Can I substitute chocolate chips for cocoa powder in my frosting?
I just ran out of cocoa while making a cookie sheet cake. Had enough for the cake, but not for the frosting. Can I substitute chocolate chips?
Best Answer
You cannot substitute chocolate chips for cocoa alone, as they contain sugar and cocoa butter (fat), as well as cocoa solids—assuming you have quality chocolate chips that are true chocolate. The ratio of these ingredients will depend on the exact chips you have.
A reasonable approximation for the general case per What's Cooking America assuming you have semi-sweet chocolate chips is:
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, 3 tablespoons sugar and 1 tablespoon butter, margarine or shortening for every 1 ounces of semi-sweet baking chocolate.
However, frosting is a specific application, and your recipe almost certainly has its technique based on powder, not melted chocolate. You would be better off looking for a recipe that starts with melted chocolate.
The easiest (and one of the best in my opinion) if you have cream on hand, and again assuming the chocolate chips are real chocolate, is to make a ganache; see Ina Gartner's recipe for reference.
See also:
The reverse question: Can I substitute cocoa for semisweet chocolate?
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Quick Answer about "Can I substitute chocolate chips for cocoa powder in my frosting?"
You cannot substitute chocolate chips for cocoa alone, as they contain sugar and cocoa butter (fat), as well as cocoa solids—assuming you have quality chocolate chips that are true chocolate. The ratio of these ingredients will depend on the exact chips you have.What can I substitute for cocoa powder in frosting?
The best and easiest thing to use in place of cocoa powder is unsweetened chocolate. For every 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder required, use 1 ounce of unsweetened chocolate. The chocolate should be melted before being added to the recipe.Can chocolate chips be used instead of cocoa?
Yes, it's possible to substitute chocolate pieces for unsweetened cocoa powder, but you'll have to make some adjustments.What can I use instead of cocoa powder to make a chocolate cake?
You can use baking chocolate in place of cocoa powder to create an extra chocolatey cake.Is there a substitute for cocoa powder?
Substituting Unsweetened Baking Chocolate for Natural Cocoa Powder. Swap 1 ounce of unsweetened baking chocolate for 3 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder. Then omit 1 tablespoon of butter, oil, or shortening from the recipe to account for the higher fat content in the baking chocolate.One Minute Chocolate Frosting Recipe
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Answer 2
you can use the chips, just understand the frosting/topping will be different (sweeter and harder to blend)
melt the chips, add 2/3 to 3/4 of the ingredients from the original recipie, and add the rest to taste and consistancy (if it is too liquidy add sugar, if too thick add a liquid, if too sweet add fat etc) also note that the topping will thicken as is cools.
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