Chocolate chip there are many flavors. These include bittersweet, peanut butter, butterscotch, mint chocolate, white chocolate, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and white and dark swirled chips. Chocolate chips can be used in cookies, pancakes, waffles, cakes, pudding, muffins, crêpes, pies, hot chocolate, and various pastries. They are also found in many other retail food products such as granola bars, ice cream, and trail mix. Chocolate chips can also be melted and used in sauces and other recipes. The chips melt best at temperatures between . The melting process starts at , when the cocoa butter starts melting in the chips. The cooking
Health effects of chocolate no medical or regulatory authority has approved any health claim. "Theobroma cacao", the cacao tree, produces seeds containing flavanols. The seeds have been used to make beverages for some 2000 years in Aztec, Olmec, and Maya civilizations in central and south America. The drinks were ascribed a wide variety of curative and stimulant properties, unsupported by experimental evidence. In the 19th century, chocolate as a solid was invented, and milk and sugar were added to create milk chocolate, high in fat and sugar. Doubtful research, sometimes funded by the chocolate industry, has at times made suggestions of possible health benefits