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January 16, 2020

The Best Chocolate Sheet Cake

Say hello to the BEST chocolate sheet cake recipe!!! Supremely moist, fudgy, and full of decadent chocolate flavor! But the best part? This cake is so easy!!!

Chocolate Sheet Cake

Chocolate Sheet Cake

I come from a long line of chocolate lovers. And it feels like there’s always some celebration popping up that calls for chocolate cake! Luckily, I have a ton of chocolate cake recipes in my repertoire.

But most of them are pretty time consuming and involve stacking multiple layers, etc. Which is fine if you have all day to bake and assemble! But what about when you don’t?!

Chocolate Sheet Cake Well, that’s where this chocolate sheet cake comes into the picture! AKA Texas Sheet Cake! It’s a rich, moist, chocolate cake that’s baked in a sheet pan and topped with fudgy chocolate frosting. It’s so easy, so delicious, and so perfect for celebrations! Seriously… this cake can serve a crowd!

P.S. If you love sheet cakes, try my Simple Banana Sheet Cake Recipe next!

Chocolate Sheet Cake

Tips and Tricks for Recipe Success:

  1. Be sure to preheat your oven to 350 degrees well before you plan on baking! Most ovens take at least 30 minutes to fully preheat!
  2. To get the richest chocolate flavor, this recipe calls for chopped chocolate and cocoa powder. Be sure to use high-quality chocolate – such as Lindt or Ghirardelli – for the chopped chocolate. And unsweetened cocoa powder. Not dutch-process!
  3. Be sure to scoop and level your cocoa powder and flour when measuring. Don’t pack them into the measuring cup!
  4. This recipe calls for a combination of granulated sugar and light brown sugar. Be sure to pack the brown sugar into the measuring cup before adding it to the recipe.
  5. You’ll use whole eggs and egg yolks for this cake. You may discard the leftover egg whites, or place them in an airtight container and store them in the fridge for another use! I like to save mine and make an omelette!
  6. To make this cake “stick to your fork” moist, you’ll need sour cream, whole milk, oil, and butter. If you cannot find sour cream, I think full-fat Greek yogurt would make a fine substitute. And if you don’t want to use canola oil, you may use melted refined coconut oil.
  7. You’ll also use 1 cup of HOT coffee! However you may use hot water, if you prefer. The important part is to use HOT liquid. This helps bloom the cocoa powder, which helps break up any remaining lumps in the batter. And releases flavor particles from the cocoa powder.
  8. Since this recipe uses melted butter, you don’t need a stand mixer or hand held mixer. You may use a large bowl and a spatula to bring this simple cake together.

Chocolate Sheet Cake

Be sure to bake the cake just until a cake tester comes out clean. About 45 minutes usually does the trick! But if your oven runs hot, you may want to check around 38 minutes!

Chocolate Sheet Cake

More Chocolate Cake Recipes:

  • Salted Caramel Chocolate Cake
  • Grand Marnier Molten Chocolate Cakes
  • Chocolate Raspberry Cake
  • Red Wine Chocolate Cake
  • Death by Chocolate Cake
  • Super Decadent Chocolate Cake
  • Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Chocolate Sheet Cake

If you try this recipe for Chocolate Sheet Cake, let me know! Leave a comment below and don’t forget to snap a pic and tag it #bakerbynature on instagram! Seeing your kitchen creations makes my day.

Say hello to the BEST chocolate sheet cake recipe!!! Supremely moist, fudgy, and full of decadent chocolate flavor! But the best part? This cake is so easy!!!

Chocolate Sheet Cake

13 votes

Print

The Best Chocolate Sheet Cake

Prep 30 mins

Cook 45 mins

Inactive 1 hour

Total 2 hours, 15 mins

Author Ashley Manila

Yield 9x13 Cake

Say hello to the BEST chocolate sheet cake recipe!!! Supremely moist, fudgy, and full of decadent chocolate flavor! But the best part? This cake is so easy!!! 

