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Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake – A light and fluffy coffee cake with a layer of chocolate chip streusel in the middle and on top! Omit the chocolate chips and you have the classic coffee cake you know and love!
When I was growing up having coffee cake on a weekend morning was quite the treat! It has become a tradition with my son and his grandparents, whenever they are visiting it is always a must. And because I can never resist, I decided to add some mini chocolate chips to the classic and it was a huge hit.
This is the recipe that my mom always made when I was growing up, I just added chocolate chips to make it more fun!
Coffee Cake is a classic, and it often confusing to people who are not from the United States, because there is no coffee called for in the recipe. It gets it name because it was a snack or treat that you served WITH coffee.
To this day you can have Apple Coffee Cake, Pumpkin Coffee Cake, Peaches and Cream Coffee Cake or just about any other flavor that you can dream up.
What You’ll Need
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- All-Purpose Flour
- Granulated Sugar
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- Oil – any neutral flavored oil will work well (vegetable, canola, avocado)
- Milk – any type, dairy or non-dairy will work great
- Egg
- Mini Chocolate Chips
- Brown Sugar
- Cinnamon
- Butter – I always use unsalted when baking
The chocolate chips are definitely optional in this recipe, just following everything exactly the same but omit them for the traditional coffee cake you know and love.
How To Make Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake
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- Mix Dry Ingredients. Start by mixing your dry ingredients in a bowl with the chocolate chips and set aside. Mixing the chocolate chips in with the flour will help them from just sinking to the bottom as it bakes.
- Mix Wet Ingredients. Mix together oil, milk and egg. Stir until the egg is completely blended with the milk.
- Combine. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until it is just combined. Be careful not to over mix.
- Make Topping. For the topping, use your fingers to combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter until the texture of coarse sand. Mix in chocolate chips.
- Assemble. Spread half cake batter in a prepared 8-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with half topping over the cake, then top with remaining cake batter and then the remaining topping.
- Bake. Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and a tester comes out mostly clean
Storage
If you have leftovers, cover with foil or plastic wrap and store at room temperature. It will last for 1-2 days. I like to reheat in the microwave for about 20 seconds before serving any leftovers.
Recipe Tips
- Don’t want chocolate for breakfast? Don’t worry! Just leave out the chocolate chips and you have classic coffee cake. This is the base recipe that I grew up with, I only added chocolate chip, no other changes were made.
- For the topping, cut the butter into small pieces and make sure it is nice and cold. That will make for the best streusel and it will take longer for the butter to melt and you will get that crispy streusel you are looking for.
- This is best served warm. Let it cool for 5-10 minutes after it comes out of the oven and then slice and serve.
- It is best to add the chocolate chips to the flour to coat them, this helps make sure they don’t just sink to the bottom.
- Don’t over mix your cake batter. Just like with muffins the more you mix the tougher your cake will be.
More Delicious Breakfast Recipes
- Blueberry Breakfast Cake
- Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Lemon Pancakes
- Chocolate Pancakes
- Crockpot Breakfast Casserole
- Sous Vide Egg Bites
Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
- 2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1 whole large egg
Topping/Filling
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar
- 3 Tablespoon butter, cut into small pieces
- 3 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375º F. Spray a 8 inch baking pan with non-stick spray or line with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a bowl mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and chocolate chips.1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 3/4 cups granulated sugar, 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips, 2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt
- In a 2 cup liquid measuring cup, mix together oil, milk and egg. Add to flour mixture, mixing until just combined.3/4 cup milk, 1/4 cup canola oil, 1 whole large egg
- For the topping, use your fingers to combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter until the texture of coarse sand. Mix in chocolate chips.3/4 cup light brown sugar, 3 Tablespoon butter, 3 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
- Spread half cake batter in pan. Sprinkle with half topping/filling. Top with remaining cake batter and then remaining topping/filling.
- Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and a tester comes out mostly clean
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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How much coffee to use and when do you add it?
No coffee is called for in the recipe.
OK. Then why is it called chocolate chip coffee cake?
Coffee cake is a term for a cake that is meant to be served with coffee (or tea) and served with breakfast or brunch to guests. It dates back to Germany in the 16th century.
Hi Erin! What size pan did you use for this recipe?
8 inch square baking pan
Guys, Thanks For sharing this Great Recipe. My Family Loved it. I am definitely sharing this recipe and this website with my friend. Hope they also love it. Thank you again for sharing such a great recipe.
Made this today and it smells so delicious. My bake time is going on 38mins in an 8in square baking pan. 375…it is still wiggly uncooked in middle. Not sure what happened..
This recipe is easy and so fabulous just as written It’s also wonderful with a few tweaks for a nice variation: substitute 1/4 cup pecan halves, chopped to desired fineness, for the chocolate chips in the streusel mix.
Add the zest of 3/4 small lemon to the batter. Spoon any berry flavor jam onto the surface of the first half of batter, spreading gently with a knife or offset spatula to create a thin layer, then sprinkle half of the streusel as directed.
Finish assembling the cake according to the original recipe, then bake as directed above.
Both ways, this cake is a definite keeper. Thank you so much for this great recipe!
Super recipe!!!!Yum!!! Do you think you could double the recipe and make a bunt cake or a 9X13 sheet? I would really like to make as bunt cake preferably. Thank you for soooooo many delicious recipes!
I think you could make it work in a bundt pan, I just haven’t tried it. I do agree you would need more than 1 recipe for that type of a pan. I would make a double batch, and then see how full it gets. If you have extra batter bake some in a bread loaf pan or muffin tins to not waste it.