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An incredibly delicious chocolate chip bundt cake. This is a vanilla cake made in a bundt pan and speckled with mini chocolate chips so you get a little bit in every bite! Perfect for Easter brunch or a quick baking project!
This is dangerous.
Homemade chocolate chip bundt cake has been on heavy rotation in my house since quarantine started, which for us, was five weeks ago. The first time I made this cake, I shared it over on Instagram asking if you guys wanted to see it with cream cheese frosting or on its own. I made boxes and sent them off to family and friends because I didn’t trust myself with a whole bundt cake.
I’m happy to report that this cake can be served frosting-less with a large coffee for breakfast or with the cream cheese icing for Easter brunch or as a quick baking project with kids. The magic of this chocolate chip bundt cake is that you only need one bowl to make the cake portion of this recipe. That makes clean up a breeze.
See what I mean; it’s dangerous.
Since quarantine began, I’ve been trying to come up with more easy baking recipes like my one bowl lemon olive oil pound cake. I know that not everyone is a baker, so having a recipe that doesn’t call for a stand mixer is great to have in your repertoire. It also makes baking a lot easier when you’ve got little helpers around that want to help.
I’ve tested this cake now three times, and every time I’ve made it, I adjusted a little something here and there. I’ve shared slices of this chocolate chip cake with both of our families and close friends (with social distancing I’m doing a ding dong ditch, and they don’t seem to mind.) And unanimously, this cake has been a hit. Tender vanilla cake speckled with mini chocolate chips, so you get a little bit in each bite.
HAVE MERCY!
This is truly one of the best cakes I’ve made, ever, and I’ve made a lot of cakes! First off, it’s extremely easy and can all be made in one bowl – yay easy clean up! I made it twice in three days haha! I used a dusting of powdered sugar and it was great! My family loved it and I can’t wait to make it again. Thank you!!!!
Ingredients for chocolate chip bundt cake
- All-purpose flour: this works best for this recipe, I don’t suggest cake flour or bread flour here.
- Baking soda: the reaction between the sour cream and baking soda helps the bundt cake rise.
- Baking powder: is used to lighten the texture of the bundt cake. The carbon dioxide released into the cake helps make it light and airy.
- kosher salt: adds flavor to the recipe
- Granulated sugar: is a source for sweetness
- Oil: you can use canola, vegetable, coconut, or corn oil for this recipe. If you’d like to add a buttery taste, swap half the oil for butter, it works like magic!
- Eggs: eggs play a very important role in this recipe. They add structure and stability in the batter as well as adding moisture to the cake.
- Sour cream: You can swap the sour cream for greek yogurt if you’d like to make this lighter or don’t happen to have any sour cream on hand.
- Milk: any kind that you have will work, be it cows milk, soy, or nut milk.
- Vanilla extract: As always, I suggest using the best quality of vanilla extract that you can. It adds tons of flavor to this cake. And my personal favorite is this one
- Mini chocolate chips: I like to use mini chocolate chips rather than the regular chocolate chips as the little ones disperse better in the cake batter. I used these semi-sweet chocolate chips, but you could even use bittersweet chocolate if you prefer to make this cake less sweet.
Equipment Recommendation
You need a 10-inch bundt cake pan for this recipe. Here is one very similar to mine.
How to make the best one bowl chocolate chip bundt cake
- Prep your bundt pan. The proper way to prep the bunt pan is to use cooking spray or a tablespoon of softened butter. Spray the pan or rub the butter evenly. Then, dust with 1-2 tablespoons of flour so the bundt cake releases easily from the pan once baked. Dust any remaining flour into the sink; you want just enough to coat the sides of the pan!
- Make the batter. This is quite possibly the easiest batter to make. Add all the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder + soda, salt, and granulated sugar) to a large mixing bowl. Then, add in the eggs, oil, sour cream, milk, and vanilla and stir until about halfway combined. Then, add the chocolate chips and finish mixing. Be careful not to over-mix the cake batter, or else it will dry out.
- Bake it to perfection. Then, bake the bundt cake until you can insert a toothpick into the cake and it comes out mostly clean (a few crumbs are fine.) If at any point the cake starts browns too much on top, loosely place a piece of foil on the surface of the cake. Then, allow the cake to cool completely to room temperature. Dust with powdered sugar or frost with the icing if you’d like!