Ingredients

For the Chocolate Sheet Cake:

  • 3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
  • 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter
  • 1/3 cup melted coconut oil, canola oil, or vegetable oil
  • 1 cup cocoa powder
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 large eggs + 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1/4 cup whole milk
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup freshly brewed coffee or freshly boiled water

For the Chocolate Frosting:

  • 1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
  • 6 ounces (170g) quality dark chocolate, melted and cooled for 10 minutes
  • Chocolate sprinkles, optional 

Instructions

For the Chocolate Sheet Cake:

Preheat oven to 350°(F). Generously spray a 9x13-inch baking pan with non-stick spray and set aside until needed. 

  1. In a large glass bowl, microwave the chocolate, butter, and oil in 30 second increments, stirring between each increment, until butter and chocolate are completely melted. Whisk smooth and set aside.
  2. In a large bowl combine cocoa powder, both sugars, flour, baking soda, and salt until ingredients are thoroughly combined. Set aside.
  3. In a separate large bowl, combine the eggs, yolk, sour cream, milk, and vanilla, beating until well combined. 
  4. Pour in the chocolate mixture and stir until combined. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredient mixture and mix until just combined.
  5. Carefully add in hot coffee (or water) and let sit for 1 minute. Then gently stir until completely combined. The batter will be very thin. 
  6. Pour batter into pan and smooth the top. Bake in preheated oven for 38 to 45 minutes, or until wooden toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center of a cake comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs attached.
  7. Place cake on a cooling rack to cool completely. Once cool, spread frosting on top of cake. 

For the Chocolate Frosting:

  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl using a handheld electric mixer, beat the butter on medium-speed until completely smooth. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add in the confectioners' sugar, beating until all of the sugar is completely combined. Add in the salt, cream, and vanilla extract and beat smooth.
  • Add in the melted chocolate and beat smooth. Once all of the ingredients have been incorporated, increase the speed to medium-high and beat for a minute.
  • Spread frosting on top of the cooled cake. Top with chocolate sprinkles, if desired.

Courses Dessert

Cuisine American

9K Shares

Filed Under: Cakes, Chocolate Tagged With: cake, chocolate, chocolate cake, chocolate sheet cake, sheet cake

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Makena says

    January 18, 2020 at 6:47 pm

    This chocolate cake is yum-town. Super ooey gooey chocolatey yum yum. Divine. I fell in love w it from the pictures on IG and then saw that there was dark chocolate used and I wept tears of pure joy. I made it w my best friends as a little introduction to baking and it sure introduced them! We all agreed that the full blog post absolutely should be read! Especially the tips!

    Now to the recipe:
    We opted for the sour cream, hot coffee, ghiradelli chocolates, and canola oil combination. An absolute must try. The coffee gives it the deepness and really compliments the chocolate. Using the ghiradelli baking chocolate and ghiradelli chips, it gave the cake a unique richness and that crave able, almost floral-like cocoa palate. Definitely worth the extra cents for higher quality chocolate.. Especially for a cake where a good portion of the recipe is true melted chocolate!

    The cake came out dreamy and perfectly balanced w sweetness and richness. U absolutely should use the semi-sweet and dark chocolate combo due to the dairy element. It balances out the acidic quality of the chocolate that is more on the bitter side in a perfect marriage of soft and sweet and rich and deep. Also, only thing is: we had a whole bunch of frosting that couldn’t fit on the cake? Not sure why, maybe I frosted it too lightly or accidentally used more butter than I needed to? Regardless, we are now rationing off the leftover frosting tub for good deeds in the household.

    Thank you bakerbynature for this incredible recipe. I can’t wait to try more, maybe I can butter them up (wink wink) to try the pecan blondies next! Ily.

    Reply
    • Dionne says

      February 16, 2020 at 2:35 pm

      I had way too much frosting also and wondered if the recipe was for two sheet cakes or something. I couldn’t use it all. I also wonder if a larger pan should have been used. My cake was a lot thicker than a normal sheet cake. Perhaps the 9×13 pan was incorrect.

