Easy Chocolate Chip Snack Cake
This easy chocolate chip snack cake takes just minutes to throw together. It is so fluffy and moist. Perfect for a quick dessert or fun snack!
You’d never know this tasty little cake is egg- and butter-free! I was first introduced to this style of “wacky” cake years ago with this yummy chocolate version. I’m happy to report that this chocolate chip variation is just as wonderful.
Chocolate Chip Snack Cake Batter
This recipe is unique in that the recipe does not include eggs. But it does include vinegar. (Don’t worry, you can’t taste it!)
In the absence of eggs, the vinegar reacts with the baking soda to help the cake rise.
This “wacky” cake method was born during the Depression-era when a lot of ingredients, like eggs and butter, were rationed or unavailable. Ingenuous bakers figured out a way to make delicious cake with basic, every day ingredients.
The resulting cake is incredibly fluffy and delicious!
Other than the vinegar, the ingredients are super straightforward:
- flour
- brown sugar
- baking soda + salt
- water
- oil
- chocolate chips
Details on Baking Pan
This cake bakes in an 8×8-inch baking pan. An aluminum or glass baking pan can be used.
If using a glass pan, reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F and keep an eye on the time, adding a few minutes, if needed.
If you want to make the cake in a 9X13-inch pan, I’d suggest doubling the recipe (or 1 1/2-ing the recipe for a slightly thinner 9X13-inch cake).
The chocolate chips naturally sink a bit in this cake. I tested the recipe by tossing the chocolate chips with the dry ingredients first or adding them in with the wet ingredients. Either way, those sneaky chips tend to gravitate to the bottom of the cake.
No worries here! Our love for this snack cake goes beyond where the chocolate chips land. It is such a yummy cake!
Slices of this chocolate chip snack cake can be nicely plated and eaten with a fork – or the cooled cake squares can be eaten right out of hand. It is especially good served with a cold glass of milk.
Homey and simple, this tasty cake is a keeper!
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Easy Chocolate Chip Snack Cake
Ingredients
- 1 ⅔ cups (237 g) all-purpose flour (see note for whole wheat)
- ¾ cup (159 g) lightly packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (236 g) room temperature water
- ⅓ cup (65 g) neutral-flavored oil, like canola, vegetable or grapeseed
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup (85 g) semisweet chocolate chips (or mini chocolate chips)
- Powdered sugar, for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease an 8X8-inch baking pan and set aside. For glass pans, reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.
- Whisk flour, brown sugar, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl.
- Make a well in the center and add the water, oil, vinegar, vanilla extract and chocolate chips. Stir until just combined and no dry streaks remain.
- Pour the batter in the prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the top springs back lightly to the touch and a toothpick comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Add additional time, as needed (might need a few more minutes if baking in a glass pan at 325 degrees F).
- Optional: dust the top of the cake or individual slices with powdered sugar. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: sent to me by a longtime reader, Teresa (she got it from this site – I adapted it to model it more after this favorite wacky cake recipe, decreasing the sugar, increasing the vinegar just slightly, adapting to whole wheat, adding vanilla, etc)
Made this today when I learned someone was stopping by without much notice. So easy and quick, and it was the perfect snack after lunch! Will definitely be making this again!
I was craving something with chocolate chips, but didn’t feel like making my favorite chocolate chip cake which is a bit time consuming. So I took a risk on this and IT WORKED! I do prefer my usual cake recipe overall, but this one is still good. I’m surprised to see so many comments about sinking chocolate chips because that did not happen to mine at all! My advice is to make sure you pack and level those ingredients. Remember, baking needs to be exact.
Delicious!
I tossed the chocolate chips separately with a bit of flour only before adding to the other ingredients and it did help them from all sinking to the bottom.
I remember making snackin’ cake the first time I baked anything, around 8 or 9 years old, this recipe is fantastic and takes me back in time. This will my go to quick dessert recipe from now on! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Quick, easy and tasty. You won’t miss the eggs and dairy at all.
Yes, the chips sunk to the bottom.
Hi. How long would you bake if you double the recipe in a 9×13? Thanks
The baking time should be right around the same.
