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.
Carol Wain
This is my go-to recipe for birthday cakes as I’m allergic to eggs and wheat. It is absolutely delicious — very rich — and goes perfectly with raspberries and a whipped topping (either whipped cream or whipped coconut cream).
Victoria
Lovely recipes)
Joanna
This was delicious and very easy to make!
Molly
I made these for Mother’s Day and they turned out as brownies, but they were the best brownies ever!!! I also added some caramel to it.
Elizabeth D Ritzman
The batter was very very dry- tried to save with a couple T of coconut syrup,
Still had a brownie texture. Too dense to call cake!
Syl
Absolutely delicious! I make this cake so often!
Laura L Miller
I made a slight change. I melted chocolate candy bard and added that to the liquid ingredients. I also had to add a bit more water, but it made a wonderful cake.
Kelly Roenicke
Sounds great! I’m glad you liked it!
Rima Coates
Greetings from Alberta Canada,
So glad I found you! I needed an easy chocolate cake( gf/v) recipe to make for my heartbroken daughter. Nothing says ” it’s his loss, and you’re gonna get through this and be stronger” better than yummy comfort food. I’ll let you know how it turns outs.
Hope you and yours are staying safe and well.
Regards,
R. Coates
Dee
I tried this with half almond meal and half coles gluten free flour. Came out well. However I want to try a drier and less sweeter cake which will be good to frost. Will removing the chocolate chips without altering the other quantities help?
Thank you
Deanna Braun
Can I substitute cassava flour foe thr gluten free flour?
Seryn
Hey! Please could you tell me if apple cider vinegar would work instead of white? As I have lots of it at home.
Thanks,
Seryn
annupamaa k
Can I get a copy of your free ebook if any please?
Kimberly
Hi – can you specify what type of cocoa powder to use? Natural or Dutch? Thanks!
Sam
It was sooo delicious!! Great recipe, definitely recommend! 😋
Lora Hein
I needed to add five minutes and then another five before a toothpick came out nearly clean. I had just baked another cake in the same oven, same temp at exactly the specified time and it came out perfectly, This cake was delicious. However, it crumbled completely and did not hold together for slicing and serving. The ONLY ingredient change I made was to use half and half cane sugar and Xyla (which I have used successfully as a 1:1 replacement for sugar.
Any ideas for what to do differently to get the cake not to crumble so much?
Brandy
I just had to let you and your readers know how amazing this cake is. I made cupcakes and got 14 with the recipe. I have been a baker for 35 years and gluten free celiac for 10.5 years that had to remove dairy and eggs two years ago. I have struggled to find a satisfactory gluten free vegan cake… Until now! I made this recipe for the gluten free peeps in my family at my sons birthday yesterday, and holy moley was this delicious! RAVE reviews. I used Bobs Red Mill 1-1 gf flour, bakers cocoa, enjoy life mini chocolate chips (onlynilused about 1/3 cup). I made my own frosting recipe with a drizzle of ganache on top. Thank you!! I would really love vanilla cake again. I see you have a yellow cupcake recipe I plan to try. I wish we could upload photos on this site!!
Kelly Roenicke
Yay! I’m so happy that you liked this recipe! Thanks for letting me know!
SOwmya
Made this cake to four year old’s birthday. He is allergic to both gluten and dairy. It tasted yummy and was easy to bake. THank you for the recipe. I used Bob’s red milk 1 to 1 gluten free flour and almond milk. Wish there was a way to attach a pic of our cake. 😊
Judy
I am on a candida diet, can have no sugars! Not even Stevia or the likes. What is a woman to do who wants a treat?
Kelly Roenicke
Can you have any fruit at all?
Patricia V
My cake was gummy. I had to add another 20min for it to be done and it was still wet/gummy. I don’t know what I did wrong 😔.
Ja
The number of ads on your site make it hard to read your recipe. Just FYI. :)