Egg-Free Chocolate Snack Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

This is an old egg-free chocolate snack cake recipe I've been making for a while now. Like Depression era Wacky Cake, this one is made without eggs or butter. What it does have is buttermilk which helps keep it soft and moist. I make it with regular buttermilk or buttermilk powder. The frosting varies. The first time we made it I used a peanut butter frosting (shown below), but I usually use chocolate or sometimes a fluffy marshmallow frosting.

Egg-Free Chocolate Snack Cake Pan Size

The original version of this cake is an old Fanny Farmer recipe that is actually and can be baked in two 8-inch round cakes or as a 9x13 inch cake. When I first started baking this no-egg cake, I made half batch and used one 8-inch square pan for a shallow cake. Later, Aldi came along with the cute little 7-inch square pans by Crofton which work even better. So if you are making the half batch version, I recommend a 7-inch pan for egg-free cake.

Peanut Butter Frosting for Snack Cake

You can frost the chocolate snack cake with your favorite frosting, but we were in the mood for peanut butter when I first made this. I used crunchy peanut butter and pretty sure smooth peanut butter would look a lot prettier than crunchy. Our goal was to use ingredients on hand and not run to the store. It's not pretty, but the crunch from the peanuts was kind of nice. If you are wondering what the chocolate frosting is in the first photo, it's this one.

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Recipe

Egg Free Chocolate Snack Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

Anna

A deep, dark, chocolate cake made without any eggs. This is the full version of the recipe, but it also halves well if you wish to make a 7-inch square or 8-inch square cake.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 22 minutes mins

Total Time 32 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 16 pieces

Ingredients

 

• 1 ⅔ cup all-purpose flour, aerate well (205 grams)
• 1 cup granulated sugar (200 grams)
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, natural (40 grams)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk (120 grams)
• ½ cup vegetable oil or grapeseed oil
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ⅔ cup or a small handful of chocolate chips optional

Peanut Butter Frosting

• 8 tablespoons unsalted or salted butter, softened softened
• ⅔ cup peanut butter
• 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 pinch salt (if using unsalted butter
• 2 teaspoons cream or as needed (or whole milk) optional

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 8 inch round pans or 1 12x9 or 13x9 inch pan.
• In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the center and add buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Stir in chocolate chips.
• With a heavy duty scraper or spoon, mix everything together until smooth. The batter should be slightly thick. Be sure to stir well if mixing by hand and get all dry mixture from the bottom.
• Spread the batter in the prepared pan and bake for about 22 to 25 minutes or until cake springs back when touched. Let cool completely.
• To make the frosting, beat together the softened butter and peanut butter. Stir in the powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth. Beat in a tiny pinch of salt. If necessary, add a little cream to thin the frosting. Alternatively, add more peanut butter if you’d like a less sweet frosting. Spread over the cooled cake.

Keyword No-Egg, Wacky Cake

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