Gluten-Free Oat Flour Chocolate Cake
This perfect gluten-free oat flour chocolate cake is in heavy rotation in my kitchen. Fluffy oat flour is the only gluten-free flour you need here, keeping this cake simple as well as delicious.
Gluten-Free Oat Flour Chocolate Cake Recipe
This cake is absolutely perfect, and you’d never guess it is gluten-free. Oat flour is the only flour needed to make a gorgeous, very chocolatey chocolate cake that can be baked in layers or in a tube pan. It also freezes beautifully.
Oat flour lends itself nicely to being used as a standalone gluten-free flour especially when mixed with cocoa powder. This recipe produces a cake with a lovely tender crumb. Coffee in the batter makes this cake ultra flavorful and rich and I love to frost it with a simple chocolate buttercream frosting.
This cake is the ultimate. It’s soft, cakey, and just a totally classic chocolate cake that also happens to be gluten-free.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Just one gluten-free flour. Could it be any easier? Oat flour is the only gluten-free flour you need for this cake.
- Easily made dairy-free. Make your own buttermilk substitute with your favorite non-dairy milk of choice mixed with vinegar.
- Impossible to tell that it’s gluten-free. I know that’s a tall order but I really believe that most people would never be able to guess that this is a gluten-free cake.
Ingredients You’ll Need for Gluten-Free Oat Flour Chocolate Cake
- Oat Flour: A wonderful gluten-free whole grain flour for baking
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder: I like Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa powder
- Sugar
- Brown Sugar
- Baking Soda and Baking Powder
- Coconut Oil
- Eggs
- Buttermilk
- Freshly brewed coffee: You could use hot water instead.
How to Make Oat Flour Chocolate Cake
- Prepare pans. Lightly grease 2 8-inch pans and line with parchment paper rounds.
- Whisk together dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the oat flour, sugars, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- Whisk together wet ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla.
- Combine the mixtures. Stir and whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir very well to combine. Stir in the coffee and stir until the batter is smooth.
- Rest batter. Pour batter evenly between the prepared pans and preheat oven to 350° F. Let batter rest while the oven heats, about 15 minutes.
- Bake. Place the pans in the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes, checking at 45 minutes, until a toothpick in the center comes out clean and the edges are starting to pull away from the edges of the pans. Remove from oven and let cake cool in the pans on a wire rack for 30 minutes, then turn out onto the rack to cool fully.
- Frost cake. Frost the cake with your frosting of choice, either as a layer cake or frost one layer and freeze the other for another time.
Tips for Success
- Let batter rest for at least 15 minutes before baking. Oat flour really benefits from a rest to let it absorb liquids.
- Bring ingredients to room temperature before using.
- See “Notes” section following the recipe for substitution suggestions.
How to Store
To store, wrap the cake well and keep in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can also tightly wrap unfrosted cake layers in plastic wrap and foil and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Substitution Suggestions
- Oat flour – Substitute teff flour.
- Buttermilk – Choose your favorite non-dairy milk and mix it with 1 Tablespoon of vinegar, let rest for 10 minutes.
- To make refined sugar-free – Substitute coconut sugar for the brown sugar and maple sugar for the sugar.
Gluten-Free Oat Flour Chocolate Cake
Just oat flour keeps this a simple and easy cake to put together. You'd hardly guess it is gluten-free!
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups/255 g gluten-free oat flour
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup sugar
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 ¾ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- ½ cup liquid coconut oil
- 3 eggs at room temperature large
- 1 cup homemade buttermilk or 1 cup well-shaken buttermilk, at room temperature
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup fresh brewed hot coffee
Instructions
- Lightly grease two 8-inch pans with at least 2-inch sides with coconut oil and line with parchment paper rounds. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the oat flour, sugars, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Stir and whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir very well to combine. Stir in the coffee and stir until batter is smooth and combined.
- Pour batter evenly into prepared pans and preheat oven to 350° F. Let batter rest while the oven heats, about 15 minutes.
- Place pans in the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes, checking at 45 minutes, until a toothpick in the center comes out clean and the edges are starting to pull away from the edges of the pans. Remove from oven and let cake cool in the pans on a wire rack for 30 minutes, then turn out onto the rack to cool fully. The cake will be quite tender and soft – yum! – so it’s a good idea to refrigerate it before frosting or do a crumb coat.
- Frost cake with or your frosting of choice, either as a layer cake or frost one layer and freeze the other for another time (what I did on the second recipe test). Cake will keep well wrapped in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 sliceCalories: 218kcalCarbohydrates: 50gProtein: 4gFat: 2gSaturated Fat: 0.4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.02gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.2gSodium: 439mgPotassium: 178mgFiber: 4gSugar: 12gCalcium: 55mgIron: 2mg
Did you make this recipe?Let me know in the comments how it went!