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Best Gluten-free Chocolate & Baking Cocoa

This post contains affiliate links. See my disclosure for more information.

February 1, 2013 by Michelle Palin ~ My Gluten-free Kitchen 15 Comments

Thanks for sharing!

Occasionally, I will share a favorite item from my gluten-free kitchen: a book, cookbook, gluten-free food or kitchen gadget or a roundup of favorite things from around the web. Hopefully you’ll find some new favorites to add to your gluten-free kitchen! While they may contain affiliate links, all Favorites posts reflect my own opinion and are not sponsored by any individual or company.

I’ve decided February is going to be Chocolate Month here on My Gluten-free Kitchen.  I have a bunch of chocolate recipes lined up to share with you.  I might sneak a few healthy dinner/side dish recipes in there, but all of the desserts I will post this month will have chocolate in them. I can’t wait to share with you my favorite cake, cream puffs, flour-less cake, amazing brownies, and decadent triple chocolate cookies!

To start off Chocolate Month, I thought I’d share with you what I think are the best gluten-free chocolate & cocoa products. These products are the best I’ve found. I know there are others out there, and I haven’t tried them all as some of them are way expensive.

Best Gluten-free Chocolate & Cocoa for Baking

Here’s a rundown on my favorites, all pictured above:

Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips or Chunks:

  • Ambrosia – The only place I’ve found these is in a huge black/red bag at Costco but unfortunately, they’ve informed me that they aren’t carrying these anymore because they’ve started carrying their own brand (Kirkland) of organic semi-sweet chocolate chips.  Unfortunately for us sensitive folks, the Kirkland brand is manufactured on shared equipment with wheat, so that brand is a no-go.  If you can still find the Ambrosia brand at your Costco, snatch it up! I’m going to look into seeing if I can buy this from another source. I had previously verified with the company that makes these and was assured they had no products with gluten in them, and no risk for cross-contamination because of this.
  • Guittard – I’ve always used this brand’s butterscotch chips, and have now started buying their semi-sweet chips.  They are affordable, yummy, and clearly marked to show they are made in a dedicated gluten-free and nut-free facility!
  • Callebaut Chocolate Chunks & Swirled Semi-Sweet/White Chocolate Chips– I bought these in bulk and store these in the bins you see pictured above.  The ingredients are gluten-free but I haven’t been able to find much online to confirm any manufacturing processes with these.  The place I bought them from, the GYGI store in Salt Lake City, gets them in bulk and repackages them but assured me they are careful and shouldn’t be at risk of contact with gluten.  I took a chance on these, and have liked these products and have had no problems with them.  Again, you’ll have to weigh the risk if you are sensitive.
  • Hershey’s Chocolate Chips – I don’t have any of these on hand as I don’t prefer the taste of these semi-sweet chips, but you can see that according to their allergen statement, these are gluten-free.
  • Nestle Chocolate Chips – I don’t have any of these on hand as I don’t prefer the taste of these semi-sweet chips, but their ingredients list is gluten-free. I can’t find any information online regarding their manufacturing processes so I do not know what the risk of cross-contamination is with this product.
  • Ghirardelli – I can no longer recommend any Ghirardelli products. They have changed their manufacturing facilities and now the majority of their products bear a “May contain wheat” warning.

White Chocolate – one important note about white chocolate.  Most of the products out there are “white chips” but do not actually have any cocoa butter in them so they aren’t truly white chocolate. In fact, they usually have partially hydrogenated oil, which I try to stay away from.  I prefer these brands because they are truly white chocolate:

  • Bakers White Chocolate Squares – These work great and they are gluten-free though I cannot find any info on manufacturing processes so I do not know what the risk of cross-contamination is with this product. I can only say that I have not had any problems with using these.
  • Ghirardelli white chocolate bar- I can no longer recommend any Ghirardelli products. They have changed their manufacturing facilities and now the majority of their products bear a “May contain wheat” warning.
  • Don’t recommend: Lindt, according to their here, and here, it sounds like lots of potential for cross-contamination and they don’t recommend them for those sensitive to gluten.

Unsweetened Chocolate:

  • Baker’s Unsweetened Chocolate Squares– I always stick with these and they work out great!

Cocoa Powder:

  • Saco Premium Cocoa – blend of natural & dutched cocoa – this is my go-to brand. It is inexpensive, and I feel like the blend of both kinds of cocoa gives me great results. Their gluten-free info is found here.
  • Hershey’s Cocoa Special Dark – When I want that deep, dark chocolate color for my baked goods, I will usually use half of this dark cocoa, and half of the Saco. This cocoa is listed on their gluten-free list.
  • Callebaut Royal Dutch Cocoa Powder – I’ve just recently started using this powder and have been impressed with the quality/taste.
  • Ghirardelli – I can no longer recommend any Ghirardelli products. They have changed their manufacturing facilities and now the majority of their products bear a “May contain wheat” warning.

