Trader Joe’s Semi Sweet Chocolate Chunks, reviewed

Chocolate chunks aren’t usually my favorite addition to cookies, not unless you’re talking about the kind of chocolate chunks that you make yourself by chopping up a favorite chocolate bar with a kitchen knife. Storebought, prepackaged chocolate chunks tend to be too regular in shape and too large for my tastes. The large squares are indeed chunky, but they don’t melt as well into a freshly baked cookie as regular chocolate chips do, and their large size means that it is easy to get a poor distribution of the chunks in the batter.

Trader Joe’s Semi Sweet Chocolate Chunks caught my eye at first because their shape was much more irregular than the standard packaged chocolate chunks. The pieces are slightly larger than chocolate chips, but they are irregular, so they look like you might have cut them yourself. This translates to a fantastic homemade look in chocolate chunk baked goods. The chocolate also happens to be delicious. It is 58.9% cacao, with a nice balance of bittersweet cocoa and sweetness, as well as a touch of vanilla. The chunks melt smoothly on your tongue and also melt very smoothly in baked goods. You can substitute them into any recipe that calls for chocolate chips or chocolate chunks, and they’re also great for recipes that call for melted chocolate because the pieces measure and melt very easily.