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That’s right – this is a BETTER Chocolate Sheet Cake Recipe! Tastes as good as your regular recipe but with NO eggs or oil/butter! (Which means you can eat more, right??)
I love chocolate, which should be no surprise to you. A good portion of my recipes on this blog are chocolate recipes! I also love me a good cake…but I don’t love me the extra pounds those two things can pack on.
I know I’m all against resolutions and dieting (don’t even get me started on sugar-shaming and the diet-shaming that happens all of January) but I am trying to eat better. I’m trying to limit my desserts and carbs as much as possible, and just saving eating those things for the BEST of the best. I want to get the most out of my calories, you know what I mean?
If it’s not good, I don’t want to waste my time on it. I don’t want to have to do more miles because I ate a cookie or slice of cake that wasn’t worth it. Do y’all feel me? Good, because that’s where this cake comes in.
It’s worth every bite and every calorie, except that it’s a BETTER Chocolate Sheet Cake, so the punch isn’t as much as it normally is. So…more bites are acceptable. #mykindofcake
Sometimes I enjoy a challenge. I get a craving for something (like sheet cake) and I want to recreate it so that I can actually enjoy it without worrying about what I’m going to eat later. Remember – even if I’m all “NO DESSERTS!”, I still have to try everything that goes on this blog. I try it when it’s first baked and again later, after it’s rested. I even sometimes taste things that have been frozen, just to see how that works. That’s a lot of little bites that add up, which is why I like to sometimes create something that won’t add up to as much.
For this Better Chocolate Sheet Cake, I wanted to make a skinnier recipe that was actually better.
My goal was to use my other sheet cake recipe, which was already egg-free, and reduce the fat in it. I did that by omitting all butter and oil from the recipe. In fact, there’s only a little bit of fat in the recipe as a whole. How did I do that?
I omitted the oil from my original recipe by adding unsweetened applesauce and nonfat vanilla greek yogurt. Both keep the cake incredibly moist without adding all the saturated gunk you normally find in cake. I also reduced the sugar and used half all-puropose and half whole-wheat flour.
And, instead of using milk or buttermilk, I used a combination of vinegar and my favorite almond milk, Unsweeteened Almond Breeze.
I’ve substituted Almond Breeze in so many recipes, here on this blog and in real life. I use it exclusively on my cereal and in my smoothies, and I almost always substitute it in recipes when I’m baking. It has less calories and sugar per cup than regular nonfat milk and more calcium, which I love. If you haven’t tried almond milk yet, you’re missing out!
The Better Chocolate Sheet Cake bakes up moist and rich and chocolatey, just like a regular sheet cake would.
And then there’s the matter of the frosting. Can we talk about sheet cake frosting for a minute?
Rich, thick, fudgy cooked sheet cake frosting is from the heavens, yes? I love it and could eat it with a spoon. However, it’s not very calorie conscious. In fact, when I was researching skinny sheet cake recipes, many of the cakes were lower calorie, like mine, but most of them still used the rich icing that has a stick of butter and cups and cups of powdered sugar.
As much as I love that frosting, I don’t think that’s better for you. It’s like spreading Nutella on a rice cake – not really healthy. I edited the frosting on this cake so you could actually feel okay eating it. The recipe just calls for making a ganache out of chocolate chips and almond milk. It’s easy, makes the perfect amount, and hardens a little like the regular frosting.
And, if you heat up the cake in the microwave for just a few seconds before eating it, it’ll be all melty and gooey like the real thing. You won’t even know it’s different!
Sheet cakes are also perfect for parties. Over the next few weeks I’m sure there will be lots and lots of parties going on and maybe you want a little something that won’t kill your diet too much. If that’s the case – make this cake!
And if one of those parties happens to be a football party, I’ve got you covered:
Make it a FOOTBALL sheet cake!!
Also – because sometimes you crave a cake but you only want a slice – you can FREEZE this Better Chocolate Sheet Cake! Slice and freeze it in a large resealable plastic bag, then let a slice defrost at room temperature or 30 seconds in the microwave. Perfect for when you have a major chocolate craving!
It really is a BETTER chocolate sheet cake. Enjoy!
Better Chocolate Sheet Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup nonfat vanilla greek yogurt I use Dannon
- 1 cup Almond Breeze Almond Milk Original Unsweetened
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
Frosting:
- 1 cup semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup Blue Diamond Unsweetened Almond Milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line the bottom of a 10x15 sheet cake pan (cake roll pan) with parchment paper, then spray with nonstick cooking spray.
- Whisk both flours, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Whisk greek yogurt, almond milk, applesauce, vinegar, and vanilla in a measuring cup. Stir wet ingredients into dry and stir until just blended and smooth.
- Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 13-16 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean 2” from the edge of the pan. The cake will somewhat spring back when touched.
- As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, make the frosting. Place the chocolate chips and almond milk in a medium bowl. Heat in the microwave on high power in 30 second increments, stirring between each, until melted and smooth (about 1 1/2 minutes, depending on your microwave). Spread evenly over the top of the cake. It’ll be a thin layer, but it’ll cover!
- Cool completely before serving. Store loosely covered on counter or in refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- Serving suggestion: Slice the cake and pipe white laces onto each piece to look like footballs. Use white chocolate chips (melted) or canned white icing for this step, if desired.
