Erin’s Recipe Rundown
Texture: Moist, tender crumb topped with fluffy, creamy frosting.
Taste: Rich chocolate cake and decadent frosting made with a secret ingredient to take it to the next level!
Ease: Beginner-friendly, reliable sheet cake.
Top Tip: Using hot water blooms the cocoa powder for bakery-quality chocolate cake. You can also use hot coffee!
Recommended GF Flour: Use a high-quality flour that contains xanthan gum. Both King Arthur Gluten-Free Measure-for-Measure Flour and Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1:1 Baking Flour work well in this one.
Would I make these again? Absolutely! I’ve made this easy gluten-free chocolate cake more times than I can count and nobody ever guesses it’s gluten-free — perfect for any celebration!
xoxo erin
Featured Comment
From Rosalie: “This cake is the BEST!! Haven’t had a chocolate cake in years because I had tried recipes and mixes I wasn’t happy with. I was recently craving good old-fashioned chocolate cake and am so happy I tried this recipe! I looked at many recipes until I chose this one. My non-celiac husband said he couldn’t even tell it was GF.”
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here are a few notes on some of the key ingredients to make this gluten-free chocolate cake. Jump to the recipe card below for the exact measurements.
- Gluten-free flour: It’s important to use a gluten-free measure-for-measure flour blend that contains xanthan gum. I like to use King Arthur or Bob’s Red Mill.
- Oil: I prefer to use oil since butter often causes it to clump up. The smoothness of the oil helps to create a light, moist crumb.
- Buttermilk/sour cream: Chocolate cake can easily become dry, but this combo adds extra moisture, stability and lift for a tender cake. Plus they ensure rich, indulgent flavor!
- Hot water: Hot water (or coffee) allows the cocoa powder to absorb and the batter to hydrate. This deepens the flavor and creates a smooth batter for the perfect texture!
- Cocoa powder: You can use any kind of cocoa powder. I usually use Hershey’s, but Dutch-processed or natural cocoa powder can be used for a richer frosting.
- Heavy cream or milk: Both loosen the frosting to make it smooth and spreadable. I recommend heavy cream for a fluffier, more luxurious topping.
- Almond extract: This is the secret ingredient! It elevates the frosting’s flavor and depth creating truly decadent frosting.
How to Make Gluten Free Chocolate Cake
Here’s an overview of how to make this recipe. You can jump to the recipe for the full instructions!
Two bowls are all you need for this simple recipe! In one combine all of the dry ingredients, in the other add all of the wet ingredients (except the hot water). I like to use a stand mixer to beat the wet ingredients, but a hand mixer will work too!
While you have the mixer running, slowly add the dry mix in 3 phases, mixing after each addition. Slowly add the hot water and continue to mix (2-3 minutes), scraping the bowl’s sides along the way.
You’ll know it’s ready to bake when it looks smooth and incorporated. Bake (35-40 minutes) until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean. Cool before frosting!
Use the stand mixer (or hand mixer) to prep the frosting. Beat the butter on medium-high until creamy (2 minutes), then add 3 cups of powdered sugar, plus the other ingredients. Whip the frosting until fluffy, starting on low (30 seconds), then medium-high (2 minutes).
You want it to be a spreadable consistency. If it seems too thick, you can always add more cream/milk. Too thin? Add a little more powdered sugar. Frost the cooled cake and enjoy!
Easy, Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake (9×13!)
Video
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 2 cups (300g) gluten-free measure-for-measure flour
- ½ cup (41g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Other
- 1¾ cups (350g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (120ml) neutral oil
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- ½ cup (120g) sour cream at room temperature
- ½ cup (120ml) buttermilk at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup (120ml) hot water
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- ½ cup (113g) butter at room temperature
- 3-4 cups (360-480g) powdered sugar
- ⅓ cup (27g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ cup (60ml) heavy cream or milk of choice
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- pinch of kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the gluten-free flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, or using a hand mixer, beat together sugar, oil, eggs, sour cream, buttermilk and vanilla on medium-high speed until well-combined.
- With the mixer running on low, slowly add the dry ingredients in 3 additions, mixing after each addition.
- Slowly pour in the hot water. Mix on medium speed for 2-3 minutes, scraping down the sides halfway through, until smooth and incorporated.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting.
