Scharffen Berger Natural Unsweetened Cocoa Powder, 6-Ounce Canisters (Pack of 2)

Let's not kid ourselves, this is not a cheap purchase and is more suitable for special occasion baking. I previously used Valrhona as my go-to cocoa powder in such cases and thought I got great results, but on a recommendation from a friend I gave the Scharffen Berger a try. I cannot believe how much more depth there is to the flavor! I first used it in a cake recipe that called for steeping the cocoa powder for a few minutes and I knew as soon as the hot water hit it that this was going to be better. I've since used it in brownies, cookies, and for garnish. I have been amazed at the sheer lusciousness of the cocoa's taste and texture, it is amazing and even smells so lovely. On the downside, the canister has a fairly narrow round opening so it is a little difficult to actually extract the cocoa powder from the canister. Shaking it out means too much, and I guess I just have awkward sized-scoops, but even with this minor inconvenience, I still really like this cocoa for baking. I would NOT let children use this without close supervision as it is a pricey ingredient. For a special touch to your favorite chocolate baking application however, I think this is a great option.

What a joy when I read about that! The only problem is finding a way to add chocolate to my diet without all the extraneous sugars that are NOT so healthy. In the past I have tried various higher percentage chocolates and found the Scharffen Berger bars to be excellent, so when I decided to get some cocoa powder this is one of the three I decided to try. For my purposes I have been mixing it in with a small amount of dairy to add to coffee. Turns out this makes an excellent chocolate coffee. I do the mixing at the bottom of the cup and spend some needed time making sure it's blended, and then add the coffee after that. Very good and I get to call it healthy. Using the unsweetened powder allows to add only the barest sweetner of choice--suit to taste so to speak. The other thing I've used it for is to mix up a bit of cream, the chocolate and a tiny bit of Splenda...blend it up in a bowl with a spoon until it thickens a bit and then it's a great strawberry dip. Again, I pretend this is health food--and really as desserts go, it's not so bad if you are more interested in the science behind carbs vs fats (but that is a whole different topic). In any case, of the unsweetened chocolate poweders I've tried so far...this one is the best product in terms of taste when making my coffee--it's good enough to keep me away from the coffee shop where the drinks are pricey and full of sugar. Recommended!! JTG eta: this is not 'dutch processed' so the healthy benefits remain intact.

I have been trying many different brands of chocolate and cocoa. With this cocoa I found the one that best suites my taste and needs. This cocoa has a very bold and full bodied chocolate flavor which blends perfectly with several different sweeteners as well as coffee for a delicious mocha. The cocoa powder doesn't blend easily with cold water or milk, but then no other cocoa powder ever does. But this one does blend easily when the water or milk is hot. It is difficult enough for diabetics to find delicious sweet stuff. So, here is my sugar free mocha recipe: Every morning I start with making myself an espresso in a tall mug. Add a tablespoon of Sharffen Berger's unsweetened Cocoa and mix vigorously until blended. Add sweetener to taste (I use Truvia) and a pinch of cinnamon (sometimes I go wild and add just a little bit of cayenne pepper as well. Sounds weird? Don't knock it until you tried it!). Finally add milk to fill up the mug and microwave until hot. In just a few minutes I have a delicious mocha that Starbucks will never be able to match. Recommended!

This brand/style is NOT chemically processed, just milled the old way. NO Alkali or similar ingredient that can make the chocolate less bitter and you get a great cup of Hot Cocoa. It is FULLY POWDERED. Some people don't like the old-world coarse style. This blends fast because it is a uniform powder. Chocolate is high content so you MUST stir throughly - I use the tiny froth-stick blender for small batches. I like the tub the product is shipped in - it does NOT POP off easily, there was no spilling problem for our delivery. And a tamper-proof shrink seal proves no one messed with it either. A large Tablespoon WILL FIT into the canister! Loving the flavor!

Tried this cocoa for the first time because I knew Scharffen Berger chocolate was some of the best. For natural cocoa, it's the best I've used. Not being Dutch processed, natural cocoa is usually bitter and acidic, but this stuff is incredibly smooth. I haven't tried it in unbaked goods yet and I suppose that will be the ultimate test for natural cocoa, but the brownies I made with it were unbelievable! The only reason I docked a star was the container. The opening is smaller than the top which makes pouring, or scooping the cocoa difficult and messy. The top rim traps cocoa and trying to get the last bit out of the canister is almost impossible.

I've been buying Ghiradelli unsweetened cocoa powder for about a year and suddenly 2 cans ago (I buy from Whole Foods) it tasted MUCH different and not in a good way. It mixed differently and was just truly unpleasant. I took a chance and bought another can, same thing. So I came on Amazon trolling for new cocoa powder and wanted something higher-end and decided on Scharffen Berger. It is SO good. Yummy, yummy, yummy. Like the delicious chocolate taste of my favorite chocolate mousse from a great restaurant and it also reminds me of the Godiva chocolate cheesecake (obviously the taste of the cocoa, not the cheesecake part). I won't be going back. Love it!

For some reason, it is impossible to find high quality cocoa powder in stores in Boston. So I resorted to Amazon. I have loved Scharffen Berger since I took a tour of their factory in Berkeley, and this cocoa powder does not disappoint. It has a great deep flavor, and melts very nicely into milk. Some cocoa powders clump up and are impossible to mix in to make hot chocolate. But this cocoa powder is much easier. And best of all, you can add however much sugar you want to your hot chocolate so it doesn't come out too sweet.

I've been using Hershey's Cocoa to bake chocolate muffins and when I recently ran out, I decided to check if Amazon had cocoa powder on Subscribe & Save and found Scharffen Berger. It's more expensive than the Hershey's Cocoa 8 oz canisters that I've been buying for around $3 but the good reviews really made me want to try it. I'm so glad I did because it did not disappoint! The chocolate is rich and my chocolate muffins turned out perfectly moist and delicious! The best part is that the ingredients are all natural. :) I definitely won't be going back to Hershey's Cocoa.