Homemade chocolate treats are so delicious! The easiest way to make chocolate treats yourself is melting some nice chocolate. You can drip strawberries in it, drizzle the chocolate on ice cream, or even make your own chocolate lace. Yum! What’s the best chocolate to use for melting?
Thinner or flakier chocolate is best for melting. A higher surface area to volume ratio makes chocolate melt faster. Some melting chocolate even has oil as an added ingredient. That keeps the melted chocolate liquid for longer. Depending on what you’re making, there are different types of chocolate available.
What Makes Good Melting Chocolate?
Imagine the texture of your favourite chocolate. It might be flaky and creamy. It might have a satisfying snap, or crumble in your hands. The texture of chocolate is one of its most important features. Some chocolate will liquefy nicely, but once it returns to solid form it will lose its texture. Some chocolate even gets dry and chalky, or worse, lumpy after melting and solidifying!
The best melting chocolate will be smooth when it hardens. It will be glossy and snap when you break it.
To achieve this, you need to be aware of two things. These are a lower melting temperature, and a higher percentage of cocoa butter. Melting chocolate at a low temperature allows you to smoothly and evenly melt the chocolate. Chocolate that is high in cocoa butter is also higher in fat, retaining its flavour - and of course flavour is the most important thing!
3 Tips for Melting Chocolate
- Avoid Overcooking - overheating your melting chocolate will burn it. Evenly melt the chocolate to ensure a smooth, delicious texture.
- Avoid Moisture - Adding liquids to thin out your melting chocolate can make it lumpy. Using oil or fat to thin out your chocolate as it melts will minimize this risk. Cocoa butter is best.
- Re-melt if you need to - don’t be afraid to let your chocolate melt again! If you do this right, you will make sure your melted chocolate is delicious. It’s not your job to ensure that it stays melted, but it is your job to make sure each melt is consistent.
The 10 Best Chocolates for Melting
| Rank | Name | Common Uses |
| 1 | Callebaut Belgian Dark Couverture Chocolate | Drizzling, cake pops, strawberry glazing, cake decorating, ganaches, mousses, biscuits, sauces, drinks |
| 2 | Nestle Toll House Milk Chocolate Morsels | Drizzling on cookies, brownies, or pancakes |
| 3 | Lily’s Dark Chocolate Chips | Drizzling and strawberry glazing |
| 4 | Wilton Chocolate Pro Melting Chocolate Wafers for Chocolate Fondue | Fondue |
| 5 | Ghirardelli Chocolate Dark Melting Wafers | Homemade candies and dipped treats |
| 6 | Merckens Milk Chocolate | Candy making |
| 7 | Ghiraridelli White Chocolate Baking Chips | Cookies, dipped treats and pancakes |
| 8 | Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Baking Chips | Candy coating and desserts |
| 9 | ChocoMaker Chocolate Dipping Candy | Chocolate fondue, candy making and delicious desserts |
| 10 | Dolci Frutta Hard Chocolate Shell | Dipping |
1. Callebaut Belgian Dark Couverture Chocolate
This chocolate, like all couverture chocolate, has a higher percentage of cocoa butter compared to its competitors. This provides an even melt without compromising on flavor. You’ll see couverture chocolate in professional patisseries and kitchens for this reason. The pros know that Belgian chocolate is among the best in the world.
Best Features:Maintains a creamy texture even after melting. Glossy finish and satisfying snap when broken. Less bitter than other dark chocolates.
Biggest Drawback:Unless you live in Belgium, this chocolate will be imported. That makes it more expensive than domestic options.
2. Nestle Toll House Milk Chocolate Morsels
These chocolate chips might be designed to make delicious cookies at home, but they can do so much more! Once they’re melted, they stay melted long enough for even the most meticulous drizzler.
Best Features: These chocolate chips provide the best drizzle. They melt quickly, and at a very low temperature, stay liquid for longer than almost any other chocolate. They even liquefy a little if you’re making chocolate chip cookies. Delicious!
Biggest Drawbacks: If you live in a hotter climate, they might melt in your car on the way home from the store. The low melting temperature might be convenient, but it could get messy.
3. Lily’s Dark Chocolate Chips
No added sugar. Packed with antioxidants. Lily’s chocolate chips are made with stevia to sweeten them up without adding calories.
Best Features: The best sweet for health-conscious chocolate lovers. It’s even approved for the Keto diet and is 100% gluten free!
Biggest Drawback: Stevia has a distinctive aftertaste. Not everybody loves the flavor of stevia.
4. Wilton Chocolate Pro Melting Chocolate Wafers for Chocolate Fondue
Wilton’s wafers are small, thin, and melt in only seconds. They require no additional oil at all! They’re made for use with a fountain, but you can use them in bowls or as a topping for ice cream as well.
