definitive ranking of 5 flavored chocolate chips;

Exciting news! Some of you already know, will have seen the updates I’ve been making to my site. I’ve decided to rebrand tipsychocochip to Best With Chocolate. And what a more fitting tribute to both names then ranking some chocolate chips? But not just any chocolate chips—interesting flavored ones!

Let’s meet our contenders!

• Maple Morsels
• Mint Chocolate Chip
• Pumpkin Spice Baking Chips (& Truffles)
• S’mores Baking Chips
• Salted Caramel Baking Chips

I always snap up fun flavored chocolate chips when I see them at the grocery. But a lot of times they sit in my pantry. Why? Two reasons. First, I think fun flavors shine the best in basic recipes, and a lot of times I’ve already shared those recipes with you! Second, I worry that you as a reader might not be able to find them. Some chocolate chips are limited edition, seasonal, or just not very common. What good is posting a recipe for maple chocolate chip cookies if you can’t find maple chips?

But that’s when it hit me–let’s do a ranking of all the fun flavored chocolate chips I’ve been collecting! A ranking like this is more versatile. This way you’ll know which ones to snap up when you see them in the grocery, and which ones to avoid!
Now let’s get to specifics. I had two criteria in my ranking, and this is all purely subjective. First and foremost, taste. Do they taste good on their own? Was I excited to bake with them? Second, chocolate chip cookies.

I feel like the chocolate chip cookie is the universal staple. It’s so good and delicious and can make anything taste more delicious. So I taste-tested in a classic chocolate cookie (get the recipe here), the universal baseline. I made one batch of cookie dough and then separated it into 5 parts, one chip flavor per part. I actually broke this down one step farther though. I tested each flavor by itself, and each flavor mixed with chocolate chunks. Because some things are just Best With Chocolate.

5. Maple Morsels

I’m sorry to say my high hopes for these guys were dashed on the rocks with no survivors. I don’t even dislike these, I legitimately don’t want to eat them. They’re sickly sweet and that “artifically flavored” text on the package couldn’t be more right. They have a hint of maple, but not the rich, full-bodied flavor of maple syrup. Just like sugar with a bad aftertaste of fake maple-ish residue. I will never purchase them again, and it will be too soon.

What about in the cookies? Nope, no redemption here. If I had to choose between a cookie and eating them straight, I’d pick the cookie. But only because there’s something else to cleanse the palate. And again, I’d pick the ones with chocolate chunks over the sole flavored chips, but for the same reason. Only because I can get a few bites without maple chips in them. I’m planning to toss or give away the cookies with these guys in them. Not worth the calories in my opinion. These were by far the worst of the batch.

4. S’mores Baking Chips

This s’mores medley includes milk chocolate chips, graham cracker squares, and dehydrated marshmallows. It was decidedly average. It was not offensive (looking at you maple chips), but it really wasn’t anything special either. The graham crackers are a little soft—not snappy like one fresh from the box. The marshmallows are neither lucky-charms crunchy nor have pillowy fluff. And I would like to see more marshmallows. Overall I just wanted more flavor from all the pieces involved.

In terms of cookies, these chips make some decent chocolate chip s’mores cookies. They’re solid. They’re fine for a lazy attempt at sprucing up a chocolate chip cookie. But if you love the flavor of s’mores, go for my s’mores kiss cookies. They taste better, look prettier, and have way more flavor.

Adding chocolate chunks to the cookies with the s’mores didn’t make much difference. Since this mixture already has chocolate, you couldn’t really tell. If I were to make a batch with these s’mores chips, I wouldn’t bother to add more chocolate. If anything, I’d add more marshmallows. It tasted like a chocolate chip cookie with the occasional marshmallow or graham square.

They were solid. I’ll happily eat the cookies I baked, but no reason to rush out and buy them again.

3. Pumpkin Spice Baking Chips (& Truffles)

While the maple chips were awful and the s’mores were meh, the last three are all much closer. I would recommend all the remaining three. First, a disclaimer. I am not a pumpkin spice fanatic. I could care less about pumpkin spice. It’s a nice fall flavor every once in a while, but I don’t understand all the hype. So I’m not overly biased. But I will give credit where credit is due. These guys are GOOD.

Why then, are they only #3 on the list? Because they’re hard to find. Last year I tried to track down some of these pumpkin spice chips and came up empty-handed. I even enlisted my mother and a friend, and we checked grocery stores across three different states. Not entirely empty-handed, actually. My mom did find these white chocolate pumpkin spice truffles. In the photo, you’ll see the pumpkin spice chips in the bowl, with the little white chocolate truffles scattered around on the table. I’m lucky to say I still have some pumpkin spice chips in my pantry, but once they’re gone, they’re gone. I keep an eye out every year, but I’m guessing they’re pretty limited production.

Pumpkin spice chips? Probably a contender for the #1 slot. The truffles? They’re just ok. They’re bringing down the average though. The truffles mix white chocolate and pumpkin spice, and I think it just waters down the flavor. They’re not bad, but the original was significantly better. I couldn’t in good faith rank them #1 when I can’t find them anymore, and the alternative just isn’t quite as good.

If you’re a fan of pumpkin spice, go for the truffles! They’re not bad, and you can taste the pumpkin spice. But you’ll have to exist knowing that something even better existed—pumpkin spice chips.

The chips are good in chocolate chip cookies both with or without chocolate chunks. They definitely add a fall vibe, but they’re a fun surprise to change up a traditional chocolate chip cookie. They’re good enough that I’ve shared a couple of recipes that use them. Check out these pumpkin spice muffins, and Halloween mash cookies. Even if you can only find the pumpkin spice truffles, just swap the truffles in for the chips one to one. For the Halloween cookies, I might dial back or omit the white chocolate chips, since the truffles already have white chocolate in them.

2. Mint Chocolate Chips

These guys came in a strong second. As a flavor, they’re not quite as exotic as some of the others, but they’re a solid choice. I’ve also seen them in various grocery stores near me, year-round. The mint is a little strong straight out of the bag, but they shone when baked into the cookie. It’s a good balance of mint and chocolate flavor. Mint is one of those things that can easily be too mild to taste, or insanely overpowering. This was a nice in-between, ideal for a mint chip.

Because they’re already dark chocolate, the chocolate chunks weren’t necessary. While these cookies baked, you could smell the mint wafting enticingly from the oven. They’ve got a good flavor, enough to get the mint in every bite without it smacking you in the face. But these mint chocolate chips come in at a solid #2.

1. Salted Caramel Baking Chips

The star of the show! I would happily eat a handful of these guys on their own. They’re exactly as advertised, a perfect caramel flavor, with just enough salt. Even eating one chip on its own will give you that hint of salt. The caramel flavor is rich and surprisingly deep for a tiny little chip.

They also shine in cookies! I think in the case of my chocolate chip cookie trial, I actually liked them evenly split with the chocolate chunks a touch more than by themselves in the cookie. They’re on the sweeter side, but not cloying like the maple chips. But because they’re sweeter, I think dark chocolate helps to bring them out and make them pop. I am planning to try them out with chocolate muffins, or chocolate cookies. I think paired with chocolate, these guys are simply the best.

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Looking for fun ideas to use these baking chips?

• Check out these perfectly chewy chocolate chip cookies that I used for taste testing!
• Throw any of these guys in a peanut butter and chocolate muffin for a fun little twist!
• Or for a fun twist, make a cake or cupcakes and swap in your favorite flavor of baking chip in this Cookie Dough Icing recipe.

What do you think? Have you tried these, or other flavored chips? Leave a comment with your thoughts, or let me know what other flavors you’d like to reviews for!