A healthy & surprisingly delicious avocado chocolate cake!
No oil, no butter, and just 75 calories ♥
I once read somewhere that you can sub avocado for the oil or butter in a recipe to add nutrition, cut back on fat and calories, and give baked goods a deliciously soft texture. So when a reader recently left a comment asking what she could use in place of the nut butter in my 100 Calorie Chocolate Cake, avocado was the first thing that came to my mind. Immediately, I had to try it out.
The results?
A super rich and fudgy chocolate cake with an incredibly light texture.
Shown above, frosted with my favorite Healthy Cream Cheese Frosting.
You can use any of your favorite chocolate or vanilla frosting recipes here—or lightly dust the avocado chocolate cake with powdered sugar or even top it with coconut butter and fresh berries if you’d prefer.
My previous baking attempts with avocado—trying to create a recipe for avocado brownies—were abysmally awful. (And yes, I’m aware those two words mean the same thing. Trust me; the brownies warrant the tautology. They were that bad.)
So I cannot tell you how excited I am that this avocado chocolate cake turned out so perfectly!
You won’t be able to taste the avocado at all!
Avocado Chocolate Cake
Avocado Chocolate Cake
Print This Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup spelt, white, Bob’s gf, or whole wheat pastry flour
- 6 tbsp cacao or unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup xylitol or granulated sugar of choice (140g)
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips, optional
- 1/4 cup yogurt of choice (such as Wholesoy) (60g)
- 3/4 cup water (180g)
- 1/4 cup mashed avocado, measured after mashing (60g)
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract (8g)
Instructions
Avocado Chocolate Cake Recipe: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, and grease an 8-in square or round pan. (Or double the recipe for a double-layer cake.) Set aside. In a large bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, optional chips, and sweetener, and stir very well. In a separate bowl, whisk together all remaining ingredients. Pour wet into dry and stir until just combined (don’t over-mix), then pour into the greased pan. Bake 25 minutes or until batter has risen and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before taking even a single bite. Trust me!
Have you ever tried eating avocado in an unconventional way?
Such as in chocolate avocado pudding or an avocado smoothie? Would you ever be brave enough to try baking with it? Will you try this avocado chocolate cake??!
Link Of The Day:
Kathryn says
Katie! I made this exactly one year ago for my mom’s birthday. (You sent me an email after I commented about it 🙂 Well, it’s her birthday again, so I made it again! So so SO good! I didn’t have any yogurt, so I used canned pumpkin. Couldn’t taste it at all, nor did it affect the outcome! My whole family- even those against anything healthy in cake- loved it! I paired it with a Matcha frosting, mostly because I was feeling Halloweeny, but didn’t want to use any food coloring.
Anyway, thank you for the fantastic recipe! This cake has the perfect amount of fudginess and is just plain delicious!! I need to make it more often!!!
Dorien says
Just made this cake because my avocados were very ripe, and I put 1/2 cup avocado in it. The cake is very yummy 🙂 ! Thanks for the receipe!
5/5
5/5
Megan says
Looks delicious! Could you substitute coconut flour in this recipe? Can’t wait to try it.
Ally says
Hi Katie,
No matter how I adjust the baking time (more than doubled) I can’t get this cake to solidify. It’s still wet in the middle. Any suggestions? I’m using gluten free baking flour, in case that makes a difference.
Unofficial CCK Helper says
Hi! Are you using bobs gf flour or one not specified in the ingredients?
Janice Esposito says
This is one of our favorites. Easy to make, delicious and on the healthier side. The Grandsons love it.
5/5
5/5
Nicole says
So you would sub the same amount of oil for avocado?
Sue says
This is great! I made it with Arrowhead Mills GF flour, coconut palm sugar, and just a few chocolate chips. It looks more like brownies than cake, but who cares?
5/5
5/5
Sara says
I know your focus isn’t on caloric content but I am really confused as to how this comes out to 75 calories per slice based on 8 servings. Even using xylitol as the sweetener, I put this into MyFitnessPal and it comes out to 125 calories per slice. That’s pretty misleading for those watching calories, since it is almost double what you’ve posted (and more than double if using real sugar). Can you please re-check your calculation?
Amanda B. says
I have made it three times following directions exactly, and all three times it has come out wonderfully. Even just quickly looking through the comments, I counted 7 other positive reviews from people who made it, so I’m betting you probably only looked at this page of comments instead of all the pages. There are a lot of comments! Probably you just accidentally mismeasured something. It’s worth trying again!
