The French-Approved Way to Eat a Chocolate Bar

The act of treating yourself is a very subjective task - but I think most of us with a sweet tooth would agree that biting into a chocolate bar is one of life's greatest pleasures. To paraphrase the great Ina Garten , you can feel bad before you eat a chocolate bar, and you can feel bad after you eat a chocolate bar but you can never feel bad while you eat a chocolate bar.

If you read the title of this story and thought, "Is there really a wrong way to eat a chocolate bar?" the answer is a resounding no. That said, it can be exciting to take something familiar and turn it on its head. And there's a super simple way to elevate a chocolate bar: sandwich it on a baguette with butter. It's the way the French have been doing it for years and it's high time you try it too.

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The Origins of the French Chocolate Butter Baguette Sandwich

Every country has its own unique way of beating the mid-afternoon energy crash. In the United Kingdom, there's high tea . Here in the United States, around 3 pm we munch on nuts or trail mix or go for that second cup of coffee. But every day in France , the people partake in le goûter, or snack time, and that is especially applicable to children. The earliest record of a le goûter (which also means to taste in French) can be found in Denis Diderot’s 18th-century L'Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences .

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Rather than enjoy something salty and savory, the goûter swings super sweet and leans mostly on what's on hand. One of the most popular snacks is a fresh baguette cut open lengthwise, spread with cold butter topped with broken-up pieces of a chocolate bar, then closed and eaten like a sandwich. Yeah. It's as good as it sounds.

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How to Make a French Chocolate Butter Baguette Sandwich

Not to state the obvious, but you will need three ingredients: a baguette, butter and a chocolate bar. Begin by splitting a baguette lengthwise and spread a generous amount of butter on one or both sides. Cut or break enough pieces of the chocolate bar to fit your baguette. Place the chocolate pieces on one half of the split baguette. Close the sandwich and bon appétit.

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Tips for Making the Best French Chocolate Butter Baguette Sandwich

1. Bust out the salted butter. There's a time and a place for unsalted butter, but this isn't it. To keep the ingredients list tiny, make your chocolate baguette sandwich with salted butter, which will ensure that your sandwich is automatically seasoned. We love the Cabot Extra Creamy Premium Salted Butter available at Walmart.
2. Use a super fresh baguette. A large portion of this sandwich's magic (apart from um, the fact that it's a chocolate butter sandwich ) is the contrast of textures: the snappy silky rich chocolate bar, the cold dairy delight of the butter and the fluffy-meets-crunchy energy of the baguette. To really make the sandwich shine, go to your favorite bakery and pick up a fresh-baked baguette. It'll make all the difference.
3. Use your favorite chocolate bar. In other words, use a chocolate you would be willing to eat on its own. Milk chocolate or dark chocolate are fair game and if you like a chocolate bar with mix-in, you do you.

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