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SMART SHOPPING: White Chocolate Chips

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White chocolate isn’t really chocolate at all. While it contains the cocoa butter of true chocolate, it lacks cocoa solids, the element responsible for milk and dark chocolate’s characteristic brown color and nutty roasted flavor. Other pale confections labeled simply “white” chips or bars (these boast less than the 20 percent cocoa butter required to earn the designation “white chocolate”) are just as common in the baking aisle of the supermarket. In a recent taste test, we preferred Guittard Choc-Au-Lait White Chips over other brands. Though these chips lack a high enough concentration of cocoa butter to qualify as true white chocolate, they impressed tasters with their smooth texture, strong vanilla flavor, and mild sweetness, beating out four real white chocolates.