I have always felt alternately fascinated and frustrated by carob chips. They're advertised as a low-sugar chocolate substitute, but as any true chocolate devotee will confirm, they are definitely not chocolate. So what's up with carob chips? Do you ever bake with them?
Carob chips are made from the pod of the carob tree, a small Mediterranean shrub. The pods are dried, roasted, and ground into carob powder before being made into chips or used in other applications.
Carob is less bitter than chocolate and has a natural sweetness. The chips require little or no added sugar to make them palatable. To me, carob chips have a roasted flavor that makes them similar to chocolate, but lack chocolate's richness and melty texture.
To its low-sugar character profile, also add the fact that carob chips are low in fat, high in fiber, and contain no caffeine. They can be substituted one-for-one with chocolate chips in any recipe and used to make vegan-friendly treats.
Carob chips definitely have a lot going for them! I actually think the biggest thing to keep in mind when baking with them is that they're not chocolate. I mean this in a genuine way: don't expect carob chips to taste exactly like chocolate. They are their own ingredient with their own particular flavor and texture.
Before using them for the first time, taste a few on their own and think about what recipes they might work best in. Personally, I like them best in baked goods that have a slightly savory component, like granola bars or zucchini bread.
Do you bake with carob chips? What are your favorite recipes that use them?
Related: All-Time Favorites: 9 Scrumptious Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes
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I appreciate this article, I've seen so many recipes with carob in them but haven't done the research on what exactly it is. Louisiana really isn't into low-fat/vegetarian/vegan/gf/dairy-free cooking(talk about frustrating!), but maybe WholeFoods carries them somewhere in their aisles :)
To me, carob chips say 70s vegetarian. (as in 1970s) That is the era of cookbooks with recipes with titles like "Tante Helga's Latkes" that call for soy sauce instead of salt. There was a basic assumption in many of those old recipes that the standard ingredient (sugar, salt, chocolate chips) was evil and should always be replaced with virtuous honey, soy sauce, and carob chips. Most of the food? Blech.
I like the idea of carob chips in zucchini bread or granola bars. But for a nice vegan cookie? Forget it. Hunt up some vegan chocolate chips (easier to find than carob chips anyway).
I tried carob chips at a friend's house. She is vegan and I'm always inspired by the variety of foods she uses. I thought they tasted similar to chocolate covered raisins, with a sort of fruit note to them. I'm not vegan and don't know if I would buy them, but I certainly had no problem eating them in foods prepared by someone else!
My mother, a health nut, forced these on me when I was kid. I hated them then, and I hate them now.
Luckily, we've moved on since the late 70's/early 80's. :) Mom eats chocolate now as well.
Yay real chocolate!!
The "idea" of carob sounds great and tasty but I've never brought my self to buy them because the ingredient list in the chips is a mile long, containing corn syrup and barely malt (which DOES NOT make them gluten free). If you're trying to "replace" chocolate use something else....or just leave it out. Chocolate is a lot more pure than carob chips. If someone wants to try it because of allergies, try ENJOY LIFE brand- it's just chocolate and sugar...no allergens.
I, too, think they taste similar to chocolate covered raisins. I like Sundrops (the carob "M&Ms"), and I like carob chips in some baked goods - oatmeal raisin cookies, zucchini bread, the more hearty fruit-and-nut breads, etc... but yes, they're completely different and serve a completely different purpose in my mind.
I'm with alice.radley. Having hippy parents ruined carob chips for me. Luckily they knew better than to put them in cookies. But they always showed up in trail mix or were handed out as a snack.
I've never had just carob chips, but this post makes me want to track down some Sixlets - thank goodness it's almost Halloween!
i love carob as carob but i hate when it's used in place of chocolate. GET THIS HIPPIE CHOCOLATE OUTTA HERE!
I work with carob powder sometimes, available at my local health food store. I use it in lieu of cocoa powder. It's much easier to substitute on the powder level.
@Thatcoldtaxi LOL! Right on! :)
GROSS.
I third all of alice.radley's statements.
I never thought of chocolate chips as being an issue for vegans. I can see how milk chocolate chips would be but are all chips made with milk products in them? I know I have used chips with no dairy products in them as I made chocolate covered coffee beans for a vegan friend last year.
I've always like the slightly nutty, chocolatey flavor of carob and I use it often in baking and occasional treats since I don't eat sugar. Now, that doesn't mean that I don't use chocolate, which is great for your health in the darker, less sugary variety, imo.
But I feel like when I'm making a smoothie or hot "chocolate" carob powder or chips blend in so much better. It works especially well in shakes and smoothies since it gives it that powdery base that thickens a shake. You could literally put ice, banana and carob powder in a blender and have an amazing, thick shake.
It definitely has a different texture and flavor, but it's so good!
That said, you have to be careful. Carob is touted as being healthy chocolate, but an awful lot of carob products have just as much sugar and fat added (or worse, MORE) than chocolate products. So read the label if you're using it to substitute it for sugar or calorie reasons.
I think it's unfortunate that carob was ever seen as a substitute for chocolate because it is nothing like chocolate - it is a unique flavor and quite delicious all on it's own. The fact that it looks like chocolate makes people think it should taste like chocolate, so it's easy to dismiss it as a bad substitute for chocolate. My mom made carob brownies and shakes in the 70s and I miss them! Think I'll go rustle up some carob now!
I love carob, especially in the form of carob covered malt balls. (Like a malted milk ball, but carob instead of the chocolate.)
You can also get carob powder, which works as a sub for cocoa powder in brownies or cakes.
So funny. My hippie mother gave me carob chips, too. But I LOVE them still. It is such comfort candy for me now. No doubt because chocolate wasn't forbidden, it was just that we bought carob instead. Love love love carob covered almonds, especially.
Carob has its own wonderful flavor - not just as a substitute for chocolate - and, unlike chocolate, you can share whatever you make with your dog because it won't poison them!
Heh, when I was a kid, the school canteen used to sell carob drops. About seven or eight in a twist of paper for 10c each, I must have spent... well, 50c a week on them!
Of course, now that I actually AM vegan, I barely touch them and reach for dairy-free chocolate (Sweet William does chocolate chips) or just get a nice block of dark chocolate and chop it up. No chocolate chip cookies, but my chocolate CHUNK cookies had people begging for more...
I don't mind carob, but yeah, it's definitely not chocolate.
My mom avoided chocolate when I was growing up because of migraines, so we had carob chips in things. I haven't had any in years - I want some now! They don't taste like chocolate, but they're fine on their own merits!
Carob is not chocolate and it's almost a disservice to both ingredients to call it that....it sets up expectations that can't be met. Both ingredients have their own merits.
As someone allergic to cow and goat milk, cane sugar, and cocoa...chocolate is no longer a good option for me.
I've been able to work carob chips (as long as they are truly unsweetened, i.e. no barley malt), into quinoa chip cookies. And toasted carob powder works really well in a coconut milk based 'ice cream' when I add some powdered espresso or coffee. The coffee gives it a nice depth and grounding, to balance its natural sweet taste. The powder also works well making avocado fudgesicles.
I'm not a chocolate-lover -- don't hate it either, just don't crave it -- and I feel the same way about carob. I like it's slightly herbal flavour because I don't have much of a sweet tooth. But I won't seek it out specifically.