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Home » Recipes » Desserts (All) » Cakes & Cupcakes » One-Bowl Chocolate Cake

One-Bowl Chocolate Cake

August 15, 2019 6 Comments

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One-Bowl Chocolate Cake, an easy homemade chocolate cake recipe that is simple, moist, and delicious! This chocolate cake from scratch is great for a birthday or special occasion. Top it with your favorite frosting and toppings for an extreme treat!

(For your shopping convenience, this post contains affiliate links.)

slice of chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting on plate

You may recognize this cake from the Money Cake videos we did earlier this year. Although everyone seemed to love the money coming out of that cake, the One-Bowl Chocolate Cake itself was SUPER delicious! So I’m sharing the recipe just for the cake so you can frost it any way you’d like.

One-Bowl Chocolate Cake slice on plate

No weird ingredients in this simple and basic chocolate cake. The best part is you only need one bowl to make the cake batter so less cleaning which is great.

One-Bowl Chocolate Cake Ingredients

  • Sugar
  • Flour
  • Unsweetened cocoa powder
  • Baking powder
  • Baking soda
  • salt
  • eggs
  • milk
  • water (or coffee)
  • Vegetable oil (or canola oil)
  • Vanilla extract

How to Make a One-Bowl Chocolate Cake from Scratch

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 3 9-inch round cake pans. Place 9-inch parchment rounds on bottoms of pans and grease if desired.
  2. In a large mixing bowl whisk together the granulated sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well combined.
  3. Add eggs, milk, water, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract to bowl on top of other ingredients. Gently whisk the wet ingredients on top to just combine slightly and break eggs. Then whisk all ingredients together until just combined. It’s ok if small lumps.
  4. Divide batter between three pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into middle comes out clean.
  5. Remove cakes from oven, cool slightly, then remove cakes from pan to cool completely. Frost as desired.

(Full printable recipe card is at bottom of post.)

decorated cake on cake stand

Quick Tips for Best Results

  • Prep your cake pans well by greasing and using parchment paper for easy removal. You can also dust with a mixture of flour and cocoa powder.
  • Make sure you use UNSWEETENED cocoa powder since there’s more sugar in the recipe.
  • The cake is quite moist, so handle with care from removing from pans.
  • Cool the cake layers completely before frosting.

One-Bowl Chocolate Cake FAQ

Can I bake this chocolate cake in 2 pans?
Yes, but depending on how deep your pans are you will probably have extra cake batter. If you don’t have 3 pans, you can bake 2 at one time, then bake the third later. Or reduce the recipe ingredients by 1/3 for 2 pans.

What kind of frosting should I use on this chocolate cake?
Any frosting would be really great! Vanilla, chocolate, and peanut butter are just a few options.

My cake fell apart what do I do?
If the cake is in big pieces, you can still put on a cake stand or plate and frost it. No one will know! :) Or if it’s in a lot of small pieces, turn it into a trifle!

Do you taste the coffee if you use it instead of water?
It won’t be a super strong coffee flavor, but it does give the cake the ultimate rich chocolate flavor!

Cake decorated with peanut butter frosting

If you’re a chocolate and peanut butter fan as much as me, you may want to give these other recipes a try.

Other Chocolate Peanut Butter Recipes You May Enjoy

  • No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie – Perfect for anytime of year, this no-bake pie is easy and delicious.
  • Mini Buckeye Cheesecakes – Individual cheesecakes loaded with chocolate and peanut butter.
  • Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats – The classic dessert with a fun chocolate and peanut butter twist.

One-Bowl Chocolate Cake with slice removed

Hope you enjoy this homemade One-Bowl Chocolate Cake recipe!

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Top this easy One-Bowl Chocolate Cake with your favorite frosting or give my favorite Peanut Butter Frosting or Marshmallow Frosting a try! This homemade moist chocolate cake makes the best birthday cake, or make it for National Chocolate Cake Day on January 27th!

One-Bowl Chocolate Cake slice on plate
Print Pin it!
5 from 5 votes

One-Bowl Chocolate Cake

One-Bowl Chocolate Cake, an easy homemade moist chocolate cake.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Yield 12 servings
Author Lisa Huff

Ingredients

  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil (or canola oil)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 3 9-inch round cake pans. Place 9-inch parchment rounds on bottoms of pans and grease if desired. 
  • In a large mixing bowl whisk together the granulated sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well combined. 
  • Add eggs, milk, water, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract to bowl on top of other ingredients. Gently whisk the wet ingredients on top to just combine slightly and break eggs. Then whisk all ingredients together until just combined. It's ok if small lumps.
  • Divide batter between three pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into middle comes out clean.
  • Remove cakes from oven, cool slightly, then remove cakes from pan to cool completely. Frost as desired.

Notes

SNAPPY TIPS: This cake is quite moist so be careful handling it so it doesn't break apart.
SNAPPY SUBSTITUTIONS: Add your favorite extracts instead of vanilla for fun new flavors. Instead of water, you can use coffee for a richer flavor.
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keywords: homemade birthday cake, special occasion chocolate cake
Did you try this recipe?Tag @SnappyGourmet or #SnappyGourmet!

One-Bowl Chocolate Cake collage

Tags: cake, chocolate, from scratch, one bowl, recipe Categories: Cakes & Cupcakes, Recipes

About the Author

Lisa Huff is a Cookbook Author, Freelance Recipe Developer, Food Photographer, Blogger/Writer, and award-winning home chef. She loves creating unique recipes from healthy to decadent including cocktails, appetizers, main dishes, dessert recipes and more and has appeared on various shows, publications, and websites. <More about Lisa Huff>

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Michelle says

    August 25, 2019 at 10:25 pm

    My fiance saw me looking at this recipe and instantly asked when I was going to be making it. Needless to say, it’s now on my to do list!

    Reply
  2. Liz says

    August 25, 2019 at 9:54 pm

    Omgeeee coffee and chocolate together!! This sounds incredible!

    Reply
  3. Krissy Allori says

    August 25, 2019 at 8:22 pm

    This looks so easy to make. I just love having less things to clean up too!

    Reply
  4. Neha says

    August 25, 2019 at 7:54 pm

    Looks so yum! And one bowl sounds fantastic, the lesser the dirty utensils, the better.

    Reply
  5. Andrea says

    August 25, 2019 at 7:29 pm

    Love how easy this is to make. Less mess and more goodness. It looks wonderfully moist and delicious.

    Reply
  6. Miranda says

    August 21, 2019 at 9:37 am

    you had me at one bowl! I can’t wait to give this recipe a try!!

    Reply

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Lisa Huff is a cookbook author, recipe developer, food stylist, food photographer, & award-winning home chef.

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