If you want to make your baking better, one of the best things you can do is learn about conversions and measurements to make the process more efficient and to standardize your results.
One of the most commonly used ingredients in baking aside from standards like flour and sugar, is chocolate chips. However, there can often be questions and confusion when it comes to measurements and conversions when using this ingredient.
The main question we will be tackling here is how many cups of chocolate chips are in a 12 ounce bag, and while this can be oversimplified, there is not always one simple answer.
We will also be covering other details and conversions that will help you improve as a baker, especially if you bake with chocolate chips frequently.
It is common when reading recipes that use chocolate chips that the measurements are in cups, but the bag of chocolate chips you are using is in ounces, so how do you make this conversion.
If you want to avoid having to make conversions like these, one of the best things you can do is to measure in weight since most of the best recipes are measured in weight and this will lead to more consistent results.
However, if you still want to use cups, but your ingredients are measured in weight on the bag like chocolate chips are, then what is the conversion? Generally, one cup of chocolate chips is 6 ounces, so a 12 ounce bag has 2 cups of chocolate chips.
Now you know this information, the rest of this guide will go over how measurements with chocolate chips can be tricky and where you can avoid tripping up in the process in the future. So, if you want to make your cooking with chocolate chips more efficient, keep reading!
Chocolate Chip Different Brands
The main reason we are talking about 12 ounce chocolate chips in this article specifically is that most manufacturers of chocolate chips will produce their chocolate chips in these 12 ounce bags.
These will nearly always be a bag of semi sweet chocolate chips in a standard size unless listed otherwise.
Some of the most popular manufacturers of chocolate chips include Hershey’s, Guittard, Nestle Toll House, Kroger, and Ghirardelli, and these all sell their semi sweet chocolate chips in 12 ounce bags.
So, these bags are all 2 cups as well!
You will also find that the weight of the package will depend on the size of the chocolate chips that are included, whether this is chunks, standard, mini, or jumbo.
The weight will usually go under 12 ounces if the size of the chocolate chips being used is smaller than standard. You will also find that 12 ounces of chocolate chips weighs 340 grams, so if you are using a recipe that works in grams, making the conversion is not too hard.
You will find that the brand Nestle Toll House sells their semi sweet chocolate chip morsels in a 12 ounce bag, however, for their mini chocolate chips, these are instead sold in a 10 ounce bag.
The most common size bag you will find for chocolate chunks is usually 11.5 ounces, however this varies since the size of chocolate chunks can vary quite widely.
Ghirardelli has the same packaging tendencies as Nestle Toll House with 12 ounce bags for standard chocolate chips and 10 ounces for mini chocolate chips.
Different Types Of Chocolate
You can often find that different types of chocolate might be packaged in different size bags of chocolate chips depending on their brand.
An example of this is that Nestle Toll House sells their dark chocolate chips in 10 ounce bags, while white chocolate is in a 12 ounce bag, and milk is in 11.5 ounce bags.
Then there is a brand like Guittard who sells their cacao chips in only 8.5 ounce bags, but for milk and dark chocolate chips these are in 11.5 ounce bags.
You will also find that the brand Ghirardelli also features similar variations when it comes to the weight of the packages that they are using.
You can see that Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips are usually in 11.5 ounce bags, then the white chocolate chips are in 11 ounce bags. Their bittersweet chocolate chips are in 10 ounce bags, and finally the unsweetened cocoa chips are only in 8.5 ounce bags.
For Hershey’s, they tend to be a lot more consistent with their mini chocolate chips, their semi sweet and dark chocolate chips, all being sold in a 12 ounce bag. However, their milk chocolate chips break this pattern being sold in bags that are 11.5 ounces.
So, since most of these bag sizes fluctuate by only around 2 ounces, you might be wondering if a difference in 2 ounces will make a significant difference when it comes to the recipe you are making.
Most people will not want to buy a whole other bag of chocolate chips if they are only a couple ounces off, and if they have an extra ounce or two, why not just add this to the recipe to save keeping the leftovers?
Well if you are measuring your chocolate chips by volume, you will notice that each package of chocolate chips will nearly always contain about 2 US cups of their own chocolate chips.
This is interesting since most recipes will ask for 2 cups anyway. So, if you are measuring volume, usually just using the whole bag will be fine since the adjustment has already been accounted for by the manufacturer!
Because of this, we do not think you need to worry about these minor differences when it comes to your chocolate chip recipes. It is unlikely that you will notice any difference, especially if you are using a very slightly different amount like anything less than an ounce.
The one place you will want to ensure that you are using the exact amount of chocolate is when you are melting your chocolate since precision is more important here. Because of this, when working with melted chocolate we recommend using a kitchen scale!
How Many Cups Of Chocolate Chips For Different Weights
So, as we have covered, chocolate chips are usually sold in bags that weigh 12 ounces, however, this is not the case for all chocolate chips and a lot of them are sold in other bag sizes as well.
A good example of this is Nestle Toll House who have a wide variety of different sizes when it comes to selling their chocolate chips. You can find Nestle Toll House selling their chocolate chips in sizes ranging from 6 ounces, and of course 12 ounces, all the way up to 24, 36, and even 72 ounces.
So, with these size bags of chocolate chips, how many cups of chocolate chips are in each?
As we have already mentioned, there are 2 cups in 12 ounces of chocolate chips. So, half of 12 ounces is 6 ounces, so a 6 ounce bag of chocolate chips contains only 1 cup of chocolate chips.
Then for a 24 ounce bag, this will contain 4 cups of chocolate chips since this is double the amount of chocolate chips. Then for 36 ounces this is 6 cups, and finally a 72 ounce bag of chocolate chips will contain 12 cups of chocolate chips!
