18 Creative Ways To Use Chocolate Chips

From drinks to desserts to bread to yogurt bark, discover a range of creative ways to use chocolate chips. Chocolate chips come in many shapes and flavors that can provide a boost to just about any drink, dessert, or dish. Whether you choose from the standard chips, mini chips, chunks, morsels, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, semisweet, white chocolate, sugar-free, or something else, there are options to suit your chocolatey dreams. Each type of chip offers its charm, acting as an alternative to cocoa powder or a standard chocolate bar.

No matter what chip you prefer, they're handy to always have stocked in your pantry at all times. Perhaps you want to cool off with a mudslide cocktail or want to warm up with hot chocolate. Maybe you're in the mood for desserts like chocolate pudding or chocolate fondue or want to incorporate chocolate chips into baked goods like biscotti or bread. Get ready to find a plethora of interesting ways to utilize chocolate chips other than a chocolate chip cookie. You might have to buy a few bags at a time with all the inspiration you'll find.

Read more: 25 Chocolate Brands, Ranked Worst To Best

Melt Them For A Chocolate Hard Shell

A chocolate hard shell is so gratifying to crack. You can put it over your ice cream or yogurt or drizzle it on frozen fruit. It does have to be something cold to achieve the hard shell aspect. You only need two simple ingredients to make this chocolatey delight: Coconut oil and chocolate chips. Start by melting your chocolate chips and give it a good mix to get rid of any clumps, then add in your coconut oil.

Once everything is incorporated, then you pour it over your dessert of choice. If you want the shell to become extra crunchy and hard, place your dessert in the refrigerator or freezer, so it firms up completely. Find satisfaction in the whack and crack of a chocolate hard shell. There's no need to buy it from the store anymore when it's incredibly easy to make at home.

Take Your Caramel Apples To The Next Level

Caramel apples are a crisp and delicious sweet treat that you can customize as you wish. Since chocolate is considered to be one of the best toppings for caramel apples, it makes sense to add chocolate chips to this fruit-based dessert. Take out items from your pantry such as your chocolate chips, chopped nuts like walnuts or peanuts, sprinkles, and other chopped candy to use as caramel apple toppings.

Double down on chocolate chips by melting them to create a chocolate drizzle for your apples as well as using them as a topping. You can make an enticing arrangement with an array of toppings or just stick with the chocolate chips. Mini chocolate chips or chopped chocolate chips would work best for this so you don't have larger pieces of chocolate to bite into. Make whole caramel apples or give caramel apple slices a go if you don't want to commit to any one thing. Chocolate and caramel make a marvelous combination.

Toss Some Into Your Cinnamon Rolls

Whether you make your cinnamon rolls from scratch or buy store-bought ones, you won't regret adding chocolate chips to give them a pop. Chocolate chips are a scrumptious and simple way to upgrade your cinnamon rolls. If you buy them from the refrigerated section of the grocery store, you just need to speckle a few on top or wiggle a few in the crevices.

When making cinnamon rolls from scratch, you can incorporate the chips a bit easier. Add the chocolate chips as you spread on the cinnamon sugar mixture to your dough. It's a quick way to give your cinnamon rolls a little boost. For an additional chocolate factor, melt a handful of chocolate chips to blend into the frosting, too. Chocolate and cinnamon are a delicious combination that will satisfy the taste buds.

Layer Them Into A Chocolate Bark

When you don't want to spend much time baking and cooking a dessert, chocolate bark might be your best bet. You only need a handful of ingredients, such as your chocolate chips, fruit, candy, or sprinkles. If you plant eat it right away, you can use fresh fruit such as strawberries, oranges, kiwis, or apples, but opt for dried fruit if you want it to last longer. A brown apple or banana slice isn't too enticing.

