What Are Mini chocolate chips and How Can I Use Them?

Wondering what to do with mini chocolate chips? This guide covers how to pick them, cook them, store them, and swap them, plus 76 recipes to put them to work.

What are mini chocolate chips?

Mini chocolate chips are exactly what they sound like: standard chocolate chips shrunk down to a quarter of the size or smaller. The chocolate is the same, usually semisweet, but the tiny teardrop shape changes how they behave in a batter.

The whole appeal is distribution. Because each chip is so small, the same weight of chocolate scatters into many more pieces, so chocolate reaches every bite instead of clumping in pockets. You get the taste of chocolate throughout rather than the occasional big melty hit.

They are the chip of choice for anything delicate or thin, where a full-size chip would sink, tear the batter, or simply look too big.

How to Use Mini Chips

Reach for minis whenever the thing you are making is small or thin or smooth in texture. They fold into pancakes and mini muffins without weighing the batter down, and they stud cookies evenly instead of leaving bald patches.

They are a natural fit for Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins and the tender dough of Chocolate Chip Cloud Cookies, where a regular chip would dominate each small bite.

They also disappear into creamy fillings. Think the cannoli filling for Carrabba's Mini Cannoli or the no-bake base of South Beach-Style Mocha Ricotta Creme, where they add flecks of chocolate without lumps.

Minis also make a great finishing touch. Press them onto the sides of a frosted cake, scatter them over ice cream, or sprinkle them on Scary Spooky Halloween Eyeballs for a quick decorative detail.

Pairing and Common Mistakes

Mini chips suit anything where you want chocolate to read as texture rather than as big chunks. They are right at home with banana, peanut butter, oats, cherries, and cream cheese, which is why they turn up in energy bars and quick breads and cheesecakes.

The most common mistake is swapping them one-for-one with regular chips and expecting the same look. By weight they are equal, but minis melt and spread faster because each piece is small, so they can vanish into the crumb instead of staying as visible chunks.

The other trap is overdoing it. Because minis distribute so thoroughly, a cup can make a batter taste busier and sweeter than a cup of large chips would. Start a little lighter and adjust.

If you want both an even spread and visible chocolate, use half minis and half regular chips.

Substitutes

The simplest substitute is regular chocolate chips, chopped down with a knife to roughly mini size. You lose the uniform teardrop shape, but you get the same scattering effect and a mix of fine and chunky bits.

Finely chopped chocolate from a bar works the same way and often tastes better, since bar chocolate has more cocoa butter and melts more smoothly than chips, which are made to hold their shape.

Chopped chocolate chunks or chocolate jimmies (sprinkles) can stand in for decoration. For flavor inside a batter, cacao nibs add chocolate crunch without the sweetness, though they are bitter, so use them sparingly.

Buying and Storage

Mini chips sit right beside the regular chips in the baking aisle, in semisweet most commonly, plus milk and dark and white versions. Check the bag, since some minis are labeled for melting and some for baking, and the baking type holds its shape in the oven.

Store them like any chocolate: in a sealed bag or container, somewhere cool and dry, away from heat and strong odors. Chocolate readily picks up smells from its surroundings, so keep it away from onions and spices.

Kept cool, chips last well past a year. If they develop a dusty, pale gray film, that is bloom, where cocoa butter or sugar has risen to the surface, usually from warmth or humidity. It looks off but is harmless, and the chips bake up fine.

Avoid the fridge unless your kitchen is hot, and even then seal them tightly, since cold chocolate pulls in moisture and can seize when melted.

Nutrition

Quick facts

Where to find mini chocolate chips: Mini chocolate chips are usually found in the baking supplies section or aisle of the grocery store or supermarket.

Food group: Mini chocolate chips are a member of the Sweets US Department of Agriculture nutritional food group.

In Chinese

迷你巧克力片

British (UK) term

Mini chocolate chips

en français

petites pépites de chocolat

en español

chips de chocolate en miniatura

How much do mini chocolate chips weigh?

Related

Sweets

Recipes using mini chocolate chips

There are 76 recipes that contain this ingredient.

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe

Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip, & Pecan Cookies

Nice cookies! I followed the recipe except only cooked them for 11 minutes (I prefer a softer cookie), and they were wonderful.

Oatmeal Mini Chip Cookies

Make oatmeal feel special and try this recipe that makes scrumptious cookies you won't want to put down.

Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins

Chocolate chip mini muffins meet bright orange zest in a lighter bake using skim milk, canola oil, and egg substitute. The classic chocolate-orange pairing in two-bite form.

Double Chocolate Banana Muffins

Super moist and chocolaty. If you are a big fan of both bananas and chocolate, these muffins will definitely please you.

