Fudgy Chocolate Chip Yogurt Cake
With no added oil or butter, yogurt is the magical ingredient keeping this rich and fudgy chocolate cake moist and tender.
You know how sometimes it’s super annoying when you add something like blueberries or chocolate chips to a cake or baked good and they sink to the bottom while baking? Yeah, I hate that.
Except for right now. With this cake.
The hate is gone because the glorious chocolate chips complete their whole mission in life by sinking to the bottom of this cake to combine with the light, yogurt cake batter forming a thin, decadent, hot fudge layer that will probably complete your whole life, too.
I’d like to go on and on about how this cake has no added butter or oil but if I did, someone would inevitably think I’m saying this is a health food cake. And that, it is not. In lieu of the butter or oil, you get yogurt which keeps the cake rich and moist (oh yeah, and five eggs, too).
I’ve had this recipe for years. Years and years. Even longer than I’ve had kids and that seems like a forever eternity (in a good way, most days).
An old friend, Jessica, gave it to me all the way back when and my family and I have enjoyed it time and time again. It’s a fabulous solution to “what dessert should I make” when
a) you don’t want to stack and frost cake layers,
b) you have 53 recipes staring you in the face and there’s no way you’ll make an educated decision by the time you need dessert in a couple hours, and
c) it’s so easy, the kids can whip it up for you (or in my case, for me).
It’s probably one of my favorite simple cakes. That silky, melty, chocolatey goodness on the bottom does me in every single time.
The slight crunch of the almonds/toffee with the moist, tender cake and little hot fudge ending is made better only by the fact that it is such a simple cake to throw together.
One Year Ago: Overnight Raised Waffles
Two Years Ago: Soft Chocolate Sugar Cookies
Three Years Ago: Peanut Blossom Cookies
Fudgy Chocolate Chip Yogurt Cake
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups (265 g) granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ⅔ cup yogurt, see note
- 5 large eggs
- ⅔ cup (95 g) all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup (28 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups (255 g) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup finely chopped, toasted almonds or toffee bits
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9- or 10-inch round or square cake pan (or a similar sized springform pan if you want cleaner edges) and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, vanilla, yogurt and eggs.
- In a smaller bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and stir just until combined and a few streaks of flour remain. Stir in the chocolate chips; don’t overmix.
- Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan and sprinkle the nuts, if using, on top. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until a knife or toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs – you’ll need slightly less baking time the larger the pan you use. Err on the side of underbaking just slightly so the bottom stays melty and gooey.
- Serve warm for the hot fudge effect (the chocolate chips will sink to the middle and bottom of the cake and melt deliciously). The cake is also delicious served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or lightly sweetened whipped cream.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted from a recipe given to me a decade ago by my friend, Jessica
Can I serve 2 days after I cook it?
If doing so, I’d recommend storing the cake well-covered in the refrigerator. It might be a bit dry by day 2 but it’s worth a try.
I made this chocolate cake recipe for my son’s birthday this week because I liked the idea of a cake recipe without oil/butter. I am happy to report that this cake also tastes amazing when it is cold. We served it at room temp with frosting but then I stuck it in the fridge to stay good for a few days. It is really tasty with some peanut butter frosting on top. I omitted the nuts/toffee bits since I wasn’t sure everyone in the family would like that texture, but I think it would be a tasty addition. Such an easy and yummy cake recipe!
This one is a favorite of my family. I tried a Woman’s Day cake recipe today and it was a terrible flop, so I had to promise my kids I’d make this one tomorrow. My 8-year-old said, “Mel is a good cooker. You can trust her.”
Haha, that was sweet!
OMG! The best chocolate dessert ever!!! So FUDGY delish!
I just made this for mothers day and we absolutely loved it! I used a mixture of greek yogurt and vanilla activia out of necessity, and replaced the almonds on top for pecans, which I actually really liked. I also put in some extra cocoa powder, so it really packed a punch! Which is perfect because my mom and I love chocolate!! All in all a fantastic, gooey, chocolatey cake.
