My Chocolate Chip Sheet Cake is a soft and fluffy snack cake that can be served right in the pan it’s baked in. Simple to make and impossible to resist, you’ll love this perfectly sweetened cake with its simple buttercream frosting and plenty of chocolate chips! Recipe includes a how-to video!
A Simple Snack Cake
This quick and easy chocolate chip sheet cake is ideal for those of you who don’t have the time (or patience, or skills 🙋🏼♀️) for a multi-level or tiered cake recipe. For those of you who are looking for something simple but still delicious, low-maintenance but still guaranteed to have your guests asking for seconds.
While its base of the cake is similar to my (more complicated and more prettily-decorated) Chantilly cake, today’s recipe comes together much, much faster and is iced with a simple buttercream frosting, no crumb coats or piping tips required.
Let’s get to it!
What You Need
- Sugar. I chose to use granulated sugar only in this cake because I wanted to give it a lighter, whiter color that would contrast nicely against the chocolate chips. Brown sugar would have darkened the cake color a bit more than I wanted (and we’re already yellowing it some with the butter, vanilla, and egg).
- Butter. Only one stick of butter goes into the cake, then you’ll need another two for the frosting. As with most of my recipes, I always recommend using unsalted butter and then adding the salt, that way we maintain control over the flavor.
- Buttermilk. This reacts with our baking soda to give the cake some lift, but more importantly it adds tenderness, moisture, and flavor to the cake. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can use my easy buttermilk substitute.
- Mini chocolate chips. You could substitute regular-sized semisweet chocolate chips, but personally I prefer to use the smaller chips. Since our cake layer is so thin, the mini chocolate chips lend themselves to a better, less over-whelming texture, and they just look better.
SAM’S TIP: In the photos, I make this cake with a vanilla frosting. It provides a nice contrast agains the black chocolate chips on top. However, if you’d like to do a chocolate frosting instead (which I did in the video), simply mix ½ cup of cocoa powder into the frosting.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Chocolate Chip Sheet Cake
- Prepare your batter! This is a simple batter, made by first creaming together the wet ingredients with an electric mixer and then folding in the dry ingredients by hand, using a spatula. Once you’ve added the dry ingredients, it’s very important that you don’t over-mix the batter or the cake will be dense and dry. Once my batter is 75% of the way combined and most (but not all) of the flour is absorbed (shown in photo 1 above), I like to add the chocolate chips and stir until everything is completely combined (without overdoing it!).
- Spread the batter evenly into a lightly greased jelly roll pan.
- Bake until the edges are beginning to turn light golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with moist crumbs.
- Once the cake has cooled, spread frosting evenly over the surface and then sprinkle with additional chocolate chips.
SAM’S TIP: The cake batter is fairly thick, this is normal and expected. I found that a thicker batter was necessary to keep the chocolate chips suspended in the cake.
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely! I went with a simple and fuss-free buttercream frosting, but feel free to substitute any of my frosting recipes. Cream cheese frosting is a great option for those of you who like a less-sweet icing!
While I provide instructions in the recipe to make the frosting chocolate, I do not have advice on making the cake into a chocolate version. Unfortunately, simply adding cocoa powder would not work well here as it would most likely dry out the cake, and you would no longer be able to easily see the chocolate chips that give this cake its name.
There are two main reasons why this would happen (assuming that none of the ingredients were accidentally mis-measured and that the oven temperature is correct, which unfortunately it often is not).
1) If the cake batter was mixed too much, the cake will be both dense and dry. Never use an electric mixer to combine the wet ingredients! Instead, do this step gently by hand.
2) If the cake was over-baked, even one or two minutes too long, the cake could be dry. Many ovens are not properly calibrated, so make sure your oven’s temperature is correct and if you’re worried, check on the cake earlier than indicated in the recipe!
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Chocolate Chip Sheet Cake
Ingredients
For Cake
- 8 Tablespoons unsalted butter softened and cut into 8 pieces (113g)
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar (250g)
- 1 large egg room temperature preferred
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cup buttermilk (295ml)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (250g)
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips (170g)
For Frosting
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened (226g)
- 3 ½ cups powdered sugar (440g)
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon table salt
- 1-2 Tablespoons heavy cream as needed
- ½ cup cocoa powder (50g) optional, only if you would like to make your frosting chocolate.
- ¼ cup mini chocolate chips, for topping (42g)
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
For Cake
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and spray a 10×15” (25x38cm) jelly roll pan with baking spray (or lightly grease and flour). Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine butter and sugar and use an electric mixer to beat until well-combined.
- Add egg and vanilla extract and mix well.
- With mixer on low-speed, slowly mix in buttermilk until completely combined.
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and use a spatula to gently fold together until batter is approximately 75% of the way combined (do not use an electric mixer for this step or you will over-mix your batter and the cake will be dense and dry).
- Add mini chocolate chips and stir until chips are distributed and batter is completely combined.
- Spread batter evenly into prepared baking pan. The batter will be thick, this is expected and necessary to keep the chocolate chips from sinking in the cake as it bakes.
- Transfer to 350F (175C) preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean or with moist crumbs.
- Allow to cool completely in pan before covering with frosting.
For Frosting
- Place butter in a large bowl and use an electric mixer to beat until creamy.
- Gradually add powdered sugar, stirring until combined.
- Add vanilla extract, salt, and 1 Tablespoon of heavy cream and beat until thoroughly combined (be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl).
- Check consistency and add additional heavy cream if frosting is too thick to easily spread.
