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Gluten Free Flourless Chocolate Cake

January 24, 2023

Gluten free flourless chocolate cake is the easiest prep in less than 10 minutes, and the most rich, decadent chocolate cake for any occasion!

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“Just enjoy it…”

I know they said that these days would go fast. You know what I’m talking about – you’re the completely exhausted newborn momma with a toddler pulling on the yoga pants you haven’t changed in who knows how many days…and the well meaning relative or neighbor says, “Just enjoy it! It goes by so fast!” I know from experience that the comment barely computes on your two hours of sleep, but it stores away somewhere in your tired stupor. And they are right. It really does fly, even though your days feel endless. But if there are young moms reading this today, I also want to tell you it’s ok to tell someone you’re exhausted without the guilt. You can both enjoy your little ones, and admit that you are hanging by a thread!

Create nostalgia and childhood memories in a simple way

I’m one of those “jump in with both feet” kind of people. So I remember when that well meaning person told me to “just enjoy it” and man did I jump in. I remember panicking that I wasn’t making enough memories, or creating enough joy. There is nothing wrong with planning a fun day with your littles, but expecting to do it all the time will most definitely end in one burned out momma! There are super simple things that you can make a part of your kids’ childhood that they will never forget, and you don’t have to spend days planning it. One of those simple things can be the tradition of Sunday dinner and dessert. (Or whatever day of the week works for your family!). I started this years ago when the girls were too little to understand, and now my 13, 11, and 9 year old’s, ask what Sunday dinner and their beloved treat will be almost every weekend. My husband and I often talk about how we hope that they will want to come home for Sunday dinner even after they have left the nest, and even if they don’t, or live far away, hopefully the memory of our Sunday hikes and Sunday dinner will be a sweet one for them.

One of our favorite (fast!) Sunday dinner desserts

Sunday dessert looks different depending on the time of year. Most of the time, I am *not* making something fancy or time consuming. In fact, in the summer, it looks a lot like summer berries and whipped cream! In the fall, I like to make apple crisp often, and sometimes in the winter it’s a quick batch of vanilla bean pudding (this recipe is actually in the Treats section of my cookbook, Nourished Beginnings!), or an oatmeal raisin cookie. I just love this flourless chocolate cake, though, and I think you’ll see that the effort it takes to make is super fast. It can really become one of those recipes to fall back on when you need to have a treat made for just about any occasion!

The Method :: Melting the butter and chocolate

You’ll start your cake by melting some butter in a sauce pan, and then letting that hot butter melt your chocolate. I have used both the Trader Joe’s dark chocolate chips and the Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips/Chunks for this recipe, and both work. If you don’t tolerate butter, a sustainable palm shortening works. Coconut oil would work too, but it will change the flavor of the cake, so keep that in mind.

The Method :: Finishing the batter

Once the chocolate is melted, the rest of the ingredients get whisked in, and you’re ready to bake! Under 10 minutes to prep?! Yes please!

Let’s talk about cake pan sizes!

You can bake your cake in just about any cake size or shape. I have made the cake in a 7-inch cake round (pictured in this post to fit the size cake plate and cake stand I used!), and also 8-inch and 9-inch cake rounds. The cake will obviously be thinner the larger the cake round, but the cake is very rich and brownie like, so it really fits the kind of cake it is!

The Method :: The ganache topping

Once your cake has cooled completely, you can add the simple ganache to the top. Ganache is just a fancy name for chocolate that has been melted in cream. In this case, I used butter. If you are dairy free, sustainable palm shortening works. Just like with the cake, coconut oil would work too, but will change the flavor. Simply melt the butter, and then pour the chocolate in to melt. You can spread it right on the top of the cake and let it set.

Dairy free friends, this part is for you!

If you do not tolerate butter, you can use sustainable palm shortening. I have made this recipe with it once and it worked just the same. You will also want to be careful with your choice of chocolate chips if you have to avoid dairy, since some of them do contain milk. The Trader Joe’s dark chocolate chips and the Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips/Chunks are both good choices, though I have seen other dairy free chocolate chips in the store.

Let’s dress it up for Valentine’s Day!

Chocolate and Valentine’s Day are pretty much BFF’s, so this is a great treat for the little sweethearts in your home, or that night in with your spouse that you planned! If you like sprinkles, you can find dye free Valentine’s Day sprinkles here and here.

Let’s dress it up for a birthday!

This is the *perfect* opportunity for your kids to work on following a very simple recipe to either make their own cake, OR make YOU a cake for your birthday! If you ask them, I’m willing to bet they would love the chance to make something for you! You can find dye free rainbow sprinkles here!

