This is the BEST Gluten Free Chocolate Cake! It’s moist, delicious and no one will ever guess it’s gluten free! It is perfect for your next celebration that calls for cake!
It’s my birthday! Well, not actually until Tuesday, but I think it is ok to celebrate all week, right?! Especially when your birthday falls on a weekday. When this happens you should probably make a huge gluten free chocolate cake and eat yourself into a chocolate cake frenzy all week long! My mom used to make a homemade cake for me every birthday growing up and they were delicious! I’ve recently started making them for myself and my kids and this gluten free chocolate cake makes a regular appearance.
Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Recipe Ingredients & Substitutions
- Gluten Free All Purpose Flour – I developed this gluten free chocolate cake recipe using Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1:1 Baking Flour. I have since made this recipe using a couple of other AP gluten free flour blends and it has worked, but I always prefer the taste and texture when I use Bob’s Red Mill. If using a different brand, make sure it contains xantham gum.
- Cocoa Powder -I use regular, natural cocoa powder for this recipe, not dutch cocoa powder.
- Sugar – I use both granulated sugar and brown sugar for this recipe. I use light brown sugar but dark brown would work as well. You could also use a mixture of cane sugar and coconut sugar.
- Butter – I use unsalted butter so you can regulate the amount of salt in your cake. I’ve also made this cake using vegan butter and it worked great!
- Eggs – I originally developed this gluten free cake recipe using real eggs, but have also tried the recipe using a vegan egg substitute and it worked well.
- Almond Milk – You can use any plant based milk for this recipe, and if you aren’t needing the cake to be dairy free you can use regular milk.
- Non-fat Greek yogurt – Non-fat Greek yogurt makes the cake light and fluffy but you can also use dairy free yogurt. I usually use plain yogurt but have made the recipe with strawberry greek yogurt and it worked great!
- Frosting – You can use any kind of frosting you want for this cake! I like chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, but it’s totally up to you. I have linked the chocolate frosting recipe I used in these photos in the recipe card.
- Vanilla Extract
- Salt, Baking Soda, Baking Powder
How To Make The Best Gluten Free Chocolate Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease your cake pans. This recipe makes a round 3 layer cake, but you can also use it to make cupcakes or a sheet cake.
- In a medium sized bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa power, salt, baking soda and baking powder. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars for about 3 minutes until they are light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking in between each addition. Then add the vanilla and mix again. Finally add the milk and mix one last time. The wet mixture might look a little strange, like it’s curdled, at this point, but that is ok!
- Add the flour mixture and the Greek yogurt to the wet mixture, one half at a time alternating between the two, starting with the flour. Give the batter one last mix until everything is combined.
- Equally distribute the batter between the three baking pans. Bake cakes for about 30 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let the cake cool inside the pan for ten minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.
- Once the cakes are cooled, transfer to a plate or cake stand and stack the cakes on top of eachother, frosting in between each one. Frost the top and sides of the cake, smoothing out with a knife if necessary.
Easy Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Frequently Asked Questions
- Is this recipe dairy free? You can easily make this recipe dairy free! Just use dairy free butter and dairy free milk.
- Can I use almond/rice/coconut etc… flour in this cake? You could try, but I’ve had the best results using regular Gluten Free AP flour. Coconut flour would definitely alter the recipe and need more liquid.
- Can I make this recipe without eggs? Yes, just use an egg substitute. I like to use a flax or chia egg.
- Can I make cupcake with this recipe? Yes! Unless you need a lot of cupcakes, I would suggest cutting down the recipe by 1/3 to make cupcakes, it should make 24 cupcakes.
- Can I make a two layer cake instead of a 3 layer cake? Yes, just cut the recipe down by 1/3.
- Can I make this cake ahead of time? Yes, there are two ways you can make this cake in advance:
- How to freeze the cake: let cake cool completely and then wrap each round in plastic wrap. Place the plastic wrapped cake into a ziplock bag or airtight container and freeze up to 3 months. Unwrap the cakes and thaw on the counter until ready to frost.
- How to store the cakes for just a few days: let the cakes cool completely and then wrap them loosely in plastic wrap and store at room temperature for up to 2 days. If it’s hot in your kitchen, store in the refrigerator.
Have a question that I didn’t answer? Ask me in the comment section below and I will get back to you ASAP!
Looking For More Easy Gluten Free Dessert Recipes?
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Gluten Free Three Layer Chocolate Cake
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8-12 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
This is the best homemade gluten free chocolate cake you will ever eat! Everyone who makes it loves it, even people who aren’t gluten free!
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons Bob’s Red Mill gluten free 1:1 baking flour*
- 1 1/2 cup cocoa powder, sifted
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cup almond milk or regular milk
- 1 1/2 cup plain non-fat Greek yougurt
- 2 cups chocolate frosting – see link below for the one I used
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a medium sized bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powered, salt, baking soda and baking powder. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars. Add the eggs one at a time and then add the vanilla and mix again. Finally add the milk and mix one last time. The wet mixture might look a little strange at this point, but that is ok!
