Best vegan chocolate?
Hello! I am new to this board and website, but I really like it so far. I've always been really into health food and nutrition, and this seems like the perfect place to make friends with like-minded people and ask questions.
I recently swtiched over from vegetarianism to veganism (hooray!) and am really pleased with the change. I have been exploring health food markets, going crazy over all of the vegan substitutes. Butter! Yogurt! Cheese! Amazing.
I have been reading all the ingredients on everything, like a good vegan should, and then it hit me. CHOCOLATE! Chocolate is made with milk!!! Even dark chocolate! Especially dark chocolate! Woe is me I thought, what a dumb idea, what have I gotten myself into, who needs veganism anyway...
After panicking, I came to my senses and realized there must be vegan chocolate out there, or no female vegans would exist. I've only found a few kinds on my own, but I was wondering...
what are the best types of vegan chocolate? Baking, chips, bars or other.
Thank you very much,
Kelsea
I love Trader Joe's dark chocolate bars with almonds :)
Chocolove dark chocolate with cherries and almonds, or the kind with raspberries are pretty yummy too!
I am also a huge fan of the Ghiradelli semi sweet chocolate chips.
Also, not quite the plain chocolate bar, but I LOVE Luna bars as well, and there is also Clif Nectar Cacao bars are DELICIOUS!
i find chocolate to be the least of my problems as a vegan: there are so many chocolates that naturally dont have milk in them! most dark chocolate doesnt, but the lower the quality the more likely it is to have milk.
for easily available snacking and baking, baker's semi sweet chocolate chunks are vegan.
my favorite chocolate bar i just discovered is from iceland, called Sirius, and it is heavenly. they have it at whole foods.
just read the labels, you will be surprised about how much chocolate does nto have milk in it. chocolate is a very common misconception--not at all something you have to give up!
check out: www.veganessentials.com for lots of vegan treats.
congratulations!
Thank you for the replies! I love this website, the people are so supportive. I appreciate it.
It's good to know that a kind of Chocolove chocolate is vegan, that used to be my favorite.
And I will definitely have to try that Sirius bar, sounds amazing! Good ol' Whole Foods. Thanks for the link, too. Hooray for vegans!
:)
cocoa camino brand. yummmmmmmmm
they have one that's dark chocolate with chili pepper. i love it so much.
I agree that you will find that most high-quality dark chocolate is vegan...even some supermarket chocolate like ghirardelli (they make good chips, too).
Plug for my fave, though: The "In the Dark" line by Sweet on Vermont. Yum.
Look at the ingredients as others said. Also if the first ingredient is sugar that is not a chocolate that is a chocolate flavored candy! Good quality dark chocolate won't have any milk in it.
I buy the Lindt 85% dark. It's actually quite smooth and doesn't taste bitter to me, and I have an insane sweet tooth. You can find it just about anywhere -- Longs, Winco, Walgreens, Safeway, etc.
This company makes rice milk choccy: http://www.terranostra.us/pages/12/index.htm but I have yet to try it. Looks good, though.
Congrats on your decision, and I hope you find it works well for you. ^^
Endangered Species Chocolate Bars are my personal favorite. Their website is www.chocolatebar.com... They have a vegan section since some of their bars have milk in them. You can also find them on veganessentials.com and i think whole foods. They also donate some of their profits to conservation efforts. You MUST try them! Plus they have animals on the wrapping!!!
Thank you for all the replies. I bought the first one I found (Ghirardelli 86% Cocoa) and have been making that last until I can get down to Whole Foods and try all of these delectable sounding things. Thanks again, you've all been great! :)
I like the Tropical Source bars- vegan and gluten free!
I really like Chocolove's Rich Dark 65% Cocoa
I also like Endangered Species... though... their bars with Milk in them are FAR better than the dark chocolate one's. Sometimes their dark chocolate tastes a little dirty to me :P
Endangered Species is awesome - both the chocolate and the cause. They're Indiana-based (my home state) so I find it important to support them since they are one of the few local companies around here.
