How To Melt Chocolate Chips In The Microwave

• Use a microwave-safe bowl—we recommend heavy glass or Corelle.
• Start with a low power setting. Microwaving chocolate on a high setting can cause it to seize, or become grainy and unworkable. Start on a low setting, or use your microwave’s “melt chocolate” function.
• Microwave in short intervals. This will help to prevent the chocolate from overheating and seizing. Microwave the chocolate chips first for 45 seconds, STIR and check if the chips have melted, then 15 seconds at a time after that. Repeat until the chocolate is melted and smooth. 
• Don’t overheat the chocolate. Once the chocolate chips are melted, it’s important to not overheat them. Overheating can cause the chocolate to become bitter, clump, and lose its flavor.
• Stir every few seconds. Stirring the chocolate after every few seconds of heating will help to prevent it from burning or seizing. Our mantra is the 4Ts: “Time, Turn, Test, and Taste.” (In this case, stir, not turn!)
• Let the chocolate chips cool slightly before using. If you use the chocolate right away, it may be too hot and will melt your other ingredients. Let the chocolate cool slightly before using it.
• As you use the melted chocolate chips, it will begin to harden again. Start the reheating process at the 15-second timer.

• If you need to melt a large amount of chocolate chips, small batches at a time heat more evenly and thoroughly—a cup or less at a time is best.
• If the chocolate starts to seize, you can try adding a tablespoon of vegetable oil or shortening to help loosen it up. It may not work, depending on how hot the chocolate has become before testing it.
• Once the chocolate is melted, you can store it in a microwave-safe container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Though, I’ve let mine come to room temperature and then kept it in the back of the fridge for two months. Not the freshest tasting, but who wants to waste chocolate?

• Don’t heat up too much chocolate at once. Heat one cup of chocolate chips at a time in a heat-safe, microwave-safe bowl. 
• Start the heating process with 45 seconds uninterrupted on medium or low power. 
• Remove the bowl of chocolate chips and stir, even if it doesn’t look like it barely melted. 
• Heat on high at 15 seconds intervals, removing the bowl and stirring. 
• When most of the bowl of chocolate chips has melted, keep stirring and scraping the sides of the bowl. Microwave ovens are famous for not heating food evenly, so now it’s your job to make it happen so your chocolate chips don’t burn. Residual heat from one part of the bowl of chips will be incorporated to the less heated parts. 
• After about one minute and 15 seconds, you should have a smooth, silky, creamy, and warm bowl of melted chocolate chips.
  
  The perfect way to keep chocolate from burning is to not overheat the chocolate, heat on low or medium at short intervals, and keep stirring.

• In a chocolate fondue, so that the chocolate is warm, smooth, melted and is dipped and eaten right away, often with a fondue fork. This kind of fondue chocolate is a type of ganache that has cream mixed in so it will stay soft, pliable and not harden all the way when it cools. Chocolate chips are perfect for this.
• Dip strawberries and lay them on parchment or on wax paper to dry and the chocolate will harden. Those look like an Edible Arrangement bouquet or sold in stores for Valentine’s Day,— those are using candy melts or melting wafers that come in white, milk, or dark chocolate.

• Strawberries, washed and dried first
• Chunks of peeled, cut banana
• Cut up squares of pound cake
• Pieces of fresh apple, like tart Granny Smith
• Graham crackers
• Squares of angel food cake
• Brownies
• Cake pops and cake balls
• Edible cookie dough balls
• OREOs

Want some epic tips, recipes, and history about chocolate? Want to see if you can still eat that chocolate you’ve had around for a while? Should you toss it? (I almost ate a piece of chocolate with bug holes in it once.) Learn how to store it, how to know if it’s still good to eat (and when it’s not). >> Does Chocolate Go Bad?

• Rice Krispies: Pour in 1 cup of rice krispies to 1 cup of melted chocolate chips and spread in a casserole dish or on a baking sheet. Let set on the counter or in refrigerator then cut into squares. 
• Raisins and chopped nuts, then spread onto parchment paper. Put in freezer until very hard and set, then break apart with clean hands or a kitchen mallet to make chocolate bark.
• Swirl white and dark chocolate and add other kinds of candy, cookies. Just remember that adding a lot of ingredients will cool the chocolate and cause it to harden and set faster, so work quickly. You can briefly heat up your bowl with mixed-in ingredients for 15 second intervals to warm it up. 
• Buy a silicone candy mold and layer in chocolate, then a filling, then more chocolate. Let it set in the freezer about 10 minutes, then pop out onto a plate. I male peanut butter-filled chocolates. 
• Dried cranberries and slivered almonds make excellent added ingredients.
• Try pretzel pieces and dried cranberries. 
• Add sea salt and butterscotch candy chips into chocolate that is semisolid.

Don’t let utensils sit in the bowl of warm chocolate or it will set like cement with your utensil still in there. And most utensils are not microwavable. Pro Tip: Set your bowl of melted chocolate chips in another bowl of hot water and keep replacing the hot water until you can safely remove the stuck utensil.

• If your microwave has a removable glass or plastic turntable, remove it from the microwave.
• Handwash with a gentle sponge, dish soap and warm water. 
• Dry with a towel and replace the turntable in the microwave.

• Dampen a dish sponge with hot water (soap will be harder to remove from the surface, so warm water and a sponge should do the job quickly).
•  Wipe the melted chocolate as soon as possible. Rinse the sponge of chocolate under the faucet of running water and wipe again until no melted chocolate remains in the microwave. 
• Dry the floor of the microwave with a clean towel.