Hedonic characteristics of baked goods made with either dark chocolate or milk chocolate

Because dark chocolate (DC) is a better source of polyphenols (which have antioxidant activity) than milk chocolate (MC), it was of interest to determine the effect of replacing MC with DC on the hedonic characteristics (appearance, taste, texture, and overall likeability) of baked products (chocolate chip cookies, chocolate chip muffins, cake and brownies) using a nine-point hedonic scale (1 = dislike extremely; 9 = like extremely). Hedonic characteristics were significantly different for brownies only; mean values for DC versus MC brownies were 6.69 versus 6.69 for appearance, 6.63 versus 5.88 for taste, and 6.79 versus 6.17 for overall acceptability. Use of DC to replace MC in baked goods is a feasible way to increase polyphenol intake.