Chocolate Chips

Chocolate chips are chocolate formulated to survive the oven. Bar chocolate is made to melt cleanly at body temperature, which is exactly the wrong property when you want visible pockets of chocolate in a finished cookie, so chips are made with a lower proportion of cocoa butter and often added emulsifiers. That higher ratio of solids to fat lets them soften without collapsing, holding the teardrop shape through a full bake. The same formulation makes them a poor choice anywhere you need chocolate to flow. Ganache, tempering, and thin coatings all behave badly with chips, seizing or staying grainy where chopped bar chocolate would go glossy. Chips also vary widely in cocoa percentage between brands, and many contain milk fat or are produced on shared equipment, so they are not automatically dairy-free.