Looking for a super simple cake that always tastes amazing? This easy Chocolate Chip Loaf Cake is one of my favourite afternoon treats that never fails!
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I freely admit that I’m not the best baker. I enjoy it, but I know my limits.
Like cooking, I’m a family cook. I’m not a fancy cook. I’m good at what I do, my kids are well-fed and happy, and mealtimes are stress-free. That’s my goal. I’m not interested in fancy cuisine.
I’m a simple baker. I can knock up a decent birthday cake, and my brownies are delicious, but I’m not going to be on Bake Off anytime soon!
When it comes to cakes, I keep things as easy as possible. I want a tasty pudding or afternoon pick-me-up. I don’t want to waste a day creating it!
That’s why most of my loaf cakes, traybakes and cupcakes follow the same, simple, Victoria sponge-type recipe, with just a few additions and quantity changes when I’m adding flavours.
This choc chip loaf cake recipe is probably the easiest of the lot!
It’s basically a plain vanilla sponge cake, with added chocolate chips. What could be better?
Why You’ll Love This Chocolate Chip Loaf Cake
I hope that you love this loaf cake as much as I do! It’s:
- Easy – such as a simple recipe, you can’t go wrong.
- Cheap – easy, means no fancy ingredients. I use supermarket own basic margarine, flour, eggs, and even own-brand chocolate chips.
- A great way to practice – once you’ve cracked a basic loaf cake recipe, you can start experimenting with other flavours, and this is the ideal place to start.
- Great for baking with kids
- Delicious – that’s the main thing, right?
- Fairly light – some cakes are covered with buttercream, filled with jam, and topped with sugary decorations. You might not want a slice of something so heavy with an afternoon coffee. Sure, this is a cake, it’s not healthy, but as they go, a small slice is fairly light.
Ingredients for Choc Chip Loaf Cake
As I say, I use all basic, cheap ingredients. You certainly don’t need anything fancy for this chocolate chip loaf cake. I Use:
Margarine – You can swap to room-temperature unsalted butter if you prefer
Caster Sugar
Eggs
Vanilla Extract
Self-Raising Flour – You can use plain flour (all purpose) with a teaspoon of baking powder as your dry ingredients if that’s what you’ve got.
Chocolate Chips
That’s it! Then you just need a loaf tin (I also use reusable baking paper or parchment paper, but it’s not essential) and a mixing bowl. An electric whisk or electric mixer is ideal, but you could mix it all together with a wooden spoon! (affiliate link)
If you want to remove your cake from the tin before it’s entirely cool you’ll also need a wire rack.
Substitutions
Can You Use Different Chocolate Chips?
Yes!
I use a combination of dark and milk chocolate usually.
But you could absolutely make a white chocolate chip loaf cake, a dark chocolate chip loaf cake, or a milk chocolate chip loaf cake. Or any combination of the above!
Chocolate Cake
You could also replace 30g of your flour with cocoa powder for a double chocolate chip loaf cake.
How to Make a Chocolate Chip Loaf Cake
Whisk together the margarine and sugar, whisk in the eggs and vanilla, whisk in the flour and carefully fold in most of the chocolate chips. All in the same large mixing bowl. Pour into a loaf tin, sprinkle over the last of the chocolate chips and bake.
That’s it!
It can take anywhere between 45 minutes and one hour to bake, depending on your oven and the size/shape of your loaf tin.
I use a 2lb loaf tin, and my oven is a nightmare!
So I recommend checking with a skewer after 45 minutes and judging from there. If the outsides are browning, and the middle is still uncooked, cover gently with foil to stop it from burning.
Will the Chocolate Chips Sink in Cake – Expert Baking Tips
They will sink a little, anything you add to cake batter sinks, but there are a few things that I do to minimise this:
- I use a little more flour than I normally would, for a slightly thicker batter.
- Retain a handful of chips to sprinkle on the top before baking, instead of mixing them all through. This was, they’ve got further to go.
- Always pre-heat the oven, so the cake goes into a hot oven and the mixture starts to cook, holding the chips in place straight away.
- Cook at a higher temperature for the first 10 minutes, before reducing it for the rest of the bake. Again, this just sets them in place faster.
- You can also try using mini chocolate chips if you can get them. I don’t do this.
