My vegan chocolate spice cake blends deep cocoa with molasses, warm spices, and just a hint of coffee. It’s incredibly moist with a tender crumb, full of cozy holiday flavor, and surprisingly easy to make. This just might become your new go-to festive dessert!
I have a lot of favorite cake recipes, but my vegan chocolate cake and vegan spice cake are definitely tied for first place. It was only a matter of time before I combined them, and friends, I may have just created a new all-time favorite. This chocolate spice cake is full of cozy, warming spices layered with deep, intense chocolate flavor. It’s truly a match made in holiday dessert heaven.
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And here’s the best part: it’s so easy. Just like my spice cake, this one comes together in a single bowl with no electric mixer required. It bakes up as a simple quarter sheet cake with no stacking, no filling, and no fuss. But don’t let its humble appearance fool you: every slice is wonderfully moist, indulgent, and exploding with festive flavor.
Ingredients You'll Need
Below you'll find a list of ingredients in this recipe, with notes and substitutions. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the post to see the full recipe, including the amount of each ingredient.
- Flour. The recipe calls for all-purpose wheat flour, also known as white flour. Will other varieties work? Possibly! But I haven't tested any of them, so I can't make any promises.
- Cocoa powder. Make sure it's unsweetened.
- Sugar. Use organic sugar, since conventional sugar is often processed using animal bone char.
- Brown sugar. Use organic here, too. Same deal!
- Baking powder.
- Baking soda.
- Spices. You'll be using a blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.
- Salt.
- Non-dairy milk. Pretty much any variety that works for drinking will work in this cake. Soy milk, oat milk, almond milk, and cashew milk are all options! Read my guide to non-dairy milk if you need help choosing.
- Vegetable oil. Any neutral oil you normally use for baking is fine. Canola oil, avocado oil, and sunflower oil are all good options.
- Coffee. Go for something strong! If espresso is available, that's perfect. I use decaf espresso.
- Molasses. We're using unsulfured molasses, which is the common variety you'll see in the baking aisle. Grandma's and Brer Rabbit are a few popular brands. As much as I love blackstrap molasses, I don't recommend using it in this particular recipe.
- Vanilla extract.
- Apple cider vinegar. Need an alternative? Read my guide to apple cider vinegar substitutes for baking.
- Vegan chocolate chips. Most stores carry these in the baking or natural foods aisle.
- Frosting. I recommend going with my vegan cream cheese frosting, but my vegan vanilla buttercream or vegan chocolate frosting would also be great with this cake.
How It's Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
Step 1: Get ready. Preheat your oven to 350°F and grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.
Step 2: Combine dry ingredients. Whisk your flour, cocoa powder, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt together in a large mixing bowl.
Step 3: Combine wet ingredients. Stir the milk, oil, coffee, molasses, vanilla, and apple cider vinegar together in a small container.
Step 4: Mix the batter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, then stir everything together just until the batter is nice and smooth.
Step 5: Add chocolate chips. Just fold them in, gently.
Steps 6 and 7: Pour and bake. Pour the batter into your prepared cake pan, smooth out the top, and pop it into the oven for 35 to 40 minutes. It's done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean of batter.
Steps 8-10. Cool, frost, and serve. Let it cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before frosting. Then it's ready to slice up and enjoy!
Variations
- Add nuts. Stir a half cup of chopped pecans, walnuts, or hazelnuts into the batter.
- White chocolate chips. Vegan white chocolate chips are available at lots of grocery stores these days, and they'd be delicious in this cake.
- Orange spice. Add a couple of teaspoons of orange zest to the batter.
- Alternative toppings. Skip the frosting, and instead dust the top of your cake with powdered sugar or cocoa, or drizzle it with vegan chocolate ganache or vegan caramel sauce.
Frequently Asked Questions
Probably, although I haven't tested a gluten-free version. I have substituted all-purpose gluten-free flour blends in similar cake recipes with good results, though.
Yes! Bake it in two 9-inch round pans for 22 to 24 minutes.
Store the cake in the baking pan, covered tightly in plastic. It will keep at room temperature for about three days, or in the fridge for about five days. If you'd like to freeze it, either place the pan in a large freezer bag or transfer the cake to an airtight container. The cake will keep for about three months in the freezer.
More Vegan Holiday Cakes
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Chocolate Spice Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¾ cup organic granulated sugar
- ½ cup organic brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unflavored and unsweetened non-dairy milk
- â…” cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup strong brewed coffee or espresso, room temperature
- 2 tablespoons unsulfured molasses
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup vegan chocolate chips
- Vegan frosting of choice, such as my vegan cream cheese frosting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease the inside of a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.
- Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and salt together in a large mixing bowl.
- In a separate container, such as a large liquid measuring cup, stir together the milk, oil, coffee, molasses, vanilla, and apple cider vinegar.
- Pour the milk mixture into the bowl with the flour mixture, then stir the ingredients until smooth and thoroughly combined, but avoid overmixing.
- Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Pour the batter into the baking pan, smoothing out the top.
- Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean of batter, 35 to 40 minutes.
- Place the cake pan on a wire rack and let the cake cool completely in the pan.
- Spread the frosting evenly over the cake, and optionally top with a sprinkle of cinnamon.
- Slice and serve.
Notes
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