Click here for my ultimate Football Party Menu!
Sweets from friends:
Coconut Almond Sheet Cake by The Food Charlatan
Coconut Almond Banana Bread by Very Culinary
Reese’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pound Cake by Mom on Timeout
This post has been sponsored by Almond Breeze. All opinions are 100% my own.
Last Updated on September 12, 2022
Dorothy, thank you so much for the tips! I will definitely check out that website and the Pillsbury sugar-free mixes. Oh goodness, I so agree that social media has gone way overboard with shaming, and people are incredibly rude. It makes me sad too! Bless your friend’s heart. She should be able to eat a cookie once in awhile without fear of guilt or what other people may say! We should all enjoy the beauties in life, but some things in moderation, of course. I appreciate you!!!! 🙂
You did an amazing job with making this cake liter! Wow, I am impressed because baking with no/very little fat can have some…interesting…results many times but clearly this cake is a keeper!
What you’re talking about, the taste testing, I call them BLTs. Bites, licks, and tastes. And yes, they all add up!
Love baking with almond milk, too!
I know, I was scared when I first cut into it – but it worked! I think because I used applesauce and greek yogurt it kept it really moist. Thanks Averie!
Thank you so much for posting this healthier version of chocolate sheet cake! I really appreciate you taking the time to create and share desserts that are not so unhealthy. (Although I love the other recipes too!) All my life I have had a huge sweet tooth and have baked and eaten tons and tons of glorious desserts. The last few years, I have struggled with high blood sugar, and last week I found out I have diabetes. My question: Do you ever bake diabetic – friendly recipes using agave nectar or Splenda or Stevia or no added sugar? This would be so wonderful for all of us “crazy for crusters” whose sugar intake and age/genes have sadly caused us to have to change our way of eating. 🙁
Thanks so much for your post, and I can now truly identify with the concept of making your dessert choice be worth it!!!!!
PS Hey everyone, I know “sugar-shaming” can seem aggravating and offensive (I agree), but it is a major addiction problem and has been supposedly proven that it is harder to kick than heroin! If that is true, then no wonder I am in the shape I am in, lol! It is added to nearly every food and condiment we eat, and even our babies and children get started early on it, and the diabetes rates are through the roof. Even though it is our business what we put in our mouths, and we are free to choose, thank God, I liken it to this: the doctors and health industry, most of the time, are seeing a lot of wrecks and fatalities, so warning us to wear our seatbelts! Just think of it that way and maybe you won’t get so ticked off about it, lol! That is what worked for me (and an A1C of 8.2 after fasting!). Still going to enjoy my desserts!!!! 🙂
Thank you for reading Tina! I’m so sorry you’ve been diagnosed with diabetes. I actually just started doing some work with Truvia (another brand like Splenda) using their baking blends (not totally sugar-free) and I’m hoping to start experimenting with the actual sugar-free product. I don’t post a lot of sugar-free stuff just because the readers aren’t always on board with it, but I do bake some using mixes (Pillsbury makes sugar-free mixes) for family members. Those work great! Also – check out http://alldayidreamaboutfood.com – she’s totally sugar-free and often GF and low-carb.
As for the sugar-shaming, I agree it’s a hidden danger. I’m just so tired of hearing about it on social media. The people that post it are rude and offensive and it’s basically “if you eat a cookie you’re going to be fat and die”. I had a friend post that she’s eliminating sugar and was just so craving a cookie and didn’t know what to do. The fact that she just didn’t eat a cookie because she was craving it – and she felt guilty – made me sad for our society. 🙂
Can you believe I have never made a sheet cake? This needs to change! I love that there is no eggs in this recipe. Perfect for when I run out and feel lost in the world :p
Oh I hear you on that. Last night I had no sweets in the house, so I ate a bowl of chocolate chips (it was a small bowl!) when my sweet tooth kicked in. Not worth the calories!! I wish I’d had something of way better quality like this cake! Love the footballs 😉
That happens to me too often! Then I’m all “UGH I should have just baked brownies!!” 🙂
Oh my gosh the footballs! Totally adorable. Love it! And I love chocolate so I know I’d love this cake!
Pardon me while I shove this entire cake into my face and yell at anyone daring to glare at me “IT’S GOOD FOR MEEEEEE!” Totally acceptable, no? 😉
TOTALLY. Like, I kind of said that when I snuck a slice the other day. 😉
Awesome sheet cake! I love subbing in applesauce in baked goods – nobody can ever tell the difference and you save yourself a lot of fat and calories.
This sheet cake look gorgeous, Dorothy! I love that you used almond milk in here to make it a bit healthier. I would totally devour every last slice of this delicious dessert!
I’m so tired of sugar-shaming. In every decade, we decide that a food group has to be cut out: fat, carbs, sugar. Or if you’re really crazy, all of them. None of it works long-term! Deprivation sucks, and only leads people to be extreme in their eating habits. I’m so against it!
What I’m not against is healthier sheet cake. It looks phenomenal! And that football stitching is precious. 🙂
It is so absolutely frustrating to see it playing out on social media. Yes- sugar isn’t good for you. Yes – you should limit it. Yes, we have an obesity problem. But eating a cookie – in moderation, when you crave one – is not going to kill you! I could rant and rave for hours, seriously. 🙂 Than you Mir!!
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