Cocoa powder
Unsweetened powder made by pressing most of the cocoa butter out of roasted cacao beans and grinding what's left.
- Baking ingredients and additives
Also called: unsweetened cocoa powder, natural cocoa
Natural cocoa is acidic and lighter in color, and it works with baking soda. Dutch-process cocoa is treated with an alkali, making it darker and milder and usually paired with baking powder. Cocoa contains about 10 to 24% fat.
Blooming cocoa, mixing it with hot liquid or melted butter before adding it to batter, brings out a deeper chocolate flavor.
Bake it at VanillaGoods
- RecipeVanilla chocolate brown sugar cake
- RecipeVanilla chocolate cardamom cake
- RecipeVanilla chocolate cinnamon cake
Tools for this
Valrhona Dutch-Process Cocoa PowderDeep, smooth cocoa for brownies, cakes and hot chocolate.See it on Amazon
Black Cocoa PowderThe deep, dark color and flavor of chocolate sandwich cookies.See it on Amazon
Bellemain 3-Cup Flour SifterLump-free flour, cocoa and powdered sugar for lighter bakes.See it on Amazon
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Related entries
Sources
Written by VanillaGoods in our own words from these sources. Last reviewed October 15, 2026.
- 21 CFR 163.112 Breakfast cocoa, eCFR (Office of the Federal Register / U.S. Government Publishing Office)
- 21 CFR 163.113 Cocoa, eCFR (Office of the Federal Register / U.S. Government Publishing Office)
- Natural vs Dutch-processed Cocoa, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach (AnswerLine)
- Cocoa powder (Q1062396), Wikidata