Bea says
Hi, can I use vegetable milk instead of water?
Izabela Maciel says
Made the recipe today and loved it. So did my daughter and hubby. We traditionally make my hubby’s chocolate cake recipe that is awesome, but also so fatty and unhealthy. With this new recipe we will have the pleasure of the choc cake without the shame. My cake didn’t have the icing and may be the reason we found it a bit low on sweet. To add the sweetness I served it with plain yogurt and a drizzle of honey. Just senssational 😉
4/5
4/5
Jan says
Wow! I made this cake tonight using coconut milk instead of water. I used date sugar for my sweetener and added just a bit of almond extract. I skipped frosting and just topped the cake with a bit of sugar free jam. It was delicious! This was my first time using avocado in a dessert. I’ll definitely make this again! Thanks!
5/5
5/5
Sruthi says
This cake turned out so great and yummy! Love how I don’t taste avocado. I put 1/2 cup of sugar instead and while the batter tasted not so great, the cake was amaazzinngg with that deeeeeep chocolate taste that often gets interrupted by adding more sugar. Definetly gonna make more!
Melissa says
Hi! You think this will be ok if I bake it today and eat it tomorrow? Thanks!
Julie Dove says
Yup
Daniela says
I tried it today! Great and healthy. My son is intolerant to yeast and egg. He simply ate half of it. Many thanks!!!! I become you big fan. The suggar free icing with banana was also a success.
Enrica says
Great cake! I twicked a little: didn’t put the vanilla, put 1/2 cup muscovado sugar and 6 or 7 dates and used 100% dark chocolate as chips. Worked out so rich! Better the day after ❤
Do you think muffins would work too?
Julie Dove says
You can definitely experiment!
Mariana says
Thank you, Katie! I love this recipe. Have made it several times and am making it again today. I soak the flour overnight in the yogurt and water that the recipe calls for. The cake comes out moist and fluffy. I like baking it as cupcakes and even in miniature muffin tins. Turns out yummy and doesn’t even need the frosting.
My just-turned 3 year old daughter loves your recipes and has chosen your website as one to pick a recipe from when she reaches the “top” of her bedtime rewards chart!!
Blessings to you <
kelley says
My son said this is the best dessert ever! Second time making it and I used Swerve for sugar and reduced total sugar by a third.. Super moist. Wonderful recipe!
Jackie says
Katie, I love your website!! I have never baked so much in my entire life until I found your site. I thoroughly enjoy having people try things and then surprising them with what crazy ingredient is in there 😉 I made this cake yesterday and it was good, but today, it was awesome. It was fudgy and moist and the flavors really came together. For anyone making this, I recommend letting it stay in the fridge overnight before eating, if you can! It’s really worth the wait.
ShaJane says
Hi, Katie
Thanks for sharing the Avocado Chocolate Cake recipe. I always love Avocado. I will surely try this.
Sarah Fischer-Winkelmann says
Im Addicted to this Tasty and fantastic cake.? For me the best healthy alternativ for traditional and unhealthy sweets and cakes. All my colleagues and
friends Love it too. ?
I like your Blog so much.?
Maria R says
Smells heavenly, can’t wait to try it;-)
Silka says
Hi Katie! I made your cake along with the chocolate avocado icing and it was wonderful!!! My friends liked it too!!
Jamie says
I’ve had this recipe for a while but just tried it a few days ago. It was amazing!! I used white flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, granulated sugar and Oikos vanilla greek yogurt. It kind of had the texture of a brownie. It was moist and chocolatey. I made a coconut whipped cream but will try a greek yogurt cream cheese frosting next time. You really can’t taste the avocado! I would highly recommend trying this recipe.
Vivian says
I did make this tonight. Is it supposed to have the texture of a regular cake or more “wet” like a flourless cake/torte? Mine was the latter.
nada says
can I add more avocado puree up to 1/2 cup to make it extra fudgy ??
Cait says
Oh my gosh this was the perfect recipe to use up really old avocados. I subbed the flour for a 1/4 cup of coconut flour and added some ground flax seed for extra fiber. I might have added a heaping 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and a pinch of espresso powder. Literally so fudgy and decadent without the guilt! Such a great recipe for something so indulgent! Thanks for all you do, Katie!!