Make a batch of banana split chocolate bark with chocolate chips, peanuts, banana chips, dried cherries, and dried pineapple. Just melt your chocolate chips then spread on parchment paper and assemble the add-ins. For a seasonal treat, prepare peppermint bark with crushed candy canes. Make a nutty version with chopped hazelnuts, almonds, peanuts, and walnuts. You can add nearly any fruit, nut, or candy to chocolate bark. Lean toward salty by mixing in pretzels, popcorn, or potato chips.

Toss Them With Your Puppy Chow For A Fun Snack

Puppy chow is a standard snack for many. Each person has their way of making it, whether the recipe has been passed down for generations or something you recently found on the Internet. It's great to bring to parties or make as a snack to munch on at home or pack for a school lunch. It does have some essential ingredients but you can always toss in additional items like coconut, peanuts, or mini chocolate chips.

Make a chocolate-coconut puppy chow with chocolate chips, caramel sauce, Chex cereal, powdered sugar, and coconut flakes. These have a satisfying crunch, but they're not too hard. They have a trio of familiar flavors — behold the power of chocolate, caramel, and coconut. Puppy chow is one of those recipes where you can easily make large quantities by doubling up on ingredients, which is for the best since it gets chowed down pretty quickly. When you have a hankering for something sweet and chocolaty, make this.

Transform Them Into Chocolate Fondue

Move over cheese fondue, chocolate fondue might be the best way to entertain guests at a party. All you need to do is prepare the chocolate fondue and then gather your dipping ingredients and instruments. Make an adult Irish cream chocolate fondue with chocolate chips, heavy cream, and Irish cream. Heat everything in a pot until melted and creamy, then transfer it into a fondue pot so your heavenly mixture stays warm. Nobody wants clumpy fondue. Have fun creating your own dipped concoctions.

Dip marshmallows, fruit, donut holes, cake pieces, brownies, cookies, pretzels, potato chips, mini cupcakes, and any goodies you can think of. Bigger pieces of fruit work best for chocolate fondue such as whole strawberries, larger slices of bananas, or canned pineapple chunks. Fruit like blueberries or raspberries might be a tad too small, but you could certainly give it a shot.

Freeze Them For Yogurt Bark

Yogurt bark is one of the straightforward snacks you can make. You only need a tray, parchment paper, yogurt of choice, chocolate chips, and any additional toppings you want to include. Begin by spreading your yogurt on the parchment paper, then drop in your chocolate chips and place any other toppings you'd like. You can use a flavored yogurt like strawberry, blueberry, or vanilla, or personalize your flavor by mixing in some jam or jelly.

Make a chocolate chip yogurt by combining the yogurt and mini chocolate then spreading it onto the parchment paper. Whip up a batch of very berry frozen yogurt bark with fresh blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries, as well as granola, but you can use just about any topping you want. Try chopped nuts, sprinkles, chia seeds, peanut butter, honey, crushed graham crackers, or cheesecake or brownie bites.

Elevate Your Pudding

Chocolate pudding is a comfort snack that many of us grew up having as a snack or in a packed lunch. Usually, they're packaged in those little containers with the peel-off lid, but you can create an elevated version by making super-rich chocolate pudding with a handful of items. You'll need whole-fat milk, cacao powder, sugar, cornstarch, and your chocolate chips of choice. For a richer version, use dark chocolate or semisweet chocolate chips.

Combine your items in a pot and then bring everything to a boil. Stir constantly so the milk doesn't create a film, then dump it in your chocolate chips. Continue to stir until completely smooth and melted. Pour your pudding into another bowl, cover it with a lid or plastic wrap, and pop it in the fridge to chill. For grab-and-go ease, you could choose to portion them into small glass jars with lids. Once chilled, it's time to serve. Top with whipped cream, fresh berries, and of course a sprinkle of chocolate chips.

Stuff Your Croissants With Them

Grab those croissant rolls or puff pastry sheets from the refrigerated section to make some tasty chocolate chip croissants. You only need a few simple ingredients to make a do-it-yourself chocolate croissant: puff pastry or croissant rolls, an egg, and your favorite kind of chocolate chips. You can sprinkle them throughout the dough or put them in the middle, whichever you prefer.

