The Worst Baking Chocolate Brand On Store Shelves, According To Our Taste Test

It's tough enough choosing the best snacking chocolate at the grocery store, but the stakes are even higher when it comes to finding the ideal baking chocolate. With so many brands to choose from, including the iconic Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Baking Chips and the ever-reliable Hershey's Baking Bar, it can be overwhelming. Ensuring that you pick a baking chocolate with the correct texture and taste is crucial, especially if you plan to make the trendy Dubai chocolate bar. While we appreciate having a range of options, a larger selection also increases the likelihood of selecting a baking chocolate that falls short. Our ranking of 6 grocery store baking chocolates confirmed this concern, leading us to identify Lily's semi-sweet chocolate-style baking bar as the worst baking chocolate you could pick off the grocery shelf.

Lily's is not new to the world of chocolate. The brand offers several types of baking chocolate, and its snacking bars are popular among keto dieters for their sugar-free profile. Practically every bar under Lily's brand is sweetened with sugar substitutes like erythritol and stevia. While this is ideal for those accustomed to the taste of artificial sweeteners, it can be off-putting for those who have not yet acquired a taste for these substitutes. Be warned: whether you're baking fudgy keto brownies or making regular chocolate ganache, you'll want to steer clear of Lily's semi-sweet chocolate-style baking bar.

At first glance, the "no sugar added" label on the front of the packaging is enough to attract any health-conscious chocolate lover to Lily's baking bar. However, our taste test revealed a steep price to pay for this seemingly appealing option. There's a metallic overtone of artificial flavor that attacks your tongue and leaves an unpleasant aftertaste. Even melting this chocolate does nothing to alter the tinny flavor. Since the most dominant note is a lingering artificial sweetness, we can only conclude that it is due to either the erythritol or stevia present in Lily's semi-sweet chocolate-style baking bar. This issue is also noted with other baking chocolates under the Lily's brand, according to a Redditor who sampled Lily's chocolate chips.

Furthermore, despite scoring brownie points for its relative ease of melting, Lily's semi-sweet chocolate-style baking bar hardens a little too quickly. This means you won't be able to do much with it if you were planning to make a chocolate dipping sauce for your strawberries — at least not without rushing! Otherwise, you'll have to pop the baking chocolate back into the microwave each time after dipping a couple of strawberries. In our humble opinion, you're better off opting for Ghirardelli semi-sweet baking chips. This brand has always been the best choice for baking chocolate. It offers a rich taste, contains no artificial sweeteners, and melts much easier compared to Lily's.