This post contains my gluten-free chocolate pudding cake recipe and affiliate links.
I love chocolate. I love pudding. So naturally if you combine these two chocolatey desserts into one single dessert, you’ll most certainly have something special. Right?
So that’s what I did, as inspired by a recipe for pudding cake in one of my favorite cookbooks, Oh She Glows by Angela Liddon. Angela makes the best recipes – seriously! So many of the recipes you find here at Good For You Gluten are inspired by her. (Please note Angela is not a dedicated gluten-free blogger, so not all her recipes are GF. I just make the GF ones or convert her regular recipes into gluten-free recipes.)
When I first set off to make this cake, it looked like a mess. Seriously, a mess. But this cake embraces the mess and somehow turns out to be one heck of a chocolate cake if you ask me!
I actually think we can learn a lot from this cake if we’re willing to embrace the mess and dig deep to find what’s really inside.
What You Need
To make this recipe, you’ll need a few key ingredients:
Oat Flour: Oat flour is a definite as your gluten-free flour of choice. You can get gluten-free oat flour by Bob’s Red Mill. Remember to use only GF oat flour because oats, while naturally gluten-free, are notoriously cross contaminated with wheat during processing.
Flaxseeds: Flaxseeds make a wonderful egg alternative and give this dish added texture, moisture and healthy fats. Bob’s Red Mill also makes flaxseeds you can use in this gluten-free chocolate pudding cake recipe.
Sugar: Of course you need sugar, because it’s a cake and sweetness is a must. You can use coconut sugar as Angela instructs, or swap out regular sugar instead as I do.
Cocoa Powder: You’ll give this cake its chocolate richness when you add cocoa powder to the mix. I use Navitas cocoa powder, but any gluten-free cocoa powder will work just fine.
Non-Dairy Milk: To make this cake totally dairy-free, use a non-dairy milk alternative like a soy, almond, cashew or coconut milk. I use Silk Cashew Milk (unsweetened) and love it!
Chocolate Chips: To get that ooey gooey rich chocolate pudding texture, you’ll want to be sure to add chocolate chips to the mix. Keep it dairy-free when you use Enjoy Life chocolate chips.
Coffee: The rich coffee flavors and aroma are alive and well in this gluten-free chocolate pudding cake recipe. I keep Mount Hagen instant coffee on hand and found it easy to brew up a bit of coffee for this recipe. Use decaf if you prefer.
Of course you need a few other key baking ingredients like vanilla extract, baking powder, oil, salt, etc.
How to Make
You’ll first want to make your flax egg. You can do this by combine flaxseeds with water and allowing them time to gel together.
You’ll then want to combine your dry ingredients, including the oat flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and chocolate chips, in one bowl.
In a second bowl, you’ll want to combine the wet ingredients including the non-dairy milk, oil and flax egg. Then you’ll mix everything together until well combined and add it to your 8×8″ square baking dish.
On top of the batter, you’ll sprinkle the remaining sugar and cocoa powder, and then top it with the hot coffee mixture. The cake will look messy, but trust me, it works!
You’ll then bake it for about 27-30 minutes until cake is set and bubbly on top. Allow it time to cool before dusting with powdered sugar, if desired. Dig in!
Why We Love It
This gluten-free chocolate pudding cake has quickly become a family favorite. I first made it as an experiment for this blog… and when we loved it, I made it again at the request of my son. He wanted it as his “birthday” cake.
I was happy to oblige and make it for him – and we even put a candle in it and sang to him. He was so happy. He loves pudding and cake – so this pudding cake is true dessert bliss for him!
I personally love the cake too. It oozes with soft pudding while still having a wonderful cake texture. It’s the gluten-free chocolate cake you’ve been looking for… but better!
Gluten-Free Chocolate Pudding Cake Recipe
Here is the official recipe for this wonderful gluten-free chocolate pudding cake. I know it will make you – and everyone who enjoys it – happy. Enjoy!
Gluten-Free Chocolate Pudding Cake
Ingredients
Cake Batter
- 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed
- 1.5 cups gluten-free oat flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1.5 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp Kosher salt
- 1/3 cup non-dairy chocolate chips
- 3/4 cup non-dairy milk (almond or cashew milk)
- 2 Tbsp avocado oil
- 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
Cake Topping
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 Tbsp cocoa powder
- 1.25 cups hot water or coffee decaf ok
- 1 Tbsp powdered sugar optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease an 8x8 square baking dish and set aside.
- Make flax egg by combine flaxseeds with three tablespoons of water. Mix together and set aside for five minutes until mixture turns into gel.
- In a large bowl, combine oat flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and chocolate chips.
- In a second bowl, combine non-dairy milk, oil, vanilla extract, and flax egg.
- Add dry ingredients to wet mixture and combine well, mixing by hand until ingredients are all well incorporated.
- Add batter to baking dish, then evenly sprinkle the batter with the reserved 1/3 cup of sugar and 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder.
- Pour the hot water or coffee over the entire cake. Don't worry, it looks like a mess but it works!
- Bake for 27-30 minutes until cake is set and bubbling on top. Cook for a few minutes before digging in. Once cooled, you can top with optional sprinkle of powdered sugar.
Notes
Nutrition
Has anyone tried it with dairy milk and a real egg? I don’t keep flax on hand.
oh my goodness super yummy!! I twist the recipe with a little bit by adding some sour cream, a few unsweetened coconut flakes, and some extra dark chocolate chips, and I used brown sugar instead of white. it worked perfectly.
Yay thanks for sharing. I’ve never heard of cottage pudding!
We learned to make this, although in a full gluten version, in home economics.class in high school in the 1950s. We knew it as “Cottage Pudding”. I’ll definitely have to give it a try.