Chocolate chips anything is a timeless classic that can do no wrong. Think of chocolate chip cookies, chocolate chip muffins, and why not a chocolate chip loaf cake too! Just slice them up and pair it with a cuppa/coffee, it’s simple yet so good as an afternoon pick-me-up. Or if you’re like me, I even had it for breakfast. I mean, if you’re going to have cake for breakfast, a chocolate chip loaf cake is definitely a fairly acceptable choice without going over the top, right?
This chocolate chip loaf cake recipe is an easy and straightforward one. You just need very typical pantry ingredients to whip this up and you’ll have a delicious loaf ready in no time. It’s essentially a light & moist vanilla butter loaf that’s laced with semi-melting chocolate chips, creating this subtly oozy texture against the fine crumbs of the cake. This is pretty much why chocolate chips are forever a popular classic. Pair it with a cuppa or coffee (pssst check out my Biscoff Latte recipe) and it’s just one of the simplest pleasures in life.
How to make Chocolate Chip Loaf Cake
Ingredients
- Unsalted Butter – softened at room temperature
- White Sugar – apart from acting as a sweetener, using white sugar (instead of brown or other varieties) helps to give it a nice caramelised golden top
- Self-raising Flour – or substitute with the equivalent amount of plain flour plus 1 tsp of baking powder
- Eggs
- Milk – ideally with whole milk but semi-skimmed milk works fine too
- Vanilla Extract
- Sea Salt – a little pinch of salt helps to bring out the flavours and sweetness
- Chocolate Chips – either milk or dark chocolate. I personally prefer using milk chocolate chips/chunks
Recipe notes
Softening your butter before baking
Make sure your butter has been left to soften at room temperature before you start making the recipe. This is important because it’s key to making the base of the cake. If your butter is too cold, not only would it be difficult to cream it together with sugar, but it would also result in a not-so-pleasant clumpy texture and even gives your cake a rather oily touch. Definitely not ideal!
On the other hand, if it’s too warm, the texture of the cake would turn out too dense due to the lack of air. That’s why you should NOT try to soften the butter in a microwave because 1) it warms the butter rather unevenly, and 2) you risk melting the butter which would completely ruin your cake texture.
I typically leave the butter out at room temperature for an hour before I start baking. The butter should be soft to touch, e.g. creating a slight indent when poking against it but not sinking into it.
Don’t overmix the batter
What happens when you overmix the batter? You’d get flat, tough and chewy cake, or you’ll get a fallen cake. I don’t know about you but I definitely don’t like the sound of either of them! For the former, extended mixing leads to the development of gluten that adds a tougher texture to your baked goods. Whilst that works with bread and such, it’s not quite ideal for cakes. For the latter, you could be incorporating too much air into your batter, which leads to a weak structure for the cake.
Once all the ingredients are incorporated, i.e. no more visible streaks of flour in your mixing bowl, you should stop mixing. For this particular recipe, the batter would be quick thick in texture. After creaming together butter & sugar and whisking in the eggs, keep it light and gentle by folding in the remaining ingredients.
Rest the cake and allow it to cool down before removing from tin
After baking, allow the cake to rest for at least 10 to 15 minutes before removing it from your loaf tin. The resting time allows the cake to set properly and prevent soggy edges. Trust me, your little patience will go a long way!
Storing leftovers
Got leftovers? Store them in an airtight container and leave them at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Chocolate Chip Loaf Cake
Equipment
- Oven
- Mixing Bowl
- Spatula
- Loaf Cake Tin
- Flour Sieve
Ingredients
- 175 g Unsalted Butter softened at room temperature
- 150 g White Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 225 g Self-raising Flour sieved
- ⅔ cup Milk
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- ¼ tsp Sea Salt
- 130 g Chocolate Chips / Chunks
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.150 g White Sugar, 175 g Unsalted Butter
- Whisk in eggs. Don't worry if the mixture appears to be slightly lumpy.2 Eggs
- Sift in self-raising flour and mix to combine.225 g Self-raising Flour
- Slowly mix in milk until combined.⅔ cup Milk
- Add vanilla extract and sea salt, and fold in chocolate chips.1 tsp Vanilla Extract, ¼ tsp Sea Salt, 130 g Chocolate Chips / Chunks
- Bake for 45-50 minutes until the top has turned golden. Let rest for 15 minutes before removing from the loaf tin. Slice and serve.
Notes
- Make sure your butter has been left to soften at room temperature for an hour before starting the recipe. This would have a huge impact on the texture of the cake. The butter should be soft to touch, e.g. creating a slight indent when poking against it but not sinking into it.
- If you don’t have self-raising flour, substitute with the equivalent amount of plain flour + 1 tsp baking powder.
- Do not overmix the batter.
- Allow the cake to rest and set before removing it from the loaf tin.
- For any leftovers, you can store the loaf cake slices in an airtight container for up to five days at room temperature.
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