Homemade Flourless Chocolate Cake – rich, decadent, and extra chocolatey… without the flour!
Try topping it with any of my Healthy Ice Cream Recipes.
This recipe is dedicated to one of my best friends.
When we met two years ago at a party, I’d just moved to DC and knew only a handful of people here. From that first night, he always made sure to include me in things, introducing me to everyone he knew until suddenly I found myself with a huge circle of friends.
He’s the kind of guy with whom you can’t go out and not run into at least one person who recognizes him.
In the two years I’ve known him, he has helped me fix my computer, been supportive and listened to all of my dating stories, and not only bought my book the day it came out but told everyone else to buy it too.
Last year when coding issues on the website were taking up most of my nights and weekends to fix, I got a text from him one Saturday that said, “I’m having people over to my pool. You need to get out, and I’m calling you an Uber. My treat.”
When I threw a rooftop party last month and was worried about having enough alcohol, he showed up with half his liquor cabinet.
That is just the kind of guy he is.
Wanting to dedicate a recipe to him, I asked what were some of his favorite desserts, and flourless chocolate cake came up in our discussion.
The following chocolate cake recipe–adapted from my Chocolate Zucchini Brownies–can be vegan, gluten-free, grain-free, and also, if I’m not mistaken, kosher and parve. It is dense and fudgy, almost more like a brownie than a cake.
Instead of flour, this healthy chocolate cake is made with nutritious coconut flour, which is really just ground-up coconut, not actually flour at all!
Flourless Chocolate Cake
Adapted from Chocolate Zucchini Brownies
Flourless Chocolate Cake – Healthy & Vegan!
Print This Recipe
[mrp_rating_result show_count="false" show_rich_snippets="false"]
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp applesauce
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp ground flax
- 1/4 cup oil
- 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 cup coconut flour (105g)
- 1/4 tsp + 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp + 1/8 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar or xylitol
- pinch uncut stevia or 2 additional tbsp sugar
- optional 1/2 tsp instant coffee granules
- optional 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease an 8-inch pan–round or square–and set aside. Whisk together first 5 ingredients. In a separate bowl, stir all remaining ingredients. Pour wet into dry, stir until well-mixed, and pour into the prepared pan. Bake on the center rack 40 minutes. Let cool, then refrigerate only loosely covered overnight to firm up much more.
Link Of The Day:
Girl Scout Cookie Peanut Butter Bars
Amy says
Love your recipes, have your cookbook.
I can say as a kosher-keeper, by definition, vegan foods are pareve (or parve – there are different spellings of the word, since it’s not really English), as they contain neither meat nor dairy (or derivatives from either, such as beef gelatin or whey) in them.
In theory, everything is kosher, too, although for people who are strictly kosher, all the ingredients they purchase would have to marked as certified by one of the thousands of agencies entrusted to supervise the production process. Fresh produce does not need to be certified, unless it has been pre-cut in the store (e.g., buying a cut watermelon versus buying a whole watermelon).
This comment simplifies a great deal about kosher and pareve, and for people who are strictly kosher there are additional considerations, but in general, I look at all of your recipes as pareve (which I may choose to make dairy by using cow’s milk, dairy cheddar, etc.), and if I can find the ingredients with proper certification, kosher. I have never looked into using Stevia, Nu Naturals, or some of the other ingredients you use to see if they are certified kosher and instead use white sugar, maple syrup, etc. instead when you include them as options, but it is quite possible they are available in kosher versions as well.
Long story short – pretty much all of your recipes are kosher and pareve 🙂 And your chocolate pudding pie is a big hit with my family and guests.
Chocolate Covered Katie says
Thanks so much to both of you for your comments. I was *pretty* sure all of my recipes fit these descriptions but was always hesitant to list something I wasn’t 100% sure of (even if everything I read seemed to confirm that they fit). Since I’m not Jewish, I didn’t want to unintentionally mislead anyone.
I mention them specifically in this recipe because my friend is Jewish and is always telling me I should highlight that about the recipes. 🙂
Bee says
Ha . . . you are not mistaken. This indeed can be kosher and pareve. But, actually, seeing that you don’t use animal products, EVERY recipe on this site can be kosher and pareve*. I’m curious, why suddenly bring it up now?
*theoretically, anyway. It might be difficult to find less mainstream ingredients with a kosher certification even if they are not intrinsically non-kosher.
Bee says
Oh, ha! The previous comment did not exist when I started typing mine–didn’t see it until I posted! 🙂
Kathryn says
Your comment was still helpful. 🙂
Amy says
Great minds, Bee.
