Easy Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

If you love rich, decadent chocolate cake but you've sworn off gluten, this is the recipe for you. You can stop searching for the perfect flourless, gluten free chocolate cake, my friend. You've found it right here, in this post.

Gluten Free Cake? Really?

These days a large segment of the population is cutting back on gluten. Many struggle with Celiac disease. Others simply choose to remove gluten for other health or dietary reasons.

I recently visited a friend who loves yummy foods but isn't a fan of white flour or other familiar glutens. She's a clean eater who strives to only put the best possible foods into her body.

My friend came up with the idea to bake a flourless chocolate cake. I was happy to join her. I've been wanting to add more gluten-free recipes to my blog for some time but couldn't find many that I enjoyed.

I'm not sure where she found this particular recipe, but she told me she chose it because it was one of the few that didn't require a double boiler for the chocolate mixture.

I'm so glad we were able to skip that step! I was looking for something easy-breezy! I think you'll find it simple, too!

This is a Rich Flourless Cake

Disclaimer: You'll want to check your ingredients to make sure the cocoa powder, sugar, and other items don't contain gluten.

No matter your reason for avoiding flour and other glutens, there are still a host of options available these days. And guess what? Gluten-free (or flourless) products don't have to taste bad. (I know. You've been burned one too many times in the past, right?)

I can absolutely assure you, you won't be disappointed with this cake. It's rich and dense, packed with flavor, but it still manages to have a tender, flaky crumb. The key to that luscious combination is in the ingredients, themselves.

So, what's keeping you? Let's take a peek at what goes into these yummy treats!

Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake Ingredients

You'll find a full printable recipe card at the bottom of this post. For now, here's what you'll need to gather for this easy recipe. These are simple ingredients, I promise!

You've probably got most of these items in your pantry or refrigerator right now.

• room temperature butter (salted or unsalted butter, your choice)
• high quality chocolate chips
• sugar (we used organic brown coconut sugar)
• unsweetened cocoa powder
• pure vanilla extract
• eggs
• powdered sugar (for sprinkling)
• Dreamy buttercream (optional)

How to make Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

Ready to get started? This is such an easy process. You're going to wonder why you haven't made these before! They came together quickly and easily and didn't even require a hand mixer or stand mixer. We whipped them up in one medium bowl.

Start by pre-heating your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Place your chocolate chips and butter in a heatproof bowl and place it in the microwave. Heat in thirty second intervals until melted chocolate is smooth and creamy. Stir well and set aside.

Allow chocolate mixture to cool for five minutes before moving ahead with the rest of the instructions.

One fully cooled add your sugar and vanilla.

Stir until fully incorporated and smooth. (Yum!)

Now it's time to add your room temperature eggs and cocoa powder. These two ingredients are incredibly important to the overall structure of the cake. They will help bind it together.

Whisk until smooth.

Pour cake batter into prepared pan. We used a 9 x 9-inch square baking pan. If you use a smaller one (8 x 8) you might have to bake your cake a little longer than we did. Next time I'll probably use an 8-inch round pan so I can cut proper triangles.

Place in pre-heated oven.

Bake for 25 minutes or until cake pulls away from the edges of the pan and until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the cake.

While the cake bakes, make some Dreamy Buttercream or Chocolate Frosting. You might opt for a Chocolate Ganache Glaze.

Set your baking dish on a wire rack. Let cake cool completely.

Cut into individual slices.

If you use a round pan this process will give you a better end result. Our triangles were a little lopsided but check out this beautiful slice!

If you're eating your cake later, store in an airtight container or cover with plastic wrap.

Let's Decorate This Cake!

Now comes the fun part! You can make a simple glaze by melting more chocolate chips with a bit of heavy cream, but we opted to decorate our slices for the holidays in other ways. We started with some simple powdered sugar.

Check this out! We put tiny silk leaves on one slice and sprinkled it with powdered sugar then pulled the leaves away.

And on this one we used a paper doily. No, really! We put it down onto the slice of cake and sprinkled powdered sugar over it then lifted it away. Pretty, right?

I've had holidays on the brain lately so I decided to use a little buttercream to decorate some fall slices. Check these out. Perfect for Halloween or Thanksgiving, don't you think?

I wasn't content to stop with the fall decor, though! I just love decorating for Christmas.

