Egg Free Chocolate Snack Cake

Today we tried a new egg free chocolate snack cake recipe. Like the Depression era Wacky Cake, this one is made without eggs or butter.  But unlike Wacky Cake, this recipe calls for buttermilk plus a lot more cocoa powder, which gives the cake a deeper chocolate flavor.

You can frost the chocolate snack cake with your favorite frosting, but we were in the mood for peanut butter and made a peanut butter frosting using some extra crunchy peanut butter. I’m pretty sure smooth peanut butter would look a lot prettier than crunchy, but our goal was to use ingredients on hand and not run to the store. And while it’s not as pretty, the crunch from the peanuts was kind of nice. All in all it’s a very good cake, but it definitely needs the frosting component for extra moisture.

Recipe

Egg Free Chocolate Snack Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

Cookie Madness

A deep, dark, chocolate cake made without any eggs.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 22 minutes mins

Total Time 32 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 8

Ingredients

 

• 1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup all-purpose flour stir before measuring or weigh 3.8 ounces
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar 3.5 oz
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder we used natural style
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Small handful of chocolate chips optional

Peanut Butter Frosting

• 4 tablespoons unsalted or salted butter softened
• 1/3 cup peanut butter
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Tiny pinch of salt – only if using unsalted butter
• Cream as needed optional

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 inch square metal pan.
• In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the center and add buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Stir in chocolate chips.
• With a heavy duty scraper or spoon, mix everything together until smooth. The batter should be slightly thick.
• Spread the batter in the prepared pan and bake for about 22 to 25 minutes or until cake springs back when touched. Let cool completely.
• To make the frosting, beat together the softened butter and peanut butter. Stir in the powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth. Beat in a tiny pinch of salt. If necessary, add a little cream to thin the frosting. Alternatively, add more peanut butter if you’d like a less sweet frosting. Spread over the cooled cake.

Notes

The crumb of this cake was adapted from an old recipe from Fanny Farmer, while the frosting is a basic buttercream made with peanut butter. I tend to change the amount of peanut butter every time, but 1/3 cup is a good starting point.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!