And your comment was way more concise than mine, so two points to you!
Eve says
Dear Katie,
This recipe looks great and I would love to try it, but I had a bit of a disaster with my last attempt at cooking with coconut flour. I tried to make the brownies from your recipe book and they just crumbled into little pieces when I tried to slice them. The crumbles tasted great (used them to top ice-cream instead) but I’d like to make an intact cake! Any suggestions as to what I might have done wrong?
Kathryn says
Although I’m not an expert, coconut flour absorbs a lot of liquid–far more than other kinds of flour. A lot of coconut flour mishaps involve amounts of liquids, so you might start by keeping an eye on that.
A H says
I’ve made this many times with no problem. Maybe there’s a mis-measurement, or maybe depending on the climate where are you needed more liquid.
Marina @ A Dancer's Live-It says
What a sweet guy, that’s the type of guy my boyfriend is haha! What an absolutely perfect recipe too! The next time I’m in DC visiting him I’m going to make this cake and think of you, and maybe even run into you!! 🙂 Flourless Chocolate Cake is our favorite dessert. 🙂
Julia @ Sprinkles & Saturdays says
He sounds like such a great friend! So sweet that you dedicated this to him. I also love that this ends up tasting more like a brownie than a cake, and with that ice cream on top its game over.
http://www.sprinklesandsaturdays.com
Bruni says
Looks great, but I’m wondering if there’s a sub for the flax? I don’t bake with flax or chia because they’re full of the very unstable omega 3 fatty acids that turn harmful when heated. Could I just leave it out?
Barb says
You can use ground chia or energy egg replacers.
Aviva says
My understanding is that they stay pretty stable when baked (as opposed to fried) bc the internal temp of the baked good does not get as high as the oven’s. That’s what I found in my research when I was concerned about it.
Joanne says
This looks delicious, and I like baking with coconut flour.
Peanut Butter & Ellie says
This flourless chocolate cake looks great!
Do you know if I can make my own coconut flour by just grinding up shredded unsweetened coconut? I want to make this cake, but don’t want to buy (expensive!) coconut flour. Thanks Katie!!
-Ellie // https://peanutbutterandle.wordpress.com
Barb says
I would try googling it.
Catherine Rivard says
NO, coconut flour is not simply ground coconut. You can grind up the strained and dehydrated coconut pulp from homemade coconut milk though. It’s just lots of work 😉 Coconut flour ends up being not so expensive as you don’t use a large amount in most recipes.
Paula says
I bought a pound of organic coconut flour from Thrive for $3.99 and its lasted several months seeing as most recipes use no more than one cup. Trader Joes also has it for ~$5 I believe. It’s definitely a lot cheaper than almond flour too (which I love to bake grain free with, just not the cost of those 5 lb bags!).
A H says
I’d Google it to see if there’s a tutorial about it.
Karen says
Your recipe looks good, but I feel the need to point out that this nothing like a traditional flourless chocolate cake. I understand that this is healthier and vegan, but traditional flourless chocolate cake doesn’t use anything to substitute for the flour, it just uses more chocolate. So this looks tasty, but it looks more like a round gluten free brownie than a flourless chocolate cake.
Shana says
It doesn’t say it is traditional flourless chocolate cake, only that its flourless chocolate cake, which it is 😉
Maryea @ Happy Healthy Mama says
Actually, it isn’t even a flourless cake. Not trying to be snarky, but ground up coconut is coconut flour and coconut flour is a flour. It would be like saying using whole wheat flour is just ground up wheat so it isn’t flour at all! That’s what flour is–ground up something. So gluten-free or grain-free cake would be more accurate. Either way, it looks tasty!
Barb says
Just going to leave this here:
Flour.
NOUN
1.a powder obtained by grinding grain, typically wheat, and used to make bread, cakes, and pastry.
So since coconut is not a grain Katie is correct that it is not truly a flour.
Rachel @ Mesa Cooking Co. says
I seriously need to stock up on some coconut flour because I keep hearing about it and then I see an amazing recipe like THIS and I realize, I need some in my pantry ASAP. This looks so, so good! I’m sold on it 🙂
Mia says
Ah, your friend sounds like every girl’s perfect boyfriend! Lucky you calling him a friend.
