An easy, high altitude recipe for a chocolate chip sour cream loaf cake that’s tender, buttery and moist, full of semi sweet chocolate chips. If you love chocolate chip cookies, you’ll adore this chocolate chip loaf cake that tastes just like your favorite cookies but in a delicious cake!
For more chocolate chip recipes, don’t miss this big chocolate chip cookie cake, chocolate chip cookie brownies, chocolate chip cookie dough truffles, and the best high altitude chocolate chip cookies.
And you might also love these other high altitude loaf cake recipes for chocolate loaf cake, vanilla loaf cake with vanilla bean icing, and cardamom almond loaf cake.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Easy to Make. The cake batter is quick and easy to make, with no mixer needed. Just mix it all up with a bowl and a spoon.
Simple Ingredients. You don’t need anything fancy or hard to find to make a chocolate chip loaf cake, just standard ingredients from your pantry and fridge.
Ready to Eat Warm. One of the things I love about a loaf cake is that you can eat it while it’s still warm from the oven. Just let it cool for an hour or two, and enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea for a late sweet breakfast or an afternoon treat.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Flour. Gives the cake structure and strength. I like to use cake flour for a softer texture, but you can also use all-purpose flour.
- Sugar. Granulated sugar adds sweetness and moisture.
- Baking Powder. Leavening agent so the cake rises as it bakes.
- Salt. Balances the sweetness and enhances the flavors.
- Eggs. Adds structure and strength.
- Sour Cream + Butter. Adds fat, richness, flavor and moisture.
- Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
- Chocolate Chips. I prefer semi sweet or dark chocolate chips, but you can use milk chocolate if that’s what you love.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 F. Line a standard sized loaf pan with a sheet of non-stick baking paper or parchment paper, so that the paper hangs over two sides. The paper serves as a “sling”, making it easy to lift the cake out of the pan. Lightly spray with non-stick baking spray.
- In a bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt, then whisk to make sure everything is well distributed.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, melted butter and vanilla until well combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and use a spatula to stir everything together until there are just a few streaks of flour remaining. Add the chocolate chips (reserving 1 tablespoon), and fold them in until distributed throughout the batter and there are no more streaks of flour.
TIP: The cake batter will be fairly thick, in order to keep the chocolate chips suspended in the cake, rather than sinking to the bottom. This makes the cake a bit more dense, but still very moist and soft.
- Pour the batter into the pan, and sprinkle the batter with the reserved tablespoon of chocolate chips. Bake the cake on the center oven rack for about 48-52 minutes, until a cake tester or sharp knife comes out clean, and the top of the cake is light golden brown.
- Cool the cake in the pan for 20 minutes, then gently lift the cake out (using the paper) and set on a cooling rack. Cool for 1-2 hours, then serve warm or at room temperature.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does this cake stay fresh?
Store leftover cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days to keep it soft and moist.
Do I have to use mini chocolate chips or regular chocolate chips?
You can use either mini or regular sized chocolate chips.
Will yogurt work instead of the sour cream?
You can use unsweetened full-fat Greek yogurt in place of the sour cream.
Can I use oil instead of melted butter?
Yes, a neutral tasting vegetable oil will work fine in place of the melted butter.
Is this a dense cake?
This is a more dense cake, in order to keep the chocolate chips suspended in the cake batter instead of sinking to the bottom.
You Might Also Like
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars 
White Chocolate Chip Chocolate Cookies Caramel Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies
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High Altitude Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Loaf 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
- Standard-Sized Loaf Pan
Ingredients
- 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, lightly beaten
- ½ cup full fat sour cream
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted (or vegetable oil)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup semi sweet mini chocolate chips, divided
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 F. Line a standard sized loaf pan with a sheet of non-stick baking paper or parchment paper, so that the paper hangs over two sides. The paper serves as a "sling", making it easy to lift the cake out of the pan. Lightly spray with non-stick baking spray.
- In a bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt, then whisk to make sure everything is well distributed.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, melted butter and vanilla until well combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and use a spatula to stir everything together until there are just a few streaks of flour remaining. Add the chocolate chips (reserving 1 tablespoon), and fold them in until distributed throughout the batter and there are no more streaks of flour.
- Pour the batter into the pan, and sprinkle the batter with the reserved tablespoon of chocolate chips. Bake the cake on the center oven rack for about 48-52 minutes, until a cake tester or sharp knife comes out clean, and the top of the cake is light golden brown.
- Cool the cake in the pan for 20 minutes, then gently lift the cake out (using the paper) and set on a cooling rack. Cool for 1-2 hours, then serve warm or at room temperature.
Absolutely fantastic recipe! Made it today for my daughter’s stuffed pet frog’s birthday party ! Everyone loved it, will make it again!
This looks incredible. Can it be made with a gluten free flour? If so would I use the same amount as the regular flour?
Lori, I haven’t tested it with gluten free flour, but in my experience with using GF flour in other recipes, it seems to require more liquid.
Would this work with flax egg instead of eggs? My son has an egg allergy but this looks delicious!
I’ve never baked with flax eggs, so I’m not sure. This is a very forgiving recipe, though, so it may work just fine.