This Dairy Free, Egg Free Chocolate Cake is the best, moist, eggless chocolate cake you will ever eat! It’s a vegan chocolate cake recipe that will become your new favorite! Don’t settle for anything but the original recipe!
Do you have someone in your home with food allergies? Even if you don’t, keep reading, because this cake is for you, too. This is my go-to chocolate cake, and pretty-much the only one I ever make. I use it in my Chocolate Pumpkin Marble Cake (which is divine, by the way).
Can You Really Make Chocolate Cake Without Eggs and Milk?
Yes, you can! You can even do it without any milk substitute (like almond or soy milk) or egg substitute (like flax seed or applesauce).
My oldest daughter is allergic to everything under the sun. Milk, eggs, wheat, peanuts, and all the tree nuts. I often joke that she should have been born in Japan, because their diet of rice, soy, and fish would work beautifully for her.
Although wheat is her least troublesome allergy, we keep her away from that as well. That means that she cannot eat this cake. But if it weren’t for that wheat allergy, she totally could! I still don’t know if she would eat it, though.
One time, we did give her some kind of chocolate she could have, and she said it was “too chocolaty.” As if anything could be too chocolaty.
Is it Possible to Have a Moist, Eggless Chocolate Cake?
If you have a child who is allergic to eggs (or if you are the one who is allergic), you know that trying to bake with egg substitutes is frustrating.
I have tried so many different things, from the boxed powder egg replacement (which is mostly just potato starch and tapioca along with some leavening) to applesauce, to flax seed, to bananas. None of them gave me the lift or texture equal to actual eggs.
But this Dairy Free, Egg Free Chocolate Cake is totally different! It is dense, moist, and rich–everything a chocolate cake should be. And it bakes up so beautifully, even without eggs or any egg substitute.
The secret ingredients are vinegar, baking soda, and hot water. It’s pure magic.
Ingredients for Dairy-free, Egg-free Chocolate Cake
This recipe for Dairy-free, Egg-free Chocolate Cake has super simple ingredients that I’m sure you already have in your kitchen. No need for a trip to Whole Foods, Sprouts, or Vitamin Cottage!
- 3 cups flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup cocoa
- 2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. salt
- 3/4 cup oil
- 2 Tbsp. vinegar
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 2 cups hot water
How to Make Dairy-free, Egg-free Chocolate Cake
1.Just mix all the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.
2. Add the oil, vinegar, and vanilla. Don’t worry. It’s supposed to be dry and lumpy!
3. Pour in the hot water and stir until the lumps are gone.
4. Pour batter into greased cake pan(s) and bake!
Tips for making Dairy-free, Egg-free Chocolate Cake
I recommend making this cake by hand rather than using a hand mixer or stand mixer. Once you pour in the hot water, you need to stir it slowly and carefully. The speed of a mixer would fling batter all over your kitchen!
To easily get cakes out of cake pans (without the bottom sticking), first grease the cake pan. I prefer to use Crisco. No need to flour the pan as well. Then I cut a piece of parchment paper the size of the cake pan (by tracing around the bottom of the pan on the parchment paper) and place it into the pan. Grease the top of the parchment paper, and then pour in your batter.
If you are baking this cake in two round cake pans, test for doneness after 25 minutes of baking. If using a 9×13 pan, bake for 30-40 minutes. (The time varies so much because of different oven temperatures and other issues like elevation and humidity).
To see if the cake is done, insert a toothpick in the center of the cake. If it comes out clean or with a few crumbs, your cake is finished! If it comes out with batter on it, your cake is not done.
I posted this recipe on Belle of the Kitchen as a guest post, and it has gotten all five-star reviews! Everyone loves it! This is the ONLY chocolate cake recipe I use, because it is perfect, every time. Try it and you’ll see!
Note: for frosting options, try Sugar-Free Whipped Cream, Chocolate Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting, or Cream Cheese Frosting. For a dairy-free option, try simply sprinkling powdered sugar on top.

Dairy-Free, Egg-Free Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 3 cups flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup cocoa
- 2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. salt
- 3/4 cup oil
- 2 Tbsp. vinegar
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 2 cups hot water
Instructions
- Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
- Add the oil, vinegar and vanilla and stir. Mixture will be lumpy.
- Pour in the hot water and stir until the lumps are gone.
- Pour into a greased and floured 9x13" pan or two greased and floured round cake pans.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. When a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean or with a few crumbs, the cake is done. If you are baking two round cakes, start checking for doneness at 25 minutes.
- Top with frosting or powdered sugar if desired.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 24 Serving Size: 1 piece of cakeAmount Per Serving: Calories: 184 Total Fat: 7.2g Saturated Fat: 1g Sodium: 202mg Carbohydrates: 29.6g Fiber: 1g Sugar: 16.8g Protein: 1.9g
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There is gluten free, soy free, nut free, and wheat free flour and other flours you can use to make this cake so your daughter can eat it! Walmar carries a selection.
Thank you Mykayla!
Looks good! I am having a dinner party and one of my guests has a ton of allergies, I think I’ll make this for dessert! What did you use for frosting?
I just made a normal frosting with butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and water. But you can always use shortening to keep it dairy-free.
Such a great recipe Melissa for those who may have allergies or not!! Thank you for this!!
You’re welcome! You will love it!
I can’t believe how moist this chocolate cake is and it’s dairy free! Amazing!
Yes! It’s amazing how good it is without any dairy or eggs!
I’ve been looking for a new chocolate cake recipe to try and this looks like the winner!
You won’t be disappointed!
It’s great to have dessert options for those who can’t have dairy and/or eggs. This looks amazingly moist not to mention delicious. Will be trying soon!
Tell me how you like it!