This cake sounds great yet I hope you don’t mind me saying that you described coconut flour wrong there. Maybe yours is different but regular coconut flour is much different from just ground up coconut. I’m not expert so will let one of those do the talking :):
http://www.bobsredmill.com/blog/featured-articles/a-little-more-about-coconut-flour-guest-post/
Ariadna says
Wow this looks and sounds like a dream come true, looks so delicious! x
Ariadna || RAWR BOWS
Aimee B. says
This was actually really good. It has a strange/different texture than regular cake, very crumbly, but that’s O.K. Definitely would make a great topping for ice cream if you’re unable to get nice slices out. Mine was much easier to handle after leaving it in the fridge, so I highly recommend you don’t skip that step. It kind of reminds me of the Carnation Breakfast Bars I used to eat as a kid many years ago. It was a hit in our home, especially with my daughter, who offered to polish off the entire cake, lol!
Floatyfruit says
Hey Katie, I love your website, I’ve been checking it almost daily for over a year and disabled adblock here, but I was wondering if there was a way to get rid of the pop up that says “want to get healthier?” and tries to get you to put your email… it’s a bit annoying? I dislike pop ups and it literally comes up on every page, and I wish there was a way to click a box that says “don’t ask again”…Also I kinda don’t see the point of putting my email when I check the site so often anyway… (sorry if this message came off as rude or anything!)
Paula says
Made this as my birthday cake this year! Couldn’t wait the full 40 minutes (much less overnight) and topped the gooey wonderfulness with raspberry preserves and flaked toasted coconut. Thank you!!!
Cynthia says
I have a question on the applesauce and flax. I am not vegan and don’t really want to purchase things I won’t use. I am assuming these are a substitution for egg. Would I use one egg or two eggs in this recipe? I know that 1/4 cup of applesauce can replace one egg, but these amounts are slightly more than one egg. Thank you.
Asia says
I used 2 eggs. I would also reduce the water if you use eggs. Mine came out a little wet but otherwise perfect
Stephanie Dreyer says
Wow, this looks so good. Love your recipes and cookbook. Thanks for another winning dessert!
Shaz says
Why don’t you use eggs instead of flax, apparently they do the same thing. Looked up a substitute for flax and found flax is a substitute for egg. Would much rather use something with nutrition and protein in my cooking, and my girls lay lovely healthy eggs. Going to try this recipe tomorrow with egg and coconut sugar.
Akino says
This looks so delicious and I love how simple the recipe is! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Akino | akinokiki.blogspot.ca
Linda P. says
Such lovely recipes. I am going to explore some more yumminess. Coconut flour is new to me.
I would if you shared some of these treats at Dishing It & Digging It. The party is live now. I know our readers would love to explore your blog.
Heather says
Hello,
Your recipe looks perfect for an experiment I want to try. I have been searching for a vegan red velvet cake recipe that only uses coconut flour instead of a mixture of different flours or all-purpose. I would prefer to use actual beetroots to color the cake instead of using red food dye or beetroot juice. And substitutive water for vegan buttermilk. Do you think this would work?
Belsante says
I don’t have flax. What could I use as a substitute
Evie says
Could I substitute the applesauce for banana?
Julie Dove says
You can definitely experiment! Sounds good!
Hansee says
I tried it yesterday, and could not help but try a little bit while it just come out from oven! it taste really great! then i put it into fridge overnight, and it turned out amazing! could not stop eating it ! i am not a vegan, and I love it!
I did add more applesauce, because the coconut flour absorb a lot liquid, and use coconut sugar and add few drop of Stevia from trader joe!
yum! will do it again
Rachel says
Would this hold up in the freezer?
Julie Dove says
Not sure but be sure to report back if you experiment!
CM says
Of course you should feel guilty! Blogging is unnecessary! All your needs can be met by the church. Quit blogging, and spend all that time home teaching! (Ouch! Quit hitting me! I was only joking!)
Audrey Schlegel says
Soooooooo delicious! Actually I used to make your “100 calories chocolate cake” with a flour mix of half coconut flour, one quarter almond flour and one quarter buckwheat flour and I loved the texture. But this is even better!! Only that I a considering replacing the oil with nut butter… has anyone tried this previously? Or maybe half oil and half nut butter? Hint for those who are baking for an audience who distrusts “exotic” ingredients: my husband loved it. He once took half the cake to work and his colleagues asked for the recipe.
Last but not least: tastes delicious with some dried cranberries in it!!
Melissa Olsen says
Can I make this cake the day of instead of putting in the fridge overnight?
Caroline Jordan says
what kind of oil do you suggest using Katie?
Jason Sanford says
Vegetable oil, melted coconut oil, non gmo canola oil, sunflower oil… all of those work here!