a PoundPlus bar.
Do you have any cookie or baking tasks you struggle with?
Anything that has to do with a candy thermometer, I fail at. I make glue rather than candy with them.
Any fun food finds of 2012 yet? Or in 2011?
P.S. I have all my chocolate recipes compiled, with photos and links of all them, here
Enjoy your weekend!
Wowzers! I’m in love!
YES! I love that chocolate. I bought so much of it for the holidays because I made three different kinds of chocolate bark! Great price, great quality.
I FAIL at things with the candy thermometer. It took me FOUR TRIES to make caramel!
Girl I won’t even make caramels anymore. Have ruined far too much good sugar, butter, and cream to attempt it yet my mother is a pro at them. But me…no.
I hate when melted chocolate turns all gritty. I’ll have to try TJ brand.
This doesn’t do that, at all.
Hi Averie! I am going to pick up some of that chocolate this week! It has always caught my eye! I have the Wilton Chocolate Melting Pot and it is perfect for melting chocolate. We make buckeyes every year and it is such a time saver! You would love it :)
I’ve thought about getting one of those things but I don’t make enough truffles to justify it..or I am purposefully telling myself, I don’t need it! :)
that is the best chocolate from TJ’s!! i always melt it with a touch of coconut oil, never really do the double boiler thing, just keep it on super low heat to not burn. have a great weekend averie :)
Glad you hear you like it, too!
i got that chocolate in my stockin this xmas and it was amazinggg!!
Now I’m going to start petitioning Trader Joe’s to please come to my very small hometown. Just for the chocolate! :)
These all look fabulous!
Thanks, Robyn, and yes…petition them! :)
I think I’m going to try your butter finger bars in my mini muffin tin tonight. :)
Well if you do, LMK how it goes!
Your posts always make me wish we had a Trader Joe’s nearby :-)
I think i would give a kidney to have some of your Pretzel Peanut Caramel Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Truffles shipped to my house haha.
I alwaysss seem to burn chocolate when I go to melt it. I’ll keep that in mind about the stabilizers and look for one without next time. My favorite bars are lindt dark with sea salt.
bars, not chips…and you’ll have much better success.
I always melt bars of chocolate rather than chocolate chips – I think the chocolate in chocolate chips can sometimes taste a bit artificial and I much prefer the real thing. Can’t wait to see what you come up with with your new chocolate!
Oh girl – I totally screw up melting chocolate. Turned white chocolate into almost brownies trying to melt it just last week.
white chocolate is the worst…a few seconds too long and it can scorch in a heartbeat!
That’s good to know. I usually avoid recipes calling for melted chocolate because I don’t enjoy wrestlling with it.
On my list for my next TJ trip. Hershey’s special dark is horrendous to melt, it clumps together and then turns into a solid chocolate frosting! Love the taste (and the price, usually my other choices are ghiradelli, which is costly, or the store brand at my local super, which is poor quality) but hate the work involved, so thanks for the suggestion!
Yes I know what you mean. That chocolate lump that just does not ever melt or come together.
Oooh my goodness!! I am drooling over here…please send some my way!