Brown Sugar adds wonderful flavor to this cake
The brown sugar, in addition to the amazing flavor combination of butter, vanilla, and chocolate chips gives this cake all of the familiar deliciousness that we love in a chocolate chip cookie!
This recipe is the first chocolate chip cake that I've tried that contains brown sugar and it really makes a difference!
Brown sugar not only adds wonderful flavor to the cake recipe, but it also makes for a cake that is even more moist and tender.
How to Make a Chocolate Chip Cake
You can find the full, printable recipe further down in this post but here is a quick rundown of our steps!
- Preparation: Preheat the oven, prepare three 8 inch cake pans (grease & flour- I also line the pans with parchment)
- Dry Ingredients: In the bowl of your mixer add the dry ingredients (all purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.) Hand whisk for at least 30 seconds to make sure that the ingredients are evenly distributed.
- Egg Mixture: In a separate bowl, add the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla extract. Stir with a fork to combine.
- Butter: With an electric mixer on low speed (and using a paddle attachment if using a stand mixer) gradually add the slices of butter, a few pieces at a time. Increase the mixer to medium speed and mix until the dry ingredients look crumbly and moistened. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl.
- Adding Wet Ingredients: Next, add half of the egg mixture, (do not beat above medium ) for 1 ½ minutes. The cake batter will become thick and fluffy Add the remaining egg mixture in two pourings, mixing for 20 seconds after each addition.
- Chocolate Chips: Fold in the mini chocolate chips (We used semi-sweet chocolate chips)
- Fill the Pans: Divide batter between two prepared 8 inch round cake pans
- Time to Bake! Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 - 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached.
- Allow the 8 inch round cakes (still in their pans) to cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes before turning out.
Reverse Creaming Method of Mixing
This recipe uses the Reverse Creaming Method of mixing. We use this method of mixing for many of our recipes (chocolate cake from scratch, chocolate sour cream cake, orange dreamsicle cake..) because we find that it gives the cakes a tighter crumb and velvety texture.
What Pairs well with Chocolate Chip Cake?
Decorating the Cake
Once these moist cake layers have cooled completely, it is time to put it all together!
You can decorate however you like. Here are our steps:
- Place the first cake layer on a cake plate or pedestal.
- Then, spread with a layer of chocolate chip buttercream (or chocolate buttercream).
- Top with the second cake layer and frost the cake with chocolate chip buttercream.
- I like to crumb coat the entire cake with a thin layer of frosting before adding the decorative piping, which I did with a star tip 21.
- I added a top shell border, and sprinkled the top of the cake with mini chocolate chips.
We have more Chocolate Chip Cake Recipes to Share!
Enjoy the Recipe!
We hope that you enjoy this delicious cake recipe! If you give it a try, we would love for you to leave a comment and photo below.
It would make the perfect birthday cake as well as other celebrations- or just because! Thanks for stopping by!
Chocolate Chip Cake Recipe
This homemade Chocolate Chip Cake recipe has all of the flavors that you love in a chocolate chip cookie. You'll love the hint of brown sugar flavor!
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 2 ¾ cup (332 g) all purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups (325 g) light brown sugar (packed into the cup)
- 1 ½ teaspoons (7 g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (3 g) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon 3 g) salt
- 10 Tablespoons (1 ¼ sticks) (141 g) unsalted butter.... softened (do not microwave). I cut the butter into ½ inch slices onto waxed paper to soften a short while before needed.
- 3 large eggs
- 1 ⅓ cup (302 g) buttermilk (low fat or full fat)
- 2 teaspoons (8 g) vanilla
- 1 cup (170 g) mini chocolate chips
For the Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- 3 sticks (339g) unsalted butter, softened (do not soften butter in the microwave)
- 8 cups powdered sugar (icing sugar in UK) (920g) more if needed. ** For cupcakes, I like to use 7c. (805g) for a softer frosting
- 1 cup (82g) unsweetened cocoa (not Dutch processed, measure then sift
- ¾ (180g) milk plus 2 Tablespoons or more if needed to reach the spreading consistency you like
- 2 teaspoons vanilla (12 grams)
- 1 teaspoon salt (6g) we like the finer grain of plain popcorn salt, to cut the sweetness
Vanilla Buttercream Filling
- (Chocolate Buttercream filling is great for this cake also!)
