From Bean to Brownie: Choosing the Best Chocolate Cookbook

Chocolate started in this part of the world, and a Mexican kitchen still treats it as a working ingredient. It goes into mole and hot drinks as readily as into dessert. So we like a chocolate book that respects it as an ingredient and explains how it behaves, instead of just stacking up cakes.

A label reading 70 percent tells you little until someone explains what it changes in the pan. This guide gives eight books from named authors and well-known schools at established publishers, from a first baking book to a confectionery textbook, and it says which rest on a named review and which on the publisher’s details.

Julia’s earns a commission on purchases made through links on this page, at no cost to you. Recommendations are based on what a restaurant kitchen looks for in a cookbook, the Amazon listing, publisher and author information and published reviews, which we name where we use them.

Quick verdict: which chocolate book to buy first

The other five cover brownies, a French school course, an Italian collection, flavored truffles and a professional textbook.

Five chocolate books side by side

Five of the eight, one for each kind of cook. All eight are described in full below.

Cover images from Amazon. Page counts and formats are from the Amazon listings for the editions linked. Recipe counts are from the title or the publisher’s copy; where neither gives one, we say so.

Our picks for the best chocolate cookbook, book by book

All eight were in stock, in print and new, and sold by Amazon when we checked. We have not cooked from these books; where we describe a strength, we say whose view it is.

How to choose a chocolate cookbook for your kitchen

Four questions will narrow this list quickly.

• Do you want to bake with chocolate or make it? Most of these books start with a bar. Only Dandelion starts with a bean. Shotts and Greweling make confections, not cakes. For wider baking, see our best baking cookbook guide.
• How much theory do you want? Lebovitz explains the ingredient, and Ferrandi teaches it as a course. Kimber gets you baking straight away.
• Are you ready to temper? Ferrandi and the Silver Spoon volume cover tempering, and so does Greweling. If that word is unfamiliar, start with the plainer baking books.
• Which chocolate will you actually use? Lebovitz’s book covers sourcing and storing it, which is a good place to start. For Mexican-style drinking chocolate, our Mexican hot chocolate guide is the better starting place.

How we chose these chocolate cookbooks

We searched Amazon’s book listings first and kept print editions at established publishers, plain in stock with a new lead offer, about chocolate specifically. We left out titles already on our baking, dessert and cookie pages, which is why BraveTart is not here. Author, year, format and page count come from the Amazon listing. Recipe counts and descriptions come from the title or the publisher’s copy, in some cases as carried by booksellers.

Here is what stands behind each pick. None has a Publishers Weekly review at its ISBN that we could find. The Great Book of Chocolate, The Brownie Book, Making Chocolate and The Chocolate Spoon carry praise we read only through the publisher’s copy. The other four rest on the publisher’s and authors’ details. Two books credit an institution instead of a single author, and their entries say so.

Stock ruled out some familiar titles. Alice Medrich’s Seriously Bitter Sweet and Bittersweet were low in stock, Pierre Hermé’s Chocolate and Chocolate Desserts were low in stock, Valrhona’s Cooking with Chocolate had a used copy as its lead offer, and America’s Test Kitchen’s Everything Chocolate was not available to ship now.

Chocolate cookbook questions, answered

What is the best book on baking with chocolate for a beginner?

Chocolate Baking if you want recipes right away, or The Great Book of Chocolate if you would rather learn the ingredient first. We have not baked from either, so read a sample if you can.

Which book should I buy just for brownies?

The Brownie Book, with 60 bakes by the publisher’s count, some of them blondies. Chocolate Baking is the better choice if you also want cakes and tarts.

Can I really make chocolate from beans at home?

Dandelion’s Making Chocolate says so and gives home kitchen methods, according to its publisher. We have not tried them, so expect some equipment and patience.

Are any of these books about Mexican chocolate?

Not specifically, though Shotts works with chili and Dandelion covers cacao origins. For the Mexican tradition, see our best Mexican cookbooks guide.

Do I need the professional textbook?

Almost certainly not, unless you are selling confections or studying pastry. Greweling’s book is written for that reader.

Which chocolate book should you buy first?

Buy The Great Book of Chocolate if you want to learn and bake. Choose Chocolate Baking for a long recipe list, The Brownie Book if brownies are the point and Making Chocolate if you like a project. For books on wider baking, go to our best baking cookbook guide.

Related guide: Best chocolate molds.

And if you would rather let someone else cook tonight, see the menu or call to order.