Scatter a handful of chocolate chips into each fold for a nice layered chocolate effect. The chocolate chips will be evenly distributed throughout the croissant rather than clustered in one spot. Depending on the size of the croissant, you might want to use mini chocolate chips. If they're smaller croissants, mini chocolate chips or chopped regular-size chocolate chips allow for uniformity. Add the chips with a heavy hand if you want more chocolate. Chocolate croissants are buttery, chocolatey, and perfect to pair with a hot beverage like coffee.

Sprinkle Them Onto Homemade Waffle Cones

Consider homemade waffle cones when you're in the mood to make something from scratch. You only need the batter and then your topping of choice. Make the waffle cones as directed and set up your toppings as you wait for the cones to harden. Use chocolate chips to make chocolate-dipped cones. Melt your chocolate chips and dunk part of your cone into the melted chocolate.

You can leave it at that or add a drop of color to the mix. Pepper your cone with desired toppings while the chocolate is still tacky. Roll your chocolate-dipped cones in mini chocolate chips, cacao nibs, coconut flakes, sprinkles, crushed cookies, chopped peanuts, toffee bits, cereal, candy bar pieces, or freeze-dried fruit. These leave plenty of room for experimentation and creativity.

Stay Cozy With Hot Chocolate Bombs

Hot chocolate bombs are not only a great gift idea, but they're a tasty morsel that can enrich any gathering. They're particularly enticing since you only need a few ingredients such as a round silicone mold, chocolate chips, hot chocolate mix, mini marshmallows, and sprinkles. Tailor the color theme of the sprinkles or design if you're making it for certain holidays such as red, orange, and yellow sprinkles for a fall version. Opt for orange, black, and purple for Halloween,  red and green for Christmas, and so forth.

The chocolate chips act as the shell of your chocolate bombs, since they're the glue that holds everything together. Melt the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl and then coat the chocolate on the inside of the silicone molds. Pop them in the freezer to harden and then fill them up with the hot chocolate mix and marshmallows. Once hardened, you have to seal the bombs and freeze them to set. Now it's time to decorate. These are festive and fun for all ages.

Bake The Chips In A Fresh Loaf Of Bread

Take your average white loaf or fresh-baked sourdough bread and give it a chocolate spin by adding a smattering of chocolate chips. Use mini chocolate chips or chopped chocolate chips, so it doesn't weigh down the dough too much. Go all out and use a food processor to pulse the chocolate chips into uniform small pieces. The mini chocolate chips will provide a speckled chocolate chip look, whereas the chopped or processed chocolate chips streak through the bread for marbled chocolatey bread.

Follow your favorite recipe like a delicious homemade sandwich bread and then add in your chocolate chips. Transform your average white sandwich bread into the perfect vehicle for breakfast and brunch. Imagine French toast with chocolate chip bread, slightly eggy with a touch of cinnamon and gooey chocolate. Slice and toast chocolate chip bread and serve with butter and jam or strawberry cream cheese.

Whip Up A Batch Of Chocolate Ganache

Chocolate ganache doesn't have to be something that you save for an outing to the gourmet bakery or restaurant. Impress yourself by making it at home with dark, milk, or white chocolate chips. You only need chocolate chips and heavy cream to make a classic chocolate ganache with the option to add butter for extra creaminess. Make it once and you'll find plenty of uses for it.

This is rich and chocolatey and considerably easier to make than you might have thought. Melt the chocolate chips, then bring the heavy cream to a light boil. Whisk the two together until it's fully incorporated and smooth. It should look like chocolate sauce at this point. You may serve it warm or refrigerate it to firm it up. Make opera cake with your ganache or drizzle it on nearly any baked good.

