This is such an easy recipe for gluten free and vegan chocolate cake, and it has a great texture and a rich, fudgy flavor. This delicious and simple cake is perfect for a birthday party, holiday, or any day that you want a sweet treat!
If you’re new to gluten free and allergy friendly baking, one of the first things you need is a great cake recipe. Because you may have a birthday coming up, or you might just want to bake one afternoon. You need an easy recipe that’s no-fail and delicious. This recipe checks all those boxes and more.
This gluten free and vegan chocolate cake uses basic ingredients and it is so easy to throw together. Mix it up and pop it in the oven, and 30 minutes later you have a fresh-baked chocolate cake ready to go. It can’t get any easier than that.
Don’t be afraid of this cake, non-vegan friends. The vinegar and the baking soda combine so nicely to give it a nice lift, you would never guess that this cake does not contain eggs. It is really, really marvelous – and it’s a recipe that I have made again and again over the past 10 years.
Be sure to read all my tips if you’re new to gluten free baking. I know it can be really different to bake with gluten free flours and no eggs. But you can still make an amazing cake even without wheat, dairy, or eggs.
And if don’t need to be gluten free, go right ahead and use all-purpose flour! It works very well in this recipe – the cake will be a little lighter and less dense. Whatever flour you choose to use, this dessert is sure to be a big hit.
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Ingredient Notes
- Gluten Free Flour Blend – This recipe should work well with different gluten free flour blends. I like to use Namaste Perfect Flour Blend, which results in a rich, moist cake with a great texture.
- Cocoa Powder – We use Hershey’s Unsweetened Cocoa Powder, and it works well in this recipe.
- Oil – This works well with organic canola oil, but I have made it with other oils as well. You can use coconut oil or another oil if you prefer – you can even use melted vegan buttery spread.
- Dairy Free Mini Chocolate Chips – I like adding some mini chocolate chips to the batter for a little more richness.
Special Equipment
- I recommend making this in an 8 or 9 inch square baking dish or cake pan.
- If you’re worried about the cake sticking to the pan, lining it with parchment paper can help prevent any sticking. If you’re using a round pan, line the bottom with a circle of parchment, then grease and flour the bottom and sides of the pan as well.
- You can also make this in a round pan, or use this recipe to bake cupcakes. I recommend parchment paper liners for baking gluten free cupcakes.
Step by Step Instructions
- Sift the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl.
- Add the wet ingredients and the chocolate chips and stir well.
- Smooth the batter into a cake pan or baking dish. If you want to remove the cake from the pan, line it with a piece of parchment paper that hangs over two sides of the pan.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for about 30-33 minutes.
- Once the cake has cooled completely, dust with powdered sugar and slice into squares.
Tips for Success
- Sift the dry ingredients so that the batter doesn’t have any lumps.
- Line your cake pan with parchment paper if you’d like to remove the cake from the pan. That way you can easily pull the cake out using the parchment.
- It’s okay to use a different gluten free flour blend, but it could change the amount of time required for baking. Test the center of the cake with a toothpick to see if it’s done before you remove it from the oven.
- If you use a different flour blend and find that your batter seems unusually thick or dry, try adding a little more water until the batter is easier to stir. Different gluten free flours react differently to liquid.
- If you find that your baking time is consistently shorter or longer than the time suggested in recipes, you may want to check your oven temperature to make sure that it’s accurate.
FAQs
No, that won’t work – you generally need eggs in order for coconut flour to be light and fluffy. If you use it in this recipe, you will have a dense, flat cake.
If you want to use some almond meal, you can try using half almond meal and half gluten free flour blend. The cake will be a bit denser, and possibly more moist. I would not recommend using ONLY almond meal.
I haven’t tried that. I would expect that the texture of the cake may change, and you would also need to use less water. If you’d like to avoid refined sugar, you could use coconut sugar, that would work just fine.
If your cakes sink in the middle, it’s likely because the middle wasn’t quite done baking. Stick a toothpick in the middle of the cake to see if it’s done – it should come out clean or with just a few crumbs. It should not have wet batter on it.
Storage/Freezing
Store leftover cake tightly wrapped or in an airtight container. It should stay fresh for about 3 days.
If you’d like to freeze this cake, wrap it well in plastic wrap, then place in a freezer bag. It should stay fresh in the freezer for up to 3 months.
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Recipe
The Easiest Gluten Free and Vegan Chocolate Cake.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups gluten free flour blend if you're not gluten free, all-purpose flour is just fine
- 1 cups organic cane sugar
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup organic canola oil or melted coconut oil, or melted vegan buttery spread
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- 1 cup cold water
- ¾ cup dairy free mini chocolate chips
- powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. If you'd like to remove the cake from the pan once it's baked, I recommend lining the baking dish with parchment paper so that it hangs over two sides of the pan.
- Sift the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. (This step is important, especially with gluten free flour. Otherwise you’ll have lumps!)
- Add the organic canola oil (or melted coconut oil), vanilla, vinegar and water. Mix together by hand, and don’t over mix. Stir in the dairy free chocolate chips.
- Pour into an 8 inch square baking dish and bake at 350 degrees F for about 30-33 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Dust the top with confectioner’s sugar once the cake is cool.
Notes
Nutrition
This post is part of my series, 31 Days of Gluten Free, Dairy Free, and Egg Free Comfort Food.
