This deliciously rich, fudgy, and secretly healthy chocolate cake recipe includes one ingredient you will absolutely never guess!
The best healthy chocolate cake
Multiple friends and family members have proclaimed this to be the best chocolate cake recipe they’ve ever tasted.
And that is saying something, because none of them are on a vegan, gluten free, weight loss, or low calorie diet. They simply appreciate good food.
It’s so much fun to test the cake out on people who do not know the secret beforehand. Look for their shocked reactions when you reveal the hidden ingredient.
Serve the moist healthy cake at your next party or event, and guests of all ages will be begging you for the recipe!
Also make this Vegan Carrot Cake
Chocolate cake health benefits
While no cake will ever be the healthiest food you can choose, this one does have a surprising amount of nutrition.
Each fudgy slice packs in over five grams of protein and more than 15% of the RDA for fiber. and it can be both cholesterol free and oil free.
The cake is low fat, low in saturated fat, and just 100 calories a slice!
It is high in iron thanks to the cocoa powder and can be sugar free, egg free, dairy free, gluten free, vegan, cholesterol free, and oil free.
Superfood cauliflower is a good source of heart healthy vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals. The low sodium and low carb cruciferous vegetable contains vitamin C, vitamin K, pantothenic acid, manganese, fiber, and folate.
Try topping the cake with Homemade Nutella
Ingredients for the healthy dessert
The easy chocolate cake calls for just ten ingredients. You may already own most of them in your kitchen pantry.
These ingredients include flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, pure vanilla extract, salt, sugar, optional stevia and eggs or flax seeds, mini chocolate chips, optional oil or milk of choice, and frozen cauliflower.
My favorite flour choice is whole grain spelt flour, because it adds fiber and gives the cake a light, fluffy texture. All purpose white flour and some brands of gluten free flour blends work as well.
While you can technically use oat flour, pastry flour, or whole wheat flour, these options yield a denser result. We recommend against coconut flour and almond flour.
For a keto and flourless version, try this Chocolate Almond Flour Cake.
Go with a high quality cocoa powder for the richest chocolate flavor. You may also substitute raw cacao powder. If you try Dutch cocoa, let us know how it goes.
The chocolate chips are not optional, because they impart a deep chocolatey taste into each bite of cake. Use dairy free chocolate chips for a vegan cake.
Feel free to choose regular sugar or a granulated unrefined sugar like coconut sugar. In our opinion, uncut stevia powder is the healthiest alternative sweetener because its only ingredient is stevia leaf, with no erythritol or other sugar alcohols or artificial sweeteners added. If you wish to omit the stevia, simply replace it with additional sugar or no sugar xylitol.
Raw or fresh steamed cauliflower have a strong taste and should therefore be avoided in this recipe. We have not yet tried cauliflower rice.
For the best results, use frozen cauliflower and allow it to thaw in the refrigerator overnight or on the counter instead of in the microwave. Or try one of the substitutions for cauliflower listed in the next paragraph.
Leftover cauliflower? Make Cauliflower Pizza Crust
Healthy chocolate cake recipe video
Above – watch the step by step recipe video
Substitutions and flavors
If cauliflower is too unusual for you, substitute three fourths cup of canned pumpkin puree, roasted sweet potato, mashed banana, or Greek yogurt.
Turn it into a mocha cake by using brewed coffee instead of the milk or stirring a teaspoon of instant coffee granules in with the dry ingredients.
Add the zest of two oranges to the food processor for a chocolate orange cake.
Create a fancy chocolate peanut butter cake by swapping the three tablespoons of oil for a fourth cup of softened peanut butter or almond butter.
For black forest cake, top the recipe with Coconut Whipped Cream and fresh cherries or cherry jam. Garnish the sides with shaved dark chocolate.
Add half a teaspoon of pure peppermint extract for a mint chocolate chip cake.
Or top the finished dessert with date caramel frosting, shredded coconut, and chopped pecans to get a German chocolate cake.
For a healthy ice cream cake, top with Avocado Ice Cream or Banana Ice Cream.
Finally, you can make a yummy healthy birthday cake by decorating with a variety of fresh sliced fruit or natural rainbow sprinkles. Remember the birthday candles!
How to make a healthy chocolate cake
Thaw the cauliflower in the refrigerator or in a bowl on the counter.
When ready to bake the cake, start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and gathering all of your ingredients.
Grease a round or square eight inch baking pan, or line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. Set this pan aside.
Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, chocolate chips, and sweetener in a large mixing bowl. Stir until evenly incorporated.
Blend all liquid ingredients with the cauliflower in a high quality food processor until the mixture is completely smooth.
Pour the liquid mixture into the mixing bowl with the dry ingredients, and stir until just combined. Do not overmix, which could result in a tough or gummy cake.
Spread the chocolate cake batter into the prepared baking pan, then place the pan on the center rack of the preheated oven.
Bake for thirty minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of the cake should come out mostly clean.
