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Have you ever wondered if you can make a flourless chocolate cake healthier? That’s what I set to figure out when I started testing this recipe over 10 years ago.
I started by swapping the white sugar for natural options, like coconut sugar or honey, and I’ve lightened it up by replacing some of the oil with pumpkin puree. But, you’d never tell just by tasting it!
If you love baking without flour, you’ll also love my chocolate pumpkin muffins, healthy pumpkin bars, and banana snack cake. They’re all flourless!
“This is my new favorite chocolate cake, so fudgy! Nobody would ever know that there is no flour. Thank you for such a decadent recipe!”
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love this Flourless Cake Recipe
- It has plenty of feedback. If you’re like me and like to read reviews before you try a new recipe, this one has nearly 10 years of reviews to check out below.
- You have variations to choose from. I originally tested this recipe with 100% unsweetened chocolate and honey, so if you want to make a cake with no refined sugar, be sure to read the recipe notes. Over the years, I’ve actually found it easier to buy 70% dark chocolate, so the recipe has changed to keep things easier.
- It’s been tested a lot. Readers asked for an option with butter instead of pumpkin or coconut oil so that is in the recipe notes, too! I also recently tested (in 2026) two flourless cakes side by side to see if using a water bath while baking would make a difference. The good news is that the easiest way is also the best way.
- It’s unique, but delicious. The last thing you need is another flourless chocolate cake recipe that looks exactly like the others on the internet. This one has added veggies inside(!), but it still tastes like a rich chocolate cake that you’ll be proud to serve to guests.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Dark Chocolate. I’ve tested this with unsweetened chocolate, dark chocolate bars, and chocolate chips, but I think this is easiest (and best) when you use 70% dark chocolate bars. The bars melt smoother than chocolate chips, and are usually labeled by the ounce, making it easier to measure without a food scale.
- Eggs. When you’re not baking with flour, eggs are crucial for structure. If you want an egg-free chocolate cake, try my vegan chocolate pie instead. Do not, I repeat, do not use flax egg for this recipe. It will be gooey and have no structure.
- Cacao Powder. I always keep raw cacao powder in my pantry, but regular cocoa powder should work, too. (Cocoa powder is slightly less bitter, meaning your cake will be slightly sweeter, but still delicious.)
- Pumpkin + Coconut Oil. Did you know that butter is part water? That’s why when you replace it with only oil, it doesn’t always turn out the same. The pumpkin adds moisture and a little fiber, but you won’t notice the flavor at all. (Seriously, you can’t taste it.)
- Salt. When you replace butter in a recipe, sometimes you’ll need to add salt to balance out the sweetness. That’s definitely the case here! You don’t need to add salt when using salted butter (I’ll share that variation in the notes) but you need salt if you’re using the pumpkin + coconut oil combination.
How to Make Flourless Chocolate Cake (Step by Step)
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and grease a 8-inch spring form pan. In a heat-safe bowl, add 4 ounces of 70% dark chocolate and 1/4 cup of melted coconut oil.
- Create a double boiler by adding an inch of water to a small saucepan. Bring it to a boil, then place the bowl of chocolate snugly over the pan. When the chocolate looks glossy, stir well until smooth.
- In a large mixing bowl, add 1 cup of coconut sugar, 1/4 cup of cacao powder, and 1/3 cup pumpkin puree.
- Pour the melted chocolate and coconut oil over the ingredients in the bowl. Stir well, until everything looks smooth. This should help cool down the melted chocolate before you add the eggs.
- When the bowl doesn’t feel hot to the touch, crack 4 large eggs into the chocolate mixture. Stir well, until it looks well mixed and glossy, almost like brownie batter.
- Transfer the mixture to the greased spring form pan and spread it out evenly. Bake at 350ºF until the center doesn’t jiggle, about 25 to 30 minutes. (Mine took 28 minutes; watch closely to not over-bake it.)
- Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes. It’s best if you can remove the cake from the pan while it’s still warm, but you don’t want the pan to be too hot to handle.