Karen
Finally! A recipe that actually is Fluffy and doesn’t taste gross and isn’t gummy you’re a miracle worker thank you thank you thank you
Kelly Roenicke
So glad you liked it, thanks for letting me know! :)
Diane
Question: Will this work with oat flour in place of a GF flour blend? I’m having trouble finding a GF flour that isn’t made on shared equipment. I have a highly dairy allergic child coming over and I think the oat flour I have should be fine. Please let me know if you have experience. Thank you!
Gillian
Hi I’m in the U.K., would it be ok to use gf self raisin Flour that has the xantham gum in, and if using sf gf Flour would I still put the baking soda and vinegar in?
Kelly Roenicke
If it already contains baking soda, then I would not add more. Vinegar would be ok though.
J Paskoff
look into Authentic Foods brand as far as the dairy free flours. I had the same problem with soy. And that brand is where I buy all my flours for my flour mixes
neel
Hi
Thank you for sharing the recipe. I am baking a cake for the first time! I followed the steps and the cake looks amazing.
However, the colour seems dark than usual. Also, the borders look crusty. Is this okay? I haven’t yet tasted it.
Thank you
Kelly Roenicke
It could have gotten a little overbaked, but it should be fine to eat!
Anna
Hello! May I use rice flour with this recipe?
Kelly Roenicke
I don’t think you could use straight rice flour. Most gluten free baking recipes require a blend of flours to produce a light and fluffy result.
Theresa
Hi Kelly, I’m looking to use this cake in a Truffle type dessert Gf/Df. Can coconut sugar or maple syrup replace table sugar in this recipe? So many in our family are now gf/df and some sugar free. We have favorite desserts that I’m trying to convert accordingly. Thank you.
Kelly Roenicke
You can use coconut sugar, that should be fine!
Priscilla Linn
First gf-vegan cake I ever made. Easy to mix, not too sweet and lovely moist texture. I had to use regular sized chocolate chips so it took about 2X longer to bake. So worth it, though!
Carrie
Can the canola oil be substituted for olive oil?
Dawn
I would suggest lining the bottom of your pan with parchment so the cake doesn’t stick. Mine was deplorably stuck, even though I greased and dusted with cocoa powder.
Next time, I’ll also decrease the amount of chocolate chips as I found it too sweet.
Ania
I would love to make this cake but I really struggle with ingredients measurement :(
I always operate in grams and millilitres and all the converters im trying to use giving me all sort of different numbers and apparently 1 cup of flour doesn’t equal 1 cup of sugar in grams :(
Kelly Roenicke
Thank you for your feedback, I will have to consider how I can make these conversions for future recipes.
Emily Sorenson
I made this with Better Batter to use as brownies I served with homemade dairy-free vanilla bean ice cream and crushed candy cane for a holiday dinner. It was such an easy dessert and it was delicious! I got several compliments and there were lots of clean plates. Most importantly, it was safe for my son who is allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, dairy and wheat. Thank you for the winning recipe! A new staple at our house.
Barbara
Would this cake hold up to being cut and shaped for a novelty birthday cake? My grandson wants a helicopter shaped birthday cake – eek!
Ann James
Will try this tomorrow. In the UK now we can buy a GF, DF, Egg free, nut free, vegan chocolate in big supermarkets made by a company called Kinnerton from Australia. It’s dark & intense & not too sweet, never seems to seize when heated I use it all the time for recipes that call for melted chocolate. Just e mailed them to ask if they do chips too as I’m having trouble finding DF/GF ones but they sold their bars (80g) direct to me via internet for a box (26) bars which I know won’t take too long to use! May be worth trying for those of our community outside UK. x
Kelly Roenicke
Thank you for that information! I’m sure others will find it helpful!
Rebecca
Can I use a round pan instead I need to make my sons birthday cake tomorrow and it’s a round one I love the design of!
Kelly Roenicke
Yes it will be fine, just watch it and don’t overbake it! Happy Birthday to your son!
Reshma
@ Kelly The pretty bee ?
Thank you, this cake was surprisingly light and decadent.
Mine did get a little crisp at the ends though- should I have left it in for a little less time?
But otherwise thanks, being ggless it was great!??
Reshma
Kelly Roenicke
So glad it worked out! THanks for sharing! Yes, maybe a little less time if it was a bit overdone.
Phoebe
Hi there, just wondering if this can be baked in a round tin?
Kelly Roenicke
Yes it can! Just keep an eye on the baking time so you don’t overbake it.
Jackie
Hi! what can I use to replace the oil? Applesauce?
Kelly
That’s what I would try!
Sandra
Hi. Can you tell me what size the ‘square’ dish should be?
Thanks
Kelly
8 inches! But 9 would work, too, although the baking time would be less.
Karen
Freaking delish! Finally a cake I can eat! Made as prescribed and topped with avocado cocoa frosting! Will be my go to recipe! !!!! Thanks for an awesome recipe!
Kelly
Yay! So glad to hear it! Thanks for letting me know!
Loretta
Do you also have a Vanilla cake recipe, please?
Kelly
I need to work on a gluten free vegan vanilla cake. Thanks for the reminder!
Marion
Fantastic recipes! I too would love a vanilla cake recipe please :)
Kelly Roenicke
I hope to share one soon!
Dima
Hi I just tried making this as vanilla cup cake by replacing the coco powder by extra flour as the chocolate chips are enough chocolate falvour for me and added some orange zest to give it some extra flavor, and it turned out good ?
Taso
Love this recipe! I made cupcakes and frosted them with the Hines chocolate frosting (which is accidentally dairy-free!) and added some sprinkles on top :) .
Very easy and so delicious , you could never tell that its vegan or gluten free. Only thing is that mine were done baking in like 15-20 mins, but that may just be my oven.
Cant wait to make them again!!