Moist, deep dark chocolate cake is topped with my favorite chocolate fudge frosting to make this gluten-free Texas Sheet Cake. My hubby requests this gluten-free chocolate cake for his birthday cake almost every year! It’s much easier to make than a layer cake so I happily oblige.
Chocolate cake is definitely in my Top 5 favorite desserts. My family declares this the best gluten-free chocolate cake ever! My husband never really liked chocolate cake until I started making this one!
Gluten-free Texas Sheet Cake is the perfect potluck dessert too. You make it in a huge rimmed sheet pan (15.5″x10.5″), also known as a jelly roll pan. This is the jelly roll pan I have and use, it even has a lid! I love having the lid so I can cover desserts like this without foil or saran wrap sticking to the top of the dessert.
This is the same pan I use for my gluten-free Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting. And the same pan I use for my gluten-free revel bars so it gets a lot of use around here between all these recipes!
Because of the large pan, this makes a thin gluten-free sheet cake with plenty of servings for birthday parties or potlucks.
You can also cut the pieces small if you want to serve a large crowd, so I do that when bringing to a potluck where people are grabbing multiple desserts so they don’t need each serving to be so big.
At home, we like slices nice and big with a glass of milk or scoop of ice cream.
Notes on Ingredients for gluten-free Texas Sheet Cake:
- Gluten-free Flour: As always, I recommend using a good quality gluten-free flour blend that isn’t made of bean flours. I have had great success with the texture of this cake when I use King Arthur Measure for Measure Flour, Gluten free Mama’s Almond Blend, and also with Cup4Cup flour. Try with your favorite good quality flour blend (not Namaste or Pillsbury).
- If the gluten-free flour blend you use already has xanthan gum or guar gum in it, then omit the xanthan gum called for in this recipe.
- Butter: Real butter produces the best results in this cake and the frosting. If you absolutely need to substitute it, like to make it dairy-free, then use a good stick butter alternative like Melt or Earth Balance in an equal amount
- Baking cocoa: In this recipe, I like to divide the total amount called for and use about 1/2 of dutch-processed, Hershey’s regular or Saco blend cocoa and 1/2 Hershey’s special dark cocoa. That is how I achieve a deep, dark brown to the cake and icing.
- Buttermilk: If you don’t have buttermilk on hand you can either use 1/2 cup milk or non-dairy milk alternative with 1 tsp lemon juice mixed in or use buttermilk powder, following the package instructions for how to replace 1/2 cup buttermilk with it.
One thing I like about making this cake is that you don’t have to wait for it to cool completely before you frost it. The cake is still warm when you put the warm frosting on.
Ingredients for the amazing fudge frosting:
The chocolate frosting for this cake is sooo good – it tastes like fudge! It’s made simply with powdered sugar, cocoa powder, butter, milk and vanilla extract. I use a hand mixer for making the frosting. You probably have all of these on hand already!
Yes, you can make this frosting dairy-free by using a dairy-free milk alternative. I do that when I want to use this frosting on other cakes/cupcakes that are dairy-free.
After you frost this, let it cool completely before cutting it. You can put in the refrigerator to speed up the process.
You can cut in a 5×3 pattern for 15 big slices, or a 6×4 pattern for 24 smaller slices, or whatever you prefer! If I’m bringing this somewhere that there are a lot of desserts, I’ve even cut into a 7×5 pattern for 35 smaller pieces.
Everywhere I bring this people can’t get enough and I always come home with an empty pan!
I’ve also posted this recipe adapted as gluten-free chocolate cupcakes and as “gluten-free Love Cakes” for Valentines! Happy Baking!
You can even stack two pieces of this sheet cake on top of each other for two layers of deliciousness!
If you make this sheet cake and love it, please come back and give this recipe a 5 star rating in the recipe card! Feel free to comment with tips or to share any successful substitutions you made.
Gluten-free Texas Sheet Cake Recipe:
Gluten-free chocolate cake that's ready to serve a crowd! Serve up slices of this gluten-free Texas sheet cake at your next potluck or party. *If your flour blend already contains xanthan gum or guar gum, omit the xanthan gum called for in this recipe. As always, be sure to double-check your ingredients for gluten. For the cocoa powder, I like to use about 1/2 of dutch-processed or Saco blend cocoa and 1/2 Hershey's special dark cocoa. That is how I achieve a nice dark brown to my cupcakes and icing. The number of servings will depend on how big you want to cut slices of cake. If serving with ice cream and toppings, we cut a little smaller. If bringing to a potluck with a lot of desserts, we cut a little smaller. As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.Gluten-free Texas Sheet Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
Fudge Frosting:
Instructions
Fudge Frosting:
Notes
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Pin this to your gluten-free cake board on Pinterest:
Old photo from 2014 when this was originally posted!
Diane Watts
Monday 23rd of January 2023
Do you have the nutrition value per piece for this recipe? We have celiac and diabetes in our family, so watch carbs and gluten carefuilly. Thankyou
Carrie
Thursday 5th of January 2023
This was easy and yummy. Everyone liked it even those without a gluten allergy! I would make it again.
Donna
Saturday 17th of December 2022
I am ot on a gluten free diet but my daughter is and I'm making this for her birthday. I have never baked gf. I bought almond flour without xantham gum. Now I read in the comments not to use almond flour. Is that true? Do I have to use xantham?
Michelle Palin ~ My Gluten-free Kitchen
Tuesday 20th of December 2022
Hi almond flour doesn't work well in recipes that call for gluten-free flour blends. You'll want to specifically search for recipes that use almond flour. And I don't have those on my site.
Ruth
Wednesday 22nd of June 2022
Can I make this in a 9x13 pan? I realize it would be thicker.
SarahBeth
Wednesday 22nd of June 2022
Two questions:
- Can this be made in a Bundt pan? - Can this be made dairy free?
Thanks for any tips you can offer. This is my go-to cake, and it's amaze-balls!!