Cocoa powder, which to use?

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giacona

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I am trying to find out what kind of coca to use for cookies. The recipe I have in the recipe book calls for 1/3 a cup of hershey cocoa. Now I am confused on which one to get as Hershey has natural unsweetened and special dark cocoa.

I have also found nestle cocoa a little cheaper than the hershey brand. Is there a big difference between the 2 brands?
 
I am trying to find out what kind of coca to use for cookies. The recipe I have in the recipe book calls for 1/3 a cup of hershey cocoa. Now I am confused on which one to get as Hershey has natural unsweetened and special dark cocoa.

I have also found nestle cocoa a little cheaper than the hershey brand. Is there a big difference between the 2 brands?

I suspect that since your recipe specifies "Hershey's" cocoa, the recipe was developed by that company or came from one of their package labels. Whatever the case, it doesn't matter if you use that brand or not, what's most important is that you use unsweetened cocoa. The "special dark" variety is unsweetened but is a deeper, more intense chocolate flavor. I always have some of that on hand in the event I want to gear up the chocolate flavor of a recipe that calls for cocoa.

Any brand of unsweetened cocoa can be used in your recipe but, as Andy has pointed out, steer away from the sweetened varieties that are used to make flavored milk or instant hot chocolate.
 
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I am trying to find out what kind of coca to use for cookies. The recipe I have in the recipe book calls for 1/3 a cup of hershey cocoa. Now I am confused on which one to get as Hershey has natural unsweetened and special dark cocoa.

I have also found nestle cocoa a little cheaper than the hershey brand. Is there a big difference between the 2 brands?

Go to the Hershy's site and see if there is a recipe for the dark chocolate cookies. Sometimes it is the same recipe as the regular and sometimes not. When I compared the Chocolatety Chocolate Cake for the regular recipe to the one for the dark chocolate, one recipe called for vegetable oil and the other didn't. The recipes seemed to vary between the two even though they are the same product. :angel:
 
Thanks everyone. I am actually using a hershey's bake shoppe cookbook. I did check online and the recipe is the same and does not mention natural unsweetened or special dark. It just calls for 1/3 cup of hersheys cocoa.

I will make sure I do get the cocoa powder for baking, and not the other one.

Appreciate the help of everyone here
 
If they just called out cocoa, they are referring to natural unsweetened, not special dark.

Special dark is a blend of regular natural and Dutch process, therefore the acidity level is different. When you change the acidity you have to adjust the other ingredients in order for the leaveners to achieve the best rise. The difference won't be huge, but it will be less than perfect if you don't balance e the other ingredients.
 
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Hershey usually will show which can of cocoa with the recipe. The original chocolate cake shows a picture of the "the original Hershey" cocoa. The second recipe that calls for no vegetable oil shows the Extra Dark Cocoa. The same goes for all their recipes. :angel:
 
In the actual cookbooks, which the OP says she's using, there isn't a picture of a cocoa can for each recipe.

Natural unsweetened cocoa is acidic. It is usually paired with baking soda, which is alkaline. The dutching process neutralizes the acidity, making Dutch cocoa neutral pH. It usually gets paired with baking powder, which has an acid added to the baking soda.

Special Dark, which is not exactly the same as extra dark, is a mixture of natural and dutched cocoa powders. This makes it darker than natural, but leaves the acidity somewhere between. If you are baking and using baking soda or powder as a leavener, you need to adjust the acid level accordingly. Since special dark is a mixture, not one or the other, I can't tell you how much to adjust.

The acid level can be adjusted either by changing the ratio of baking powder to baking soda, or by adding an acidic ingredient like buttermilk or lemon juice, or cream of tartar.

By the way, Dutch process cocoa, while darker than natural,is also milder in flavor, not stronger.

In a recipe, if Dutch process is not specified, the default is ALWAYS natural unsweetened.

All of this only matters if you are baking. If you are making candy, ice cream, sauces, etc, use anything you want.
 
Hershey usually will show which can of cocoa with the recipe. The original chocolate cake shows a picture of the "the original Hershey" cocoa. The second recipe that calls for no vegetable oil shows the Extra Dark Cocoa. The same goes for all their recipes. :angel:

If there was a picture, I don't think the OP would be here asking which to use ;)
 
Use a unsweetened alkalized cocoa powder. This is what I use....

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If it's an old cookbook (and I do have a very old, 20+ years, Hershey's book, probably closer to 30 or 40 as it was my mom's) it is the original regular cocoa powder. I don't think they made more than 1 kind back then, at least not anything available nationwide for regular consumers.
 
If they just called out cocoa, they are referring to natural unsweetened, not special dark.

Special dark is a blend of regular natural and Dutch process, therefore the acidity level is different. When you change the acidity you have to adjust the other ingredients in order for the leaveners to achieve the best rise. The difference won't be huge, but it will be less than perfect if you don't balance e the other ingredients.

+1
Dutched Process means that the cocoa has the acid removed by combining, or washing the cocoa with an alkali solution to neutralize the acids found in cocoa. Those acids, as mentioned by Silversage, will react with the other ingredients. Typically, if the recipe calls for baking powder, then you will be using the Dutched cocoa as the acid and alkalies needed for leavening are both contained in baking powder. If the recipe calls for baking soda, it is relying on acids from the cocoa powder and other ingredients to create the lift for making the cookies rise.

Your recipe should tell you which kind of cocoa powder you need.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 
I use Brand: Chatfield Carob Powder. Not Sweet

And it's not cocoa powder, so it can't compete with the flavor of cocoa.

My preference for cocoa powder is Ghirardelli, but that is just a personal choice. I've used Hershey's both regular and extra dark, but I like the flavor of Ghirardelli best.
 
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Hi i don't thinh they are a difference

Are you saying that one brand of cocoa powder isn't different than another or that there isn't a difference between chocolate and carob? If the latter, there is a huge difference as they come from different plants/trees.
 
Craig, you are responding to someone who claims to be from Marseille, whose English is obviously not fluent, and who has been hitting old posts with "so good", "yummy", "my favorite", etc. I think they are just here practicing their English.
 
Craig, you are responding to someone who claims to be from Marseille, whose English is obviously not fluent, and who has been hitting old posts with "so good", "yummy", "my favorite", etc. I think they are just here practicing their English.

I realize that and have been trying to engage them. In another post they responded to in the "sauce for green bean thread", I asked about their favorite preparation. I've seen all the one liners.
 
If it's an old cookbook (and I do have a very old, 20+ years, Hershey's book, probably closer to 30 or 40 as it was my mom's) it is the original regular cocoa powder. I don't think they made more than 1 kind back then, at least not anything available nationwide for regular consumers.

I think I have the same cookbook. I sent for it when I was a new bride. It was free. I sent for "free" anything at the time. At that time, there was only one kind of cocoa made by Hershey. Unsweetened Cocoa. And that is what all their recipes were based on. :angel:
 
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