The best (and easiest) chocolate cake recipe! Made in one bowl, no mixer needed, and baked in an 8x8 pan.
If you've been following this site for some time, you know that my favorite type of recipes are quick, easy, and weeknight friendly. And this chocolate cake is IT. Whether you're an experienced baker or not, you will love this easy chocolate cake.
What makes this chocolate cake so easy?
This chocolate cake is made in just one bowl and is naturally dairy-free. No milk, eggs, or butter needed. You can mix it all by hand and it bakes in under 30 minutes.
What is a Depression Chocolate Cake?
This style of cake is known as a Depression Chocolate Cake because it doesn't use milk, butter, or eggs - ingredients that were expensive and difficult to find during the Great Depression. However, the resulting cake doesn't taste like any sacrifice has been made - it is rich, moist, and incredibly delicious.
This is my go-to cake recipe. It’s easy, delicious, and endlessly adaptable for different occasions! - AB
This Chocolate Cake is perfect for:
- Taking to friends with a new baby, new house, or who just need a little love
- Potlucks
- Baking with kids
- Late-night chocolate cravings
- Birthdays
- Tuesday nights
Chocolate Cake without Eggs
One of the surprising perks of this recipe is that it doesn't require eggs! It is naturally egg-free and naturally vegan. But whether you came here looking for an egg-free / vegan cake or not, you'll love this cake. It is tender and full of chocolate flavor.
This was amazing! First time baking without eggs! Me and my family loved it.
- Jenni
Chocolate Cake Ingredients
- Flour - All-Purpose Flour is the best bet here. I've also tested with White Whole Wheat flour with great results. (I'd guess that a gluten-free blend / sub would also work really well in this simple recipe, though I haven't tried it.)
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder - Look for natural unsweetened cocoa powder, not cocoa powder labeled Dutch-process. Regular Hershey's Cocoa Powder is my go-to, but I also make this recipe with Hershey's Special Dark and the results are great.
- Vegetable Oil - I keep vegetable oil on-hand for baking, but any other neutral oil would work.
- Mini Chocolate Chips - These are optional, but add a great bonus chocolate element. Mini chocolate chips work best - they bake evenly into the cake and you get a little in each bite. Standard-sized chocolate chips would work too, but will be more pronounced in the final product.
- Sugar, Pure Vanilla Extract, Baking Soda, Salt - Standard baking ingredients.
How to make chocolate cake
- Prepare a baking dish. Spray it with nonstick cooking spray. You can line it with parchment paper to make the cake easy to remove.
- Combine dry ingredients.
- Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix just until combined.
- Pour batter into prepared dish.
- Bake at 350 degrees F. until the cake pulls away from the edges and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow cake to cool completely.
- Just before serving, add frosting (optional).
- Slice and serve!
Best Toppings for Chocolate Cake
All chocolate cake really needs is a dusting of powdered sugar, but it's also great with any of these
- Powdered sugar
- Creamy Chocolate Frosting
- Vanilla Whipped Cream Frosting
- Nutella Frosting
- Peanut Butter Frosting
- Whipped Cream
- Chocolate Shavings
- Fresh Berries
Cover frosted or unfrosted chocolate cake well and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Yes! Allow a baked cake to cool completely at room temperature. Wrap or cover it well and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature for a couple of hours. Frost just before serving.
I haven't tried it, but I'm sure it would work. Just keep a close eye on it as it bakes because the cook time may vary. For a great Chocolate Bundt Cake, I highly recommend this one.
This recipe works great as a batch of cupcakes. Reduce the baking time to between 13 and 17 minutes.
Yes! It's naturally vegan. Just be sure to use dairy-free chocolate chips if you choose to add some to the recipe.
More 8x8 Cake Recipes
Favorite Tools for 8x8 Cakes
- 8x8 Square Cake Pan - This is my favorite pan. Everything bakes evenly and it will last for years and years.
- Flat Whisk - A flat whisk is my favorite tool for scraping around all of the edges of a bowl.
- Glass Mixing Bowls
Easy Chocolate Cake
Equipment
- Mixing Bowl
- 8-inch square or 9-inch round baking pan
Ingredients
One Bowl Chocolate Cake:
- 1 ¼ cup (150 g) All-Purpose Flour
- 1 cup (200 g) Sugar, granulated
- ¾ cup (60 g) Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (not Dutch-process cocoa)
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ cup Vegetable Oil
- 1 ¼ cup Water
- 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
- ½ cup Mini Chocolate Chips (optional)
Optional Topping:
- A dusting of powdered sugar (this is really all it needs!)
- Chocolate Frosting
- Whipped cream and chocolate shavings
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Spray an 8-inch square or 9-inch round baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add oil, water, and vanilla extract all at once and stir just until everything is combined and no dry spots remain.
- Stir in chocolate chips.
- Pour batter into prepared baking dish.
- Bake until the cake is set in the middle, 27 to 30 minutes. (Note: In a thicker pan made of glass or ceramic, the cake may take up to an extra 5 minutes to cook all the way through.)
- Allow cake to cool completely. Once cool, top however you'd like (I like a simple dusting of powdered sugar or this chocolate frosting).
- Slice and serve! (This makes 9 generous slices or 12-16 smaller slices.)