Best Features: Full of flavor and specifically designed for use with a fountain. Perfect for dipping strawberries, marshmallows, or whatever treat you desire.
Biggest Drawbacks: Not as great for drizzling or intricate chocolate designs as for dipping.
5. Ghirardelli Chocolate Dark Melting Wafers
This is the first dark chocolate, rather than milk chocolate, on our list. These wafers will stay melted for long bouts of dipping, latticing, or for delicate foods like cake pops.
Best Features: They melt in under a minute, depending on your microwave. Optimal for dipping if you don’t want a hard shell on your dipping treat. No need for tempering to keep the chocolate melted!
Biggest Drawback: Slightly oilier than other chocolates, which can affect the taste. If you have a very sensitive palate you might just want to buy normal dark chocolate and add oil to your own specifications.
6. Merckens Milk Chocolate
Merckens Milk Chocolate Wafers are designed for making candy. If you have molds handy and want to make your own candies, these are perfect for you! These thin wafers will melt in the blink of an eye.
Best Features: High cocoa butter content means they melt quickly and retain a sweet, creamy flavor. You won’t need to temper them, either. They melt at a low temperature and require minimal interference.
Biggest Drawback: This chocolate is not the Ferarri of the chocolate world. It’s like a reliable old station wagon. It will do the job with no fuss, but it is not a premium experience. It doesn’t have the premium chocolate experience of Callebaut or Ghiraridelli.
7. Ghiraridelli White Chocolate Baking Chips
Ghiraridelli makes their white chocolate with just a hint of vanilla. These chips are sweet, creamy, and aromatic.
Best Features: White chocolate isn’t always easy to melt, and these chips provide by far the best melted white chocolate. They melt smoothly and the smell of vanilla-laced chocolate will have your mouth watering!
Biggest Drawback: Ghiraridelli uses no cocoa butter to make this white chocolate. These are made with milk, oil, sugar, and vanilla, so technically it isn’t chocolate. People who care a lot about semantics might not like this.
8.Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Baking Chips
Hershey’s is one of the United States’ biggest chocolate brands. The name is synonymous with chocolate, so you can expect to trust their products. While Hershey’s is better known for candy bars, their melting chocolate lives up to expectations.
Best Features: The chips melt smoothly and quickly. They are perfect for a candy coating. These chips are very sweet and you can use them for any kind of baking.
Biggest Drawback: While these chips taste close to Hershey’s candy bars, they are subtly different. If you’re used to Hershey’s tasting a certain way you might prefer the candies to these chips.
9. ChocoMaker Chocolate Dipping Candy
This chocolate is specifically made for fondue fountains. Talk about fancy! This chocolate is best suited for dipping and complementing the flavor of the treat being dipped.
Best Features: Easily microwavable. Perfect for fondue. Very smooth, even melt, so there’s no need for oil or added fats.
Biggest Drawback: This chocolate is designed to stay in its liquid form for longer than others. To achieve this it has a higher oil content, which can dilute its flavor somewhat.
10.Dolci Frutta Hard Chocolate Shell
These melting wafers are neatly packaged in a microwave-safe shell. Full marks for convenience and eliminating pesky cleanup time!
Best Features: These chocolates are perfect for dipping fruits or pretzels. The containers make cleaning up super easy. These also dry nice and quickly, giving your dips a nice chocolate shell.
Biggest Drawback: Microwaves do vary in power and heat so the package instructions might not suit your kitchen. When using them for the first time, heat the chocolate for less time than suggested. That will prevent you from burning, rather than melting, your chocolate.
Need To Know Information about Melting Chocolate:
Melting Chocolate Substitutes
If you have allergies, or you just plain don’t like chocolate, you might want an alternative. Candy melts are a popular option. Wilton makes Candy melts which have no cocoa butter! They’re still made with milk products so they aren’t appropriate for vegans.
How Long Does Chocolate Take to Harden?
This depends on the type of chocolate you’re melting. Chocolate with higher fat or oil content will take longer to solidify than chocolate without. The Dolci Frutta, for example, is designed to harden quickly, but the Nestle Toll House Milk Chocolate Morsels take much longer. Placing your melted chocolate in the fridge or freezer is one way to speed up the hardening process.
How Do I Keep My Chocolate Melted?
Chocolate with higher oil content will harden more slowly than chocolate without. Avoid keeping your chocolate hot, as you can burn it this way. You are much better off to simply reheat and remelt it once it starts to solidify.
When Does Chocolate Melt?
Chocolate melts at a surprisingly low temperature! In fact, its melting point is below ordinary human body temperature. That’s why many candy bars have a sugar coating.
Chocolate normally melts between 86 and 90 degrees Farenheit. Of course, some chocolate will have a lower melting point. Melting chocolate melts at a lower temperature, for example. Chocolate chips (or even chocolate broken up with a hammer) will melt faster than a solid block of chocolate, too.
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