      However the cake was sooo good and everyone loved it!

      Reply
      • Lupe says

        April 17, 2020 at 6:01 pm

        I am planning on making these cake for my son’s birthday but I am thinking of using a 9 inch round cake pan!
        Do you think I need all the mixture or should I use less?

        Reply
  2. Tina says

    January 19, 2020 at 3:05 am

    Looks yummy! Would using melted cocoa butter instead of the oil add a little something to it, or make it dry instead?

    Reply
    • bakerbynature says

      January 30, 2020 at 6:31 pm

      We haven’t tested it with cocoa butter, so I cannot say how this substitution would work out. But if you give it a go, we’d love to hear the results 🙂

      Reply
  3. Alisha says

    January 20, 2020 at 6:28 pm

    This cake was amazing. Followed the cake recipe exactly and it came out perfectly. I decided to make half the frosting based on previous reviews and even that was very generous so I would definitely suggest halving the frosting for a heavily frosted cake. I will make 1/3 of the frosting next time as we prefer more cake and a thinner layer of frosting. Good quality chocolate is expensive so hopefully this helps others gauge how much to make. The frosting itself is delicious, smooth and easy to spread. The only other thing that would be helpful is if recipes included weight measurements as I weigh all my ingredients for accuracy but I just googled the ingredient weights and went from there. Will make this again and again, it is wonderful!

    Reply
    • Carolyn kotler says

      April 8, 2020 at 2:01 pm

      I agree about using weigh measurements and not cup measurements.

      Reply
    • Aysha Begum says

      April 18, 2020 at 10:52 pm

      Hi, I have self raising flour would I put the same amount recipe recalls? And deduct the raising agents?

      Reply
  4. Kerry says

    January 30, 2020 at 12:20 am

    Is the dark chocolate in the frosting
    Unsweetened baking chocolate?

    Reply
    • bakerbynature says

      January 30, 2020 at 6:30 pm

      You can use unsweetened if you want a VERY deep chocolate flavor. I typically use dark chocolate that’s 70% cocoa.

      Reply
  5. Julia says

    February 1, 2020 at 7:31 am

    This cake looks amazing! Did you use natural cocoa or dutch processed? Thank you!

    Reply
  6. JVH says

    February 22, 2020 at 1:58 pm

    Hi! Could I make this as a layer cake or would it not be stable enough???

    Reply
    • Tina says

      March 25, 2020 at 3:31 pm

      Hello! Did you end up making it as a layer cake? because I want to use this recipe for a layer cake too!

      Reply
  7. Sophie says

    February 27, 2020 at 7:28 am

    I just made this and it’s amazing! I used a 10×16 inch pan instead and baked it for 38 minutes and it came out perfectly. Super soft texture! I halved the frosting recipe and with just half it was the perfect amount. Thank you so much for another amazing recipe!

    Reply
  8. Carolyn Kotler says

    April 8, 2020 at 2:03 pm

    Can you use bittersweet chocolate instead of semisweet??

    Reply
  9. Lupe says

    April 17, 2020 at 6:04 pm

    Hi! My son’s birthday is coming up and due to corona virus I am planning on making his birthday cake. I want to use a 9 inch round baking pan. Do you think I should do less time in the oven? Should I use less of the mixture?

    Reply
  10. Sharon says

    April 19, 2020 at 2:40 pm

    I made this sheet cake yesterday. One of the most delicious, moist cakes I’ve made.

    Reply
  11. NK says

    May 9, 2020 at 8:00 pm

    I tried this recipe, but my cake got a dome the middle and some wide cracks ☹️ Do you know why that must have happened?

    Reply
    • bakerbynature says

      May 11, 2020 at 12:42 pm

      Hi NK. Sorry to hear this! Could be from over mixing the batter (which allows too much air in and causes the batter to rapidly rise in the oven) or your oven could run a little hot.

