Pure ground cocoa solids and cocoa butter with no sugar at all — roughly half cocoa powder and half fat by composition.
What it does in a recipe: Undiluted chocolate intensity plus the fat that carries it. Pick the swap that covers that job — the ratios below are written so you can act on them without doing any arithmetic.
Also called: Baking chocolate, Chocolate liquor
2substitutes
1close matches
Baking staplescategory
Quick answer
Cocoa powder + fat
1 oz unsweetened chocolate = 3 tbsp cocoa powder + 1 tbsp butter, oil or shortening
All substitutes, best first
2 ways to replace unsweetened chocolate
Cocoa powder + fat
Closest match
1 oz unsweetened chocolate = 3 tbsp cocoa powder + 1 tbsp butter, oil or shortening
An ounce of baking chocolate is approximately three tablespoons of cocoa solids bound with a tablespoon of cocoa butter, so adding fat back to cocoa powder reconstructs it.
MethodMelt the fat and whisk the cocoa in until completely smooth before adding it to the batter.
Trade-offSlightly less smooth than melted chocolate, but reliable in brownies and cakes.
Cooking around an allergy? Diet tags here describe the ingredient itself, not any particular brand. Processed products change formulation without notice and shared production lines are common, so read the label on everything you use. A severe allergy is a medical matter — confirm with the manufacturer or your clinician rather than relying on a substitution chart.