This rich and buttery Chocolate Chip Pound Cake is baked in a 9×13-inch pan, making it the perfect party cake! Dense enough for carving but soft enough to enjoy as a classic sheet cake, it’s topped with a thick layer of homemade hot fudge frosting for the ultimate chocolate lover’s treat.

Whether you need a birthday cake to carve into shapes, a simple crowd-pleasing sheet cake for a potluck, or a base for a killer trifle, this chocolate chip pound cake delivers. It checks all the boxes: rich flavor, soft crumb, and a dense enough texture that it holds up to carving, layering, and frosting.

But unlike a traditional pound cake, this version includes a little lift thanks to baking soda and baking powder, giving us the best of both worlds. It has the texture of a pound cake — moist, tight crumb, slightly dense — but with the convenience of a chocolate chip sheet cake.

This version is baked in a 9×13-inch pan, which makes it perfect for birthdays, school parties, or family get-togethers. It slices easily, travels well, and honestly? That hot fudge frosting is the real showstopper. It’s silky, glossy, and sets just enough to hold up when sliced but stays soft and rich underneath.

If you’re a fan of baking cakes into shaped characters or numbers for parties, this is a fantastic base recipe. It cuts cleanly without crumbling and doesn’t puff up too much, making it ideal for carving and stacking before you cover it with frosting or fondant. And for something a little easier, my favorite way to use this pound cake is in my Chocolate Chip Strawberry Trifle, one of my favorite summer desserts!

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Butter: Use unsalted butter at cool room temperature (~65°F).
• Granulated Sugar
• Vanilla Bean Paste: Vanilla bean paste provides great flavor and pretty little flecks of vanilla, but if you don’t have any, vanilla extract can be substituted.
• Eggs: Bring the eggs to room temperature prior to making the cake batter.
• All-Purpose Flour: For a gluten-free pound cake, an all-purpose gluten-free baking mix containing xanthan gum can be substituted, although the texture will be slightly different.
• Salt
• Baking Soda
• Baking Powder
• Sour Cream: Sour cream provides extra fat which results in a tender cake. Full-fat Greek yogurt has a lower fat content but can be used as a swap.
• Mini Chocolate Chips: Use regular chips if needed, or chopped chocolate bars for variation.
• Cocoa Powder: Either natural unsweetened or Dutch processed cocoa powder can be used for the frosting. I prefer natural unsweetened cocoa powder for the bolder chocolate flavor.
• Heavy Cream
• Confectioners Sugar

How to Make Chocolate Chip Sheet Cake

1. Cream Butter and Sugar: Beat until light and fluffy—this helps with the cake’s structure and texture. Add the vanilla bean paste, followed by the eggs one at a time to fully incorporate and avoid curdling.

2. Alternate Additions: Add half the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. Stir in the sour cream, followed by the rest of the dry ingredients. Gently fold in the mini chocolate chips just before spreading the batter into the pan.

3. Bake the Cake: Bake in a 9×13-inch pan until the top is golden and a toothpick comes out clean.

4. Make the Fudge Frosting: In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the butter, cocoa powder, and heavy cream and heat until melted. Whisk in the powdered sugar and vanilla extract and stir until smooth and glossy.

5. Frost While Warm: Pour the hot fudge frosting over the warm cake for the ultimate fudge-covered finish.

Chocolate Chips: Little is Better!

Bigger isn’t always better when it comes to chocolate. I always like to use miniature chocolate chips in cakes because they’re less likely to sink to the bottom of the batter – and it’s not just because they’re small!

Kitchen Chemistry

Mini chocolate chips stay suspended in cake batter better than regular chips, thanks to their lower mass and higher surface area-to-volume ratio, which means the batter has more grip on each individual chocolate chip.

The denser and thicker your batter, the more likely it is to hold mix-ins, like chocolate chips. This good news is that this chocolate chip pound cake batter is pretty thick, so if you only have full sized chocolate chips or chopped chocolate on hand, they won’t all sink to the bottom. But the larger size and weight does make them more prone to dropping during baking, so make sure the chips are well distributed in the bottom before baking.

Tips and Tricks for the Best Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

1. Cream Butter and Sugar: Beat the butter and sugar well, at least 3 minutes, to create the light and fluffy base that will help the cake rise properly.
2. Avoid Overmixing: Once the flour is added, mix only until combined and no dry streaks of flour remain to prevent a tough or dense cake.
3. Use Mini Chips: Miniature chocolate chips will stay suspended in the batter better, keeping them evenly distributed throughout the cake.
4. Frost While Warm: If you’re using the hot fudge frosting, spread it over the cake while it’s still warm so it sets smoothly.
5. Cool Completely Before Carving: If you plan to cut the cake into shapes, let it cool completely and then refrigerate to reduce crumbling.
6. Storage: Keep the cake tightly covered at room temperature and enjoy within four days for the best flavor and texture. The cake can also be frozen, with or without the frosting, for up to 3 months.
7. Recommended Tools: Kitchen Scale | 9×13-inch Metal Pan | Stand Mixer | High Quality Cocoa Powder

More Chocolate Chip Recipes:

• Chocolate Chip Streusel Muffins
• Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip
• Chocolate Chip Layer Cake
• Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake
• Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
• Chocolate Chip Tahini Blondies

This recipe was originally posted in June 2017 and updated with new photographs and updated tips and tricks in May 2025.