This chocolate chip sheet cake is unapologetically old-fashioned! It’s dense and rustic, like our moms and grandmothers used to bake.
There’s just something about a sheet cake we adore! It could be that they can be mixed and baked in under an hour. Or perhaps because they’re the perfect vehicle for a thick layer of creamy rich frosting. But mostly? We love sheet cakes because they remind us of being kids, next to our moms in the kitchen, licking batter from beaters, and watching cakes rise in the oven.
This chocolate chip sheet cake is essentially a classic dense yellow cake spread out over a quarter sheet pan rather than baked in traditional round cake tins. We love small 12-½ x 9-inch (32 x 23-cm) quarter sheet pans! They’re useful for so many things, such as cooking small meals, baking sheet cakes, freezing cutout cookies before baking, and more. Small sheet pans are a kitchen tool we really can’t do without! These Nordic Ware quarter sheet pans are similar to what we used for this chocolate chip sheet cake recipe. Maybe the best part of making cakes on sheet pans is how quickly they bake; This one is fully baked in under 30 minutes.
Keep in mind, the flavour in this cake is basic — vanilla and chocolate chips. It’s not going to blow your mind flavour-wise. Instead, it’s simple comfort food. For ideas on how to add pops of flavour to this recipe, see the Tips & Notes section below.
Use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top, or scroll to the bottom of the post to see the printable recipe card with full ingredient measurements and complete instructions.
Ingredients
Method
Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Spray a quarter sheet pan lightly with cooking spray. Line the sheet with parchment paper, then spray the top of the paper with a light even coating of cooking spray. Finish prepping the sheet pan by giving it a light sprinkle of flour all over.
Add the sugar, milk, oil, vanilla, and eggs to a large mixing bowl. Use a hand or stand mixer to mix the wet ingredients until well combined, about one minute.
Add the flour, baking powder and salt to the bowl. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together on low speed until they form a smooth creamy batter.
Pour the chocolate chips into the bowl. Use a rubber spatula or wooden spoon to gently fold the chocolate chips into the batter by hand.
Use a large spoon to dollop all of the cake batter evenly over the prepared quarter sheet pan.
With an offset spatula, or the back of a spoon, smooth the top of the cake batter inside the sheet pan.
Place the cake in the preheated oven and bake it for 24 to 27 minutes, or until the edges of the cake are golden and beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan. The top of the cake may look pale after baking, but should feel firm to the touch of a fingertip.
Remove the sheet cake from the oven and cool it on a wire rack before decorating it with frosting (optional). You can leave the cake in the sheet pan to serve if you like, or you can remove it and serve it on a platter or overturned baking sheet.
Once cool, top the cake with your favourite icing or frosting. We love ours topped with cream cheese frosting, orange glaze, or Nanny Burke’s buttercream. Finish with a sprinkle of chocolate chips if you like.
Tips & Notes
The recipe as written bakes up as a low-profile fairly flat cake. If you like your sheet cakes to have a bit more lift, add an extra teaspoon of baking powder.
Adding flavours to the cake itself will kick this basic old-fashioned recipe up a notch or two. Some ideas:
- Add the zest of orange to the cake batter, and substitute ⅓ cup of milk for orange juice.
- Use one or two teaspoons of spices like ginger, homemade chai spice, cinnamon, or pumpkin pie spice in the dry ingredient mix.
- Add ¼ cup of rainbow sprinkles to the cake. Because who can resist sprinkles?!
- Make a chocolate cake by adding ¼ cup of cocoa powder to the dry ingredients, and ¼ cup of melted chocolate to the wet ingredients.
Substitutions
You can substitute the oil for butter if you like. Use softened butter and cream it together with the sugar before adding the milk, vanilla, and eggs.
Light spelt flour can be substituted for all-purpose at a 1:1 ratio for a whole grain option.
Use any chocolate chips you like. You can also use chopped chocolate, however, it won’t hold it’s structure during baking the way chocolate chips do.
If you don’t own a quarter sheet pan, bake this recipe in two 8-inch (20-cm) cake tins for about 30 to 35 minutes, or until golden, firm to the touch on top, and the edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.
Substitute dairy-free milk and use dark chocolate, or vegan chocolate chips for a dairy-free cake.
More Simple Cake Recipes
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Recipe
Chocolate Chip Sheet Cake (One Bowl)
Description
Equipment
- Quarter sheet pan 13×9 inches or 33×23 cm
- Parchment paper
- Mixing bowl
- Hand or stand mixer
- Rubber spatula or wooden spoon
- Wire rack
- offset spatula
- Measuring cups and spoons or a digital kitchen scale
Ingredients
- ¾ cup sugar
- ⅔ cup milk
- ½ cup neutral oil, such as canola or vegetable
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 2-½ cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1-½ cups chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC).
- Spray a quarter sheet pan lightly with cooking spray. Line the sheet with parchment paper, then spray the top of the paper with a light even coating of cooking spray.
- Finish prepping the sheet pan by giving it a light sprinkle of flour all over.
- Add the sugar, milk, oil, vanilla, and eggs to a large mixing bowl. Use a hand or stand mixer to mix the wet ingredients until well combined, about one minute.
- Add the flour, baking powder and salt to the bowl. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together on low speed until they form a smooth creamy batter.
- Pour the chocolate chips into the bowl. Use a rubber spatula or wooden spoon to gently fold the chocolate chips into the batter by hand.
- Use a large spoon to dollop all of the cake batter evenly over the prepared quarter sheet pan. With an offset spatula, or the back of a spoon, smooth the top of the cake batter inside the sheet pan.
- Place the cake in the preheated oven and bake it for 24 to 27 minutes, or until the edges of the cake are golden and beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan. The top of the cake may look pale after baking, but should feel firm to the touch of a fingertip.
- Remove the sheet cake from the oven and cool it on a wire rack before decorating it with frosting (optional). You can leave the cake in the sheet pan to serve if you like, or you can remove it and serve it on a platter or overturned baking sheet.
- Once cool, top the cake with your favourite icing or frosting. We love ours topped with cream cheese frosting, orange glaze, or Nanny Burke’s buttercream. Finish with a sprinkle of chocolate chips if you like.
Notes
- Add the zest of orange to the cake batter, and substitute ⅓ cup of milk for orange juice.
- Use one or two teaspoons of spices like ginger, homemade chai spice, cinnamon, or pumpkin pie spice in the dry ingredient mix.
- Add ¼ cup of rainbow sprinkles to the cake. Because who can resist sprinkles?!
- Make a chocolate cake by adding ¼ cup of cocoa powder to the dry ingredients, and ¼ cup of melted chocolate to the wet ingredients.
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