FAQs about this recipe
softened cream cheese, softened butter, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar
This cream cheese icing is straightforward. Allow the cream cheese and the butter to come to room temperature so that it’s easy to make. Then, combine the two in a bowl with a whisk. Stir in the vanilla and the powdered sugar and continue to whisk until smooth! Then, pour the prepared icing over the bunt cake or spread using a cake spatula.
Absolutely not! The first couple of times I made this bundt cake, I focused solely on the cake portion of this recipe. Personally, I don’t think this bundt cake has to have icing, especially if you’re planning on serving this as a chocolate chip snack cake or as a quick breakfast cake. Now, if this is a dessert for a special occasion, then frosting is totally justified. I love it both ways, and wouldn’t frost it unless I’m serving this as an after-dinner kind of dessert.
Overall, this chocolate chip bundt cake is:
- made in one bowl
- sweet but not overly sweet
- has a tender vanilla cake and is speckled with mini chocolate chips
- makes your whole house smell like a bakery
- great to make for when you’re having company (when you can have company again)
- perfect to pair with a warm mug of morning Joe
I say desserts like this one bowl chocolate chip bundt cake should be on heavy rotation during social distancing, it certainly gives you something to do, and when you’re doing a baking project, there’s a dessert to eat afterward 😉
Other Cake Recipes to Try:
- One Bowl Lemon Olive Oil Pound Cake
- Italian Orange Cake
- Raspberry Lemon Bundt Cake
- French Apple Cake
One Bowl Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour plus a bit more for dusting
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup flavorless oil or swap ½ for melted butter
- 4 large eggs
- ¾ cup sour cream or yogurt or light sour cream
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
- icing recipe in notes optional
Instructions
- PREP: Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease a 10-inch bundt pan with cooking spray, or rub with butter, and dust with flour.
- BATTER: In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and granulated sugar. Then, add the oil, sour cream, milk, eggs, and vanilla and continue to whisk. When there are still some flour pockets left, fold in the mini chocolate chips using a rubber spatula, until *just* combined. Then, pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan. You could also just add all those ingredients together in a stand mixer and mix until smooth (should take just over a minute or so.)
- BAKE: the bundt for 47-58 minutes, if at any point the cake starts browning too much on top, loosely place a piece of foil on the surface of the cake. Insert a toothpick in the cake to make sure it comes out mostly clean with the exception of a few crumbs. Let the bundt cake cool in pan on a wire baking rack for 15 minutes before removing from pan. Dust with powdered sugar or you can frost it once it’s completely cooled.
Notes
- Making the icing: is entirely optional. You’ll need 4 ounces of softened cream cheese, 3 tablespoons of softened butter, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and 1 cup powdered sugar. Using a whisk, combine the cream cheese and butter in a bowl until smooth. Add the vanilla and powdered sugar and continue to whisk until you work out all the lumps from the powdered sugar. If the icing is too thick, add a teaspoon of milk at a time until thin enough to drizzle. I didn’t need any milk at all. Drizzle over the cake and spread with an offset spatula.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like This? Leave a comment & rating below!
This is truly one of the best cakes I’ve made, ever, and I’ve made a lot of cakes! First off, it’s extremely easy and can all be made in one bowl – yay easy clean up! I made it twice in three days haha! I used a dusting of powdered sugar and it was great! My family loved it and I can’t wait to make it again. Thank you!!!!
Made today for a little get together I’m having tomorrow evening. Super easy and came out beautifully. Can hardly wait to taste it!
I’m trying this recipe for mother’s day.
Turned out delicious! I stayed pretty true to the recipe but this was a last minute baking impulse with no time to shop, so I used the recipe to burn up a bunch of remnants of ingredients taking advantage of all the substitution options suggested. I wound up with 1/4 cup sour cream and half a cup of vanilla yogurt, the oils were around 1/3 cup each of coconut oil, butter and grapeseed oil, and I did 1/2 a cup butterscotch chips and 1/2 a cup of dark chocolate chips, and added 2 tsp of cinnamon because I only had about 1 tsp of vanilla left.
The only true variation (aside from subbing cinnamon) I did was a glaze made with cocoa powder, cinnamon and powdered sugar instead of the cream cheese frosting because my family aren’t big fans of cream cheese.
