Chocolate recipes split by what form the chocolate takes. Cocoa powder gives you a deep, slightly bitter, cakey result, which is why it dominates the cakes and cupcakes below. Melted chocolate gives you fudge and density, which is why the brownies and truffles use it by the ounce. Several of these use both on purpose.

Twenty-five recipes grouped by type: quick fixes first, then cookies, brownies and bars, cakes, pies and tarts, candy and truffles, and two no-bake desserts. Every entry lists the real total time, the servings and the ingredient count, plus how much actual chocolate goes in.

Chocolate in 25 Minutes or Less

Four quick ones, including two things worth making to keep in the fridge.

Chocolate Protein Mug Cake

Seven ingredients: a third of a cup of cottage cheese blended with an egg, three tablespoons of cocoa, monk fruit sweetener and a tablespoon of almond flour, microwaved. Seven minutes. View the full recipe — 7 minutes · 1 serving · 7 ingredients

Fluffy Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Six ingredients: a cup of butter whipped with three cups of powdered sugar, half a cup of cocoa, milk and vanilla. Fifteen minutes and enough for a twelve-serving cake. View the full recipe — 15 minutes · 12 servings · 6 ingredients

Homemade Hazelnut Chocolate Spread

A cup of raw hazelnuts ground down with a quarter cup of cocoa and a third of a cup of maple syrup. Six ingredients, eighteen minutes, and no palm oil. View the full recipe — 18 minutes · 12 servings · 6 ingredients

Chocolate Hazelnut Crescent Rolls

Five ingredients: a can of crescent dough rolled around half a cup of chocolate hazelnut spread with chopped hazelnuts, drizzled with melted chocolate. Twenty-two minutes. View the full recipe — 22 minutes · 8 servings · 5 ingredients

Chocolate Cookies

Four. Three make twenty-four, and the browned butter one is worth the extra hour.

Chocolate Sugar Cookies with Chocolate Chunks

Half a cup of cocoa in a shortening-based dough with a cup of milk chocolate chunks, rolled in turbinado sugar. Thirty-two minutes and makes twenty-four. View the full recipe — 32 minutes · 24 servings · 10 ingredients

Bakery Style Chocolate Cookies

Nine ingredients with a full two cups of chocolate chips or chunks against two cups of flour, which is a very high ratio and why they come out loaded. View the full recipe — 52 minutes · 24 servings · 9 ingredients

Chocolate Hazelnut Stuffed Cookies with Dark Chocolate Chips

Ten tablespoons of chocolate hazelnut spread frozen into discs and wrapped in dough, so the center stays molten. Ten large cookies. View the full recipe — 1 hour 12 minutes · 10 servings · 10 ingredients

Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

A cup of butter browned first, then an egg plus an extra yolk, three teaspoons of cornstarch for chew, and two and a quarter cups of chocolate in both dark and milk. Thirteen ingredients. View the full recipe — 1 hour 42 minutes · 24 servings · 13 ingredients

Brownies and Bars

Four. One is gluten free, one is a copycat, and the caramel slice is three separate layers.

Flourless Chocolate Brownies with Almond Meal

A cup of dark chocolate chips melted with six tablespoons of butter, then two thirds of a cup of almond meal and a third of a cup of white rice flour instead of wheat. Eight ingredients, thirty-five minutes. View the full recipe — 35 minutes · 9 servings · 8 ingredients

Fudgy Chocolate Chunk Brownies

Eight ounces of melted semi sweet chocolate and twelve tablespoons of butter against only three quarters of a cup of flour. That ratio is the entire reason they are fudgy rather than cakey. View the full recipe — 40 minutes · 16 servings · 8 ingredients

Homemade Cosmic Brownies with Chocolate Ganache

Two thirds of a cup of cocoa in the batter, under a ganache of a cup of chocolate chips and half a cup of heavy cream, topped with rainbow candy coated chocolate pieces. Eleven ingredients. View the full recipe — 2 hours 20 minutes · 16 servings · 11 ingredients

Chocolate Caramel Slice

Three layers: a coconut shortbread base, a caramel cooked from condensed milk, butter and brown sugar, and seven ounces of chocolate on top. Sixteen pieces. View the full recipe — 3 hours 28 minutes · 16 servings · 10 ingredients

Chocolate Cakes and Cupcakes

Four. Three of them pour boiling water or hot liquid into the batter, which blooms the cocoa.

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

Two ounces of dark chocolate and half a cup of cocoa in the batter, with a teaspoon and a half of white vinegar reacting with the baking soda for lift. Topped with cocoa buttercream. View the full recipe — 1 hour 15 minutes · 12 servings · 17 ingredients

Hot Chocolate Fudge Cake with Fudge Sauce

A cocoa cake with half a cup of boiling water in the batter, served warm with a sauce of a cup of heavy cream and a cup and a quarter of chocolate chips, plus vanilla ice cream. Fifteen ingredients. View the full recipe — 1 hour 25 minutes · 8 servings · 15 ingredients

Triple Chocolate Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache

Three forms of chocolate: three quarters of a cup of cocoa in the batter, a cup of chocolate chips folded in, and eight ounces of dark chocolate in the ganache. A cup of boiling water goes in last. View the full recipe — 2 hours 5 minutes · 12 servings · 14 ingredients

Double Chocolate Banana Layer Cake

Three very ripe bananas and a full cup and a half of cocoa powder with buttermilk, layered with chocolate buttercream. The most cocoa of any recipe on this page. View the full recipe — 2 hours 35 minutes · 12 servings · 14 ingredients

Pies and Tarts

Three. Two are cooked custards you stir on the stove, one is a ganache you pour and chill.

