For a plain bar to use across home-baking recipes, Lindt EXCELLENCE Dark 70% Bar 100g is a practical starting point: Lindt specifically describes this bar as suitable for baking and cooking. Choose by the recipe’s stated cocoa percentage and chocolate weight, though; a 90g bar needs measuring for a 100g recipe, and a 74% bar can change the flavour compared with 70%. Check the current pack’s allergen statement before baking for anyone with an allergy.
A plain 70% dark chocolate bar is a starting point if you want chocolate to chop for cookies and brownies or melt for cakes and ganache. Follow a recipe’s specified chocolate type and weight where it gives them.
A 74% bar such as Montezuma’s FitzRoy offers a higher cocoa percentage than the 70% options. Consider it when that change suits the recipe, rather than treating it as an identical substitution.
Compare the ingredients and precautionary allergen wording on the exact bar you buy, particularly when serving someone with a milk, nut, peanut, soya, sesame or gluten allergy. A vegan-recipe claim alone does not establish milk-allergy suitability.
Start with the recipe’s chocolate type, cocoa percentage and weight. Then check the individual bar’s ingredients and allergen statement.
| Priority | What to check | Your needs |
|---|---|---|
| Cocoa percentage | Check whether the recipe specifies a percentage. Lindt, Divine and Green & Black’s have named 70% bars; Montezuma’s FitzRoy is 74%. | If the recipe leaves the percentage open, I want a plain starting point. If it specifies 70%, I would check before substituting 74%, as the flavour can change. |
| Plain ingredients | Read the exact bar’s ingredient list. Check for added fruit, nuts or other inclusions if the recipe calls for plain chocolate. | For brownies, ganache or a cake mixture, I want the chocolate flavour and texture the recipe calls for, without an unplanned inclusion. |
| Bar weight | Compare the pack weight with the recipe quantity: the named bars include 90g and 100g formats. Weigh the amount used rather than counting bars. | A 90g bar will not supply a recipe’s full 100g quantity on its own, so I need to measure and top up if necessary. |
| Allergen wording | Check both ingredients and any “may contain” statement on the current pack. Do not equate a vegan recipe with suitability for a milk allergy. | When I am baking for someone with an allergy, the exact bar must fit that person’s allergy-management advice. |
| Sourcing claims | Check claims on the individual product: Ocado labels its Green & Black’s 70% bar organic and Fairtrade; Divine identifies Fairtrade ingredients on its 70% bar. | If organic or Fairtrade labelling matters to me, I want to confirm it for the bar I am buying, not assume it applies to every product from a brand. |
The named options include 70% and 74% cocoa bars. Changing percentage can change the chocolate flavour and sweetness of the finished bake, even at the same weight.
Use the percentage specified by the recipe where possible. If you substitute a 74% bar for 70%, consider whether the recipe suits the change.
The named products come in 90g and 100g formats, so “one bar” does not always equal the amount a recipe requires.
Measure the chocolate by weight. Top up a 90g bar if the recipe calls for 100g.
Lindt describes its 70% bar as made to a vegan recipe but says it is unsuitable for people with a milk allergy. Precautionary statements also differ between bars.
Check the current ingredients and “may contain” wording for every bar used, and follow the affected person’s allergy-management advice.
Fruit, nuts or other additions change what goes into the bake and can introduce allergens the recipe did not anticipate.
Choose a plain bar when the recipe calls for plain dark chocolate; use an inclusion bar when those additions are intended.
Compare named bars rather than assuming every dark chocolate product in a brand’s range has the same cocoa percentage, ingredients or allergen wording.
Lindt describes its EXCELLENCE Dark 70% Bar 100g as suitable for baking and cooking.
Ocado lists the 70% Organic Dark Chocolate Bar as a 90g, organic and Fairtrade-labelled option.
Divine’s 70% Dark Chocolate is a 90g bar with Fairtrade ingredients listed by the brand.
Montezuma’s FitzRoy is a 90g organic dark chocolate bar with 74% cocoa solids.
The 70% Dark Chocolate Slab Selector is a 100g single-slab option.
M&S includes dark chocolate in its food range and publishes home-baking recipes.
These single-bar options offer a 70% cooking-chocolate format and a 70% organic dark chocolate format for home-baking recipes. Use the recipe’s required weight and check the current pack when allergens matter.
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A 70% cooking-chocolate bar to consider when a home-baking recipe calls for plain dark chocolate. The bar is 100g; follow the recipe’s specified chocolate type and quantity. Check the current pack for milk and possible egg, gluten and tree-nut warnings before serving someone with an allergy.
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A plain 70% bar to consider when organic and Fairtrade labelling matters to your choice. Ocado’s listing for this 90g bar names cocoa mass, cane sugar, cocoa butter and vanilla extract. Weigh and top up the chocolate for a recipe requiring 100g, and check the current pack’s milk and nut warning.
A plain 70% bar is a starting point among these named baking options when the recipe gives no percentage. If it does specify one, follow that instruction where possible; changing to Montezuma’s 74% FitzRoy bar may change the finished flavour.
You can consider the substitution if a different cocoa flavour suits the recipe, but it is not an identical flavour swap. Montezuma’s FitzRoy is 74% cocoa, while the named Lindt, Divine and Green & Black’s bars are 70%; use the weight the recipe calls for.
No. Lindt says its EXCELLENCE Dark 70% Bar is made to a vegan recipe but is not suitable for people with a milk allergy because it is made in a facility using milk. Check the current pack and follow the individual’s allergy-management advice.
Check the ingredients and any “may contain” wording on the exact bar you use. The named products have different precautions: Divine may contain gluten, milk and nuts; Green & Black’s may contain nuts and milk; Montezuma’s FitzRoy may contain milk, nuts and peanuts. Check Lindt’s current pack for its milk, nut, soya and sesame warnings.