Winni
Your recipes are easy and quick. loved this cake, I will try this on weekends. Thank you for sharing.
Jess
Thanks so much Winni - glad you liked it!
Brielle
I've made this twice now and it is delicious. I am vegan, so I use the Enjoy Life brand chocolate chips. For the icing, I use vanilla almond milk, I Can't Belive It's Vegan butter, and replace the honey with maple syrup. Great recipe!
Jess
Thanks so much Brielle! So glad you liked it. I've used the Enjoy Life chocolate chips when I've made this for friends who are vegan, but I'm going to try your icing method next time too!
Hilary
This was delicious! We frosted it with cream cheese frosting and it was a big hit.
Jenni
This was amazing! First time baking without eggs! Me and my family loved it. Could I bake this in a Bundt pan? If so, how many minutes?
Jess
I'm so glad you liked it! This really is my favorite go-to cake! It would definitely bake in a Bundt pan, but I've never tried it, so I'm not exactly sure about the timing. I'm also not sure that it would fill a whole pan, so it might take a double batch of batter to fill. However, If I were going to try it, I'd double the recipe, pour into a bundt cake pan (bake it on a sheet pan just in case the batter spills over during baking) and then try it at 350 F for 45-50 minutes.
Jenni
Sounds like a plan! Thank for the advice, I may try that this weekend! 🙂
Wish
The recipe looks super great and promising. I'd sure love to try it. Could I possibly make this in microwave? What would be the ideal time settings?
VJ
Hi! I found your recipe and I was like WOW...
I'm going to bake this tonight for my son's birthday tomorrow and I only have a 6 CUP Bundt pan... please let me know by tomorrow if I can bake this cake in a 6 CUP Bundt pan..
Thanks
Jess Smith
Hi VJ - I'm getting to this a bit late, but hopefully it turned out! The cook time should be exactly the same if baking in a 6 cup bundt pan.
Susan Kilyk
I would like to substitute the Sugar to Stevia and use canola oil and Almond flour, for the low sugar, low carb alternative. I wonder how that would work.
nina
what a easy recipe! we really enjoyed very chocolaty.perfect for a cold night to watch a comedy.perfect my kind of alittle bit of happiness.ty happy holidays
Jess Smith
What a wonderful cozy night! Thanks so much for the note!
Cindi R.
Great cake, but the center caved in badly. Was careful, didn’t open the oven & baked it completely. I covered it up with lots of frosting & toasted pecans. Everyone loved it!
Jess Smith
So glad you liked the flavor - the frosting + pecans sounds great! I'm sorry to hear about the caving center - is there any chance your baking soda might be older? Sometimes that can cause a sunken cake?
Kia L Pankau
Thanks for an excellent recipe! Made it for my card club and they really loved it.
Anne Evans
I was looking for a small cake to bake for my daughter's birthday and came upon this recipe and I am so glad I did!! It is so moist and it kind of reminds me of a brownie with frosting. I put cream cheese frosting on top because it is my daughter's favorite and it was delicious. I have already given this recipe to 3 friends!
Have you had ever made cupcakes with this batter? If so, what do you think the baking time would be?
Thanks for a great recipe!
Annie
Jess Smith
Yes! I've made cupcakes with this batter and they turn out great. I believe the bake time at 350 was between 13 and 17 minutes...though I remember I had to play around with it a bit. I love the cake (and the cupcakes) with cream cheese frosting too!
Sandra
I made. this cake and I love it Quick and easy and DELICIOUS.THIS IS A GOOD COMPANY COMING CAKE ! I DID USE THE COFFEE TIP .
Angela Buckingham
Hello, regarding the above chocolate recipe, could I still make this cake with eggs? If yes, how would I do it? Skip the oil and the water?
Jess Smith
I've never tried it with eggs, but I imagine it would change the result considerably. It's great without them!
AB
This is my go-to cake recipe. It’s easy, delicious, and endlessly adaptable for different occasions!
I’m hoping to make it for a large group next week. Could I double the recipe for a 9x13 pan? Are there any other adjustments you would recommend?
Jess Smith
I actually have never baked this cake in a 9x13, but I would guess it might work. I've baked larger batches and made it into a layer cake, but I always bake it in multiple square pans. If you try it in a 9x13, just start testing it for doneness at the recommended cooking time, but continue baking it as long as needed until a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. I'd love to know if it turns out!
Rosemarie Torres
This is by far the easiest chocolate cake that I have ever made I actually sell my cupcakes using this recipe instead of veggie oil I use Olive oil for the frosting I use Coconut milk to sub for milk and its just perfect as a vegan dessert but its just so decadent that people can't believe no dairy whatsoever. Do you have a vanilla cake version like this? Thank you for creating such wonderful food. You take the guesswork out of cooking by creating these recipes and posting them.
Rosie from Rosie's Homecooking catery LLC.
Kate
I live at high altitude- about a mile above sea level. Are there adjustments you’d recommend? I made this and while delicious, it fell in the middle. Help!
Andrea
I’ve made this cake a few times and we love it! Do you think it could be baked in a Bundt pan?
Jess Smith
I do think it would work in a bundt pan, but it might need to be doubled to fill the pan. And definitely just keep an eye on it as it bakes - it will definitely take longer if you double the batter. I haven't tried it, but would love to hear how it goes!