- Flip the cake over onto a parchment-lined plate if you want to. This can leave a pretty pattern on top, depending on the pattern on your pan. Or, you don’t have to flip it!
- Slice the cake into small slices; it’s very rich and dense! I usually get 12 standard slices, but you can even cut them smaller into 16 pieces if you prefer.
- Serve with shaved chocolate on top, if desired. I think the rich chocolate flavor also pairs well with fresh raspberries, or a dollop of chia seed jam or fruit compote.
Expert Tip: If you’re not sure if your cake is done, you can test the center with an instant read thermometer. When it reaches 200ºF in the center, you’ll know it’s done. (If you don’t have one, just make sure the cake doesn’t jiggle when you remove it from the oven.)
Variations I’ve Tested
- Make it with butter. You can replace both the coconut oil and pumpkin puree for one (4 oz.) stick of butter. If you’re using salted butter, don’t add extra salt to the recipe.
- Make it egg-free. I don’t recommend using an egg substitute for this recipe, because the eggs provide most of the structure. However, you can try my vegan chocolate tart for a similar dessert made without eggs or dairy.
- Sweeten with honey. If you’d like to avoid all refined sugar, you can swap the dark chocolate chips for unsweetened baking chocolate and replace the coconut sugar with 3/4 cup honey, instead. I haven’t tested this recipe with maple syrup yet, so I couldn’t tell you if it will work with another sweetener.
- Reduce the sugar. I’ve tested this recipe with only 3/4 cup of coconut sugar, and it’s not quite sweet enough for my family when I use 72% dark chocolate chips as the base. However, if you use a sweeter dark chocolate (in the 50-60% range) you may be able to use less coconut sugar. Or, if you use semi-sweet chocolate, you may only need a 1/2 cup of added sugar. Feel free to experiment with it!
- Baked with a water bath. If you’re not familiar with a water bath, it’s the same idea I use when making cottage cheese egg bites with a velvety texture. I baked this flourless cake directly in a sheet pan with water to see if it might make the cake bake better than one straight in the oven (with no pan of water in sight). The result? The cake in the water bath took longer for the center to cook, and it wasn’t any more moist than the version without the water bath… so you can skip this idea!
Storage Tips
You can prepare this cake up to 2 days in advance, and keep it tightly covered in the fridge. Serve it chilled or let it come to room temperature for 1 hour, for the best flavor.
You can also store this flourless chocolate cake in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let it thaw in the fridge overnight before serving it the next day.
Serve this Cake with…
If you try this healthy flourless chocolate cake recipe, please leave a comment and ⭐ star rating below to let me know how you like it. Thanks for visiting!
Flourless Chocolate Cake
This flourless chocolate cake has a fudgy texture, just like the classic, but it's made without butter. Instead, it has a sneaky serving of pumpkin and features melted 70% dark chocolate. But, you'd never guess what's inside just by tasting it! It's rich and impressive, yet easy to make, so it's one of my favorite desserts to bring to a party.
prep10 mins cook30 mins total40 mins
Ingredients
- 4 ounces 70% dark chocolate (or similar)
- ¼ cup melted coconut oil (see notes for variations)
- 1 cup coconut sugar (or other granulated sugar)
- ⅓ cup pumpkin puree
- ¼ cup cacao powder
- 4 large eggs
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and grease an 8" springform pan with cooking spray.
- In a heatproof bowl, melt the chocolate and coconut oil together, stirring until completely smooth. (You can use a double-boiler for this, or the microwave in 30-second intervals.) Set it aside to cool slightly.
- In a large bowl, combine the coconut sugar, pumpkin, and cacao powder. Then add in the cooled chocolate and stir well. Stirring this together first should help cool down the chocolate, so it won't cook the eggs when you add them in.
- Next, add the 4 large eggs to the bowl and mix again. Once it looks glossy and uniform, transfer the mixture to the prepared pan and spread it out evenly. Bake at 350ºF until the center looks firm, about 25 to 30 minutes.
