We Tried 6 Brands of Chocolate Chips and These Are the Only Ones We'll Use From Now On

You may have strolled the baking aisle casually glancing at the bags of chocolate chips and snagged the ones on sale without much thought. Aren't they all pretty much the same anyway?

No, they aren't. You deserve the best cookies instead of the usual chocolate chip off the old block.

To help you make the most scrumptious chocolate chip cookies, we tried six different brands of chocolate chips, and the results of our taste test might surprise you.

To find out which chocolate chips give you the best bang for your buck, we tried six of the top brands available in stores and online. We used each kind of chocolate chip to make chocolate chip cookies and kept the recipe the same except for switching out the chips. We tested semi-sweet chips only, so this review doesn't include specialty flavors like milk chocolate or dark chocolate.

Before you bake another batch, check out our rankings of store-bought chocolate chips.

Best Chocolate Chips at a Glance:

Best Chocolate Chips Overall: Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
Runner-Up: Great Value Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
Most Polarizing Chocolate Chips: Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chip Morsels
Best Allergen-Free Chocolate Chips: Toll House Allergen-Free Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
Best Vegan Chocolate Chips: Gefen Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

What We Looked for When Ranking Chocolate Chips

Chocolate chips have been a staple in American baking since the creation of the first chocolate chip cookies in 1937. A chef at the Toll House Inn named Ruth Graves Wakefield added chunks of Nestlé chocolate bars to her cookie recipe. Originally, Nestlé sold baking chocolate bars that came with a tool for home cooks to chop the bars into chunks to be used in baking. But by 1941, the chocolate chip morsels we know and love today were being sold in stores.

Today, a variety of brands offer their own version of the classic chocolate chip. To find the best one, we had to set ground rules for how we measured what was good and what could be skipped.

Taste: When it comes to chocolate chip cookies, the chips are the star of the show, so they need to taste just right. We took into account how each morsel tastes on its own before baking, and then how it tasted once baked into a cookie. Were the morsels bitter? Creamy? Buttery? Spicy? Smooth? What was the sweetness level? Was there an artificial taste, or were there solidly authentic cocoa and cocoa butter flavors?

Texture: Were the morsels chalky, sticky, or smooth when uncooked? Do they melt in your hands? How well did the morsels hold up when baked? Did they keep their flavor or taste burned? Did the chips get nice and melty?

How We Tested Each Chocolate Chip

The taste test was done in one day with two participants. Each brand of chocolate chip was tasted uncooked, and my partner and I both noted the texture and flavor. Then I used the standard Toll House cookie recipe for one batch of chocolate chip cookies with all ingredients but the chips. I evenly divided the dough and baked 8 cookies with each brand of chocolate chip. The cookies were all scooped using the same mini baking scooper, baked on the same sheet pan, and at the same temperature to avoid any variables in baking that could affect the quality and taste.

*Note: After each batch of cookies were placed onto the cookie sheet they were chilled for 30 minutes. I always chill cookies, even if it's not part of the recipe.