Easiest One Bowl Chocolate Cake
One bowl chocolate cake is moist and decadent and cleanup is a breeze.
This one bowl chocolate snack cake is the easiest chocolate cake you will ever make.
Note: This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience. If you make a purchase, this site may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. You can read my full disclosure policy here.
Cake is my love language. Especially chocolate cake.
But what I don’t love is the cleanup.
Made from scratch chocolate cake usually requires several bowls, cake pans, beaters and spatulas. And that doesn’t even include the frosting! Lately, I just don’t have time for all of that.
So while I love a decadent chocolate cake, I want something easy, so I can “have my cake and eat it too!”
This one bowl chocolate cake from scratch fits the bill. It uses basic ingredients you likely already have on hand, so it makes a great last-minute dessert.
The best part is that this cake is so moist that you don’t even need frosting. Of course, you can add frosting if you like, but a simple dusting of powdered sugar is really all you need.
Oh, and be ready for the recipe requests because everyone will want to know your secret for the best chocolate cake ever!
More Chocolate Dessert Recipes You’ll Love:
- Old-Fashioned Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake
- Mini Chocolate Bundt Cakes
- Easy Homemade Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake
- Triple Chocolate Bundt Cake (from a Mix!)
- Chocolate Cream Cheese Pound Cake
- Instant Pot Chocolate Mug Cake
- Decadent Chocolate Fudge Cake
- Condensed Milk Brownies
Decadent One Bowl Chocolate Sour Cream Cake
Cake from scratch can be tricky to make well, and nothing is more disappointing than a dry, flavorless cake. The secret to moist, decadent cake is to use sour cream.
What does sour cream do in baking? Simply put, it adds moisture, richness, and acidity for a sweet and delicious cake with a texture that is to die for.
Trust me, you’ll definitely never make a chocolate cake the same way.
How to Make Chocolate Snack Cake
It’s really easy to make one bowl chocolate cake from scratch.
Ingredients You’ll Need:
- All-purpose Flour
- Granulated Sugar
- Cocoa Powder
- Salt
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda
- Hot Water
- Sour Cream
- Egg
- Unsalted Butter
- Optional: Powdered Sugar for dusting
How to Make It:
(Full printable recipe is available below)
Combine the dry ingredients. Next, you’ll combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
Add the wet ingredients. Then, you’ll mix in the sour cream and the hot water until smooth.
Add egg and butter. Next, you’ll add the egg and melted butter to the batter, mixing to combine. The batter will be somewhat thin.
Bake the cake. Last, you’ll pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake the cake for 30-35 minutes.
Allow the cake to cool before slicing. When cool, dust with powdered sugar if desired. You can also top with a dollop of whipped cream if you’d like.
Notes and Adaptations:
- Feel free to add in a cup of chocolate chips if you’d like, or some chopped walnuts or pecans. Because the batter is pretty thin, I recommend sprinkling them on top of the batter once it’s in the pan, rather than mixing them into the batter, as they tend to sink.
- We love to eat this snack cake plain, but it’s also delicious dressed up with whipped cream or ice cream, berries, and/or chocolate sauce.
Recommended Equipment:
One Bowl Chocolate Cake
This delicious chocolate cake recipe is mixed in just one bowl, making it an easy way to satisfy your sweet tooth!
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup hot water
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
- Optional: powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and grease an 8x8" baking pan.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
- Stir in hot water and sour cream, mixing until combined.
- Add egg and melted butter, mixing until fully incorporated.
- Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow cake to cool, then dust with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.
Notes
- Feel free to add in a cup of chocolate chips if you'd like, or some chopped walnuts or pecans. Because this batter is pretty thin, I recommend sprinkling them on top of the batter once it's in the pan, rather than mixing them in (as they tend to sink, even if dusted with flour).
- We love to eat this snack cake plain, but it's also delicious dressed up with whipped cream or ice cream, berries, and/or chocolate sauce.
- You can also use this batter to make muffins. It makes about 18 muffins. Bake at 350F for about 15-17 minutes.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
9Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 273Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 38mgSodium: 271mgCarbohydrates: 49gFiber: 1gSugar: 36gProtein: 3g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and is not guaranteed for accuracy.
It looks amazing. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Thank you–I hope you enjoy it! 🙂
What a fabulous recipe! I subbed vegetable oil for melted butter and added a teaspoon of instant coffee to the hot water. I also used a chocolate pudding cup for ‘frosting’. It was gone in minutes.
Thank you for your kind words, Niki! Also, using a pudding cup for frosting is brilliant–thank you for the suggestion! 🙂
Loved the cake! Turned out great, very moist. One thing I would suggest is to let your readers know to flour the chocolate chips if adding them. I added them and forgot to flour them and they sunk to the bottom. But cake was still delicious!
Thank you so much, Pam! I’m glad you enjoyed the cake and appreciate your suggestion. I’ve updated the post with the suggestion to dust the chocolate chips with flour. 🙂
this looks amazing! is it possible to use a sugar substitute like swerve to cut down on carbs?
Hi Bridget! I’ve never baked with Swerve, so I can’t say for sure how it would turn out, but I think it would be fine! I usually use Lakanto monk fruit sweetener when I’m using a sugar substitute, and since Swerve is also a cup-for-cup alternative, I would imagine it would work well. Let me know how it turns out if you give it a try!
Hi. This recipe looks great! Does it freeze well?
Hi Laura! I’ve never frozen it (it never lasts that long around here!), but I imagine it would work fine! Just let it cool completely and wrap it well before freezing. Hope that helps! 🙂