If your chocolate chips do sink completely (mine did the first time I tried this recipe, which is why I added that bit of extra flour) then you end up with a fudgy chocolate base, a bit like a brownie, with a moist vanilla sponge on top, which isn’t a bad thing.
Enjoy it, and then try adding a little more flour, and perhaps baking at a higher temperature, so that the batter sets faster, next time.
Decorating a Loaf Cake with Chocolate Chips
I wouldn’t usually decorate at all. It’s the cake version of chocolate chip cookies, perfect as it is!
You can add chocolate buttercream, chocolate ganache, or simple melted chocolate drizzle if you want to.
Storing This Loaf Cake
This loaf cake will stay soft for 2-3 days if stored in an airtight container.
I keep mine in a lidded cake stand on the kitchen counter. You don’t need to keep it in the fridge.
You can also freeze this chocolate chip loaf cake.
Just wrap it tightly in foil or wax wrap or place it in an airtight tub and freeze. Thaw in the fridge when you are ready.
Another option is freezing in slices. Slice, and place a square of something like baking paper (so the slices don’t stick together) between each slice in an airtight tub, seal, and freeze. This way you can take them out a slice at a time, instead of having to defrost the whole thing.
Recipe FAQs
It’s just the shape. A loaf cake is baked in a loaf tin. You might also know it as a pound cake.
They’ll always sink a little. However, adding the last chips to the top of the batter and starting the bake at a higher temperature will help them stick in place. A thick batter also helps.
Chips will melt a little, but baking chocolate chips are designed not to. They are essentially tempered before being packaged which helps them to retain their shape when heated.
Other Easy Loaf Cakes
You might also want to try:
- Chocolate Orange Drizzle Cake
- Coffee and Walnut Loaf Cake
- Lime Drizzle Cake
- Cherry Loaf Cake
- Lemon and Raspberry Loaf Cake
- Plum Loaf Cake
Chocolate Chip Loaf Cake Recipe
Chocolate Chip Loaf Cake
Ingredients
- 170 g Margarine (or room temperature butter)
- 170 g Caster Sugar
- 3 Medium Eggs
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 190 g Self-Raising Flour
- 200 g Chocolate Chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190 Degrees C (fan-assisted) and grease and/or line a 2lb loaf tin.
- Whisk together the margarine and sugar until smooth.
- Add the eggs and vanilla, and continue to whisk until well mixed.
- Tip in the flour, and whisk for a minute or two until the cake mix is an even consistency.
- Carefully fold through the chocolate chips, retaining a handful.
- Pour into the prepared tin.
- Sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips onto the top.
- Bake for 10 minutes, before reducing the temperature to 160 degrees C (fan-assisted).
- Bake for a further 35 minutes, checking with a skewer to make sure the centre is cooked, and returning to the oven, checking every 5 minutes if needed.
- Remove from the oven and cool fully in the tin before removing.
Notes
- Use any chocolate chips you like.
- If you want to add chocolate chips to the top of your cake, retain some to sprinkle over when the cake is cooling so that they gently melt onto the top.
- If after 45 minutes the middle is still uncooked, but the top is well-browned, cover gently with foil to prevent burning.
Nutrition
Any nutritional information is given as a general guide only and may not be accurate. The information is provided using an online calculator and is specific to my ingredients. Please make your own calculations if you want precise information.
Cooking times completely bonkers. No need to reduce to 169, just takes three times as long to cook!
Well, it’s not completely bonkers. It’s what I do when I make the cake. If I don’t reduce I find the top burns. If I bake at 160 the chips sink. I write based on my experience.
I followed the recipe (exactly) last night and baked this cake.
It was too sweet for me and actually came out slightly crumbly like a cookie not a cake. Maybe I misread something but I was expecting a light fluffy cake with choc chips.
I’m sorry to hear that. The only things that I can think could make it crumbly are perhaps slightly over-mixed batter, so over-baked.
Would it be possible to make this in a round cake/sandwich tin without having to change quantity of ingredients or baking time?
If the volume of your tin is roughly the same as a 2lb loaf tin, you wouldn’t need to adjust the quantities. But a round tin is generally bigger, and not as deep, so it would be cooked faster.
Lovely cake. Chips do sink but still really nice.