Compound chocolate is a product made from a combination of cocoa, vegetable fat, and sweeteners. It is a lower-cost alternative to pure chocolate, as it uses less-expensive hard vegetable fats such as coconut oil or palm kernel oil in place of the more expensive cocoa butter. Compound chocolate is also easier to work with than pure chocolate, as it does not need to be tempered. This makes it a popular choice for commercial baking and confectionery.