Buttery and slightly dense high altitude chocolate chip sheet cake, frosted with rich and creamy brown butter frosting. This cake tastes like a soft chocolate chip cookie, in an easy, one layer cake recipe that everyone will love.
You might also love these high altitude recipes for soft and chewy chocolate chip blondies, chocolate chip cookie cupcakes, and brown butter chocolate chip cookies.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Smaller Size. Sheet cakes are usually baked in a 9×13 pan to feed a larger group, but I’ve scaled this recipe down to a modest 8 inch one layer cake. You can certainly double the recipe for a 9×13 inch cake, too.
Brown Butter Frosting. The rich flavor of brown butter in the frosting gives this chocolate chip sheet cake even more of the chocolate chip cookie flavor that makes it so addictive.
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
Cake
- Cake Flour. The lower percentage of cake flour, compared to all purpose flour, makes this chocolate chip sheet cake softer and fluffier.
- Granulated Sugar. Adds sweetness and moisture.
- Baking Powder. Leavening agent.
- Salt. Balances the sweetness and enhances the flavor of the browned butter frosting.
- Eggs. Gives the cake moisture and strength.
- Sour Cream + Butter. Adds fat and richness for a moist, tender, flavorful cake.
- Vanilla + Almond Extracts. Flavor.
- Chocolate Chips. I used mini, semi-sweet chocolate chips for lots of chocolate sprinkled throughout the cake.
Frosting
- Butter. U use unsalted butter and then add some salt, but you can also use salted butter and omit the extra salt in the recipe.
- Powdered Sugar. Sweetens and thickens the frosting.
- Meringue Powder. Adds stability and improves the texture.
- Salt. Balances the sweetness.
- Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
- Milk. Use as needed, for desired consistency.
- Mini Chocolate Chips. These look so cute sprinkled on top of the cake. You could also chop up a bar of chocolate and sprinkle that over the frosting.
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking pan with non-stick baking spray, if you’ll be serving the cake from the pan. Or line the pan with parchment paper, if you’re planning on removing the cake from the pan to serve it on a plate.
- In a bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, melted butter, vanilla extract and almond extract.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and fold everything together with a spatula until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. The batter will be fairly thick.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan, and bake the cake for about 30-33 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool completely before frosting.
Frosting
- In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Continue to cook the butter, swirling the pan occasionally. It will hiss and spatter a bit, as the water evaporates, and the milk solids settle onto the bottom of the pan. When it’s nearly ready, a layer of foam will form on top of the butter, and if you nudge the foam aside, you’ll see nutty, golden brown milk solids on the bottom of the pan (if they turn dark brown or black, you’ve gone too far and burned the butter). The browning process might take about 5-10 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the heat and use a spatula to scrape all the browned milk solids off the bottom of the pan. Pour the browned butter and all the browned bits into a bowl.
- Let cool until the butter returns to a spreadable solid consistency. To speed this up, put the bowl in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours and stir the butter every 20 minutes or so until it’s firmed up but still spreadable.You can also make the butter a day in advance, letting it sit at room temperature until needed.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cooled brown butter for 1 minute until smooth. Add the powdered sugar, salt, meringue powder, vanilla and milk. Beat on medium speed for 4-5 minutes, scraping the bowl down occasionally. Turn the speed down to low and mix for 1 minute.
- Spread the buttercream over the cooled cake, then sprinkle with the chocolate chips.
Recipe Variations
- 6-Inch Layer Cake. Divide the cake batter between two 6-inch cake pans. Decrease the bake time by a few minutes, testing for doneness. Double the buttercream.
- 8-Inch Layer Cake. Double the cake recipe and divide the batter between three 8-inch baking pans. Triple the buttercream.
- 9×13 Inch Sheet Cake. Double the recipe and bake it in a 9×13 inch baking pan, increasing the baking time a few minutes, testing for doneness. Double the buttercream.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common questions with cake making, so that you can be successful in your own baking! I also suggest reading these comprehensive posts on making Perfect American Buttercream, How to Stack, Fill, Crumb Coat and Frost Layer Cakes and How to Use Piping Bags.
Frequently Asked Questions
How should I store the leftover cake?
Keep the cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.
What if I don’t have mini chocolate chips?
You can use regular sized chocolate chips, too.
Is this cake supposed to be dense?
Yes, my intention for this cake was for it to have a more dense but moist texture, like a soft chocolate chip cookie. When adding chocolate chips, you also need a thicker cake batter so that the chocolate chips stay suspended in the batter rather than sinking to the bottom of the cake. For a fluffier cake, you can try the cake recipe from these chocolate chip cupcakes.
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Did you love today’s recipe? Please rate the recipe and let me know in the comments what you thought! Also, be sure to follow Curly Girl Kitchen on Instagram, and tag me when you try one of my recipes so I can see all your delicious creations!
High Altitude Chocolate Chip Sheet Cake
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 cups cake flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- ¾ cup full fat sour cream, room temperature
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp almond extract
- ½ cup mini chocolate chips
Frosting
- ¾ cup unsalted butter
- 1 ¼ cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp meringue powder, optional
- â…› tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp whole milk, if needed
- ¼ cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking pan with non-stick baking spray, if you'll be serving the cake from the pan. Or line the pan with parchment paper, if you're planning on removing the cake from the pan to serve it on a plate.
- In a bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, melted butter, vanilla extract and almond extract.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and fold everything together with a spatula until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. The batter will be fairly thick.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan, and bake the cake for about 30-33 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool completely before frosting.
Frosting
- In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Continue to cook the butter, swirling the pan occasionally. It will hiss and spatter a bit, as the water evaporates, and the milk solids settle onto the bottom of the pan. When it's nearly ready, a layer of foam will form on top of the butter, and if you nudge the foam aside, you'll see nutty, golden brown milk solids on the bottom of the pan (if they turn dark brown or black, you've gone too far and burned the butter). The browning process might take about 5-10 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the heat and use a spatula to scrape all the browned milk solids off the bottom of the pan. Pour the browned butter and all the browned bits into a bowl.
- Let cool until the butter returns to a spreadable solid consistency. To speed this up, put the bowl in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours and stir the butter every 20 minutes or so until it's firmed up but still spreadable.You can also make the butter a day in advance, letting it sit at room temperature until needed.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cooled brown butter for 1 minute until smooth. Add the powdered sugar, salt, meringue powder, vanilla and milk. Beat on medium speed for 4-5 minutes, scraping the bowl down occasionally. Turn the speed down to low and mix for 1 minute.
- Spread the buttercream over the cooled cake, then sprinkle with the chocolate chips.
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