I even made a tiny tree using buttercream.

Here's my favorite one of all. We added powdered sugar and buttercream rosettes.

Once we finished decorating, we staged all of our slices together on one plate. Aren't they pretty? Perfect for the holidays, which just goes to show you that you can please all of your guests, even the ones who are gluten-free!

What to Expect from This Decadent Flourless Cake

This recipe is proof that you really can have your cake and eat it too, even if you're gluten-free! It's a rich chocolate cake, loaded with flavor, both from the chips and the cocoa powder.

This luscious chocolate cake is the perfect texture, almost brownie-like. We wondered if it would have a fudge consistency, which is often the case with gluten-free products.

Nope. It's not fudge, though it does have a rich, fudgy taste!

I was tickled to see that this cake actually has a very tender crumb. It literally melts on the tongue. You'll never believe this is gluten-free. I promise! (Caution! You'll be tempted to eat the whole cake!)

This easy dessert is perfect for a tea party, so I'll be adding it to my High Tea Recipes list, for sure!

This Flourless Cake Doesn't Disappoint!

Once we finished decorating our cake slices we settled down at my friend's beautifully decorated table and enjoyed ours with steaming cups of Earl Grey tea. Talk about the perfect combination.

I'm here to tell you, this is one cake that did not disappoint. I'll be making it again and again, and I won't save it for my gluten free friends!

Speaking of friends, I want to thank my sweet friend Anita who invited me into her home to bake together. She's the hostess with the mostest, always offering the best of everything in a lovely environment. A couple of months back she invited me over to make Easy Buttermilk Scones. She's always got terrific ideas for high-end baking.

Trust me, I have learned a lot from her, especially when it comes to presentation!

Variations on this Flourless Cake Recipe

I'm already thinking of ways to change this delectable recipe up a bit next time. Here are some things that might be tasty:

Fresh Berries: Serve this cake with fresh raspberries, blackberries, or strawberries.

Mint Chocolate. Substituting mint chocolate chips for regular chocolate chips sounds like a yummy option, doesn't it? Drizzle with mint chocolate ganache on top.

Sugar-free: If you're going gluten-free you might also be off of sugar, so why not add monk fruit in place of sugar to this recipe? I'm also a fan of Lily's Sugar-Free Chocolate Chips.

Ghee (clarified butter). If you're dairy-free, you can use dairy free chocolate and ghee in place of butter. I'm not dairy-free so I don't know much about this process but I feel sure it can be done.

Espresso Powder: Why didn't I think of this? My Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake has espresso powder and it's delicious! Chocolate and coffee are lovely together!

Optional: Serve with whipped cream.

There are probably a host of other ways to change up this cake but I have to tell you, it's really, really good just like it is! This is one of those chocolate desserts you're going to make again and again. This is truly the best flourless chocolate cake recipe I've found to-date. No kidding.

See this recipe at

Full Plate Thursday 

Weekend Potluck

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Other Healthy Options from Out of the Box Baking

If you're looking for healthy choices here are a few that I heartily recommend:

• Gluten-free Sugar-Free Banana Nut Muffins: These will hit the spot if you're off of sugar and gluten!
• Healthy Bran Muffins: These are loaded with peanut butter, a lovely option!
• Banana Pancakes: These are made of eggs and bananas and they're packed full of flavor and protein.
• Cloud Bread Pavlova: This sweet treat is simple and candy-like. You're going to love it!

My friend Debby has a lot of healthy options on her blog. Here's one that looks delicious:

• Gluten-free Pumpkin Muffins

And y'all. . .check out this great recipe for Paleo Chocolate Lava Cakes from my friends over at Five Monsters Paleo! Yum!

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That's it for this post, friends! I hope you enjoyed this flourless cake recipe. I'm going to leave you with a verse that reminds me of my friend Anita, a gracious and brilliant hostess:

Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay.

1 Peter 4:9 NLT

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About the Author

Janice Thompson is an author, baker, and all-around mischief maker! She has overcome a host of baking catastrophes, including a toppled wedding cake, to learn more about the baking process. Janice has published over 150 books for the Christian market but particularly enjoys writing recipes and baking devotions. To learn more about Janice or to drop her a note, visit her About the Author page.