They also have so many interesting flavors - the chocolate with goji berries or with cacoa nibs are both very good. I also like their 88% (SUPER) dark chocolate, although most people find it pretty strong for their tastes. The milk chocolate is pretty much loved by all though. ^^
Even if chocolate does not contain milk, it is still far from vegetarian or even vegan, since it can contain certain percentage of "contaminants". Such as insect parts.
http://www.fda.gov/ora/compliance_ref/cpg/cpg fod/cpg515-700.html
UD
"Even if chocolate does not contain milk, it is still far from vegetarian or even vegan, since it can contain certain percentage of "contaminants". Such as insect parts."
... as does every single food source in the world.
Vegans/vegetarians just have to do our best, try to make educated choices, and be realistic.
"what are the best types of vegan chocolate? Baking, chips, bars or other."
There are a lot but unfortunatley (or maybe fortunatley..) it isn't always as easy as picking up a candy bar while your in line at the grocery (normally).
I enjoy dark chocolate but I find that since becoming vegan I seem to be on the continual search for that ever elusive "perfect candy/chocolate bar." After a while dark chocolate became really just like any other dark chocolate to me. I kinda felt like "so what."
I tried the Endangered Species bars, Chocolove, some Newman's Own, and Whole Food's Brand (I am lucky to live in the city where Whole Foods originated!).
But recently I have found this wonderful chocolate bar! I had seen it in stores, even before becoming vegan and looked right over it. RitterSport chocolate bars (I know that the Marzipan, Regular Dark Chocolate, and perhaps even the Hazelnut (??don't take my word for that one though??) are vegan. And the Regular Dark Chocolate barely tastes like dark to me at all! (Depending on your taste that could be a good or a bad thing). :-) These bars have become my favorite candy!
As for baking chips, SOME of the Ghirardelli chips are vegan (but be careful, most aren't), but the chips that I use are Guittard, they come in a gold-ish bag and can be found at local groceries typically.
If you are looking for actual candy bars, there are are some websites that sell them; you just have to look around. Cosmo's Vegan Shoppe, I am pretty sure does. Or you could just make them yourself. My mom made me "butterfinger" bites out of chica-stix (sp?) dipped in chocolate, Peanut Butter cups (relatively easy), and "Not-ella" (Nutella).
" "Even if chocolate does not contain milk, it is still far from vegetarian or even vegan, since it can contain certain percentage of "contaminants". Such as insect parts."
STELLABLUE23: ... as does every single food source in the world.
Vegans/vegetarians just have to do our best, try to make educated choices, and be realistic.
Stella is right. I know this sounds bad but, you have to pick and choose your battles. ANYTHING has the chance of being "contaminated" somewhere down the line. That is what we get eating any mass produced food. If you want to go by that then you could say that we shouldn't eat anything that is made in a factory that also makes products that aren't vegan. Though, I personally don't feel that Veganism/Vegetarianism is a strict set of concrete rules. I believe it is for you to interpret what you feel comfortable doing.
I am very sorry that was so long and maybe a bit ranting!! 
-Meredith
I just had to say something about the Ritter chocolate...
Yes, it is one of the best out there but it is too good lol, for me. I will tend to go a little overboard so i stick to endangered species (actually i mostly stick to endangered species because they help the environment too and the cute animals on the wrappers!), which is amazing also and 1-3 pieces of that is mostly satisfying enough!
Thanks again for all the replies! Here's a cute little follow-up story I wanted to share...
I went to the post office yesterday to pick up a parcel, and there were actually two for me, which I found odd. I opened the mystery package, and on the top of a beautifully tied up gold paper box was a note that said, 'Happy Valentine's Day' from my boyfriend, and inside were... vegan Valentine's Day chocolates! They do exist!
I was so giddy, it was so thoughtful and such a great surpise. I have sampled a few, and I heartily recommend them to any vegan valentine in your life. They are delicate and scrumptious... by far the best chocolates I have ever had! Here is the website, incase you would like to check it out:
As a sidenote, the entire website of products isn't vegan, but the vegan assortments are clearly marked as such. There is a link for them on the side of the homepage.
Enjoy, and Happy Valentine's Day! 