Cranberry-Nut Chocolate Chip Cookies

The cookies were moist and delicious. Just make sure you put them on the middle rack in the oven, nice to enjoy a great treat and have it be somewhat healthy as well.

Smores Cake

Smores cake layers fluffy graham cracker sponge with toasted miniature marshmallows and mini chocolate chips broiled until bubbly. Low-fat campfire-flavored cake without leaving the kitchen.

Cracked Chocolate Cookies

Delicious fudgey chocolatey cookies that are always a hit.

Cherry & Chocolate Energy Bars

I have to say that these bars were so delicious, crunchy texture with sweet-slightly sour and nutty flavor. Packed with goodness and yumminess. Not only kids love them, grown-ups also can't have enough.

Chocolate Chip Cloud Cookies

Light, fluffy and delicious cookies are great treats at any occasion.

Chocolate Chip Yummies

My son brought this recipe home from work one day some years ago and asked me to please make these cookies for him. His friend Brian had given him the recipe. Brian's mom had made the cookies and he would bring them in to work and give my son some. My son William said that they were so good that he wanted me to make some for him, so I made them and I loved them as well as my husband, my daughter, my sisters, and everyone else who ate them. Well, then my daughter's friends wanted me to make some cookies for them, so I just gave them the recipe and said go for it yourselves, they are so easy to make. I know you will love these cookies too because they are not the regular chocolate chip cookie variety. They melt in your mouth and you can't eat just one. Thank you to my son's friend Brian and Brian's mom for sharing this delicious recipe with me, wherever they may be.

Scary Spooky Halloween Eyeballs

Kids love these scary eyeballs, and they taste good!

Black Forest Cherry Cheesecake

This cheesecake is amazingly chocolatey and delicious. It screams out the cherry flavour. Definitely worth the effort.

South Beach-Style Mocha Ricotta Creme

Sweetened ricotta and chocolate make the perfect South Beach Diet Phase 1 dessert.

Coco-Oat Snowballs

These buttery and flavorful no-bake cookies are the perfect bite-sized sweet!

Chocolate Chip Shortbread Sticks

Buttery shortbread sticks studded with mini chocolate chips, baked golden, and dipped in melted chocolate. Four ingredients in the dough, shaped like little biscotti logs. Simple, elegant, and impossible to eat just one.

Strawberry, Chocolate, & Cheese Parfait

A 10-minute dessert for two: sweetened ricotta studded with mini chocolate chips, layered with strawberry liqueur-soaked berries in stemmed glasses. Lighter than it looks and ready in a flash.

Carry-Along Picnic Cake

A moist chocolate chip cake made with instant mashed potatoes, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Baked in a 13x9 pan with a powdered sugar finish, it travels beautifully to any potluck or picnic.

Double Chocolate Chews

Soft, fudgy chocolate cookies with cocoa and mini chocolate chips, made with cream cheese for an impossibly chewy texture. Just 8 minutes in the oven and you've got 32 eggless cookies.

Chocolate Cherry Cheese Ball

Chocolate cherry cheese ball blends cream cheese with cherries, crushed pineapple, and mini chocolate chips into a sweet, no-bake dessert dip you shape and chill. Serve with graham crackers for an easy party treat.

Chocolate Lover's Torte

A two-layer chocolate almond torte with whipped egg whites for lightness and a glossy chocolate chip glaze. Bake it in heart-shaped pans for a Valentine's Day stunner.

Italian Celebration Cake

Italian celebration cake with pound cake layers soaked in orange liqueur, filled with sieved ricotta, candied fruit, and chocolate chips, frosted with cocoa-mocha buttercream. No baking required.

Black & White Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are very delicious cookies, we always cook them. Everytime they go very well.

Mocha-Chip Cheesecake

No-bake mocha chip cheesecake with a chocolate chip graham cracker crust, coffee-infused cream cheese filling, and mini chocolate chips folded throughout. Set with gelatin, not eggs.

Santa Cookie Wreath

Santa cookie wreath, a festive gingerbread ring shaped from boxed mix, ringed with holly-leaf cookies and finished in melted candy coating. A fun edible centerpiece for the holiday table.

Frightfully Easy Ghost Cookies

Halloween ghost cookies dipped in white vanilla coating with mini chocolate chip eyes. Three-ingredient no-bake cookie trick that turns store-bought peanut butter cookies into spooky party treats.

In Love with Chocolate

Heart-shaped chocolate cookies loaded with chocolate chips, topped with melted white chocolate and candied pineapple. A Valentine's Day cookie that's rich, fudgy, and festive.

Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

Sour cream coffee cake loaded with mini chocolate chips in the batter and a brown sugar streusel topping. Tender, rich crumb that stays moist for days.

Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

Sour cream coffee cake loaded with mini chocolate chips in the batter and a brown sugar streusel topping. Tender, rich crumb that stays moist for days.

Mini Chips Bars

Chewy mini chocolate chip bars made with nonfat yogurt and egg whites instead of butter. Lower in fat but still loaded with brown sugar chewiness.

My Favorite Cookie

Loaded chocolate chip cookies stuffed with pecans, white chocolate, milk chocolate, semisweet chocolate, and mini chips. The everything-in-the-cookie-jar classic.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Breads

Peanut butter chocolate chip mini loaves made with chunky peanut butter, buttermilk, and brown sugar. Bakes into 5 small gift-ready loaves that freeze beautifully for up to a month.

Double Chocolate Hits

Double chocolate cookies made with cocoa and buttermilk for a soft, fudgy center loaded with mini chocolate chips. A quick drop cookie that bakes in under 10 minutes.

Coconut Pecan Brownies

Coconut pecan brownies built on a boxed fudge brownie mix doctored with sour cream and a can of coconut pecan frosting stirred right into the batter. German chocolate cake meets brownie.

Orange-Almond Sour Cream Cake with Chocolate Chips

Orange-almond sour cream cake with chocolate chips, orange flower water, and a Grand Marnier orange syrup soaked into the warm crumb. A dense, fragrant Bundt cake that keeps for days and freezes for months.

Chocolate-Amareto Cheesecake

Lighter chocolate amaretto cheesecake made with reduced-fat cream cheese, cottage cheese, and cocoa. Baked low and slow with mini chocolate chips folded in.

Hazelnut Double Fudge Pie

Hazelnut double fudge pie with cocoa, chocolate chips, hazelnut liqueur, and cream baked in a flaky shell. Dense, wet-brownie texture with intense fudge richness. Slice thin, it's that decadent.

Chocolate Chip-Cherry Pie

This is a wonderful pie, very chocolate flavor, and all the ingredients are very well to cook this recipe.

Little Snow People

Little snow people cookies: holiday snowman cookies shaped from festive dough with three stacked balls, decorated with mini chocolate chip eyes, cinnamon candy buttons, and peanut butter cup hats.

Red Velvet Cheeseball

Red velvet cheeseball is a no-bake dessert dip made from cream cheese, butter, and dry red velvet cake mix, then rolled in mini chocolate chips. A sweet, creamy party centerpiece for dunking vanilla wafers and graham crackers.

Double Chocolate Scones

Buttery scones studded with mini chocolate chips and orange zest, baked golden then drizzled with both melted chocolate and white chocolate. A bakery-worthy breakfast treat in under an hour.

Mini Blackbottoms

Mini blackbottom cupcakes with a fudgy chocolate cake base topped with a sweet cream cheese and chocolate chip filling, cooked in the microwave using paper egg cartons as molds. A vintage retro treat that's quick and fun.

Pillowy Macaroon Brownies

Fudgy brownies lightened with prune puree instead of butter, topped with a chewy coconut macaroon layer and a chocolate drizzle. A two-in-one treat that's richer and more wholesome than it looks.

Pillowy Macaroon Brownies

Fudgy brownies lightened with prune puree instead of butter, topped with a chewy coconut macaroon layer and a chocolate drizzle. A two-in-one treat that's richer and more wholesome than it looks.

Easy Chocolate Lover's Cheesecake

Easy chocolate chip cheesecake in a graham cracker crust with a glossy ganache topping. Mini chocolate chips studded throughout a creamy filling that bakes in under 35 minutes.

Easy Chocolate Lover's Cheesecake

Easy chocolate chip cheesecake in a graham cracker crust with a glossy ganache topping. Mini chocolate chips studded throughout a creamy filling that bakes in under 35 minutes.

Mini Morsel Shortbread Squares

Buttery shortbread bars studded with mini chocolate chips and crowned with a glossy melted chocolate topping. One-bowl batter, no ganache, no double boiler required.

Confetti Cake

Fun confetti cake with chocolate chips baked in, topped with colorful marshmallows and drizzled chocolate frosting. A semi-homemade party cake kids can't resist.

Confetti Cake

Fun confetti cake with chocolate chips baked in, topped with colorful marshmallows and drizzled chocolate frosting. A semi-homemade party cake kids can't resist.

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Dip

No-cook cheesecake dip with cream cheese, whipping cream, brown sugar, cinnamon, brandy-soaked raisins, and mini chocolate chips. Whips up in 10 minutes. Serve with fresh fruit, graham crackers, or just a spoon.

All 76 recipes