Dark Chocolate Tart with Dulce De Leche

Twelve ounces of dark chocolate set with a cup of heavy whipping cream in a cookie crumb crust, finished with flaky sea salt and dulce de leche. Eight ingredients and no oven once the crust is set. View the full recipe — 2 hours 40 minutes · 12 servings · 8 ingredients

Old Fashioned Chocolate Meringue Pie

A cocoa custard thickened with flour in two cups of whole milk and three yolks, under a meringue made from the three whites with cream of tartar. Nothing wasted. View the full recipe — 2 hours 45 minutes · 8 servings · 11 ingredients

Old Fashioned Chocolate Cream Pie

A cornstarch custard with four egg yolks, two cups of whole milk and only three tablespoons of cocoa, topped with whipped cream. Ten ingredients, and the long time is the chill that sets it. View the full recipe — 3 hours 25 minutes · 8 servings · 10 ingredients

Candy and Truffles

Four. The first one is three ingredients.

Homemade Chocolate Turtles

Three ingredients: a cup of pecan halves, a cup of soft caramel and twelve ounces of semisweet chocolate. Fifty-five minutes, makes twelve, and the shortest ingredient list in this collection. View the full recipe — 55 minutes · 12 servings · 3 ingredients

White Chocolate Lemon Truffles

A cup of white chocolate chips with butter, a whole lemon, three tablespoons of cream and lemon extract, rolled in powdered sugar. Seven ingredients. View the full recipe — 2 hours 8 minutes · 12 servings · 7 ingredients

White Chocolate Rocky Road with Pistachios and Cherries

A full pound of white chocolate with two and a half cups of mini marshmallows, a cup of toasted pistachios, candied cherries and shredded coconut. Six ingredients, sixteen pieces. View the full recipe — 3 hours 30 minutes · 16 servings · 6 ingredients

Dark Chocolate Ganache Truffles

Ten ounces of dark chocolate with butter and half a cup of heavy cream, chilled and rolled in four different coatings: coconut, cocoa, crushed peanuts and sprinkles. Makes twenty. View the full recipe — 6 hours 30 minutes · 20 servings · 8 ingredients

No-Bake Chocolate

Two with no oven at all. The muddy buddies are thirty minutes.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Muddy Buddies

Nine cups of square rice cereal coated in melted chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter, then shaken in a cup of powdered sugar. Six ingredients, thirty minutes. View the full recipe — 30 minutes · 12 servings · 6 ingredients

No Bake Chocolate Lasagna with Cream Cheese and Pudding Layers

Thirty-six chocolate sandwich cookies crushed into a base, layered with twelve ounces of sweetened cream cheese, two boxes of instant chocolate pudding set in three cups of milk, and whipped topping. Serves fifteen. View the full recipe — 4 hours 30 minutes · 15 servings · 10 ingredients

Chocolate Questions, Answered

Cocoa powder or melted chocolate?

They do different jobs. Cocoa powder is nearly pure chocolate solids with the fat removed, so it gives intense flavor and a drier, cakier crumb. Melted chocolate brings cocoa butter with it, which gives density and fudginess. The triple chocolate cake uses both, and the fudgy brownies use only melted chocolate, which is why they are fudgy.

Why pour boiling water into cake batter?

It dissolves the cocoa fully, which deepens both the flavor and the color, and it thins the batter so the cake bakes level. Three recipes here do it: the triple chocolate cake, the hot chocolate fudge cake and the banana layer cake.

What is the fastest chocolate recipe here?

Chocolate Protein Mug Cake at seven minutes for one. After that, the buttercream at fifteen minutes, the hazelnut spread at eighteen and the crescent rolls at twenty-two.

Why brown the butter for cookies?

Browning drives off the water and toasts the milk solids, which adds a nutty, caramel note and makes the dough less wet. The browned butter cookies here also use cornstarch for chew and a double dose of sugar types. It is why they take an hour forty rather than fifty minutes.

Can I use chocolate chips where a recipe calls for chopped chocolate?

Usually, with one exception. Chips contain stabilizers that help them hold their shape, which is exactly wrong when you need the chocolate to melt smoothly into a ganache or a tart filling. For the dark chocolate tart and the ganache truffles, use a bar.

Which recipe makes the most?

Dark Chocolate Ganache Truffles at twenty, then twenty-four each for three of the cookie recipes. Of the desserts you slice, the no-bake chocolate lasagna serves fifteen and four recipes serve sixteen.

How do I melt chocolate without ruining it?

Low and slow, and keep water out. Thirty-second bursts in the microwave at half power, stirring between each, or a bowl over barely simmering water. A single drop of water will make melted chocolate seize into a grainy paste that cannot be fixed.