      Reply
  12. Venti says

    May 19, 2020 at 4:54 am

    In 1 cup of water, how much coffee powder should I add ?

    Reply
  13. Lisa Stapley says

    May 19, 2020 at 8:37 pm

    This looks so yummy! Do you think I could bake this in a large baking sheet? 12X18?

    Reply
    • Christina says

      June 16, 2020 at 3:46 pm

      I have the same question…I may try to double it

      Reply
      • Betty says

        February 27, 2021 at 3:56 am

        Can you let me know how it turned out? When I adjust a 9×13 to a 12×17, I adjust to 1.75 of the original recipe but because some listed this as a thick cake, I wondered if I should just leave as the original proportions?

        Reply
  14. Mariana says

    May 20, 2020 at 4:54 pm

    Oh wow, what a lovely cake! Moist and fluffy crumb with perfect frosting. Yes there was a bit left over, but I froze it for future use. I plan to make a few “mixes” of the dry ingredients and store in ziplock bags ready to make. Thank you for sharing!

    Reply
  15. Reena says

    June 12, 2020 at 4:29 pm

    Hi can I use sweetened cocoa powder?

    Reply
  16. Anisha says

    July 31, 2020 at 4:44 pm

    Hi
    This looks so good ! Planning to make it today ! Can I use almond milk instead of whole milk ? Do you think that would work ?

    TIA
    Anisha

    Reply
  17. Milo says

    November 10, 2020 at 5:25 am

    AMAZING OMG. The most perfect chocolate cake ever!!!!I used oat milk instead of whole milk, as well as putting a mix of chopped milk and dark chocolate inside the regular cake batter, which I HIGHLY recommend.

    Reply
  18. Sheree says

    November 19, 2020 at 4:16 pm

    This is just an amazing recipe! Used it to make my daughters cake. Everyone loved it. The moisture in the cake is perfect and along with the frosting it just takes it to the next level.

    Reply
    • bakerbynature says

      November 22, 2020 at 2:56 pm

      I’m so happy to hear that, Sheree!

      Reply
  19. Amina says

    December 3, 2020 at 6:30 pm

    Hi Ashley! I was looking over this recipe and a few of your other chocolate recipes and they look AMAZING!!! I wanted t know what the difference is between this one, the “Death by Chocolate Cake” and the “Super Decadent Chocolate cake” and which one of the three is your favorite!

    Reply
  20. Jeremy says

    December 12, 2020 at 2:12 pm

    Hey,
    I love this cake, I mean I really love this cake but I can’t make it when I’m at other people’s house because they don’t have measuring cups. Please can we have recipe in metric aswell? I know i can google the converts but it always ends up being completely different when i try to do that. Thank you so much for this recipe.

    Reply
  21. S says

    December 27, 2020 at 8:04 pm

    Hi! I made this cake over the holidays. Took to a Christmas Day gathering. It was a BIG hit! Sooo darn good, and thankfully… so easy! Many thanks for this wonderful recipe!

    Reply
  22. Michelle says

    January 6, 2021 at 1:22 pm

    This is truly divine! Whole family loved it! Thanks for sharing this recipe!

    Reply
  23. Ayesha says

    January 11, 2021 at 11:19 pm

    May I use instant coffee?

    Reply
  24. Shweta M says

    January 30, 2021 at 6:46 pm

    Absolutely delicious! Halved the recipe and made it in an 8×8 cake tin. So moist and fluffy. And the frosting is just incredible. Thank you so much for this recipe.

    Reply

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Meet Ashley

Hey! I’m Ashley, a creative spirit with a major sweet tooth. Most days you can find me in my happy place: the kitchen. If I’m not there, I’m probably snapping photos of food, planning a party… or dreaming about my next trip to Paris (AKA my favorite place in the entire world). I’m a story teller, recipe developer, and photographer who firmly believes that a homemade life is a happy life. Learn More.

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