Our chocolate chip sheet cake is tender, moist, and studded with chocolate chips! The cake is topped with luscious chocolate buttercream frosting. It's the perfect no fuss cake to make that your friends and family will absolutely love!
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Why This is the Best Chocolate Chip Sheet Cake
- E-A-S-Y. This cake is easy to make and comes together in under an hour!
- Cake flour gives it a fluffy and light texture. See the note about making a homemade cake flour substitute in case you don't have cake flour or don't want to by it.
- Uses pure vanilla extract for a rich vanilla flavour.
- Vanilla cake is the perfect base adding in chocolate chips. If your kids are anything like mine, everything is better with chocolate chips!
- Simple ingredients you likely already have in your pantry.
Ingredients You Need
Full ingredients can be found in the recipe card below. Here you'll find key ingredients and any substitution ideas.
- Unsalted Butter. It's important to use room temperature butter to allow everything to incorporate fully.
- Vegetable Oil. You can use any neutral oil for this recipe. It adds extra moisture to the cake.
- Granulated Sugar. Important for sweetness and also helps whip air into the butter.
- Eggs
- Vanilla Extract. Use pure vanilla extract for the best flavor, not artificial extract.
- Cake Flour, see note for substitution here. I like using cake flour to create an extremely tender cake.
- Buttermilk. This adds such a delicious tang to the cake. If you don't have buttermilk you can easily make a homemade version. The instructions for a buttermilk substitution are listed in the recipe card.
- Chocolate Chips. Use semi-sweet chocolate chips to avoid too sweet of a cake with milk-chocolate chips.
Step-by-Step Instructions
For full instructions, please use the recipe card below. There are instructions for both the cake and chocolate buttercream frosting. Print it out for baking day!
Begin by whisking together your cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.Make your homemade buttermilk (or measure buttermilk) and set it aside.
Next, cream together butter and vegetable oil.
Adding in sugar and whip until light and fluffy - don't skip this step!
Add in your eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.
Finish by alternately adding buttermilk and flour mixture. Add in your chocolate chips. Mix to combine.
Pour into a 9x13'' rectangular pan and bake for 45 minutes!
FAQ About Chocolate Chip Sheet Cake
You can use this vegan vanilla cake recipe to make your cake vegan and simply add in the same amount of chocolate chips from this recipe.
Cake flour produces the lightest and fluffiest cake texture, and perfect crumb consistency. If you don't have cake flour and don't want to make the substitution recommended, you can use all purpose flour. Make sure to avoid over mixing because this will cause the cake to become dense.
Yes, this will make either three 6'' cake layers or two 8'' cake layers.
Expert Tips
How to Make Buttermilk
For each cup of buttermilk needed, add one tablespoon of white vinegar (I use this most often) or one tablespoon of lemon juice to a cup of milk (I prefer whole milk)
How to Make a Cake Flour Substitute
For each cup of all purpose (AP) flour, remove two tablespoon and replace with two tablespoon of cornstarch. Whisk together well. This will create a softer flour, more similar to cake flour.
Storage & Make Ahead
Store this cake at room temperature covered with plastic wrap or in a cake storage container for up to 2 days.
You can make this cake ahead and freeze it. Wrap your baked and slightly cooled cake in two layers of plastic wrap. Place it into the freezer for up to 2 months. Allow the cake to come to room temperature on the counter for about 3 hours before frosting and serving.
Other Cake Recipes to Try
If you tried this recipe and loved it, please leave us a STAR rating below! If you've got any questions, share them in the comment section below. Tag us on Instagram and follow along on BAKED by Blair Pinterest for more recipes!
Chocolate Chip Sheet Cake
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- ½ cup vegetable oil or any neutral tasting oil
- 1½ cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs at room temperature
- 3 cups cake flour see notes below for substitution
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1½ cups buttermilk at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 package semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F.
- Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Spray 9x13 inch cake pan with non-stick spray. Place a piece of parchment paper on the bottom of the cake pan. Set aside.
- Into the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, beat butter and oil together for 3-4 minutes until they are completely unified.
- Slowly add sugar into the mixture and beat on medium to high speed until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes) Scrape down the sides of the bowl. With the mixer on low speed add eggs in one at a time followed by the vanilla. Beat on high until mixture is smooth and light in colour.
- With the mixer on low speed, add one third of the flour mixture into the bowl and mix until just combined. Scrape down the bowl and add one half of the butter milk and again mix until just combined. Repeat this process. Begin and end with the flour mixture.
- Do not over mix or your cake will become quite dense. Distribute cake batter evenly between three 6-inch cake pans. I like to use a kitchen scale to ensure batter is divided equally. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until knife comes out clean. Each oven is slightly different, so I suggest setting your timer to 30 minutes and watching carefully from there! Cool on cooling rack for 10 minutes before inverting and removing cake from can pan to cool completely.
Notes
Small Batch Chocolate Frosting
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 2⅓ cups powdered sugar sifted
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter until smooth and light in colour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- With the mixer on low speed, add powered sugar one cup at a time. Scrape down the sides.
- Turn mixer to low speed and add in cocoa powder. Mix until combined. Scrape down sides once more.
- Turn mixer to low speed and add vanilla, heavy cream and salt. Mix on medium to high for 2-3 more minutes until buttercream is light and fluffy
Marie-Pierre Breton says
Looks so yummy! Trying this on the weekend!
Blair Braz says
You must! It's so good.
Brit says
Really good
Marie says
How much vanilla? Recipe doesn’t say.
Blair Braz says
My apologies!! 1 tbsp