I hope this helps you stock some great chocolate products in your pantry so you’ll be ready for making many delicious chocolate desserts!

Related posts:

Favorite website: Gluten-free Drugs
Back to School Edition Gluten-free Lunch and Snack Ideas
May 2014 Favorites

Thanks for sharing!

Filed Under: Favorites Tagged With: chocolate, ingredients

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Comments

  1. Kinga says

    November 14, 2013 at 5:38 pm

    Hi,
    I am wondering if you know if Callebaut chocolate in general is gluten-free? I purchase large slabs of this chocolate in bulk and have no ingredients list.

    Reply
  2. Debra says

    December 13, 2013 at 10:44 am

    Hi there! I am so happy to see this even though it was posted a while ago. I am confused about Ghirardelli – most things on the list are produced in a facility that also processes gluten-containing items or uses shared equipment with gluten items. How can we consider this to be “gluten free” in this case? Thank you.

    Reply
    • Michelle Palin ~ My Gluten-free Kitchen says

      April 30, 2014 at 11:54 am

      Debra, I no longer recommend Ghirardelli products since they changed their manufacturing earlier this year. I don’t use any of their products anymore. I’ve contacted them and expressed my frustration with their change. Hopefully someday they’ll reconsider!

      Reply
    • Ellen says

      June 23, 2016 at 7:07 pm

      I just spoke with a customer representative at headquarters. He said that Ghirardelli has not tested their chocolate products to see if they comply with the requirements to be considered gluten free. He said their products cannot be consideredGF as it stands.

      Reply
  3. Beth says

    April 30, 2014 at 11:04 am

    Hi!

    I just wanted to let you know that Ghiradelli just confirmed that none of their products are gluten free. When you call them, they say that they can’t vouch for any of their products…. sorry!

    Reply
    • Michelle Palin ~ My Gluten-free Kitchen says

      April 30, 2014 at 12:05 pm

      Beth,
      Thanks so much for your comment. I stopped using Ghirardelli products some months ago after they changed their manufacturing processes. I completely forgot to come on here and update this post until I got your comment today. So thank you! I’ve updated the post now as I don’t want anyone to think those products are safe!

      Reply
  4. mindy says

    July 2, 2014 at 7:25 pm

    Enjoy Life is all alergen free (yay, no dairy! )

    Reply
  5. Mike says

    July 28, 2014 at 5:16 pm

    I’ve used the Hersey’s Special Dark on several occasions and noticed a reaction similar to gluten. I was using it with coffee for a while and wondered what was causing, as soon as I dropped the Hersey’s, no reaction.

    It’s possible there is something else my body reacts to and was in it, but for the life of me I have no idea what.

    They also have an organic version out that didn’t use an alkali process for the chocolate and I had a reaction to that as well.

    Reply
    • Michelle Palin ~ My Gluten-free Kitchen says

      July 30, 2014 at 7:46 pm

      Mike,
      I really appreciate you commenting about that. Definitely listen to your body about this one, for sure! I’ll definitely watch this product as well.

      Reply
  6. Harmony says

    August 16, 2014 at 2:23 am

    HI. I need the name of a gluten-free bittersweet chocolate. Any suggestions??

    Thanks 🙂

    Reply
    • Leslie Shockley says

      December 15, 2017 at 9:57 am

      Don’t be afraid of the dark. It’s a dark chocolate from Belgium. It’s soooo good.

      Reply
  7. shabnam merchant says

    October 7, 2014 at 9:06 am

    Thanks for alerting us to this info. My 5 year old has celiac.
    I just went out an bought a bunch of Guittard chips and am getting rid of all my Ghirardelli products, and wrote to both companies.
    Scharfen Berger seems to be a good bet – their website lists various products as gf. Have emailed them to confirm.

    Reply
  8. Lyn says

    October 31, 2014 at 3:03 pm

    The Ambrosia chips are still available at the “business/restaurant” Costco in Lynwood, WA. This is the version of Costco that carries bulk food service items. They may be available at a Costco that is within your reach, maybe not. It might be worth calling around to each Costco to find out. You do have to call each Costco, as they do not necessarily know what other stores stock.

    Reply
  9. Elaine says

    November 24, 2014 at 1:56 pm

    Are these recommended gluten free oats dairy free?

    Reply
  10. Sarah Raber says

    July 9, 2015 at 5:04 pm

    Large 10 lb. slabs (or less) of Ambrosia Chocolate can be purchased from Walnut Creek Cheese in Walnut Creek OH. I consider it to be one of THE BEST chocolates for making candy in particular!
    Thank you for all the helpful info you’ve posted!

    Reply

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