Overall the final product was moist, dense and delicious, my family is happy and I got to finish off a bunch of things so my pantry & fridge look tidier. A win accross the board!
This is the third choc chip bundt cake recipe I have made. The first 2 were failures this one is by far the very very best I have tasted. I used yogurt, and 1/2 cup of unsalted butter and 1/2 cup of oil…just delicious. Thank you
I made this in the air fryer and it baked in about 15 mins!!! Regardless it was a sensational bake, thank you for the recipe!!!
I made this bundt cake to take to a dollhouse miniature group mainly because it has mini chocolate chips in it. The group loved it as did my hubby & myself! I followed the recipe exactly. Thanks for the delicious taste treat, I’ll be making this again!
You said you gave these mini bundt cakes away… so let me pick your brain… how did you transport them? With the cream cheese frosting do you have to refrigerate?
CAN I MAKE WITH REGULAR MILK CHOCOLATE CHIPS AS THIS ALL I HAVE ON HAND AND I’M IN A WHEELCHAIR AND CAN NOT GET OUT?
LOVE YOUR BLOG – READ EVERY RECIPE YOUR PUBLISH!
Hi Sharon! I’m worried that larger chocolate chips may end up sinking to the bottom. I would toss the chips in some of the flour mixture from the recipe before adding them to help with the sinking. Hope that helps!
I’m so going to try this recipe! But I’m curious about the butter substitute for oil. Omit the oil completely and substitute with 1/2 cup melted butter? Thanks in advance!
Hi Stuart! So glad to hear you’ll be giving this a try! If you’d like to use butter, I suggest doing a ½ cup oil and ½ cup melted butter in place of the full cup of oil. Hope you enjoy it! 🙂
I made this today with vanilla yogurt and it is superb! I cut the sugar to one cup as my yogurt was sweet. I also used vanilla bean paste instead of extract. So good!! This is going in the kitchen recipe box for regular rotation. Thank you for a great one bowl recipe!
Hi, today is my best friends 61st birthday and I’m making this cake. I did a test run earlier in the week because I am notoriously an awful pound cake maker! This is not pound cake but is equally delightful. It was delicious, easy and gone in less than 24 hrs! And that was without frosting. Today will try frosting. I’m going to try other recipes on your site…so glad I found you!
Great easy recipe. I made it with fat free sour cream and it was delicious.
No sour cream or yogurt will it be ok with out
I made this but didn’t use icing. I like it plain with tea or coffee. It’s delicious.
Loved this recipe!!! Super delicious…. Definitely a keeper! Wondering if it would work in a normal cake pan and if you can mix through cocoa powder to make it chocolate cake… can you do it without chocolate chips? sorry for all the questions x
Hi Michelle! So glad to hear you enjoyed it! I had a friend make this in an extra-deep 10-inch cake pan and she mentioned it came out fine! She said she did prefer the bundt version though as hers was drier around the outside and *just* baked in the center (I think the center ring helps cook the cake evenly and quicker.) I haven’t tried adding cocoa powder to the batter, it would require more recipe testing as cocoa powder can be a bit tricky sometimes! But yes, chocolate chips can be omitted if you prefer! Hope that helps 🙂
Thank you I will give it a try as I’m trying to make a checkerboard cake so I’ll be doing less batter in each pan hope it turns out delicious
Sounds yummy!
The adding of the milk isn’t in the instructions.
Hi I love your posts ! Would this cake work with almond flour?
Hi there! I can’t speak for if this recipe would work for almond flour, unfortunately. It has only been tested with all-purpose! If you decide to give it a try, would love to know how it went for you!
All the chocolate chips sunk to bottom. What did I do incorrectly?
Should I have floured them?
Cake was still delicious.
Hi Donna! I usually add the chocolate chips to the bowl when I’m just passed the halfway point of stirring the batter (so there are still some flour pockets left to mix.) That way, some of the flour clings to the chocolate chips and keeps them from sinking. That way, you aren’t adding additional flour to the mixture. I’ll also go ahead and edit the recipe to help make that more clear! Hope that helps!
Absolutely love this recepie! I also appreciated how easy it is to put together and pop in the oven! I used vanilla yogurt which I hate in place of the sour cream and Greek yogurt.
This is definitely a keeper!
Thanks,
Diana
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the bundt cake, Diana! Thank you for taking the time to come back and comment 🙂