Chocolate is life, as far as I’m concerned. Paired with coffee, dark chocolate is my snack of choice for fueling my creative workday flow. Some brands of chocolate chips do the trick for a while; they’re a great snackable size, but most are a little too sweet for my taste. I’ve even resorted to biting off hunks of unsweetened baking chocolate to get my chocolate fix without the sugar. (Not recommended!)
My main rules for choosing chocolate are that it must be dairy free, have no strange additives, and it must have some form of chocolate or cacao as the first ingredient instead of sugar. These rules instantly eliminate many varieties of bagged chocolate chips and virtually every well-known candy bar. (Have you read the ingredients on candy bar labels lately?) I prefer dark chocolate because I don’t care for the dairy, or the milky aftertaste of a milk chocolate. Just give me the good, uncut stuff, please. The simpler the ingredients list, the better when it comes to chocolate, candy and just about any packaged treats or foods on my shopping list. The ingredients list on Hu’s Dark Chocolate Gems ticked all the boxes for me, so I put them to the snack test.
Hu Dark Chocolate Gems: Product Details
- Price on publish: $9.99
- Package size: 9 oz.
- Organic, paleo and vegan.
- Dark chocolate.
- 190 calories per 2-Tbsp serving size.
- Resealable package.
- Ingredients: Organic cacao, organic unrefined coconut sugar, organic cocoa butter.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Nice size for snacking; about 4x the size of the average chocolate chips.
- Certified organic.
- No artificial ingredients.
- Sweetened with coconut sugar.
- No cane sugar.
- No stabilizers or oils added.
- Safe for keto, paleo and vegan diets.
- Price is similar to organic candy bars, per ounce.
Cons:
- Can be hard to find in brick-and-mortar stores.
- Melts easily in hot weather. (Page recommends 75 degrees F or lower for storage.)
- Coconut may be an allergen for some people.
- Pricey compared to chocolate chips or mainstream candy bars.
HU KITCHEN Organic Dark Chocolate Gems, 9 OZ
At First Bite
When I first opened the bag of gems, I was surprised at their size. Each piece is about four times the size of the average chocolate chip, and some pieces are taller than others. The flat-bottomed “gem” shape calls to mind some of the custom treats found in upscale chocolate shops. I popped a couple dark chocolate gems into my mouth and noticed that they melted fairly easily, and without making a mess on my fingers. Though they’re dark chocolate, the flavor isn’t as overwhelmingly dark or bitter as some of the “super dark” candy bars are. I also taste a hint of coconut at times, presumably from the coconut sugar used to sweeten these treats.
Hu’s dark chocolate gems are a nice size for portion control. Though I find myself going for seconds after eating a few, I’m not popping handfuls of them into my mouth at one time, as I’ve sometimes done with chocolate chips. I’m satisfied after eating four or five gems, though I typically have a few more a little later during my writing session.
The Chocolate Tests
Twice — each time a couple of months before writing this piece — my roommate made cookies with the dark chocolate gems instead of chocolate chips. When she mixed the gems into the cookie dough, chocolate chip cookie style, the gems flattened out and melted quite a bit in the oven, perhaps due to their large size. The same thing happened when placing one on top of each cookie instead of directly in the dough. And Reader, they still tasted great in cookies. (For what it’s worth, Hu will soon offer baking chips, in addition to the snacking and baking gems. The baking chips, shaped and sized like traditional chocolate chips, are not yet available on their website.)
I offered some Hu dark chocolate gems to my brother, who said he only likes milk chocolate. When he tried them, he said, “oh, these are good!” which means they are top notch. My roommate also enjoyed them flavor-wise, and she didn’t mind that they have fewer ingredients than traditional chocolate chips and candy bars and no cane sugar.
The sugar content per 30-gram serving size is the same in each, at 8 grams of sugar. The Hu dark chocolate tastes a bit milky, comparatively, even though there’s no dairy or dairy substitute of any sort. The Hu gems have a higher fat content than the store-brand dark chocolate chips, at 14 grams vs. 10 grams respectively per 30-gram portion size. Calorie-wise, the Hu gems also have more, at 190 vs. 160. The mineral content is higher in the Hu gems as well: 45 mg calcium, 3 mg iron and 241 mg potassium, compared to 12 mg calcium, 2 mg iron and 200 mg potassium in the store-brand dark chocolate chips. The Hu gems also have 3 grams dietary fiber, while the chocolate chips have none. Protein-wise the gems have 3 grams and the store-brand chips have 2.
Hu’s dark chocolate gems may not be available at independent grocery stores, but they are offered in larger chain stores such as Whole Foods and Target, and online through Amazon. Since the gems melt a little more easily than some chocolates, it’s best to keep them refrigerated during warmer weather.
HU KITCHEN Organic Dark Chocolate Gems, 9 OZ
My Takeaway
Hu’s dark chocolate gems are a nice size for snacking, and have healthier ingredients than many of the top-selling chocolate candy bars. They melt a bit easier than dark chocolate chips, and taste a bit milkier than some dark chocolate. Since they’re sold in nine-ounce pouches, the price seems a bit steep at around $10 a pop, yet ounce-for-ounce, that price tracks with comparable organic dark-chocolate candy bars.
