This healthy and decadent double chocolate chia cake is made of 100% real food ingredients. It is extra moist, rich and bursting with flavor. Easy to make, this delicious and versatile dessert is perfect for the novice baker. It is also paleo, gluten-free, eggless and flourless making, it the perfect guilt-free dessert or snack.
If you have children, then you know how hard it can be, at times, to properly feed a toddler. One day they will eat something and ask for more like its the best thing in the world, making HMMMs’ and OHHHs’. And you’re like: “Score!”.
Then a few days later, you get back from work, exhausted, and think to yourself: “Hey I’m going to make that particular dish tonight, its easy and kids love it”.
Then… your little prince/princess looks at you, straight to the eye, and throws the plate on the floor.
Gordon Ramsay style…
*Grin*
Ok, enough with trying to be the perfect dad.
Have I ever served chocolate cake to a 2-year-old for supper, after everything else failed?
I plead Guilty.
But hey, not any chocolate cake!
This healthy chocolate Cake.
Have I felt bad about it?
Yes, a little. I mean, you don’t want your kids to develop the habit of skipping dinner just to have dessert instead. Not in my house, truuuust me on that.
The good side though, is that this cake is made of 100% healthy ingredients.
You can have a slice of this chocolate chia seed cake for breakfast any day of the week without feeling guilty, ever.
For this recipe, I used quite a bit of peanut butter. I was worried at first, as I thought the taste would be overpowering.
It’s not that I don’t like peanut butter, it’s just that to me, peanut butter and chocolate cake don’t mix so well.
But I can confirm: This cake tastes chocolate, chocolate, and only chocolate. Triple chocolate to be more specific. No sign of peanut butter. Nowhere to be seen.
And for a cake that’s made without any traditional ingredients, completely from scratch, I have to say that I am very, very pleased with how it turned out.
It’s more fudgy and rich than most regular chocolate cake recipes and you won’t feel as bad after your second piece… (or third).
The secret to its super moist texture?
It lies in the mix of creamy greek yogurt and chia pudding.
LOVE it.
I found that this cake is best eaten cold. I had a piece right out of the oven, and another one (a few other ones actually) after a couple hours in the fridge and I have to admit I preferred the second option.
A few hours in the refrigerator gave this chocolate cake an intense fudgy texture, almost like a brownie.
Oh damn… Now I want another piece.
I guess I’ll have to bake another one tomorrow.
Ok now, here is the recipe!
Chocolate Chia Cake
Ingredients
Chia Seed Pudding:
- 4 tbsp chia seeds
- 1 cup almond milk
Rest of the cake ingredients:
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1/3 cup cacao powder
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup nut butter of choice I used organic peanut butter
- 1 cup Vanilla Yogurt See notes for paleo/vegan versions
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/3 cup chocolate chips of choice
Refer to the instructions section for frosting recipe.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- The first step of this recipe is to prepare the chia seed pudding, which is very simple: Simply soak 4 tablespoons chia seeds into 1 cup of almond milk (or milk of choice), for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt the coconut oil and peanut butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Set aside as soon as the mixture is liquid, do not overheat it as it may burn the rest of the ingredients.
Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl (coconut flour, cacao powder, baking powder, chocolate chips). Stir well.
Slowly incorporate the chia seed pudding, melted coconut oil/peanut butter mixture, maple syrup and yogurt into the dry the ingredients. Stir well.
Grease a regular sized cake pan and pour the cake preparation, spread evenly.
Transfer to the oven and bake for about 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Frosting: I used this recipe for Sweet Potato Chocolate Frosting
Recipe Notes
Every oven is different, baking times may vary. I used a 10 inch (diameter) round cake pan.
For the paleo version, use coconut yogurt.
For the plant-based version, use either coconut or soy yogurt.
Please note that the nutrition information is a rough estimate, without frosting or any other topping. For nutrition information regarding the frosting used for this recipe, please click here.