- *This is a approximately a ¼ batch of our Classic Vanilla Buttercream
- ½ stick unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 teaspoons milk (adjust to your desired consistency)
- pinch salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, grease and flour two 8 inch round cake pans
- In the bowl of your mixer add the dry ingredients, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Hand whisk for at least 30 seconds so the ingredients are well combined.
- In a separate bowl, add the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla. Stir with a fork to combine.
- With the mixer on low speed gradually add the slices of butter, a few pieces at a time. Increase the mixer to medium speed and beat until the dry ingredients look crumbly and moistened by the butter. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl.
- Add ½ of the egg mixture, beating at medium ( do not beat above medium ) for 1 ½ minutes, the batter will become thick and fluffy. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the remaining egg mixture in 2 pourings, beating for 20 seconds after each addition.
- Fold in the chocolate chips. Divide cake batter between the two prepared 8 inch round cake pans.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 30 - 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached.
- Let the cake cool in the pans 10 minutes, then turn out.
- Makes 7 cups batter
- Will hold up to fondantThis recipe works well for cupcakes, they will have very little dome.
For the Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- Add butter and mix on low to medium speed until smooth. Add vanilla and blend into the butter. Add powdered sugar, salt, and cocoa powder.
- Add most of the milk. Begin mixing at low speed so you won't have a cloud of powdered sugar in your kitchen.
- Continue to mix adding remaining milk as needed. It may take 5 to 6 minutes to reach the smoothness and consistency you like. It will take longer if using a hand mixer. As you mix the frosting will become very smooth. You can add additional milk (1 Tablespoon at a time) if the frosting is too thick or additional powdered sugar if too soft.
This recipe makes approximately 7 cups of frosting.
For the Vanilla Chocolate Chip Filling
- Cream the (slightly softened) butter until smooth. Blend in the vanilla.
- Add the powdered sugar and milk.
- Mix at medium speed until well incorporated and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes. If it needs thickening, add a bit more powdered sugar. If it needs thinning, add a bit more milk.
- Fold in desired amount of mini chocolate chips.
Notes
- The cake layers can be baked and frozen ahead of time, up to three months in advance! Simple bake, wrap in plastic wrap and foil (we often do this when the layers are still slightly warm), and freeze. To thaw, place on countertop, still wrapped, until thawed to desired amount for decorating.
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Thanks for stopping by today! We hope that you enjoy the recipe. Don't forget to scroll through our full collection of favorite cake, frosting, and filling recipes in our Recipes section! You can find them here: My Cake School Recipes
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I want to use a 9x13 pan. I read some of the comments you posted. Do I double the entire 3 cups of brown sugar and 3 tsp of baking powder? Thank you.
Hi Sheela, This recipe makes 7 cups of batter, this is the amount you need for a 9x13 pan. If you would like a taller cake, you could make a second sheet cake for a 2 layer 9x13 cake. If you want to double the recipe, you will double all the ingredients. If doubling, make sure your mixer will hold 14 cups batter. Below is a chart showing cake batter amounts that you might find helpful.
http://fromkarenskitchen.com/tips/party_cake_batter_amounts_baking_times_2inch_pan.php
Can I add simple syrop if I'm baking 2-3 days before deliver it? I made this recipe, it was good until next day. After 2nd day it tasted a little dry.
Hi Katy, You could add a simple syrup, we have never felt it needed that. If we are not frosting our cake on the day it is baked, we wrap individually the still warm layers in plastic wrap and aluminum foil and freeze. These cake layers can be frozen for a month or longer and taste fresh. Was your cake frosted and stored in an airtight container?