This Chocolate Chip Cake with Buttercream is a stunning 3-layer cake packed with double the chocolate chips (that never sink to the bottom!). It’s a deliciously moist chocolate chip cake recipe your whole family will love.

One of my favorite family traditions is our annual Back-to-School dinner. I always make something special to celebrate the new school year. This year was no exception.
I remember being a kid and my mom buying us chocolate chip cake from a little lunch place in my hometown. I loved this cake. Which is why I needed to recreate this cake from my childhood for my children.
With one little trick to prevent the chocolate chips from sinking to the bottom, this has become the best cake recipe ever.
Ingredients
To make this easy cake recipe, you will need ingredients for the three chocolate chip cake layers, the buttercream and the simple syrup.

For the cake layers, gather together unsalted butter, sugar, flour, salt, baking powder, eggs, vanilla, milk and mini chocolate chips.
For the chocolate chip buttercream, you will need unsalted butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, salt, heavy cream and (more!) mini chocolate chips.
And to make the simple syrup, you simply need equal parts sugar and water.
Chocolate Chips. These are the star of the show, after all. I prefer mini chocolate chips rather than regular size morsels or chunks. The smaller chips allow for greater distribution of chocolate goodness throughout the cake batter and buttercream.

How To Prevent the Chocolate Chips From Sinking To The Bottom
One simple trick – toss 2 Tablespoons of the flour with the mini chocolate chips in a small bowl, then mix into the cake batter.
The dry coating on the chocolate chips ensures they will stick to the cake batter and remain suspended during baking.
How To Get Flat Cake Layers
My secret – Bake Even Strips. You get them wet, wrap them around your cake pans and put them in the oven.
I like to put my cake pans on a baking sheet, but it is just because it is easier to get them in and out of the oven. The strips do not burn and it works every time.
I have also done it with strips of old towels. Same thing – get them really wet and tie them around the pans. Bake as normal.
How To Make From Scratch // The Steps
This yellow cake mix with chocolate chips and buttercream is baked, iced and assembled in a few easy steps. Simply:

Bake The Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°. Line 3 (8-inch) cake pans with parchment and spray with baking spray.
- Cream butter and sugar. Until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Mix dry ingredients. In a bowl, whisk flour (take out 2 tablespoons and put in a small bowl to toss with mini chocolate chips), salt and baking powder.
- Add the eggs. One at a time, scraping the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla.
- Alternate with flour and milk. Add one-third of the flour mixture, alternating with the milk, and ending with the flour. Beat each addition until just incorporated, being careful to not overmix.
- Toss the chocolate chips in flour. Toss the mini chips in the reserved flour and fold into the batter by hand, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl one last time.
- Bake! Divide the batter evenly among the three pans. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool in pans for 15 minutes, then turn out and cool completely on a wire rack.
Whip The Buttercream
- Beat the butter. In the bowl of a stand mixer until pale yellow, about 5 minutes.
- Add sugar and flavorings. Add half of the sugar and beat until well incorporated, then add the remaining sugar, vanilla and salt.
- Finish with heavy cream and chocolate chips. Add the heavy cream and beat on medium speed until very light and fluffy, about another 3-4 minutes. Fold in chocolate chips.
Prepare the Simple Syrup
- Bring sugar and water to a boil. In a small saucepan over high heat. Turn off heat and let cool completely.

Assemble the Chocolate Chip Layer Cake
- Brush each layer generously with simple syrup.
- Assemble the 3 layers. Dab about a tablespoon of buttercream on the platter or cake board that you are going to be decorating your cake on. Add the first layer of cake and center on the board. Spread an even layer of buttercream over the layer and add the second cake layer. Repeat with the third layer.
- Decorate! Ice the sides and top of the cake with remaining buttercream. Add more chips and flowers for decorations, if desired.
What Makes This Chocolate Chip Cake So Good?
- It’s the perfect balance of vanilla cake mix and chocolate chips.
- Tossing the chocolate chips with the flour ensures flecks of chocolate throughout the batter.
- Brushing the cake layers with simple syrup keeps the cake moist. A fun, little bakery trick!

How To Serve
This wonderfully moist layer cake can be served for any special occasion!
I love to bake it for my kids’ birthdays, but it makes a beautiful presentation for holidays and dinner parties, too.
More Chocolate Chip Cake Recipes //
Originally published in May 2010, updated May 2020 with updated images and updated recipe card.

