Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

This Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake is soft and tender, and it’s topped with an amazing brown sugar + cinnamon streusel. Oh, and it’s packed with chocolate chips, too!

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Is it acceptable to eat coffee cake for dessert? Or perhaps as a 4pm snack with a cup of microwaved coffee? I vote yes. You see, I love coffee cakes. I’ve actually been known to get a coffee cake in lieu of a traditional birthday cake. But here’s the thing – I don’t love chocolate for breakfast.

So what do you do when a breakfast or brunch recipe contains chocolate? Well you eat it for dessert instead! This Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake is a delicious combination of soft cake filled with chocolate chips. And the whole thing is topped with a cinnamon + brown sugar streusel that will make you consider eating the topping by itself. Hey, you do you! I’m not judging if you just take a fork and go straight into the crumb top of this coffee cake.

Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

Years ago, I used to be obsessed with Costco’s all-butter coffee cake. We moved out of Costco territory, but we’d still manage to get those coffee cakes. We always kept one in the freezer for the holidays. That is until I decided to learn how to bake a proper coffee cake. If they could do it at Costco, then I could do it at home, right?

This Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake is my base recipe for coffee cake. It’s not meant to be a copycat version of Costco’s coffee cake. However, it’s a damned good cake! We no longer need to store coffee cakes in the freezer. I just make this one instead.

There are 3 keys to a good coffee cake:

1. It can’t be dry. Sometimes all-butter cakes can be on the dry side. This recipe solves that problem thanks to a generous amount of sour cream.
2. It needs a good streusel topping. The crumble topping of this Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake is the same streusel I use for all of my coffee cakes and most of my homemade muffins. It’s crumbly and cinnamon-y in the best way possible. Oh, and it includes a pinch of ground ginger in there for a fun layer of flavor.
3. It must be tender. The cake portion of a good coffee cake should melt in your mouth. The key is creaming the butter and sugar together long enough until it’s light and fluffy. This will take 3-4 minutes in the mixer, but you will see the difference in texture. Oh, and the butter must be at room temperature.

This Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake checks all three boxes for a good coffee cake. I might choose to eat this one later in the day due to the chocolate, but that’s just me. Plus, it’s hard to beat a slice of coffee cake with a cup of coffee as an afternoon snack!

I did include some chopped walnuts in this Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake. The walnuts are an optional addition. Chocolate and walnuts go well together, and I personally like the added crunch from the nuts. However, if walnuts aren’t your thing, feel free to omit them or use another nut like pecans or even sliced almonds.

Baker’s Note: Pay attention – this is important! This Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake is big. Make sure to use a deep cake pan for this recipe. I actually use a 3″ deep springform pan whenever I make coffee cake. (It’s the same pan I use for cheesecakes.) If you don’t have a deep pan, then I recommend splitting the batter into 2 pans and reducing the baking time. There’s nothing worse than opening the oven to find that your cake overflowed out of the pan!

How to Store Leftover Coffee Cake

Leftover slices of this Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Feel free to zap a slice in the microwave for about 10 seconds to warm it up – it’s pretty fantastic that way!

Coffee cakes also freeze well. Just wrap the leftovers (sliced or unsliced) tightly in plastic wrap and than place in a freezer bag. If you wrap individual slices, then you can pull out just one slice whenever you have a coffee cake craving. The cake can be frozen for up to 6 months. Just let it thaw at room temperature for a couple of hours.

If you’re looking for a fantastic coffee cake recipe, then put this one on the list. It’s great for the holiday season or if you have guests in town. Happy baking!

Did you bake this Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake recipe at home? Leave a comment, or snap a photo and tag me on Instagram (@Spicedblog) – I’d love to see your version!

Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

This Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake is soft and tender, and it's topped with an amazing brown sugar + cinnamon streusel. Oh, and it's packed with chocolate chips, too!

5 from 4 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 50 minutes minutes

Servings: 16 servings

Calories: 452kcal

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Ingredients

For the Streusel

• 3 Tbsp granulated sugar
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 1¼ tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• pinch salt
• 6 Tbsp unsalted butter melted
• 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ⅓ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• {optional} ⅓ cup chopped walnuts

For the Coffee Cake

• 2½ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 1¼ cups granulated sugar
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ¾ cup unsalted butter room temperature
• 3 large eggs room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1¼ cups sour cream
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• {optional} ½ cup chopped walnuts

Instructions

For the Streusel

• Using a medium bowl, add sugars, cinnamon, ginger and salt; stir until well combined.
• Add the melted butter; stir until well combined.
• Add the flour, chocolate chips and walnuts; stir until well combined. Set mixture aside.

For the Coffee Cake

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Grease and flour (or spray with nonstick cooking spray) a 9”x3” round cake pan. Set pan aside. (See note below.)
• Using a medium bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; stir until well combined. Set mixture aside.
• Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the sugar, brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy (~2-3 minutes on medium speed).
• Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition.
• Add vanilla, lemon juice and sour cream; mix on low speed until well combined.
• Add dry ingredients (from above) to the bowl; mix on low until just combined.
• Add chocolate chips and {optional} walnuts; mix on low speed until just combined.
• Transfer batter into prepared 9”x3” pan.
• Crumble streusel on top of batter.
• Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes.
• Tent the top of the cake with a piece of tin foil to prevent the streusel from burning. Continue baking for another 40-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into cake comes out mostly clean.
• Place cake on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before slicing.

Notes

It’s important to use a deep cake pan for this cake. (I actually used a 9”x3” springform pan.) If you don’t have a deep pan, then you can split the batter into two smaller pans and reduce the overall baking time.

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