Knowing these conversions can be very useful when cooking with large batches of chocolate chips!
How Many Cups For Dark Chocolate Chips?
We mentioned earlier that Nestle Toll House sells their dark chocolate chips in 10 ounce bags, however this is not the only size available with them also selling 20 ounce packages as well as 40 ounce bags too.
A 10 ounce bag of dark chocolate chips is almost 2 cups but comes up short being around 1.6 cups of dark chocolate. Then a 20 ounce bag is over a cup of dark chocolate chips being 1.25 cups of dark chocolate.
Then finally if you are buying a 40 ounce bag of dark chocolate chips from Nestle Toll House, this contains 2.5 cups of dark chocolate chips!
12 Ounces Of Chocolate Chips In How Many Cups
If you have 12 ounces of chocolate chips, this equals 2 US cups.
Since 2 cups is a common measurement for chocolate chips in recipes, and since chocolate chips are often sold in 12 ounce bags, it is easy to have the exact amount of chocolate chips you need ready for you.
Even if the chocolate chips are an irregular size or shape like mini, jumbo, or chocolate chunks, if the bag is 12 ounces, it will be 2 cups. If it is 6 ounces, this will be 1 cup of chocolate chips, 3 ounces is a half of a cup, and 1.5 ounces of chocolate chips is a quarter of a cup!
Is 8 Ounces Of Chocolate Chips One Cup?
No, there are not 8 ounces of chocolate chips in one cup, for one cup of chocolate chips, you will only need 6 ounces of chocolate chips, not 8.
The reason there is some level of confusion surrounding this is because while 6 ounces equals a cup, 8 fluid ounces equals 1 fluid cup, and people occasionally confuse this.
However, since chocolate chips are measured using a dry cup measure instead of a liquid one, it is only 6 ounces.
The volume of a dry ingredient does play a part in its weight, however, just because a cup of chocolate chips is 6 ounces, this does not mean that a cup of another ingredient will always be 6 ounces too!
For example, if you scoop a cup of oats, then brown sugar, then chocolate chips, and weigh them all separately, you will find that they all have a different weight. This is why, if you want precision with your measurements, we recommend a kitchen scale!
How Much Is 8 Ounces Of Chocolate?
For 8 ounces of chocolate, this will be 1 and a third cups of chocolate. You will find that if a recipe asks for 8 ounces of chocolate you can use either chocolate chips or baking chocolate, however, if a recipe asks for a specific type of chocolate, then try to comply with this.
And, as you have likely noticed, chocolate bars come in a wide variety of different flavors.
There is unsweetened baking chocolate, as well as bittersweet chocolate, semi sweet, milk, sweet German, white, and many more, so knowing which type works best for your recipe is good information to know.
A square of baking chocolate is usually half an ounce with 2 squares being a whole ounce, however, this is not always the case depending on the type of chocolate used.
In the grocery store you will usually find that the bars of baking chocolate will be 4 ounce bars, however, make sure to check and not work off this assumption. If you want to get a pound of chocolate, then this will usually need 4 bars of baking chocolate.
If your recipe is asking for chocolate in weight specifically, make sure that you are getting the right amount using the measurements on the packaging, and try to get the right flavor as well, whether you are getting bars or chocolate chips.
In spite of this, you do not always need to get the exact type of chocolate the recipe asks for, especially if you have a similar type of chocolate already.
For example, an unsweetened cacao baking chip can be used as a substitute for an unsweetened baking chocolate if this is what you have available. Knowing what types of chocolate work as substitutes for each other is useful information for any baker to know!
How To Measure 8 Ounces Of Chocolate?
While you can use cups or the descriptions on the packaging to try and get as close to 8 ounces of chocolate as possible. The best method is to use a kitchen scale since this is the most accurate and efficient method possible.
But, if you do not have access to a kitchen scale, then using cups can work. So, if you need to measure 8 ounces of chocolate using cups, then 1 and a third cups of chocolate chips is 8 ounces!
How To Use A Pound Block Of Chocolate?
Using a block of chocolate is easy once you know that 12 ounces of chocolate is equal to 2 cups. First you will want to break your block of chocolate into small pieces that are close to chocolate chips if possible.
Then you can get a cup of these, and know that this is 6 ounces of chocolate. Or if you want 12 ounces instead, just use 2 cups.
If you are struggling to chop your chocolate block, then you can try grating the chocolate, this is a great way to break up your chocolate block without too much of a struggle!
Are Unit Measurements For Cups Around The World?
No, around the world, the exact measurement for a cup in cooking is not always the same. Because of this, the answers in the guide might vary, and this is why we mention US cups specifically. However, even in the US there are 2 types of cups.
The legal cup in the US is 240 ml, however the standard cup is slightly smaller at 236.5 ml. Then the international metric cup is 250 ml and the imperial cup is 284 ml!
Summary
Hopefully this guide has given you all the information you need when it comes to measurement conversions with chocolate chips.
It may seem like a lot of information, but in most situations, you do not need to worry about precision when it comes to measurement and chocolate chips.
However, the main scenario where you should be more careful when measuring chocolate chips is when you are using them for melting. In this case, we recommend using a kitchen scale to get the precision that you need!
Have you ever made something so delicious that you wished you could savor it forever?
Only to find that the recipe has now mysteriously vanished from your phone and the entirety of the internet. Yep, there’s not much more painful than that.
Hi, my name is Mark Williams and I have been infatuated with cooking since I was young. I would beg my mother to pull a chair up to the counter so I could watch what she was doing.