- Allow the cake to cool in the pan completely, or if you want to flip it out of the pan, I recommend doing that after only 10-15 minutes of cooling so it will release from the bottom of the springform pan easier. I like to line a plate with parchment paper first, then place it on top of the cake and flip it over.
- Let the cake cool for at least 1 hour before serving for the easiest slicing. Serve with shaved chocolate on top, for a pretty presentation, or a sprinkle of cacao powder or powdered sugar, if you prefer.
Watch the pan closely as you approach the 25 minute mark. As soon as the center rises and looks dry on top (not jiggly) remove it from the oven. Mine is usually done in 28 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition information is for 1 of 12 slices. This information is automatically calculated using an online ingredient database, and is just an estimate, not a guarantee. You can make smaller slices if you prefer!
Make Ahead Tip: You can make this cake up to 2 days in advance and store it tightly covered in the fridge until you’re ready to serve. I recommend bringing it to room temperature on the counter for at least 1 hour for the best flavor. You can also freeze this cake, tightly covered, for up to 3 months.
Butter Variation: You can omit the pumpkin and coconut oil in this recipe and use a 4-ounce stick of butter instead. If you use salted butter, you can omit the salt in this recipe.
Egg-Free Options: Do not use a flax egg for this recipe. Check out my Vegan Chocolate Tart or Vegan Chocolate Pie instead.
Make it with NO refined sugar:
- 4 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate
- 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
- 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/4 cup cacao powder
- 3/4 cup honey
- 4 eggs
Nutrition
Calories: 172kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.003g | Cholesterol: 62mg | Sodium: 98mg | Potassium: 130mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 1150IU | Vitamin C: 0.3mg | Calcium: 19mg | Iron: 2mg
This recipe is incredible! Honestly the most decadent and delicious flourless chocolate cake I’ve ever had (let alone made!) I also love that it doesn’t leave you feeling guilty or bloated because all the ingredients are healthy. Will definitely be making this again!
I’d like to use maple syrup instead of honey. any thoughts? Might use the 70% chocolate since the maple syrup might not be as sweet as honey.
I think using 70% chocolate sounds like a good plan with the maple syrup. Please let me know if you try it out!
Ridiculously good! I made it extra heavy, calorie-wise, because of adding a lot of ganache on top. I wonder if you can get away with even a little more applesauce (which I substituted for pumpkin purée) to replace some of the fat? I used some stevia in the raw and it’s still really high in calories! Thanks so much!
What can i use in the place of pumpkin puree?
You can use coconut oil instead, or another puree– but keep in mind that another puree could change the flavor slightly. Butternut would be the most even swap, but applesauce or mashed banana will add their flavor to the cake.
Loved it! Made this for my hubby’s birthday with semi sweet dark chocolate since we have kids. My topping was puréed mixed berries heated with Agave then drizzled over just before we served. Huge hit with everyone
That sounds delicious with the berry topping! Glad it was a hit!! 🙂
What did you use to make the icing for this cake?
This cake is so rich, it doesn’t need any icing! But you can find several frosting recipes here on my website if you need one.
Hi. I don’t have any pumpkin puree and not enough coconut oil to replace it . Do you think I can put some mashed banana instead ?
Thanks so much! I love your receipes
Sure, it’s worth a shot! The banana flavor might come through a bit, so as long as that’s alright with you, the texture should be okay with that swap.
We substituted maple syrup for the honey and 1/2 cup butter in place of the coconut oil and pumpkin since we didn’t need to worry about dairy, just trying to avoid cane sugar. It was. Amazing. Thank you!
I believe you had this cake without pumpkin purée before. I had made it several times, even remember how the picture of the cake looked like. Did you modify the recipe? I wonder if I make it with pumpkin puree, would I be able to taste it or is it added to the recipe just for texture? Thanks.
Yes, the original method is still here in the notes! Just use coconut oil if you don’t want to use the pumpkin puree, in the same amount. You can’t taste the pumpkin either way, I just use that now to reduce the saturated fat in this recipe. Hope you enjoy it!
What other pan can we use. I can’t find a springform pan that’s not non stick !