- Add the flour mixture and the Greek yogurt to the wet mixture, one half at a time alternating between the two, starting with the flour. Give the batter one last mix until everything is combined.
- Grease three 8 inch cake pans and equally distribute the batter into the pans. Bake cakes for about 30 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let the cake cool inside the pan for ten minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.
- Once the cakes are cooled, transfer to a plate or cake stand and stack the cakes on top of eachother, frosting in between each one. Frost the top and sides of the cake, smoothing out with a knife if necessary.
Notes
*I have only made this recipe using Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1:1 Baking flour, I’m not sure if it would turn out the same using a different gluten free flour.
I used this chocolate frosting recipe, but you can use any recipe or store-bought frosting you like. You will need about 2 cups depending on how much frosting you like to use.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Category: Dessert, Gluten Free
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Can I use mayonnaise in place of the Greek yogurt! I was hoping this could replicate that cake.
Hi Mimi, I haven’t ever tried this recipe using mayonnaise, but I think it has the potential to work!
I made this three layer cake for my son’s birthday today. Three of the 8 of us have celiacs. Everyone at the table loved it!
That’s so nice to hear!! Happy Birthday to your son!
Best cake ever!!!!!!! So moist and delicious. Even better than any gluten-y cake I’ve had. Thank you so much for this recipe.
That is so nice to hear!!!
Made this cake for my birthday and used peanut butter frosting. It was DELICIOUS and I couldn’t even tell it was gluten free. It was so so rich, and more of a moist and dense cake, which I love. Thank you for this recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I love the combo with the peanut butter frosting!
This is the best gluten free chocolate cake recipe! My husband made it for my birthday and now its a staple.
My brother who usually scoffs at gluten free recipes asked for the recipe.
The only thing we changed is we always use dark cocoa powder. I basically use dark cocoa powder for any chocolate recipe because I love dark chocolate.
Thanks again for this recipe!
That is SO nice to hear!!! <3
This cake is always a hit year after year for birthday cakes! I have always made it with the butter called for, but am interested in trying olive oil instead. Would you try it using 3/4c oil for every 1 cup of butter since the oil will be completely liquid? Thank you!
I’m so glad to hear that!! Hmm, yes, I would cut down the amount of olive oil since it will add more liquid than the butter. I would try using half the amount and then you can add more if the consistency looks too dry.
A dark chocolate cake was requested – but I was only going to make one if it was gluten-free. This cake knocked it out of the park. I use super dark chocolate icing and it was delicious.
That is SO nice to hear!!
This is my new favorite cake. Even my friends who aren’t GF think it’s the best cake ever. I made it as a bundt cake with coconut filling and it was AMAZING!
That’s so great to hear!! The coconut filling sounds so good!
I am just about crying tears of joy here! I’m fairly new to gluten free baking – my daughter in law is gluten intolerant and I have been trying to include her in as much as i can. This is the FIRST cake that I can proudly share with her and the rest of the family! My experiences so far have resulted in choking dry gritty cakes that ended up in the trash before anyone else could try it. This one is so moist and delicious that even my youngest son (who usually turns up his nose at gluten free anything) had a big chunk of it and declared it delicious – though the look on his face when I told him was priceless lol. I used Robin Hood all purpose gluten free flour which is all I can pretty much find here in my corner of Canada. I find it tends to soak up a lot of liquid so I reduced the amount to 2 cups but still had to add nearly 1/2 cup of additional milk, it was thicker than any pound cake I’ve ever made, I let it sit on the table while the oven preheated and crossed my fingers. Now I have a wonderful cake recipe that she and the rest of us can enjoy – it broke my heart when she said its been years since she had a birthday cake! I can’t thank you enough! I would give this recipe 100 stars if I could 🙂
Thank you so much for the kind words, Jane!! Your post just made my day! I’m so happy you were able to make a cake for your daughter in law that she enjoyed, and that everyone else enjoyed too! That is so nice to hear! <3
Hi I just made this cake and my cakes didn’t rise in the middle, were sunken. Did I undermix the batter ( I have no experience with GF flours)? Did I have too much batter in the pans ( I made 1/2 the recipe and put in 3 6″ tins)? This happened with another GF recipe I tried and thought if was the recipe but now I know it is me. Any advice would be appreciated. I am used to making reg. flour cakes that should not be overmixed as that makes them tough.
Hmmm, which gluten free Flour mix did you use? Is your baking soda and baking powder fairly new?
I used Bob’s Red Mill. Yes, everything is up to date. THe sides of the cake rose just the middle didn’t. I read somewhere to let batter sit for 15 mins to allow starches to develop. I am going to try that. The cake was delicious…just not pretty. Thanks for the recipe.
Hmm, so strange! I hope it works better next time!