The Most Important Thing to Know About Cocoa Powder

The Most Important Thing to Know About Cocoa Powder: Fat Content!

The FDA stipulates that cocoa powder must contain at least 10% cocoa butter. However, cocoa butter is pricey, so you’ll find most grocery store brands contain just that amount. This leads to powder that tends to be starchy and chalky. Those starches zap moisture. In fact, they can absorb up to 100 percent of their weight in moisture!

This can lead to dry cakes, cakey brownies, crumbly cookies, and chalky or bland chocolate frosting. Overall, the less fat, the less chocolate flavor.

High-Fat Cocoa Powder is Magic!

High-fat cocoa powder contains at least 22% cocoa butter – more than double the amount of most grocery store cocoa products! This results in a richer chocolate flavor with cakes that are ultra-moist and tender in texture, brownies, and cookies that are chewy and fudgy, and ultra-smooth buttercream frosting. In fact, one of the secrets to my Best Chocolate American Buttercream recipe is high-fat cocoa powder!

Take a look at the images below. While you may not be able to plainly see in the photos alone, the high-fat natural and Dutch-processed cocoa powder cupcakes and brownies were significantly more moist and rich with chocolate flavor compared to Hershey’s cocoa, which contains only 10% fat.

How to Tell if a Cocoa Powder is High-Fat

• High-fat cocoa powder is often labeled as such and comes at a higher price point.
• Look at the nutrition label on the packaging to be sure: Look for 1 gram of fat or more (instead of .5 grams) per tablespoon (5 to 6 grams) serving.

Where to Buy High-Fat Cocoa Powder

High-fat cocoa is widely available online, but you can also find it at specialty stores such as Penzey’s. Ghirardelli and E. Guittard can sometimes be found at Whole Foods and Target. Links below.

What Are the Best Brands of Cocoa Powder?

This depends on personal taste preference! Below are some of my favorites including some of the cocoa products used in the photos throughout this article. As you’ll see, most Dutch-processed cocoa has far more fat content compared to natural cocoa. Learn more about Natural vs. Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder here.

Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder

• Bensdorp (24-26% fat)
  I love this cocoa! It makes amazingly rich, dark, and tender cakes, fudgy, moist brownies and cookies, and incredibly luscious frosting.

• Penzeys (22% fat)
  When I can’t wait for Bensdorp to be delivered, I’ll usually stock up on cocoa at Penzey’s because this particular one (as well as the Natural version listed below) are both great – though I will say the Dutch process Penzey’s seems to have less chocolate flavor.

• E. Guittard (22% fat)
  This is one of the more easy-to-find Dutch cocoa powders. I usually see it at Whole Foods, Sprouts, or Target, but it’s also easily available on Amazon here. It makes for really chewy brownies with a slightly less sweet more refined chocolate flavor for adult palettes. Not to mention very tender and fudgy cake!

• Droste (20% fat)
  I haven’t used this brand, but it’s Cook’s Illustrated pick so I’m sure it’s fantastic!

• Valrohna (20% fat)
  This brand can be difficult to source, but it’s easily available on Amazon here. It’s an amazing chocolate company used in many high-end professional kitchens and bakeries.

Natural Cocoa Powder

Please note that Natural and Unsweetened Cocoa Powder are the same thing – however, always check the ingredient label when purchasing or using cocoa powder because some packaging is not always clear. Any ingredient mention of “alkali” or “Dutch” means it’s Dutch-processed and not natural. If it’s natural, the ingredient should simply be “cocoa.”

• Penzeys (22% fat)
  I find Penzey’s Natural High Fat Unsweetened Cocoa Powder provides a classic clean and pure chocolate flavor and ultra-moist texture. The added fat lends a richness that can reduce chewiness in recipes like brownies but it lends fudginess instead. I use this for just about anything, especially for special occasion treats since it’s more expensive.

• Ghirardelli (20% fat)
  This is my favorite grocery store brand of natural cocoa powder. I use it for everything! It has a surprisingly high fat content and provides a bold chocolate flavor. It’s also available on Amazon here.

• Nestle Toll House (11% fat)
  Nestle is actually what I typically test my blog recipes with when I want to make sure they work with easily accessible ingredients. I don’t want to give myself a leg up when I test recipes for publication. That doesn’t seem fair to expect that everyone must use difficult-to-find or expensive ingredients. Nestle is a great basic product, but if I’m struggling with dry cakes or cakey cookies, I’ll use one of the above options instead.

• Hershey’s (10% fat)
  Hershey’s Natural Unsweetened Cocoa Powder is the quintessential mild chocolate flavor of American childhoods. It’s homey and familiar, but it can result in brownies and cookies that are a little more crumbly than moist but still chewy. I would not recommend it for cake or frosting.