This healthy chocolate cake recipe is moist with the perfect crumb and a rich chocolate flavor. It’s so delicious no one will ever guess that it is made with more nutritious ingredients!

We have a large family, so we celebrate lots of birthdays every year.

I worked hard to create the best chocolate cake recipe and succeeded (seriously it’s absolute perfection). But as my baby’s first birthday was approaching, I just wasn’t ready to feed him that much sugar when he had eaten basically none up until that point in his life.

So I took that perfect cake and tweaked the ingredients to make this healthy chocolate cake recipe that is a little more nutritious! It’s a cake I felt good about feeding my sweet baby boy!

And it’s not lacking in the flavor department. This healthy chocolate cake is moist and rich with a perfect crumb. Frosted with our favorite chocolate buttercream recipe, it’s so delicious that no one even suspects that it’s healthy.

Healthy Chocolate Cake Recipe: Ingredients & Substitutions

• All-purpose flour. Cake flour can be used in place of all-purpose flour. I have not tried all-purpose gluten-free flour so if you do report back and let me know how it goes. You can replace up to half a cup of the flour with white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour.
• Coconut sugar. you can use organic cane sugar or granulated sugar if you don’t have unrefined coconut sugar.
• Unsweetened cocoa powder. Choose your favorite variety. For an extra-dark cake use dark cocoa powder. 
• Espresso powder. I always have espresso powder on hand to make chocolate desserts (like this chocolate zucchini cake, chocolate cupcakes, etc.). It’s totally worth purchasing if you love baking. You can substitute instant coffee.
• Salted butter. coconut oil or ghee can be used in place of butter.
• Applesauce keeps this chocolate cake moist and light. It also adds sweetness. You can substitute equal amounts of melted butter or another neutral oil if desired.
• Greek yogurt. Sour cream can be used in place of Greek yogurt.
• Whole milk.  I am an advocate for using full-fat whole milk in this healthy chocolate cake recipe. You could substitute 2% milk or half and half, but nothing with a lower fat content. 
• Vanilla extract. You can switch up the extract and use almond, peppermint, orange, etc. if you prefer a flavored chocolate cake. 
• Mini chocolate chips. Regular-sized chocolate chips sink to the bottom of the cake while baking. Be sure to use mini chips for the best results. 

How to make Healthy Chocolate Cake

Let’s walk through how to make this healthy chocolate cake recipe step-by-step, and don’t forget to watch the video.

Begin by lining two 6” round cake pans with parchment paper and greasing the sides well. I like to line my cake pans by tracing the bottom of the pan on parchment paper and drawing “handles” on either side (as picture below).

Then, in a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, sea salt and espresso powder. Set aside.

Next, whisk together melted butter, coconut sugar, eggs, applesauce, Greek yogurt, whole milk and vanilla in a large bowl until the mixture is smooth.

Next, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until combined.

Then fold in the mini chocolate chips and stir until evenly distributed.

Next, divide the batter evenly into the two prepared cake pans.

Bake the healthy chocolate cake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean or with a few crumbs.

One the cakes have finished baking, transfer the cake pans on a wire cooling rack to cool to room temperature (takes about 1 hour).

Once cool, lift the healthy chocolate cake out of the pans and remove parchment paper. Let cool completely on the wire cooling rack.

Frost

Once the cakes are completely cooled, frost or decorate them any way you’d like. I either use this chocolate frosting or this vanilla frosting to make healthy chocolate cakes for birthdays. Don’t forget to do a crumb coat first – a thin base layer of frosting to keep crumbs from getting into your final design. 

Chill the cake

If you decorate the cake with a design (like rosettes, etc.) I recommend chilling it in the refrigerator until the frosting hardens and the design sets. 

Freeze

I often bake this healthy chocolate cake recipe a few days before I need to frost it and store it in the freezer. Simply wrap each cooled chocolate cake layer tightly with plastic wrap, put them in a ziplock bags and store in the freezer.

Even if you plan on frosting the healthy chocolate cake the same day you bake it, I still recommend freezing it before frosting. Frosting a a cake when it’s frozen reduces the number of crumbs that make their way into the frosting.

Serve 

Remove the cake from the fridge 1-2 hours before serving so it can come to room temperature – because that’s how it tastes best!

We like eating healthy chocolate cake with a side of ice cream, like this homemade vanilla ice cream or this paleo vanilla ice cream, homemade chocolate ice cream or healthy chocolate peanut butter ice cream.  A dollop of homemade whipped cream also tastes amazing! 

Store

Store any leftovers wrapped in plastic wrap or in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

You can also flash-freeze individual slices of leftover cake, then wrap them in plastic wrap and transfer them to an airtight container and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator or at room temperature – do not microwave.

Recipe FAQs

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The photos in this post were taken by Angelina from Baked Ambrosia.