- If you would like to make this a chocolate frosting, add cocoa powder here and stir until combined (most likely you will need at least an additional tablespoon of cream).
- Spread over completely cooled cake. Sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips.
- Cut cake and serve directly from the jelly roll pan. Enjoy!
Notes
Storing
Cover jelly roll pan with plastic wrap and store at room temperature for up to 3 days.Nutrition
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This recipe was originally published in April of 2016. I have updated the recipe to improve it and have also updated the post and photos to improve them as well, and have added a how-to video.
Cheryl
This is a really good easy snack cake. I did put it in a glass 9 x 13 x 2 pan at 325. It took just 28 min. I made my own version of vanilla buttercream frosting which uses less butter. I was a little concerned when making the cake because adding the “homemade” buttermilk substitute made it curdled. As I folded in the dry ingredients the batter smoothed out.
This worked so nicely in my 9 x 13 I think I will try the Texas sheet cake next!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed, Cheryl! I hope you love the Texas Sheet cake just as much! 🙂
Mandy
Can i use regular sized chocolate chips instead of mini? If so would it be the same amount?
Sam
Hi Mandy! You should be fine to use the regular chocolate chips and use the same amount. 🙂
Marla
Hi Sam!
I love all of your recipes and can’t wait to try this one! Can this be make in a 9×13 pan?
Thanks!
Sam
Hi Maria! That should work just fine. Your baking time will just be a bit longer. 🙂
Bev
This recipe is so delicious, it is a keeper. I love your recipes and everything I have made is a keeper. Thank you for all you do 🙂
Sam
Thank you so much, Bev! I’m so glad you have enjoyed everything. 🙂
Fvs
I would really like to try this recipe as cake pops for my daughter’s 2nd birthday, do you think it will hold up in silicone molds baked for less time?
Sam
I honestly am not sure how it would go. If you try it I would love to know how it turns out. 🙂
Lorie
Sam, I have not yet tried this recipe but I’m sure and convinced it will be just as wonderful as all the other many recipes of yours I have tried. However, your Risotto recipe is fantastic! I made that as an addition to stuffed salmon for my elderly parents. We all fell in love with it. So please keep the recipes coming as I follow you all the time, more so than the so called “famous” chefs, cooks or foodie’s out there.
Thanks again!! ❤️
Sam
Thank you so much, Lorie! I really appreciate that. 🙂
Cheryl
I love so many of your cakes because they use both butter and oil. I get a very tender product. Is there some reason you used just butter? Could some oil be used?
Also just as a suggestion. I like to see the ingredients as a picture but separating the cake ingredients from frosting ingredients would give the reader info on what is required to make the main product—cake.
Sam
Hi Cheryl! I was aiming for a thicker batter to keep the chips suspended and ultimately ended up preferring the all-butter version of the cake (surprising to me, too!). However, if you’d like you can certainly do half butter and half oil, that would work well here! And thank you for the suggestion re: the photos, that absolutely makes sense and I appreciate feedback like this as I’m constantly trying to improve my posts, thank you! 🙂
Smriti
Hi, would this recipe work for a 2 layered sheet cake for a birthday party? I’d obviously double the ingredients. Just want to check if it would stack ok? Thanks!!
Sam
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure. My guess is that it would work but I just don’t really know. 🙁
Sheri
Love your recipes, can I make this cake in different size pans if so what size and how long.
Sam
Hi Sheri! Unfortunately I haven’t baked it in other pans, but it should be fine in other pans. Bake times will vary based on your pans. 🙂
Sheela Nigam
Do you have a video to go with this?
Sam
Not yet, but I am working on having videos with every recipe, it’s just taking some time 🙂
Mickey Stock
I’m thinking about making this for my son’s birthday next month, but I’d need to package it for mailing. Do you think it would hold up? Any suggestions? Does this frosting get a bit of a crust on it so it won’t stick to everything I wrap it in?
P.S. I just love every recipe from your site I have tried. It’s my go-to site.
Sam
Hi Mickey! I’m not sure how it would hold up to shipping, it’s a little bit of a fragile cake. The frosting will crust after a little while.
KC
Just hoping to clarify how much sugar the cake needs… 1 cup + 2/3 cup? Or just 2/3 cup? Also, would I have any luck splitting the batter up into two 8” round pans? Thanks!
Sam
It is 1 & 2/3 cup sugar. I have not tried to put this in 2 8 inch pans. It should turn out, but I am not sure how thick they would be.
Michele
I made the cake recently for daughter’s birthday and it was phenomenal !!! Not too sweet, fluffy, moist and delicious. My new go to recipe. I did not make the frosting above and cannot comment (I’m sure it’s delish too). I made a light buttercream and cut cake/decorated as Peppa Pig. Thank you !!!!
Sam
I am so happy to hear this, Michele! Thank you for commenting!
Sue
Can you please clarify which size cake pan to use for this recipe? The title of your recipe says “Sheet Cake”, which implies that it should be made in a large sheet cake pan. However, then your instructions say to use only a jelly roll pan, which is much smaller. This sounds delicious and I want to make it for a friend’s birthday, but I don’t want to mess it up by using the wrong pan. Thanks.
Sam
Hi Sue! It is a 15x10x1 pan, it is stated in the recipe. Sorry for any confusion, I hope you love the cake!
Amanda
This definitely looks like the sheet cake of my very happy dreams! And that vanilla buttercream and topping sound wonderful. His would be perfect for a family get together.
Medha @ Whisk & Shout
This sheet cake looks amazing! I love baking with mini chocolate chips for some reason- they’re just so cute and delicious!