Delightful! I added a sprinkle of mini chocolate chips to the top to test their sinking capabilities. They stayed on top. I love that any recipe I’ve tried from Mel is 5 stars. Thanks!
Thank you so much, Amelia!
I made the chocolate chip snack cake, simply delicious!!
This recipe is dangerous! Delicious cake with almost no effort! I made it the first time as written, second time used mini chocolate chips (which did not sink) and increased the vanilla to 1.5 tsp. Maybe my vanilla is not the best quality, but that little bit extra really bumped up the flavor. Love it. I’ll be making this way too often!
You were not kidding when you said easy. This is a simple and tasty treat. Great recipe, thanks.
I was so happy to find this recipe. I love something that is easy to make and delicious to eat. This was a winning recipe for sure. I also like to gift jar mixes for holidays so I turned this recipe into a jar mix and gave it to my BFF to test for me. She made it and loved it. I was so happy it worked and will now be gifting this to friends and family this holiday season.
That’s amazing that you converted this to a jar recipe – how creative and fun!!
Love how easy and quick this was to make. My granddaughters loved it.
So easy to make and so yummy to eat! I will happily make it again.
So yummy!!! I added some cranberries along with the chocolate chips. Will definitely make this easy dessert again and again.
This isn’t a recipe that I would usually be drawn to, but since it was from Mel, I tried it.
In fact, since it was Mel, made it the first time to take to a potluck! (without experimenting at home) And it turned out better than I could have imagined! This is my new favorite cake! So delicious, moist, and flavorful! Very easy to throw together.
Oh, gosh, Jana, I was nervous there for a second – so glad this worked out well for your potluck! 🙂
Flippin’ awesome! I love chocolate chip cookies, and I love cake. With this recipe, I can have both. 🙂 And it doesn’t have a lot of saturated fat, so it fits within my dietary restrictions. (Yay!) Thank you for this recipe! I will absolutely be making it again and freezing individual slices so I can eat it anytime. The only modification I made was to use 1 cup all purpose flour and 2/3 cup spelt flour. It came out amazing.
Thanks for the review, Allison! So, so happy you enjoyed this one and that’s great that it worked out subbing in some spelt for the all-purpose flour.
Delicious! Super easy to make. I would like to try it with butterscotch chips next! Thanks for the recipe, Mel!
Fantastic idea, Lise!
Honestly delicious. So simple. So easy. Perfect for lunch box snacks. Made it last night and allready have to make another tonight.
Swapped with apple cider vinegar due to being iut of white vinegar with success.
Thanks, Anne! So happy this worked out well for you!
Mel, I am so excited you made this awesome cake – and so quickly after I sent it your way. I’m glad you tried it and loved it as much as I did. I can’t wait to try your version of it because although I loved the original, I found it a tad too sweet. When I made the original version, I used mini chocolate chips, which I did like, so I think I will use the mini ones again. Thank you for another version!
Thanks for sending the recipe to me, Teresa! Such a great, easy one – I’m going to make it with mini chocolate chips this week, too!
Would I be able to interchange coffee for water?
I haven’t tried that but you could experiment!
As an egg free/dairy free reader who is having a birthday this week, this caught my eye! Do you think the ingredients could be doubled for a Bundt pan?
I will be trying whether or not it’s Bundt-able but thought I’d ask. 🙂
Hi Alicia – yes, I think you could try it out in a bundt pan with a double recipe. Good luck if you experiment!
Doubled the recipe, and it cooked up beautifully in my Bundt pan! I tossed half the chocolate chips in flour (used half minis and half regular sized chips) and mine didn’t sink — I can see them all throughout — so that was a fun surprise. Haven’t tasted it yet (saving for tonight to share with my family) but am excited. I’m going to drizzle with chocolate frosting (it’s my birthday) but am excited to cut into it. Thanks, Mel! 🙂
Great idea! How did you adjust the bake time for a bundt?
I baked it for 45 minutes and it was perfect (in AZ; no elevation to speak of). Great cake, and I was able to freeze individual slices for future snacks.
Alicia! Thanks so much for taking the time to check back in and detail the bundt-pan experiment! Yay for no sinking chips! And it’s so awesome it baked up well in the bundt pan. You’re amazing!