Amazing, quick and easy
I was searching for a chocolate yogurt cake and came across this. Had to make it and did! Whipped it up last night for dessert for the 3 of us and scaled it down to a 6″ cake. I used 2% Greek yogurt and funny enough, my chocolate chips didn’t all sink to the bottom! It was great still – delicious warm and melty… it tasted like molten choc cake (one of my favorite things)! Thanks for your great recipes!
This didnt turn out for me. My chocolate chips didnt melt and there was very little liquid chocolate at the bottom! Texture of cake was tough, not light. Recipe needs tweaking imo.
It could be due to the brand of chocolate chips you used – I almost always use Ghirardelli’s and other brands may melt differently. Also, a tough cake may be due to over mixing. By all means, though, feel free to tweak the recipe as needed to suit your tastes! 🙂
I took this to a birthday get together last evening and it was a hit! I wasn’t sure of the attendees so left out the nuts/toffee…made it in a Springform pan and dusted with powdered sugar. It looked pretty fancy especially considering it takes about 5 minutes to get it in the oven! The Springform pan was an excellent suggestion and a great recipe for a quick, easy and delicious chocolate dessert.
Yum! This was delicious and so easy to throw together! I also liked that it is a smaller dessert so that the extra didn’t sit around and tempt me 🙂
This is wonderful! I love chocolate and warm, gooey chocolate is the absolute best! I love your point about food sinking to the bottom in baking. That always drives me crazy. I love the way this is designed to do that on purpose!
This looks so delicious I can’t wait to try it! Just pinned 😉
Wow! I love recipes passed around between friends and family – they are always the best ones. Thanks for sharing it – can’t wait to try it 🙂
Today was the perfect day to post this recipe, as it is my birthday. I had Jake make it for me (even though he has banned your site, because he calls you a traitor for moving :)). He made it and it was delicious. Hope all is well.
April! Happy birthday! Your comment made me laugh. That Jake. I hope you have a great day!
This looks so decadent and fabulous!! Love it!
I made this today and it was just delicious. It does taste a bit like a spongecake, with all the eggs, and it was so light and tender. I omitted the nuts/toffee, and don’t hate me, but I only used 1/2 c. of the chips and thought it was just yummy like that. We had our fill of chocolate yesterday, so it was a perfect post-Easter dessert. Next time I think I will make it with unsweetened yogurt as I used the vanilla flavored non-fat Greek this time and it was pretty sweet–and I will definitely use the full amount of the chips for the fudgy bottom. This is such an easy, delicious recipe, thank you.
I’d never hate you, Teresa! I’m so glad you liked it and love that you made it so quick and checked in. It’s so helpful for others contemplating making it or not.
I happen to have buttermilk on hand. How much would I use to replace the yogurt? Thanks for posting, looks delicious.
You can try subbing 1:1 the yogurt for buttermilk. I haven’t made it that way so I can’t say for sure how it will work out but usually it’s an equal substitution.
That looks delicious! Love all the chocolate, that melty chocolate makes me want to go make this immediately if not sooner, even though I’ve probably had my fill of chocolate the last few days!
Looks really good. Plus I love some nuts with my chocolate! Do you know if buttermilk can be replaced with yogurt in lots of baking recipes? I don’t often have buttermilk, so I usually make sour milk with vinegar to replace it. I’ve never tried subbing yogurt.
Hi Jenn – that’s a good question. It kind of depends on the recipe – buttermilk obviously has a much thinner consistency than yogurt but generally speaking, that whole family (yogurt, sour cream, buttermilk) will often sub well for each other.
Yum! Always nice to have a recipe that the kids can easily make! Thanks!
This looks yummy. You can see the fudgy layer on the bottom. It is calling my name.
looks delicious.
You’ve done it again–moved a recipe right to the top of my must-make list! I can’t wait to make this!
This certainly looks fudgy! I really like that you’ve used yogurt. I’ll bet it’s adds a tangy taste to the cake.