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!
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.
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
- 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.
(Full printable recipe card is at bottom of post.)
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!
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.
Hope you enjoy this homemade One-Bowl Chocolate Cake recipe!
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
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
Nutrition:
(Nutrition data is provided when available for informational purposes only and calculated using an online nutritional calculator. For the most accurate information please calculate based on specific ingredients and brands you use as well as any changes you made to the recipe. I am not a certified nutritionist or registered dietician and any nutritional information provided should only be used as a general guideline and estimate.)
About Lisa Huff
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.
WOW! This is my go to dessert recipe! So easy and loved by all! Definitely use coffee, rather than the water!
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!
Omgeeee coffee and chocolate together!! This sounds incredible!
This looks so easy to make. I just love having less things to clean up too!
Looks so yum! And one bowl sounds fantastic, the lesser the dirty utensils, the better.
Love how easy this is to make. Less mess and more goodness. It looks wonderfully moist and delicious.
you had me at one bowl! I can’t wait to give this recipe a try!!