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.
Catti goodbody
Cook Cake
Tracy Helmstutler
I have made this cake before, and it is delicious. I am wondering if you have ever tried doubling it; some recipes don’t always work if you outright double everything. I will be using this for my daughter’s birthday cake!
Jeff
Is it supposed to be dense and chewy?
Jazmine
My son is exclusively breastfed and has allergies towards wheat, dairy, and eggs. I looked everywhere for a recipe like this. I just baked this tonight and it tastes AMAZING!! So soft and perfectly sweet. I used Bobs Red Mill gluten free all purpose baking powder and enjoy life dark chocolate morsels. Absolutely obsessed!! THANK YOU FOR THIS RECIPE!!!
Kelly Roenicke
So glad you loved this! Thank you for letting me know! I know how hard it is when you have to eliminate foods while breastfeeding. You’re doing a great job. :)
Helen
Hi Kelly can I make this without choc chips as I don’t have any?
Kelly Roenicke
Yes!
Carrie
I’ve tried countless egg, milk and wheat free cake recipes and this is by far one of the best. Great flavor and texture. I’ve also used this for birthday cupcakes and put frosting on top.
Ayesha
Hello, I the tried your chocolate cake recipe to make cupcakes and they turned out awesome!!! Thank you for sharing your recipe. This will be my go to recipe now.
Cerulian
Hello, can I use avocado oil, or another oil instead of Canola oil?
Kelly Roenicke
Yes, coconut oil would be fine! I haven’t baked with avocado oil, so I am not sure about the flavor with that.
Kathryn Sellet
This recipe is what we called Wacky Cake! Except for the chocolate chips. I made this a lot for the family years ago, before I was Celiac. I will have to make this again but think I’ll eliminate the chips. Thanks for reminding me of what I loved in the past!
Barbara
I made this cake so many times, it’s the best vegan gluten recipe, easy and comes out better than most complicated recipes. I used this without chocolate chips as a base for birthday cakes, with vanilla cream and raspberry jam or with different other creams and fresh fruit, it works every time.
Amanda
This cake is delicious! Thank you for sharing!
Adeline
Made this recipe into cupcakes today and they turned out beautifully! So light, moist and rich. Best gluten-free, dairy-free and eggless choc cake recipe I’ve found, by far. Thank you!
Lisa
This cake was easy and delicious. I only had one problem. The next day the center of the cake was wet, and continued to expand out each day. Do you have any idea why that would happen?
Thank you!
Kelly Roenicke
Sounds like it was a little under baked. Maybe just a few more minutes in the oven next time! I’m glad you liked the taste!
Lisa
I made this cake and it was delicious! I had one problem though, the next day the center of the cake had become moist, and the moisture continued to spread out. I ended up throwing it out the following day. The outside of the cake was fine. Any idea what I did wrong?
Thank you for these great recipes!
Debbie Wright
Thankyou so much for this recipe!!!
I made it for my daughter’s 18th and everyone loved it!…couldn’t believe it was gluten and vegan…soooo moist and tasty! We have found with other recipes there is always an after taste but not this one!!
I will be trying your other recipes when i have time.
Thankyou once again!! :)
Rima Coates
Greetings from Edmonton Alberta!
Just received your email for these yummy looming gf/ vegan receives. My brother has a birthday coming up and I’m excited to try the chocolate cake one.
Have you baked with Cassava flour? Also wondering if I can substitute date purée instead of sugar?
Look forward to hearing from you,
Regards,
Rima Coates
☺️
Kelly Roenicke
I have not tried cassava flour, so I am not sure how it would work. Date puree instead of sugar will not work too well – it will be quite wet. If you want to try it, just don’t use as much water as the recipe calls for. Date sugar would be fine, though!
Beth
I have also used the Great Value brand gf flour, and it works for me. :)
Kelly Roenicke
Great to know! :)
Chansa Kiggundu
So tasty! Easy to make. Love it.
Vanessa
Excellent easy chocolate cake! I always enjoyed baking and when I went vegan I found the transition a lot easier than I thought but once I discovered my gluten intolerance I found baking really daunting and expensive. This is a great simple cake for all occasions like mentioned.
I did find that I had to bake for an additional 10 minutes because the center was not baked through. However this did not result in a dry cake. It was a bit crumbly and even after greasing my glass Pyrex pan with vegan butter the cake did not come out clean. Was it too hot? I also found that the delicious chocolate chips fell right to the bottom of the cake and when my cake did not slide out cleanly I lost that layer which resulted in nearly no chocolate chips throughout the cake – any advice? I followed each ingredient in this recipe exactly.
Kelly Roenicke
It could have been too hot! GF baked goods are a little more delicate, and if you try to remove it when it’s too hot, that can be an issue. Maybe try lining the pan with parchment next time – that works really well to help a cake come out cleanly.
Caroline O'Callaghan
This is the best vegan gluten free cake I’ve ever tasted. Light airy and definitely worth a try!