Cacao Powder vs Cacao Nibs: Which to Choose?

If you've ever stood at the cupboard with a bag of each, asking yourself whether you really need both, this one's for you. The short answer on cacao powder vs cacao nibs is that they come from the same bean but do quite different jobs. Powder disappears into whatever you're making. Nibs stay put and crunch.

Here's how they're made, how we'd use each one, and which to buy first if you're only getting one.

Where they come from

Both start as cacao beans that have been fermented and dried. Crack the beans, winnow off the papery husk, and the broken pieces left over are nibs. A lot of nibs are roasted at this point. Ours aren't. Our organic raw cacao nibs are Criollo cacao, grown and processed in Peru, and processed below 42°C.

Powder takes one more step. The cacao is ground, most of the cocoa butter is pressed out, and what's left is milled fine. Our organic cacao powder is single-origin Peruvian cacao. It isn't alkalised, nothing is added, and we pack it ourselves in Leicestershire.

Cacao powder vs cacao nibs: the quick version

• Cacao powder is fine, dark, and bittersweet. It spreads evenly through porridge, batters, and drinks, and you only notice it in the flavour.
• Cacao nibs are small, crunchy pieces of the bean. They taste fruitier and nuttier than chocolate, with a bitter edge, and they keep their bite.

If you want chocolate flavour all the way through, use powder. If you want something to bite on, use nibs.

How to use cacao powder

Powder is the easy one to start with. One to two heaped teaspoons (10–15 g) is enough for a mug of hot chocolate or a bowl of porridge. A few tablespoons will carry a chocolate sponge or a tray of brownies.

For a hot drink, stir the powder into a splash of warm milk to make a paste first, then top up. Otherwise, you'll get dry lumps floating on top. It's unsweetened, so it's bitter on its own. A little honey, maple syrup, or organic coconut sugar rounds it out, and a pinch of cinnamon doesn't hurt.

It also goes into overnight oats, chia pudding, pancakes, energy balls, and smoothies. Banana and cacao are hard to beat. If you'd like a few ideas, we've put together eight cacao powder recipes worth making often.

A note on baking with cacao and cocoa

Natural cacao powder, like ours, is slightly acidic. Most supermarket cocoa is alkalised (sometimes labelled Dutch-process), which makes it milder and darker. That matters in recipes that rise with bicarbonate of soda, because the bicarb needs the acidity to work. If a recipe uses baking powder instead, you can usually use either.

How to use cacao nibs

Nibs are for texture. Scatter a small handful (about 5 g) over porridge, yoghurt, or fruit. Stir them through granola before it goes in the oven. Swap them in for some of the chocolate chips in banana bread, flapjacks, or biscuits.

They aren't sweet, so taste one first. In a sweet bake, the bitterness is a nice contrast. In something plain, it can be a bit much. If you'd like them gentler, our raw cacao nibs and yacon are lightly sweetened with yacon syrup.

Two more things to try. Pulse nibs briefly in a food processor and you get a coarse cacao crumble for the top of baked oats. Or steep a spoonful in warm milk for a few minutes and strain it, for a light, pale cacao drink that's more about aroma than richness.

There's more on this, including savoury ideas and how much to use, in our guide to cooking with cacao nibs.

What's the difference nutritionally?

Mostly fat. Nibs keep the cocoa butter that's naturally in the bean, and powder has had most of it pressed out. Going by our own labels, our raw nibs have 58.9 g of fat per 100 g, and our powder has 11 g. So nibs carry more energy too: 634 kcal per 100 g against 352 kcal for the powder. That's why nibs taste rich and powder feels light.

Beyond that, both are simply cacao. We'd think of them as cupboard ingredients, not something to eat by the spoonful for a particular reason. If you're comparing brands, read the ingredients. Plain powder should say cacao and nothing else, and plain nibs should be just cacao beans. Hot chocolate mixes are a different thing altogether.

Can you swap one for the other?

Not one for one. Whole nibs in place of powder leave the flavour patchy and the texture crunchy. Powder in place of nibs loses the bite. If you're stuck, grind nibs as fine as you can and use them somewhere a bit of texture won't matter, like porridge or granola. Go the other way: use powder for flavour and add toasted seeds for crunch.

Storing cacao

Keep both sealed, somewhere cool and dry, away from sunlight and strong spices. Powder absorbs moisture, and nibs go soft if left open. Our powder comes in a resealable pouch and is best used within six months of opening.

So which should you buy?

If you're only getting one, start with powder. It does more jobs, and a morning hot chocolate is the easiest way to get to know it. Add nibs once you know you like the taste of cacao as it is. Both are Soil Association certified organic and come from certified organic farms in Peru.

If you've got a question about either, drop us a line. We're always happy to talk cacao.

Ian and Aon

Frequently asked questions

Is cacao powder the same as cocoa powder?

Same plant, different processing. Cocoa is usually processed at higher temperatures and is often alkalised, so it's milder and darker. Cacao powder generally isn't alkalised, so it keeps more of the bean's natural sharpness and a stronger, more bitter flavour.

What's the difference between raw and roasted cacao nibs?

Flavour, mostly. Roasting brings out deeper, toastier notes, while raw nibs like ours taste brighter and fruitier. Ours come from the Criollo variety, which is grown far less widely than the Forastero and Trinitario cacao used in most chocolate.