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Anyone who bakes is always looking for good quality products at a good price, unfortunately chocolate usually is not in this category.  Over the years I have tried many types of chocolate all the way from Tollhouse chips to E. Guittard.  I will have to say in advance that I love dark chocolate, I am much less interested in semi and milk chocolate, but I do use them in baking.  I find with semi sweet chocolate the stuff you can get in any grocery store isn’t too bad, just be careful to look at the chocolate and make sure it doesn’t have a dried out look to it.  You can never tell how long it’s been on the shelf. 

On the quest for great dark chocolate I tried many kinds including Santander, Ghirardelli, and E. Guittard.  Santander - The first thing I would like to note here is the extremely cheap price in comparison to other fine chocolates.  I really enjoyed the Santander.  The flavor is strong and smooth without and aftertaste.  Ghirardelli is one of the more famous lower end fancy chocolates.  I found the dark chocolate to have a good flavor, but what seemed to be a slightly burnt aftertaste.  In my baking the Ghirardelli performed well, the burnt taste didn’t carry over as much as when you eat it straight up, maybe the other flavors balanced it out.  Overall it is a decent chocolate.  The last major chocolate producer that I tried was the E. Guittard.  The E. Guittard had a nice flavor, but to be honest, it wasn’t any better than the much cheaper Santander.  The E. Guittard melts well and is a nice balance in finished dishes, but it you are looking to save a few bucks, try the Santander. 

Have any favorite chocolates - please leave us a comment, so we can check it out!