The BEST Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake (Vegan, 1 Bowl!)

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Fork cutting into a slice of the best vegan gluten-free chocolate cake

Friends, we’ve heard your pleas to release our secret gluten-free chocolate cake recipe, and today is your lucky day! It’s based off the baking mix we released last year after almost a year of development and countless taste tests. And it’s now ready to make from scratch in your kitchen!

This cake is FLUFFY, moist, perfectly chocolaty, and undetectably vegan, gluten-free, grain-free, and naturally sweetened. PLUS, it comes together in just 1 bowl! Bakers, start your ovens…let’s make one EPIC chocolate cake!

Cake batter dripping from a whisk into a glass mixing bowl

How to Make the BEST Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake

Making this 1-BOWL gluten-free chocolate cake is about as simple as it gets: Just mix together the dry ingredients, whisk in the wet, pour into your cake pan, and bake!

Now, let’s talk about the ingredients that make it all possible, starting with the secret gluten-free flour blend! Almond flour, potato starch, and tapioca starch are the all-star trio that makes this cake light and fluffy with the perfect crumb texture! You can learn about what each of these flours does here.

Pouring batter from a mixing bowl into a cake pan

The other dry ingredients include coconut sugar to keep it naturally sweetened, flaxseed meal and xanthan gum for binding, and chocolate cake classics including cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and sea salt.

For the wet ingredients, you’ll need just three: water, a neutral-flavored oil (we like avocado oil), and vanilla extract. Cake batter awaits!

Using an offset spatula to frost a cake with vegan chocolate ganache frosting

After baking and cooling to let the texture reach its peak potential, we enter frosting land! Your options are endless, but our top pick? Vegan Chocolate Ganache Frosting! It’s super chocolaty, elegant, and luxurious yet surprisingly simple to make!

Vegan gluten-free chocolate cake with vegan chocolate ganache frosting and flowers

This chocolate cake is a total WINNER! It’s:

Fluffy
Moist
Decadent
Chocolaty
Perfectly sweet
& Undetectably vegan + gluten-free!

It’s a crowd-pleasing dessert perfect for all kinds of celebrations including birthdays, weddings, baby showers, Mother’s Day, New Year’s, and more.

More Vegan Gluten-Free Cake Recipes

If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo @minimalistbaker on Instagram. Cheers, friends!

Bite of gluten-free chocolate cake resting on a fork next to a slice of cake

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Servings 8 (Slices)

Course Dessert

Cuisine Gluten-Free, Vegan

Freezer Friendly 1 month

Does it keep? 2-3 Days

US Customary – Metric
  • 1 cup almond flour (we like Wellbee’s)
  • 1 cup coconut sugar, sifted if clumpy (we like Supernatural)
  • 1/2 cup potato starch (NOT potato flour)
  • 1/3 cup cocoa powder, sifted if clumpy
  • 1/4 cup tapioca starch (also called tapioca flour)
  • 3 Tbsp flaxseed meal (ground flax seeds)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1/4 tsp xanthan gum*
  • 2/3 cup water
  • 1/4 cup avocado oil (or other neutral-flavored oil such as refined coconut oil)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

FROSTING IDEAS optional

  • Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (176 C) and lightly grease an 8-inch round cake pan with oil or line a standard-size muffin tin with paper liners. Set aside.

  • To a medium mixing bowl, add all the dry ingredients (almond flour, coconut sugar, potato starch, cocoa powder, tapioca starch, flaxseed meal, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt, and xanthan gum). Whisk well to combine.

  • Next, add the water, oil, and vanilla extract. Whisk thoroughly until no flour streaks remain. Pour the batter into your prepared baking pan.

  • Place in the preheated oven and bake for 28-32 minutes (for an 8-inch cake) or 18-20 minutes (for cupcakes), or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean (with only a few crumbs).

  • Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes. To remove from the cake pan, run a dull knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake. Then place a plate or cooling rack on top and quickly invert. Allow to cool completely (~1 hour) before frosting and serving!

  • Store leftovers lightly covered at room temperature for up to 2-3 days*, in the refrigerator for 4-5 days, or in the freezer for 1 month. Cake can be baked ahead and frozen unfrosted. Let thaw completely at room temperature before serving.

*If you choose to omit the xanthan gum, the cake won’t be as moist and will be more crumbly.
*Recipe as written makes one 8-inch cake. For the photos, we used three 6-inch cake pans. If using three 6-inch pans, reduce bake time to 20-25 minutes.
*We found the texture of this cake to be best when consumed within 24-48 hours. The nature of potato starch is a bit drying, so keep this in mind if making days in advance for an event or special occasion. You can reduce the amount of potato starch to 1/3 cup to keep it more moist, but it becomes a little more fragile and less fluffy.
*Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated without optional ingredients.

Serving: 1 slice Calories: 293 Carbohydrates: 39.3 g Protein: 4.2 g Fat: 15.2 g Saturated Fat: 1.6 g Polyunsaturated Fat: 3.2 g Monounsaturated Fat: 9.6 g Trans Fat: 0 g Cholesterol: 0 mg Sodium: 356 mg Potassium: 321 mg Fiber: 3.5 g Sugar: 17.2 g Vitamin A: 0 IU Vitamin C: 0 mg Calcium: 79 mg Iron: 1.2 mg

Published by Staff Reporter