Exploding Coal Dark Chocolate Bar - 2.8 oz

This bar is inspired by the naughty list, where doing wrong never felt so right. The eggnog has been spiked. The mistletoe is primed for stealing kisses. And so what if those gifts were kept for yourself? Exploding Coal is part of our Signature Collection, and it carries a holiday note from our Master Chocolatier, Chef Michael Antonorsi, wishing you the happiest of holidays and a very sweet new year. Plenty of fans pick up several at once, some to keep and some to give.

Milk, soy, wheat and tree nuts are not in the ingredient list, and the bar is free from peanuts and peanut derivatives. Our product page states: "May contain almond, hazelnut, pistachio, milk, soy, and wheat."

At Chuao, we say if it's not a wow, it's not a chew-wow! In his 30s, Chef Michael left a tech career in Venezuela to chase his passion for food, all the way to culinary school in Paris. Today we make our chocolate by hand, with close attention to each small batch, at our joy factory in Carlsbad, California, using recipes in a kitchen, not formulas in a lab. We work solely with fair trade farms that provide fair working conditions, compensation, education and healthcare to the community.

Ingredients: PREMIUM 60 DARK CHOCOLATE (CACAO*, CANE SUGAR*, SUNFLOWER LECITHIN [AS AN EMULSIFIER], NATURAL VANILLA), POPPING CANDY (SUGAR, MALTASE, CARBON DIOXIDE), BLACK CACAO POWDER*.

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Common Questions

What's a fun chocolate stocking stuffer for someone who likes dark chocolate?
Our Exploding Coal bar is made for exactly that: it's a dark chocolate bar dressed up as the lump of coal the naughty list promises, and it's the coal your stocking has been waiting for. Inside, black cacao powder and popping candy are mixed into our dark chocolate, so it crackles as you eat it. It's a flat 2.8 oz (80 g) bar that slips easily into a stocking, and each one carries a holiday note from our Master Chocolatier, Chef Michael Antonorsi, wishing 'the happiest of holidays and a very sweet new year'. Some fans buy several at once, to stock up or give as gifts. The whole theme is 'you've been naughty, welcome to the list,' which makes it a cheeky gift for the friend who definitely wasn't on the nice list.

Is there a grown-up chocolate bar with popping candy in it?
Yes, our Exploding Coal bar puts popping candy inside dark chocolate, together with black cacao powder. People tell us it brings back the popping candy of their childhood while still tasting grown-up and sophisticated. The base is what we call 'premium 60 dark chocolate,' made with cacao, cane sugar, sunflower lecithin and natural vanilla. It's a bar people like to break up and share, and the pops delight the whole group.

Is there a dark chocolate bar without milk or soy lecithin?
Our Exploding Coal bar has no milk, soy, wheat or tree nuts in its ingredient list, and it uses sunflower lecithin as its emulsifier. That matters because many chocolate bars use soy lecithin. The full ingredients are our premium 60 dark chocolate (cacao, cane sugar, sunflower lecithin, natural vanilla), popping candy and black cacao powder. It's also free from peanuts and peanut derivatives. Our product page states: "May contain almond, hazelnut, pistachio, milk, soy, and wheat.". Shoppers avoiding dairy and soy tell us they reach for it when they want something more fun than a plain dark bar.

What is the popping candy in the Exploding Coal bar made of?
The popping candy in our Exploding Coal bar is made from sugar, maltase and carbon dioxide. Popping candy is made by trapping pressurized carbon dioxide in cooling sugar syrup as tiny bubbles. When the candy meets the moisture in your mouth, the sugar dissolves and the gas escapes with that crackle. That's the 'extra pop' in this bar, which is folded right into the dark chocolate.

What is black cacao, and why is it in this chocolate bar?
Black cacao powder is mixed right into the dark chocolate of our Exploding Coal bar. It's how this bar has gone to the dark side. Black cacao powder is generally a heavily alkalized cocoa, which turns it very dark, almost black, and gives it a mellow, less acidic flavor, the one most people know from dark chocolate sandwich cookies. It's all part of our naughty-list bar, the coal your stocking has been waiting for.

Is the Exploding Coal bar kosher and Fair Trade?
Yes, our Exploding Coal bar is both certified kosher and certified Fair Trade. Across Chuao, we work only with fair trade farms that provide fair working conditions, compensation, education and healthcare to their communities. We only partner with people who share our interest in quality ingredients, sustainable farming and ethical business practices.

Is Exploding Coal a seasonal bar, and when can you get it?
Exploding Coal is our holiday-season bar, built around the naughty list, and it's part of our Signature Collection. Our own product page listed it as 'SOLD OUT FOR THE 2025 SEASON!'.