- For the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer, or using a hand mixer, beat the butter on medium-high speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add 3 cups powdered sugar along with the cocoa powder, cream/milk, vanilla extract, almond extract and salt. Mix on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to medium-high speed and whip for a full 2 minutes.
- If the frosting is too thick, add a little more cream/milk. If the frosting is too thin, add more powdered sugar to get a spreadable consistency. Frost the cake as desired.
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published in January 2021. It was updated with new photos and instructions in July 2025.
Fabulous ! I am really enjoying GF baking since finding your site This recipe couldn’t have turned out better .. light , moist & delicious .. used almond flavoured coffee in cake & icing .. probably the best chocolate cake I’ve baked gluten free or not ..yum !
Thank you for your thoughtful feedback, Julie! We’re so glad you loved the cake!
Delicious, and absolutely nobody would know it is gluten free! I used half (1/4 cup) brewed espresso and half hot water to make up the hot water portion for the cake. It gave the cake such a lovely depth of flavor. I also used light sour cream and avocado oil. Worked great! The worst part is waiting for it to be ready to eat.
Aww, this makes us so happy, Julie! We’re so glad you loved the cake! Thank you for sharing your experience with us. Happy baking!
Can I make tjs in a 9×13 glass pan?
Hi Chuck, yes this recipe is for a 9×13 pan and glass will work well. We hope you enjoy the cake!
Very good. Can’t tell this is gluten free at all. I did make a mistake and add 1/4 tsp almond extract to the cake batter but it was fine. As with all things chocolate I did add a little espresso powder to the cake batter and frosting. I served this to all gluten eating folks and they all loved it.
Is this cake stackable? Like can I make a 2 layer or 3 layer cake with this recipe?
Hi Veronica, yes this cake can be made into a layer cake! We hope you enjoy the recipe!
Just made this recipe for the first time and it was a huge hit! Could this recipe work in two 7inch round pans? Or would I need to reduce the amount of batter the recipe calls for? Thanks!
What a delicious chocolate cake! So moist! I enjoyed making it and eating it. Thank you so much for the best chocolate fix ever!
We’re so happy you enjoyed the cake, Deborah! Thank you for taking time to share your kind feedback.
This recipe is outstanding!! I made a couple of changes by using espresso instead of hot water, and adding mini chocolate chips to the batter. This will absolutely be my new go-to cake recipe
Hi Anna, thank you for sharing your experience and tips! We’re happy to hear you loved the recipe!
This is the best chocolate cake I’ve ever had! I took it to Bible Study and they couldn’t believe that it’s gluten free. Well done meaningful Eats!
Hi! If you use a flour mixture without xanthan gum, how much should you add to the recipe? Thank you! Love your recipes, btw, thank you for sharing them!
Hi Michelle, the gf measure-for-measure flour we use already contains the xanthan gum so we can’t say for certain, but usually the recommendation for cakes is to add 1/2 teaspoon of xanthan gum per cup of flour, if your gf blend doesn’t already contain it. We hope this helps! Thank you for your kind words!
If the flour I get doesn’t have xantham gum in it, should I add some? If so, how much?
I love this as a cake. Can this be used for cupcakes? I’ve tried the cupcake recipe and it wasn’t as good as this cake.
Yes you can make this into cupcakes! Just reduce the baking time – I would guess 20-25 minutes but keep an eye on them!
This cake is delicious! You can’t even tell it’s gluten free. It tastes almost exactly like the chocolate cake my grandma used to make for me when I was a kid, so it’s nostalgic for me as well 🙂 I used a little less cocoa powder in the frosting as I like a bit of a lighter flavor, but it turned out great still! This is the best gluten free cake recipe I’ve found so far since going gluten free years ago!
We made this for Christmas! Absolutely delicious! Very moist and great frosting-not too sweet. We want to use this recipe for a layered birthday cake. Would this work? What would the cook time be? Thank you!
Ps: we bought your cookbook and love it!
I was diagnosed with Celiac 10 years ago after MANY years of regular eating. Knowing what foods taste like with gluten and then without has been a challenge, until now! Thank you SO much for thus awesome chocolate cake recipe. I found the key was measuring using grams. It was SOOO good. My family, not GF, LOVED IT and said they would eat it daily! I changed NOTHING. Thank you so much!
I totally understand that struggle! I’m so happy your whole family enjoyed the chocolate cake! Using grams is always the best way.