9 Ways To Use Cocoa Powder Besides Brownies

If you were to explore the pantries of most kitchens in America, you would most likely find a tin or can of a silky, fragrant brown powder. This magical culinary substance, cocoa powder, is often seen as an essential ingredient.

Except that few people seem to know what to do with it. When pressed, many will state they'll use it to "make brownies" but have trouble conceiving of any other possible uses for it. And if you don't happen to like brownies, what then?

Fortunately, cocoa powder's relegation to chocolatey baking is not a limitation on its part but on the imagination of home cooks. With the right knowledge, you can use cocoa powder as the secret weapon in myriad dishes, from savory dinners to succulent sauces to delectable non-brownie desserts. Once you step outside the box of what chocolate flavor can be used for, there's virtually no limit to what cocoa powder can do.

The premise that a touch of chocolate can compliment America's favorite cold remedy would normally cause faces to scrunch and conversations to stop. However, with a judicial sprinkling of cocoa powder, your chicken noodle soup, and indeed many other soup favorites, can be elevated in unexpected ways.

It's important to note that cocoa powder is normally unsweetened, so the powder only provides the naturally bitter but deep and rich flavor of chocolate without the candy sugariness we've come to expect. Thus cocoa powder, if used sparingly, can embolden brighter, richer flavors in soup through contrast. The key is to be conservative on how much you add; about 1 to 2 teaspoons per serving should do the trick. Also, you may find more success with adding it to thicker, heartier stews or soups with sweeter ingredients like tomato soup. Just don't be surprised if this becomes your new favorite soup-making trick.

For another savory use of cocoa powder, we have to travel to Mexico. Mole sauce, also known as chocolate sauce, is not as the name might suggest a fondue but a umami and sometimes spicy sauce for all kinds of meats.

Despite famously featuring chocolate, mole sauce is mostly a tomato-and-chile-based sauce with as many variations as there are home cooks and chefs in its native land. The kind of chocolate added to the sauce can contribute a lot to its flavor, from deep and more bitter by using cocoa powder or dark chocolate to richer and spicier by using Mexican chocolate. Finding the right combination of flavors for the perfect mole sauce can be an experiment, but there are few sauces better suited for draping over poultry or fish. Plenty of rice is a must to mop up all the excess sauce because you won't want to miss a bite.

Forget brownies. You want to impress people with your dessert making prowess, you have to grab your cocoa powder and do something spectacular: dessert pasta.

Despite seeming like the wildest dreams of a confectioner, chefs have been experimenting with chocolate and pasta for centuries. Chocolate-stuffed ravioli is totally a real thing, as is pasta sprinkled with dark chocolate and gorgonzola. But for the true chocolate pasta experience, you need to add cocoa powder to the dough as you make the pasta by hand. This ensures that the richness and complexity of the chocolate is guaranteed in each and every bite, and ideally suited to a topping of mascarpone or hazelnut sauce.

Of course, that's only if you want it sweet. You can easily go in a savory direction and top your chocolate pasta with a gorgonzola sauce or even pesto if you so desire. The sky really is the limit with this unique culinary marvel.

Cocoa powder doesn't just transform pasta itself but the sauces with which they commonly pair. The bitter chocolate edge can add new dimensions to all of your classic Italian favorites.

Cocoa especially complements bright herbs and spices, so you want to use it with sauces that carry a lot of punch like a pesto or a long-simmering tomato sauce; you'll find the acidity is dramatically lower as a result. The results are even better when cocoa powder is combined with meat sauces like Bolognese. The meat is granted an extra savory note of complexity as a result, resulting in a truly succulent pasta sauce worth smothering any pasta. As always regarding secret ingredients like this, use it sparingly. You only need 1 teaspoon to get the right effect without turning your tomato sauce into a chocolate sauce. But then again, maybe that is what you're looking for.

This use of cocoa powder is simultaneously, extremely well-known advice and extremely obscure. On the one hand, no less a culinary authority than Martha Stewart has shared this secret with the world. On the other, it's not every day that you actually run into someone who follows it or is aware of it.

Yes, adding cocoa powder to your chili really can do wonders for your spicy, savory Southern stew. Again, it's all about that richness and depth of flavor, cutting through the acidity of tomatoes and heightening the savory goodness of your choice of meat. Additionally, it also helps elevate vegetarian chili by filling the succulence gap left behind by the absence of meat. The trick is to know when to add the cocoa; it works best when one tablespoon is added alongside the other spices. There is a reason Martha Stewart sees cocoa powder as an essential chili component.

Ah yes, steak and chocolate. Together at last. This is another use of cocoa powder that seems deeply counterintuitive, but if you trust the process, your tastebuds will be very well-rewarded.

The richness of cocoa powder and its slight bitterness make it an effective seasoning on rich meats like steak, so long as it is paired with other more classic spices like salt, pepper, and garlic. The result is a bigger, bolder flavor with a deeper succulence than you thought possible. As always, the trick is mix your cocoa powder with your other spices before applying it to the steak, making sure its very well distributed across the surface to avoid it building up too much in any one spot. You can even combine it with espresso powder, another unusual but tasty steak seasoning. You'll be amazed that ingredients that you'd imagine going into brownies can make steak night at home a steakhouse experience.

Breakfast, it's been said, is the most important meal of the day. Whether that's true nutritionally is another story, but it certainly establishes the tone your day and your energy level as you head off to work. So, even if your trying to set yourself up with a healthy morning meal, you need it to be dynamic and fun.

Cocoa powder can step in and make even the blandest, healthiest fare fun without adding a gram of sugar. You can add it to oatmeal to make a chocolatey confection with no guilt. You can sprinkle it on yogurt to make something like a chocolate pudding. And, of course, you can toss some cocoa powder into your smoothies for a dessert feeling in the morning. All of these options are simply examples of what your breakfast could look like with a dash of cocoa right on top. Enjoy a more nutritious breakfast with all the joy of indulgence.

So you have cocoa powder, you don't want to make brownies (again) but you still want something sweet. Well, what about a little hot cocoa? It's right in the name, after all.

Hot cocoa, for the record, is very distinct from hot chocolate, despite the two being interchangeable in marketing. Hot cocoa tends to be a little grittier and a little less sweet than hot chocolate, as the latter is made from actual chocolate rather than cocoa powder. But cocoa powder has the convenience factor (given that you probably already have it on your shelf). Better yet, it's ideal if you want to have more control over your level of sweetness since you'll need to add your own. The only thing you'll need to really consider is whether you want to use natural or Dutch-processed, as the latter is a mellower, earthier experience while the former has a citrus touch in flavor.

Look, we've all been rushing around and ended up making ourselves a cup of coffee that just doesn't do it for us. Maybe it's burnt or the flavor is off, it's just wrong. Don't panic, though. Cocoa powder has your back.

Turns out a little cocoa powder or hot chocolate powder can elevate your coffee drinking day. With a quick mix, you can essentially make a quick-and-dirty mocha on the fly, with the chocolate flavor covering up a lot of the issues with mid-tier coffee. If you are using cocoa powder rather than hot chocolate mix, you will need to add a little sweetener on your own to really get the full chocolate experience, but that's an easy enough addition even as you're heading out the door. Alternatively, you can add spices like cinnamon instead of adding sugar for a distinct and memorable spiced chocolate taste or a tiny drop of vanilla for fragrance. Your coffee drinking may never be the same.