Legit droolliinngggg for a big hefty slice of this chocolately moist cake! Love that it’s made with healthier ingredients! That means I can eat a bigger piece 😉
Yes! Clean sweets are the bomb! I think the only negative side to this cake is that it disappeared within a few hours… It literally vanished!
Thanks for stopping by!
It disappeared because although the recipe says ’10 serves’, there’s really only one.
… and it’s mine, Mine, MINE! ALL MINE, I TELL YOU!!!!
Ha! I love what you said about feeling that ‘Score!’ feeling only for it to change the next day….or a few hours later. I remember my daughter telling me years ago that she didn’t like string cheese anymore on a random day ‘because I’m 4 now’! And I was like ‘um, ok’. And she didn’t eat it again til a few years later. Kids! This sounds delicious though, and I love trying to find different ways for them to enjoy clean treats 🙂
We had those “um, ok” moments quite a few times here too hahaha…
They will never stop surprising us! 😉
This sounds like my kind of cake! I love everything about it and the pictures are so appetizing!! It looks so fudgy and moist!
It was indeed super moist and fudgy! That is the kind of dessert that disappears pretty fast, you just look away, and poof it’s gone!
This cake looks amazing and your pictures are so beautiful!!!!
Thank you!
Oh I could see get behind a couple of slices of this cake right now! It’s Monday morning, and another coffee + a slice of chocolate cake sounds like the way to go! Also, I totally hear ya on the feeding a toddler thing. Ours is almost 1.5 years old, and dinner is a total guessing game. Maybe I’ll have to work this chocolate cake into the lineup! 🙂
Do you know what the shelf life of this cake is? I’ve often made gluten free cakes (mostly rice, tapioca and potato flour) and they don’t taste great the next day.
Hi Melora,
It can be kept at room temperature for up to 48 hours and in the fridge for up to 7 days (Although I would suggest eating it within 4-5 days for optimal freshness/taste). You could also freeze the leftovers for up to 3 months.
Hope this helps!
If you I used plain greek yogurt instead of the vanilla yogurt could I just add vanilla and extra sweetener? What do you suggest?
Hi Bethany,
Yes you could definitely do that! They put a lot of sugar in vanilla greek yogurt so sweetening it by yourself is also a great way to control the amount but also the quality of the sugar used.
Any other flour I could use? My daughter is allergic to aalmonds
Hi Patricia,
It can be replaced with any nut flour using the same amounts. Oat flour would also be fine. Just make sure the particular product you use do not contain traces of almond and you are good to go.
I made this this morning. It’s definitely very moist but it has a crunch to it. Would that be the chia seeds?
I tried making this twice now following the recipe to the letter with the substitution of organic coconut milk and coconut yoghurt. The first time I cooked it for about 5 hours and the centre was raw . The second time was just 2 1/2 hours and just a hrs outer crust had formed with a completely raw centre. Where am I going wrong with this? I’m not a baker but with my soya and dairy intolerances I going crazy for cake. Please help!!!
Hi Kam,
The center should be moist, not dry like a regular cake, more brownie “ish”. It should definitely not be liquid thought. It is hard to know exactly what went wrong, but one thing is for sure, if it was raw after 5 hours in the oven, there was definitely way too much liquid ingredients involved. Some products/brands are known to work differently when baking, too, so if you want to try your hand at it again, I would reduce the amount of liquid used by about a half, and go from there.
Hope this helps
Hi,
Can i use honey instead of marple syrup?
Thanks 🙂
Yes, absolutely!
This cake is amazing, start to finish just amazing. I used plain yogurt and sweetened it a bit with stevia, and that worked really well. And I used the sweet potato chocolate frosting, which was also crazy delicious. I did not anticipate a chia cake and sweet potato frosting to be my new favorite treat, but it’s the current winner!
Oh great!! I’m thrilled that you loved the recipe. Thank you for stopping by!
Really a tablespoon of baking powder??