Chocolate Chip Layer Cake
This Chocolate Chip Cake with Buttercream is a stunning 3-layer cake packed with double the chocolate chips that (with one trick) never sink to the bottom!
Ingredients
Chocolate Chip Cake:
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
Simple Syrup
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup water
Chocolate Chip Buttercream:
- 1 1/2 cups butter, room temperature
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Line 3 (8-inch) cake pans with parchment and spray with baking spray. Set aside.
- Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk flour (take out 2 tablespoons and put in a small bowl to toss with mini chocolate chips), salt, and baking powder.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla.
- Add one-third of the flour, alternating with the milk, and ending with the flour. Beat each addition until just incorporated, being careful to not overmix.
- Toss the mini chips in the reserved flour and fold into the batter by hand, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl one last time.
- Divide the batter evenly among the three pans. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool in pans for 15 minutes, then turn out and cool completely on a wire rack.
- To make the simple syrup, bring sugar and water to a boil in a small saucepan over high heat. Turn off heat and let cool completely.
- To make the buttercream, beat the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer until pale yellow, about 5 minutes. Add half of the sugar and beat until well incorporated, then add the remaining sugar, vanilla, and salt. Add the heavy cream and beat on medium speed until very light and fluffy, about another 3 to 4 minutes. Fold in chocolate chips.
- To assemble the cake, brush each layer generously with simple syrup.
- Dab about a tablespoon of buttercream on the platter or cake board that you are going to be decorating your cake on. Add the first layer of cake and center on the board. Spread an even layer of buttercream over the layer and add the second cake layer. Repeat with the third layer. Ice the sides and top of the cake with remaining buttercream. Add more chips and flowers for decorations if desired.
Notes
Best served at room temperature.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 14 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 860Total Fat: 44gSaturated Fat: 27gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 146mgSodium: 496mgCarbohydrates: 117gFiber: 2gSugar: 96gProtein: 6g
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This Post Has 160 Comments
Do you think this would work with white chocolate chips? My little guy is turning 8 this week and has requested white chocolate chip cake!
It should. Make sure to flour them.
Made this for dessert tonight and it was just awful! Followed the recipe exactly and the cake was so hard and dry that we could barely cut it. Only good thing is it made for a lot of good laughs. Think about feeding it to the birds.
This is my new favorite cake recipe! The crustiness that firms on top is sooo good
I used the same amount of batter for 2, 6 inch (3 inch high) cake pans and ended up needing to bake for over an hour!
Can’t wait to bake this again, possibly in cupcakes!
Ps. The tip for tossing chocolate chips in flour works so well!
I’m do glad that you like it so much.
Wanted to make 6inch cake for my sons birthday, can I make this with 6 inch pans if so what will be the baking time . It looks delicious
Keep posting
TIA
Absolutely. I’d start checking around 22 minutes?
I made this for my husbands birthday. Loved it. Printable recipe says “butter”, but your list in body of post says “unsalted”. So had to wait more for my unsalted to soften. I used 8 inch pans, cake strips on only 2. The ones with the strips were a bit underbaked at 22 minutes so put in for 8 more minutes.
I did find the cake didn’t rise much. Layers only an inch tall at the most.
I used cool whip flavored with chocolate pudding mix for in between the layers and sort of followed your frosting recipe. Then covered the top with mini chips.
Everyone LOVED it. And I will be baking it again.
These updated pictures are so sunny and beautiful. Thank you for brightening my day with some gorgeous pictures of a delicious cake.
Thank you so much Sarah!
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I love this case. Yours is beautiful. I have made it 3 times and I cannot get it right. It is really thin and sugary and it doesn’t bake right for me. No matter what pans I put it in, the center sinks and is underbaked. It still tastes delicious but it is not pretty. I have no idea what I am doing wrong. I even tried reducing the sugar a bit and increasing the flour (which I typically have to do by 10% anyway, due to location). Any tips on what could be going wrong?
Good Morning.
Can I make this cake on Wednesday evening, then frost it on Thursday to be eaten on Friday? I wanted to put a crumb layer on it and let it sit before the final layer of frosting. I don’t want to put the crumb layer on while the cake is still warm. Thoughts?
You can never put frosting on a cake while warm. But yes, you can do that. I rarely ever bake and frost a cake on the same day.
I’m about to try this recipe! Just trying to clarify a step. When do I mix in eggs? After wet/dry combination? Or mix all 3 wet/dry/eggs in stimutanionsly?