Chocolate Substitutions

I have been busy cooking all kinds of sweet nothings, most of those sweets being of a chocolate flavor. I read somewhere that eating one piece of dark chocolate every few days brings a host of health benefits.  Unfortunately, it is physically impossible for me to eat only ONE piece of chocolate in a day. The amount of dark chocolate I would inhale (and the subsequent calories and fat from that chocolate) would totally outweigh any small health benefit I could gain from it.

Regardless, I have been cooking all things chocolaty. I was snooping around the Hershey's Chocolate website because Hershey's and chocolate go hand in hand. They had this handy, nifty, "wow this is helpful" chart of chocolate substitutions. 

As in, you are needing Sweet Baking Chocolate to make your favorite recipe only to find out that you don't have it in your cupboard and it's midnight and the kids in your daughter's kindergarten class MUST. HAVE. their chocolate dessert for the holiday party.

Ahem.

I think that happened to someone else.  I am sure of it.

So, if find yourself in a bind, where you have cocoa on hand (a staple in my pantry), but don't have a particular chocolate ingredient necessary for a recipe, this chart will show you how to make a cocoa substitution.

Those Hershey's folks are S-M-A-R-T.

HERSHEY'S Cocoa

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Substitutions
HERSHEY'S Cocoa can be used as an easy substitute for most forms of baking chocolate and even baking chips called for in recipes. Use the following chart as a guideline for your needs:

Product	Cocoa	Shortening	Sugar	Amount
Unsweetened Baking Chocolate	3 Tbsp.	1 Tbsp.		Equals 1 oz. Scale up accordingly.
Pre-melted Unsweetened Baking Chocolate	3 Tbsp.	1 Tbsp.		Equals 1 envelope
Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate	6 Tbsp.	1/4 cup	7 Tbsp.	Equals 6 oz. Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate or 1 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
Sweet Baking Chocolate	3 Tbsp.	2-2/3 Tbsp.	4-1/2 Tbsp.	Equals 4 oz bar

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Storage
HERSHEY'S Cocoa keeps very well when stored at room temperature in the original container. It retains its freshness and quality without refrigeration.

When storing HERSHEY'S Cocoa, avoid contact with moisture and/or high heat. Both can cause clumping and gray discoloration, although neither affect cocoa flavor or quality.

For additional baking tips from Hershey, click here.

When Lisa isn't busy caring for her three young children, she can be found at her personal blog Growing Up Mo' or journaling about her weight loss journey at The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans.