If this post were a facebook status, it would read:
Katie is feeling beyond grateful.
Yesterday morning, the The Chocolate Covered Katie Cookbook became the #1 Amazon Best Seller for dessert cookbooks, the #1 Best Seller for health & fitness books, and #4 on the Best Seller list for cookbooks overall.
To everyone who has been ordering the book, thank you so incredibly much.
And now, I shall express my gratitude through food!
Texas Sheet Cake, ubiquitous at southern barbecues and potlucks, is a sinfully rich chocolate cake you cook in a thin pan and then top with frosting. The entire thing can be made in under an hour, and people always always always ask for the recipe.
If southern hospitality could be represented by a dessert, this cake would be it.
 
However, with 2 sticks of butter, 3 cups of sugar and 4 cups of powdered sugar in the recipe, traditional Texas Sheet Cake is far from healthy. (If you were keeping track, that’s seven cups of sugar…) Traditional recipes will set you back around 300 calories and 12 grams of fat for one small piece of cake.
In my healthy makeover version below, yogurt gives the cake moisture and softness without all the added fat, and I’ve cut way back extensively on the sugar as well. The result is a rich and surprisingly healthy chocolate cake with fewer than 60 calories per serving, including the frosting!
Healthy Texas Sheet Cake
Texas Sheet Cake Healthy Makeover
Ingredients
- 1 cup spelt, white, or Bob’s gf flour
- 6 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 cup xylitol or granulated sugar of choice
- 1/4 cup yogurt (I used Wholesoy)
- 1/4 cup oil OR more yogurt
- 3/4 cup water
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- frosting, as desired (my recipe is listed in the instructions below)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, and grease a 13 x 9 jelly roll pan or baking pan. In a large mixing bowl, combine the first 5 ingredients very well. In a separate bowl, whisk together all remaining ingredients. Pour wet into dry and stir until just evenly combined, then pour into the greased pan. Bake 18-19 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center of the cake comes out clean. For the frosting, you can use the recipe below, or any of my Healthy Frosting Recipes, or this cake is delicious even eaten plain!
Here is a healthier makeover of traditional Texas Sheet Cake frosting: Combine 1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp powdered sugar with 2 tsp cocoa powder until there are no lumps. Slowly stir in 2 tsp melted buttery spread or milk of choice, stir well, then very slowly add up to 2 more tsp milk of choice. Stir, then spread over the cake.
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Well-deserved success on the sale of your cookbook! Congratulations, Katie!
What a great cake-makover! I can see flexing the flavors, too, by substituting different flavorings (and their quantities) along with substituting 2/3 cup more flour for the cocoa. Should work, right?
I’ve tried using erythritol in baked goods, but it re-granulizes. Am hoping that xylitol doesn’t, but I’ll measure it first, then powder it in a blender in case that helps.
OOPS, I meant 1/3 cup flour instead.
Sounds like a terrific experiment. I will experiment with a vanilla version as well 🙂
Perhaps it would even be better to substitute the cocoa with corn starch, as corn starch does not contain gluten like flour. What do you think?
Fantastic news and so well-deserved! I have long been meaning to write and let you know how much my husband and I loved your Chocolate Avocado Cake. Bravo and keep up the great work!
Well you deserve it, my lady! I have NO idea what the cookbook contains, but I know it’s top spots were well deserved. I just hope my momma ordered my copy….I wanna be part of the statistics!
I’ve never had sheet cake, but it looks like I should never try it. This is only because it looks so good that I would just bring the whole pan to my chair and dig in with a fork without abandon. At least my frosting mustache would be my easy way to participate in Movember, right?
My grandma was the queen of Texas Sheet Cake and I knew it was unhealthy, but 7 cups of sugar? That’s insane! Thank you for a healthy alternative:) Congratulations on your upcoming cookbook, Katie. I’m looking forward to reading it once it comes out!
Where do you see 7?
However, with 2 sticks of butter, 3 cups of sugar and 4 cups of powdered sugar in the recipe, traditional Texas Sheet Cake is far from healthy. (If you were keeping track, that’s seven cups of sugar…)
That was Paula Deen’s recipe. Shocking…
Gratitude is what it is all about! I ordered one of your books because I am grateful for all the great recipes you have given away for free.
Congratulations once again! That’s incredible that it’s already gotten two #1s 😀 It must be a wonderful feeling 🙂
And Texan chocolate cake is – divinge, and xylitol is such a great replacement for sugar, thumbs up all the way! x
Seven cups of sugar? That’s insane! I’ll take this version over that any day! 🙂
This is making me drool. I skipped desert after lunch because I’m trying to be good but I think i’ll have to make a cake this weekend. Haha. Thanks for sharing!
Mmmmm, looks so good – perfect to celebrate your cookbook success! I’m so glad for you! I wonder if you could use apple sauce in the cake instead of yoghurt . . .
Congratulations Katie! Keep ’em coming!