Carob or Chocolate?

is there any caloric difference between carob and chocolate chips? or is it simply that carob is a different plant from the cocoa bean and is dairy free? i'm a little confused but I'm looking for a healthier alternative to chocolate (if that's possible ;) ) anyone know? or have any ideas for chocolate alternatives? thanks!

The calories are not that far off from each other, as far as I remember.

My suggestion as a top secret alternative to chocolate is.. *drum roll* chocolate! Only the high cocoa content one. A general consensus around here is to aim for more than 70% cocoa. For me personally the rule is to have sugar as far down the list of ingredients as possible.

Don`t worry that the calorie content for this kind of chocolate is slightly higher, it is because the refined sugar, which is bad for you, actually lowers the calorie count, but brings you no nutritional value.

After getting used to the taste, you won`t find yourself going back to regular milk chocolate. And a piece or two will be enough to satisfy your cravings, not to mention that the splurge on fine, high quality chocolate will make it feel like a real classy treat, as opposed to a sugary guilt trip.

Carob is from a different plant entirely, and it tastes like crap (in my opinion). Stick with high quality dark chocolate. It is actually quite good for you. Chocolate is extremely high in antioxidants, rich in vitamins and minerals, and does not raise your cholestorol. Yum!

I use carob powder in chocolate muffin/cake recipes but i only use it half and half with the normal cocoa powder - this is because it doesnt quite have the nice taste of cocoa but it is really dark so gives your cakes a lovely deep chocolatey colour.

I use mostly carob powder for anything I make with chocolate flavour and I've tried it out on a couple of the most discerning and picky little girls in the world and they can't tell the difference in baked goods.  Of course I didn't tell them it was a carob loaf I told them it was chocolate loaf and they gobbled it up, along with muffins and other things.   The biggest difference between the two is that cocoa is naturally bitter and needs sugar or some sweetness added to it to make it palatable whereas carob powder is naturally sweet and requires no added sugar to make it good tasting.  So, if you are substituting carob powder for cocoa powder in a recipe, you can actually cut back on the sugar and calories when you do so. 

Of course it doesn't taste the same but to me it's very, very close and if a couple of 8-10 year olds can't tell the difference, then it's just a matter of getting used to it, just like anything else.