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Gluten Free Flourless Chocolate Cake

Author: Renee Kohley – Raising Generation Nourished

Ingredients

For the Chocolate Cake ::

1/2 cup butter
1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
3/4 cup pure cane sugar or coconut sugar
Pinch of sea salt
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
1/2 cup cocoa powder

For the Chocolate Ganache ::

3 Tbsp butter
2/3 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter and line a round 7″, 8″, or 9″cake pan with parchment paper. I have made this cake with all 3 of those sizes and they all work. In this post, the pictures have a 7″ cake to fit the cake stand and cake plate used.
Melt butter in medium sauce pan. Turn the heat off, and add the chocolate chips. Let the chocolate sit for a minute in the hot butter, then whisk together until the chocolate is smooth.
Add the sugar, salt, and vanilla into the chocolate mixture, and whisk to combine. Then, add the three eggs, and whisk until the egg is incorporated fully.
Stir in the cocoa powder completely, and scoop the batter into the prepared cake pan. Spread the cake evenly.
Bake at 375° for 25 minutes or till toothpick comes out clean. I feel like I have to let the cake bake an extra few minutes when I use the smaller, 7" cake pan, so use the toothpick method and make sure it is set. Let cake cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Melt the butter for the glaze in a small sauce pan, turn off the heat, and then pour in the chocolate chips. Let the chocolate melt for a minute before stirring it smooth. Pour the ganache over the cooled cake, and let it set.

Notes

I have used both the Trader Joe’s dark chocolate chips and the Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips/Chunks for this recipe, and both work.
I have used palm shortening in place of the butter in the cake and the ganache, and it works great, so if you do not tolerate butter, this is a good swap. Coconut oil would work as well, but will change the flavor.

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Breakfast Ideas Healthy Kids and Teens Holiday Recipes Occasional Treats Real Food 101 Real Food Tips School Holidays

Fresh Pumpkin Donuts :: Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Nut Free, Egg Free

October 10, 2022

These super soft, super delicious pumpkin donuts are the perfect treat for all of your fall weekend adventures!

Fresh Pumpkin Donuts :: Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Nut Free, Egg Free

It’s pumpkin time!

You never know what your going to get as far as the weather goes on pumpkin patch weekend, and this year it was probably the warmest we’ve ever experienced! I also never know what we’re going to get as far as what kind of pumpkins my little people pick out, and while I’m a traditionalist, and love an orange pumpkin, the girls always tend to find the coolest colors, varieties, and sizes just to stretch me 😉

A new pumpkin challenge!

As the girls get older, this time of year has gotten hard as they definitely know what they are missing when we take a pass on the pumpkin patch donuts. When they were little, we’d steer clear of the bakery area, and call it good. But, they know a little better now, and last year I ended up playing around with a new donut pan, coming up with some fun recipes so they could feel like they got to enjoy a special treat, and I could feel good about keeping the ingredients on the healthier side.

Roasted pumpkin or canned?

I’m an absolute sucker for fresh roasted pumpkin. I designed this pumpkin donut to make a good 15 donuts so that I only had to make them once per fall, freezing any leftovers, which absolutely makes it feel more do-able to go fresh on the pumpkin in my book. Canned pumpkin will work just fine as well, so go that route if you are shorter on time. If the kids have never seen a pumpkin go from the patch to the oven to a baked good though, it is so, so worth the time to do that! Simply pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees, use some good avocado oil or butter if you can have that on the flesh of the pumpkin, and roast flesh side down on a baking sheet for about 40 minutes until tender. You can scoop the flesh into a food processor or blender to puree from there. I don’t think you’ll turn back once you taste it!

Easy peasy, one bowl batter!

If you have been around these parts for very long, you know that I freely admit that I don’t enjoy baking – it is just not my thing! I love to cook, but baking is fussy and finicky, and I barely have the patience for it! So most of my baked items are super fuss free, including this one. You’ll whisk the dry ingredients in a bowl, add the wet ingredients to mix, and then get them into the donut pan! The batter is thicker than a muffin batter, but not as thick as a cookie dough.

Let’s talk donut pans and how to bake!

Silicone is the way to go from my experience. I had metal donut pans last year, and the middle part didn’t come up very high, so it made it hard to fill the pan and keep the hole in the center of the donuts in tact as the donuts rose. My silicone donut pans have a nice high center, and the donuts come out of a silicone pan SO easily too! Since the batter is thick, I have found it easiest to pipe the batter into the donut pan so that you get a really pretty, and smooth donut. If you don’t have piping bags around, you can snip the end of a zip top bag just as easily.

That topping though!

I have played around with a few different donut toppings for these pumpkin donuts, and just love the traditional donut glaze that has a fun shiny top – it really looks like a store bought or bakery bought donut! You’ll just melt some butter or coconut oil in warm coconut milk and molasses, and then whisk the powdered sugar into the pan. Keeping the glaze warm is key in getting a really pretty, smooth frosting top. As it cools, it will harden and have that shiny gorgeous finish! Here’s the deal though – if you have really little ones at home, they are not going to know ANY differently if these donuts are glazed or not. It’s really just a mildly sweet muffin without the glaze, and if I had small children or toddlers at home, I’d be leaving the frosting off – they will still love them!

Storage and freezing options

This recipe makes a good 15 donuts – my kids do NOT need 15 donuts! You can certainly halve this recipe, but I like to freeze them. It’s nice to do a fun treat on pumpkin patch day, and then freeze some for Halloween morning! That is one less thing you have to make on Halloween, and they really do freeze up well. I freeze them with the frosting on, but you can also just freeze the donuts once they cool, and then make fresh glaze when you pull them out.

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