EASY Gluten Free Chocolate Texas Sheet Cake Recipe

My Gluten Free Texas Sheet Cake is perfection in a pan! The cake is tender, and a beautiful combination of chocolate with a hint of cinnamon. The chocolate frosting is creamy and rich, and fairs more as a glaze, creating such a lovely finish to the cake. This gluten-free Texas sheet cake feeds a crowd, and will leave everyone’s bellies oh-so-happy! And with a few simple ingredients, and a few simple steps, you won’t have to work too hard!

Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake is a recipe that holds such a special place in my heart! My mom was a teacher for 30 years before she passed, and celebrating her student’s birthdays was something she always valued. She wanted to make her students feel special, and she wanted to make sure they began to value the uniqueness in which God created them. So she would bake a chocolate sheet cake for each of her classes, every quarter to celebrate birthdays. Paired with a “When God made you, He did good work”, it’s a beautiful way to celebrate!

I remember waking up to the chocolate fragrance wafting through our house, as my mom had awoken an hour earlier to make cake for her students. And when I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease, I knew I wanted to rewrite the recipe she used and make it gluten-free friendly. There are a million and one Texas sheet cake recipes out there, but her recipe came from a very old cookbook written by a group of sweet ladies for the Oklahoma Christian University Association. And the recipe was actually called “Chocolate Sheath Cake” if that tells you how vintage this cookbook is – I am lucky to have inherited this gem of an antique! 

What You Need For This Recipe:

• gluten-free flour blend
• coconut sugar
• baking soda
• salt
• cocoa powder
• sour cream
• milk
• powdered sugar
• butter
• eggs
• vanilla extract

What You Will Love About This Recipe:

• made with simple, basic ingredients
• sheet cakes are EASY to decorate – no layer cake
• feeds a crowd!
• it’s so easy to double, to feed an extra large crowd

Helpful Tips!

• Perusal, room temperature ingredients yields best results!
• make the frosting while the cake bakes
• serve day of, or next day for best experience
• use a plastic knife to cut the cake for clean slices
• leftover cake can be stored in an airtight container, or cover the cake pan with plastic wrap

For the Steps! 

1. Let’s preheat oven to 350°. In a stand mixer and using a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: 2 cup of gluten-free flour, 2 cups of coconut sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon.
2. Begin to boil 1 cup of water in the kettle. While the water comes to a boil, over medium heat, melt 2 sticks of butter in a large saucepan. Once the butter is melted, whisk in the 4 tablespoons (rounded) cocoa powder. Once the cocoa powder is completely incorporated, whisk in the 1 cup of hot water. Continue to whisk and boil mixture for 30 seconds over medium/low heat. Remove the sauce pan from the heat and pour over flour mixture in the standing mixer. Starting at a low speed, begin to whisk to the wet and dry ingredients together. Increase the speed for 15 seconds then turn the mixer off.  
3. In a separate medium bowl, combine 1/2 cup Greek yogurt (plain), 1/2 cup whole milk, 2 eggs, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Whisk to combine the wet ingredients, then fold into chocolate batter. You can do this by hand, or with the mixer, just change the attachment to the paddle attachment. (FYI the milk and greek yogurt replace the buttermilk mixture you will typically find in these recipes). 
4. I never prepare my pan and the cake never sticks, but if you are feeling wary, simply spray the baking pan with avocado oil before pouring in the batter. To bake, pour the cake batter into an 18×13 baking sheet and baking time is for 20 minutes – I always check at 15 minutes, but it can take from 15 to 25 minutes. When you touch the center and it bounces back up, you know the cake is done! Also, you could use a different pan size, you will just have to account for different baking times.
5. While the cake bakes, let’s make the frosting! Melt the 1 3/4 sticks of salted butter in a saucepan. Once the butter is melted, add 4 (rounded) tablespoons of cocoa powder and remove from heat. Whisk in 6 tablespoons of milk, 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 1 pound of powdered sugar. You can sift the powdered sugar beforehand, to rid it of any clumps, but this is not necessary. Just whisk the frosting together until there are no clumps of sugar remaining.
6. Let the cake cool for 15 minutes, pour the warm frosting over the cake. You could totally add chopped and toasted pecans, or seasonal sprinkles! She is easy to dress up! OR if you have a house divided, decorate half the cake one way, and the other half another! Or throw on some candles and start the party! 
7. Cut into squares and ENJOY!

This easy gluten-free chocolate cake is a crowd pleaser and one of our favorite desserts! This rich chocolate cake with chocolate frosting is the perfect dessert for birthday parties, or a special occasion!

Check out the recipe card below! 

My Gluten Free Texas Sheet Cake is perfection in a pan! The cake is tender, and a beautiful combination of chocolate with a hint of cinnamon. The chocolate frosting is creamy and rich, and fairs more as a glaze, creating such a lovely finish to the cake. This gluten-free Texas sheet cake feeds a crowd, and will leave everyone’s bellies oh-so-happy! And with a few simple ingredients, and a few simple steps, you won’t have to work too hard!

Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake is a recipe that holds such a special place in my heart! My mom was a teacher for 30 years before she passed, and celebrating her student’s birthdays was something she always valued. She wanted to make her students feel special, and she wanted to make sure they began to value the uniqueness in which God created them. So she would bake a chocolate sheet cake for each of her classes, every quarter to celebrate birthdays. Paired with a “When God made you, He did good work”, it’s a beautiful way to celebrate!