Blend Chocolate Chips Into A Smoothie

Whether you're in the mood for a simple strawberry banana smoothie or want a decadent chocolate smoothie, you can add chocolate chips to whatever you're already making. Unlike baking where one measly swap could mess up the consistency, taste, or chemistry of the treat, smoothies are easily customizable. In addition to fruits, you could items like oats, spinach, protein powder, honey, or yogurt.

You can make it thick and fruity with frozen fruits or something more liquidy with room temperature fruit and a liquid like coconut milk, milk, orange juice, or juice of choice. Make a tahini smoothie with cardamom and dates and a sprinkle of chocolate chips. For a super chocolate smoothie, blend together a black forest smoothie. No matter what fruit or liquid, drop your chocolate chips into the blender along with everything else and let it thoroughly mix.

Make Chocolate Chip Biscotti

Homemade biscotti isn't too hard to make. While you'll often see them premade at the store or cafe, you can bake biscotti without much trouble. Homemade biscotti starts like any baked good; Gather and mix all your ingredients to create a dough. First, mix your dry ingredients and then wet ingredients. Pour in your chocolate chips and almonds toward the end. Be careful not to mix your dough for too long otherwise, you'll overwork it.

Form a dough ball, shape it into the biscotti logs, and bake them as directed. Make sure to give them plenty of time to cool before you slice them up. If they're not fully cooled, they might crumble as you cut them. These are ideal for nut aficionados since it calls for vanilla and almond extract as well as roasted almonds. Take roasted almonds to a new level by adding spices like cinnamon or cardamom that work well with chocolate chips. You could add other nuts or seeds like pepitas or chia seeds. Biscotti is perfect to dunk into your coffee or hot chocolate since it won't immediately disintegrate in the liquid.

Replace Cocoa Powder In Hot Chocolate

If you run out of cocoa powder or hot chocolate mix, it's time to bring out the chocolate chips from your pantry. You can quickly make a couple of cups of hot chocolate with your chocolate chips. Heat your milk of choice on the stove, whether that's whole milk or coconut milk. For an enriched cocoa, there are several appetizing ways to infuse milk. Lavender or gingerbread hot chocolate sounds particularly comforting.

Drop your chocolate chips into the hot milk and stir thoroughly. Taste as you go, adding more chocolate chips if needed. Use dark or semisweet chocolate chips for a richer hot chocolate or milk chocolate chips for a sweeter version. It's quick, easy, and tasty. Add a little brown sugar, honey, or maple syrup to sweeten it, or make a spiced hot chocolate with chili powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Get Your Sweet Fix With Fudge

Fudge is one of those comforting desserts that reminds you of granny's cooking, an old family recipe, or those nostalgic trips to the mall when the days were simpler. Even if you don't make fudge in your family, you can be the starting point with this fudge recipe. You need chocolate chips, marshmallow creme, espresso powder, sugar, butter, evaporated milk, and vanilla extract, but you could incorporate walnuts, caramel, sprinkles, peppermint, and more.

These are a superb treat to make ahead of time to bring to a gathering or holiday party. It only takes 10 minutes to cook, so the hardest part is waiting three hours for it to set. Fudge is an ideal dessert for candy fiends of the world. You can make different flavors like peanut butter fudge or use coconut milk instead of evaporated milk for a dairy-free fudge.

Chill Out With A Mudslide

There's a time and place for simplicity like Scotch on the rocks or a glass of pinot noir. But when you thirst for a cocktail that's more like a dessert, make a mudslide. The mudslide mixes some of life's finest pleasures such as chocolate, booze, and cream. While you might feel inclined to pour a second glass of wine on a relaxing night in while watching movies on your streaming device, you'll feel satisfied with one mudslide since it's a rich beverage.

Melt chocolate chips to drizzle into your cup or microplane a few chocolate chips to dust on top of your whipped cream. Before pouring in your mudslide, rim your glass with melted chocolate chips then dip it into a mix of crushed cookies and chopped chocolate chips for another level of chocolate. For something nuttier, add a teaspoon of peanut butter or make a frozen Nutella mudslide.

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