Let the pan cool completely before frosting. If you can wait, I recommend very loosely covering the cooled cake with a towel and refrigerating overnight. The taste and texture are ten times better the next day.
After a day, store leftovers in a covered container in the refrigerator for freshness. Or slice and freeze in an airtight container for up to three months.
Readers also like Chocolate Zucchini Cake
Chocolate frosting ideas and tips
For the healthiest option, top your cake with fresh strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, or sliced bananas.
Or frost it with a thick layer of decadent Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting.
Dust the top of the cake with powdered sugar, or add chocolate sprinkles, diced walnuts, or chocolate ganache and fresh or frozen fruits of choice.
We spread on a four ingredient Healthy Chocolate Frosting and plant based mini chocolate chips for the chocolate cake in the photos.
To ensure whatever toppings you add do not melt upon touching a hot cake, make sure to let the recipe cool fully before decorating.
Healthy Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour (or try this Keto Cake)
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tbsp ground flax or 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup sugar or xylitol for a sugar free cake
- 1/4 cup additional sugar OR 1/8 tsp uncut stevia
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips or more as desired (do not omit)
- 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups frozen cauliflower (or 3/4 cup yogurt, mashed banana, or pumpkin)
- 1/2 cup milk of choice (omit if using eggs)
- 3 tbsp oil or additional milk of choice
Instructions
- *Flour options that work well include spelt flour, white flour, or some brands of all purpose gluten free flour. For the best results, be sure to use frozen cauliflower instead of fresh, and do not omit the chocolate chips.To make the healthy chocolate cake recipe, start by thawing the cauliflower in the refrigerator or in a bowl on the counter. Preheat your oven to 350F, and grease an 8 inch baking dish. Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl, and mix very well. Combine all liquid ingredients and the cauliflower in a food processor and blend until smooth, so there are no lumps. (If going with the cauliflower free option, you do not need to use a food processor.) Pour wet into dry, and mix until just combined, then pour into prepared pan and bake 30 minutes. Let cool completely. If you can wait, I recommend very loosely covering with a towel and refrigerating overnight because the taste and texture are better the next day. Frosting options are included above.View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
More Healthy Dessert Recipes
Or these Vegan Brownies
Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Bars
Katie, the fact that you can journey from “Hmmm, I wonder what I should bake with for my chocolate cake recipe. Aha!, cauliflower,” to “the best chocolate cake I’ve ever put in my mouth,” is testament to your genius. That cookbook cannot come soon enough.
You have a boyfriend! And he eats caiflower cake! Must be love.
I’ll make this today for my toddler.
Ack! An end to single lady cupcakes?????!
No no, of course not. 😉
Me thinks a single lady cauliflower chocolate cupcake is in order. 😉
I was just looking to see if anyone had requested that yet! OH, please, give us a recipe for a single-lady cauliflower cake!
Can this be made with fresh cauliflower? Maybe blanched and cooled? I ask because I never have frozen cauliflower on hand, but I always overestimate when I pick my veggies
Fresh will have a much stronger flavor because you have to cook it, unlike the frozen. We definitely recommend just buying a bag of frozen if you can find it at the store. Otherwise, you are definitely free to experiment, but just know that if it has a strong taste with using fresh, that’s why!
Can oat flour be used for this?
Wow! This cake looks amazing! I will definetly be trying it soon. I was wondering, can I use regular size chocolate chips, or does it have to be the mini chips? And I just tried your chocolate chip cookies yesterday — amazing!!!
You can. I just like the mini ones because they spread out better and so you get chocolate chip in every bite. Just use closer to the higher end of the amount listed in the recipe if using regular chips, and it should be fine!
Of course I will be brave enough! 🙂 I may have to wait until later in the week but this is a great one to look forward to. And with that frosting on top it will be incredible.
That’s so intriguing! I would like to try this. What role does the cauliflower play in the cake?
It adds an incredible softness. It also adds moistness, but I hate to use that word because I know so many people hate it!
I love the word moist, and the word squidge. But people say I’m weird…
Its ‘sloppy’ for me, i cant eat anything titled sloppy
I’ll deff try this recipe!! Thanks!! Btw how long have you and ur bf been dating?
Since April. I still need to work on him, though… He refuses to even try my chocolate mousse pie because he knows there’s tofu in it!
What??? He MUST try your chocolate mousse pie.
Yay, what a lucky guy. Is he vegan? I’m sure if you give him enough of this vegan goodness, he’ll be converted in no time (my husband’s not vegan but he loves my food, so that’s good enough 🙂 ).
He’s not vegan or vegetarian. Right now my challenge is to even get him to eat tofu!
That`s so sweet that you can see past his eating style! Many of my friends were really into a guy, only to break up with him over a burger or something.
Keep trying, eventually he will accept the wonder of someone making treats for him, and who cares what it`s made of if it tastes good and effort free?
My husband was converted to the vegan lifestyle thanks to all these amazing recipes thanks to Katie! He especially loves the cauliflower alfredo.
Can you please link your chocolate mousse with tofu? I can’t find it.
Seriously?! This is like a dream come true. SO STOKED TO TRY THIS. You have opened a whole new chapter in the healthy dessert world. History in the making right here. 🙂 Thanks!
Why does the cauliflower need to be frozen? would fresh work?
You’d have to cook it first, but I don’t see why not. Haven’t tried it, though!
I can never find frozen cauliflower in the store. I look for it a lot since I like it and it’s more convenient than fresh but I never see it. I know you’re in Texas but in what store do you find yours?
Almost all of them… Sprouts, Market Street, Kroger, Whole Foods…
Although I did accidentally buy garlic Steamfresh once for a dessert experiment!
I used fresh cauliflower, and it worked great!
Thanks for reporting back! I’m happy to know it works… and excited you already tried the cake!
I used fresh cauliflower, and I steamed it for about 30 minutes so it was very soft. It worked GREAT! Although, the cake didn’t rise as much, so it was somewhere between chocolate cake and a brownie- but still delicious! Maybe it was my use of flax egg, not real egg replacement. I’m going to try it again with egg replacement, and hopefully it will look as beautiful as yours did in the picture then!
One thing to note- steamed cauliflower has much more of a “shape” than thawed, I think, so 2 cups of it would be less than 2 cups thawed (b/c thawed veggies are usually cut up small and sort of more soft and mushy) so I just cut them up very small before measuring to make an even 2 cups.
I didn’t see egg in the recipe…
Mad me laugh out loud…many years later.
Trader Joe’s
Hey Katie, I wonder if you could start showing a photo of the batter in future baked goods posts ? I think that would be really helpful for people who are new to vegan baking AND people, like me, who like to experiment with flours and stuff – if one could see what the batter is supposed to look like, it’d be way more easier to adjust baking time and flour measurements plus one would know if something is off about the batter before you put it in the oven! Your recipes are all very simple and easy, so a step-by-step guide isn’t necessary imo. Am I the only one who thinks this is a good idea?! I hope you consider it at least 🙂
yeah thats a great idea
I like this idea too! : )
I actually asked, back when I posted the Reeses eggs (in the post right after that). I thought people would want to see, but the majority of people were actually against it. I can try and remember to post some “in process” photos more often on the nutritional info link page if that’d be helpful, though. The other problem is that my kitchen is like a dark cave… terrible natural light for photos! 😉
I have to say, I don`t really need batter pictures. I follow your recipes more than any others I see, but I always tweak things and play with different gf flours, so the end result is always good but rarely spot on. I`m ok with that, but I`m just saying I personally don`t need them
To please both types of readers maybe you could link to a photo of the batter, so those who don’t want to see it can skip it, and those who do can take a peek? I don’t mind either way, but that might be a good compromise… though more work for you! 😉
Dear Choc covered Katie!
Wow wow wow….had to find a recipe with a secret ingredient for a Mothers Union meeting!! Found your cauliflower choc cake…. Just done a dummy run to see how it turned out! Good job I have to make another as CANNOT stop eating this first one!! Not easy to find flax in a small town in UK and couldn’t wait for Internet delivery, it came out well cooked and brownie texture – even more yum!!! PS I don’t feel guilty at all about my naughty mouthfuls – five small bites are my 5 a day healthy eating!! Sooooooo happy to have found your site – hope your still baking! Best wishes, Kriss from UK
This is a great idea, it would be super helpful!
I don’t want to lose the craziness of the cake. but I don’t have a food processor so I’m gonna have to :(. I was wondering… can I use mashed banana instead of canned pumpkin (cauliflower sub). It would soften the cake.. and I saw the comment that said the cauliflower did that,so.. do you think it would work? ( I love bananas so a little banana taste would do no bad)
P.S
Love your recipe.. and I love how crazy you go with experiments.
Yes, that sounds good!!
Fascinating that this works!
Yum, this looks so decadent and love that it uses cauliflower– I am a big fan of squeezing veggies in my dessert! 🙂
Do you make it with ALL the sweetener listed for yourself, or is it okay to scale it back? I like my chocolate cake really rich and moist (hahha) but not too sweet. I don’t have a huge sweet tooth….
I can only vouch for the taste if you use all the sweetener… But if you’re used to less-sweet desserts it shouldn’t be a problem to scale back! Taste the raw batter and add more if needed.
Awesome, thanks! I just wasn’t sure if losing some of the “bulk’ that comes from the sugar would be a problem. I’m DEFINITELY trying this recipe out. Looks so yummy!!
this is awesome… just made nacho cheese yesterday with Cauliflower…so I think this would be a great addition to the cauliflower recipes..
and a boyfriend… wahoo…. hope he is great as you deserve it!
I bet the purple cauliflower would be great for this!! I sometimes get them on clearance and cook and freeze it. Purple wouldn’t be noticed in the chocolate! I will have to try this.
We used to have a recipe for chocolate cake with cabbage. I wish I could find it.