Welcome to the indulgent world of Chocolate Chip Welsh Cakes! In this mouthwatering blog post, we'll explore the delightful fusion of traditional Welsh baking with a modern twist โ the addition of rich, decadent chocolate chips. Join me as we uncover the history of Welsh cakes, discover the secrets to crafting the perfect batch, and dive into the irresistible flavors and textures that make these treats a beloved favorite. Whether you're a seasoned baker or a curious foodie, prepare to be tempted by the irresistible charm of Chocolate Chip Welsh Cakes!
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Welsh cakes are a traditional bake in Wales, and especially around St David's Day. Every year it is one of the school Eistedfodd tasks to bake welsh cakes to take to school to be judged. This is where the idea of these chocolate chip welsh cakes came from, because I wanted to make the traditional welsh cakes recipe, with a modern twist.
St David's Day Welsh Cake Recipe
So, this year for St David's Day we made some chocolate chip welsh cakes. I love traditional welsh cakes but the children aren't hugely keen on raisins so I used chocolate chips instead of raisins. They were really delicious and perfect for my little ones.
Our school always has a bake off style competition each year for the best welsh cakes. I find that making chocolate chip ones gives us an extra edge over the competition! So that's a top tip from me if you are in the same position this year! The chocolate chip versions also go down really well with children so they do especially well at a bake sale!
What equipment do I need to make them?
These chocolate chip welsh cakes were quite easy to make too, my daughter helped me and loved getting her hands dirty by mixing these the proper way in a large mixing bowl with her hands. I'd definitely recommend making them the old fashioned way, without a stand mixer or food processor if you can. Don't worry if you don't have a traditional welsh bakestone to cook them on, a non stick frying pan will do just fine. Or you can buy a regularย bakestoneย relatively inexpensively online. We used a heavy cast iron griddle pan as I like the look that gives the welsh cakes. You can also just use a cup to cut the shapes out instead of a cookie cutter, you really can make these without any special equipment.
Chocolate Chip Welsh Cake Ingredients
These welsh cakes are made from really basic traditional ingredients that should be readily available in your local shops or even in your store cupboards. Make sure to use the highest quality ingredients that you can afford - you will notice the difference.
- self raising flour
- margerine
- caster sugar
- mixed spice
- egg
- milk
- milk chocolate chips
- salt
For quantities see recipe card.
How To Make Chocolate Chip Welsh Cakes
Sift the flour, pinch of salt and spices into a large bowl.
Rub in the margarine with your fingers until the mixture is like breadcrumbs.
Stir in the sugar and chocolate chips.
Whisk the large egg and mix well into the mixture.
Add the milk slowly, until the mixture just comes together to form a soft dough. You may need a little more or a little less.
Flour your work surface and roll your dough using a rolling pin to half a centimetre thick.
Cut into circles with a cookie cutter or upturned mug or cup.
Grease a non-stick frying pan with a little butter and cook the little cakes on a medium heat, turning halfway over on the iron griddles until they are golden brown. The griddle cakes should take about 2-3 minutes.
Leave on a cooling rack to cool and sprinkle with sugar to finish.
PrintChocolate Chip Welsh Cakes
Welsh cakes are a traditional bake in Wales, and especially around St David's Day. This is a traditional recipe with a modern twist.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 20 1x
- Category: Snack
- Method: Hob
- Cuisine: Welsh
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 lb self raising flour
- 6 oz margarine
- 6 oz caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon mixed spice
- 1 egg
- 2 Tablespoons milk
- 100 g chocolate chips
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
- Sift the flour, salt and spices into a large bowl.ย
- Rub in the margarine with your fingers until the mixture is like breadcrumbs.ย
- Stir in the sugar and chocolate chips.
- Whisk the egg and mix well into the mixture.
- ย Add the milk slowly, until the mixture just comes together to form a dough. You may need a little more or a little less.ย
- Flour your surface and roll your dough to half a centimetre thick.ย
- Cut into circles with a cookie cutter or upturned mug or cup.ย
- Grease a non-stick frying pan with butter and cook the little cakes on a medium heat, turning halfway until they are golden brown.ย
- Leave on a wire rack to cool and sprinkle with sugar to finish.
Substitutions and Variations
Obviously you can replace the chocolate chips with traditional raisins or choose another filling of your choice, a mixture of white chocolate and cranberry, dried apricot or dried cherry, give it a go and experiment! You can also flavour the sugar that goes on top, I particularly like cinnamon sugar with the chocolate chip welsh cakes. Simply mix a tablespoon of ground cinnamon into the sugar before you sprinkle it. Try making a different batch of welsh cakes each day, or small batches of each and seeing which your friends and family like best!
These welsh cakes are vegetarian as they are. You can make these dairy free really easily by swapping the margarine for a non-dairy margarine such as Pure or Vitalite and replace the milk with a non dairy milk. Make sure that you are using vegan chocolate chips.
If you wanted to make a vegan version without the egg I have a recipe for vegan welsh cakes on my vegan blog.
FAQ's
They are honestly just delicious warm, on their own as a tea-time snack or with a cup of coffee or cup of tea. You can also glam them up by including them as part of a delicious cream tea, with dab of butter and a selection of delicious preserves.
These are best eaten fresh, warm straight from being cooked in the cast iron pan! They will keep for a couple of days in an airtight container though so you can share them with friends the next day, or make them ahead of time - there is always such a lot to do for St. David's day. Serve them at room temperature or warm them a little in the oven on a low heat for a few minutes.
Let me know if you made anything different in the comments box below!
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Jeremy Andrews says
These look really tasty. I love a good welsh cake - combined with chocolate must be amazing. I will make some this weekend
Anne says
ohh I never though to make welsh cakes with chocolate chips instead of raisins. I love them, but even though my kids eat raisins they won't eat anything with raisins in..kid eh! I bet they'd eat them with chocolate chips in though...and if they don't, well I know someone who will ๐
Moonstone says
I made these last night minus the mixed spice as I really dislike it. I added some desiccated coconut instead and used coconut oil instead of butter in a frying pan. They were delicious being chocolate and coconut flavour. A great alternative to using raisins as I love a welshcake but always pick out the raisins, which doesn't leave much left! I've tried to make chocolate chip welsh cakes on a few occasions with different recipes, and they've come out very dry and not tasting of much at all, but this is the tastiest mix I've tried so far. Definitely give this one a whirl.
We Made This Life says
Ooh thanks for the tip, we love coconut, I'll definitely give this a go!
Charlie says
Dear Ali
Looks great - I love Welsh Cakes, used to live on the Welsh Borders & had a Welsh grandmother
Two questions :
1] can I use better rather than margarine (I respect you are a Vegan but for many reasons, I will not use margarine)
2] you say, 1 lb flour, 6oz maragrine & 6oz sugar but then 100g of chocolate chips - I am I missing something ? I looked t see whether there was an option between metric or imperial; but apparently not
Many thanks
Charlie
Ali says
Hi Charlie, You can absolutely use butter instead. And good point about my inconsistent measuring! 100g of chocolate chips would be about 4oz but I will change the recipe so the measurements are consistent - thanks for pointing it out!