As you may recall, this Spring Trader Joes’ semi-sweet chocolate chips went from certified Kosher pareve to certified Kosher dairy. And people went nuts. It was Duncan Hines and Stella D’oro all over again but maybe even worse. The Wall Street Journal reported that people stocked up 40, 50 and 90 bags of the coveted chocolate chips at a time. And who can blame them – at $2.29 per bag they were the best bargain around.
Dani Klein from YeahThatsKosher explained that the real problem is that some dairy chocolate chips could be mixed into the bag, so the OK could not guarantee that a bag of the sweet chips would be entirely dairy-free.
Well, so long Trader Joe’s pareve chocolate chips, at least for the foreseeable future. But what now? Personally I am opposed to spending the exorbitant prices that most kosher markets charge for simple items like pareve chocolate chips. And as an avid baker, I need to keep a stock of the staple like any other TJs chocolate chip junkie and can’t afford to be spending $4 or more for a 12 ounce bag.
So where to get the goods at a decent price?
A number of large supermarket chains carry their own certified Kosher pareve chocolate chips, for very reasonable prices. For example, you can buy a 24 ounce Shop Rite brand of chocolate chips for $5.49 and I’ve even seen it on sale for less periodically.
Stop and Shop carries their own brand of pareve chocolate chips as well.
And this past weekend at a Target store I came across Enjoy Life Food’s Chocolate Chips which are dairy free and certified Kosher by the cRc. At $3.29 per bag they are not quite as cheap as the Trader Joe’s variety, but I would wager still less than most specialty kosher markets.
Know of some good pareve chocolate chips at competitive prices? Let us know!
kosher
Pronounced: KOH-sher, Origin: Hebrew, adhering to kashrut, the traditional Jewish dietary laws.
pareve
Pronounced: PAHRV or pah-REV, Origin: Hebrew, an adjective to describe a food or dish that is neither meat nor dairy. (Kosher laws prohibit serving meat and dairy together.)
