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The BEST healthy chocolate cake at 175 calories per piece! No granulated sugar, oil or butter – uses honey and greek yogurt. Plus there’s a healthier frosting recipe that’s only 2 ingredients.
Holy smokes friends! I feel like a whole new woman because I am bringing you the healthiest chocolate cake recipe and it’s SO delicious!
This healthy chocolate cake is refined sugar free and can be made gluten free. I’ve tested it with King Arthur’s gluten free flour and it turns out amazing.
We already have an amazing recipe for healthier chocolate cake on our site – but my friend Ashley is allergic to bananas and that recipe uses bananas as a healthy substitute for butter and sugar.
So I really wanted to create a healthy chocolate cake recipe that didn’t call for bananas so she could enjoy it!
This recipe turned out so great! Granted, it took 5 batches of trial and error to get the finalized recipe, but it was worth it!
Ingredients
- all purpose flour – but you can also sub whole wheat flour or gluten free flour
- baking soda – to give the cake fluffiness
- unsweetened cocoa powder – chocolate cake wouldn’t be chocolate cake without it!
- honey – healthier substitute to granulated sugar
- milk – for moisture
- greek yogurt – healthy fat and makes make so moist
- egg – structure and leavening
- vanilla extract – hello, good in everything!
The frosting / topping on the cake is a little bit more of a cheat because it’s not entirely sugar free – but if you compare it to a regular buttercream frosting you’d put on a chocolate cake, this alternative is a lot healthier.
Skinny chocolate cake frosting (2 ingredients)
- cool whip – so creamy and light and about 165 calories for 1 cup
- melted chocolate – adds nice rich chocolate flavor
If you’re wanting a different alternative to that topping you could make a coconut cream chocolate frosting (whip the coconut cream and add melted chocolate) or I have seen avocado chocolate frosting before.
Healthy Chocolate Cake Calories
In total, the whole cake with the topping is only estimated to be 1,580 calories! Because the recipe is baked in a 8×8 inch pan, I cut the cake into 9 pieces – 1 piece is estimated to be 175 calories!
For someone who likes nightly dessert (Hi, that’s me!) this is great news!
Plus, Ryan is kind of a stickler for “real” dessert and when he tried this cake, he said he’d go back for seconds. So it’s husband approved. I also brought it to bible study and every single piece disappeared.
How to make healthy chocolate cake from scratch without bananas
It’s all about ingredient swaps! Honey is used in place of sugar. Yes, the recipe for the frosting does contain chocolate chips, which contain sugar unless you buy the sugar-free ones.
Greek yogurt is used in place of oil or butter.
Healthy cake for first birthday or toddlers
This is a great healthy chocolate cake and frosting recipe to make for a first birthday or for toddlers if you are wanting to avoid added granulated sugar.
More healthier desserts
- Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies
- Healthier Fudgy Brownies
- Healthier Banana Bread
- Healthy Dark Chocolate Cookies
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Healthy Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup skim milk
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup honey
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup greek yogurt
- 1 cup all purpose flour OR whole wheat flour OR gluten free flour
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- 4 tbsp unsweetened natural cocoa powder, sifted
- ¼ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, OR sugar free chocolate chips
- 1 cup fat free cool whip
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350º F.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the milk, egg, honey, vanilla extract and greek yogurt, whisk together until combined.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and sifted unsweetened cocoa powder. Once mixed, add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl and stir until just combined. Small clumps and flour streaks are okay!
- Spray a 8 inch square baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 22-24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool.
Topping
- Place the 1/4 cup chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on 50% power until melted. To help the chocolate melt without burning you can add a very small amount of oil. Allow the chocolate to cool for 5 minutes.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the melted chocolate and cool whip, stir until combined. Spread on top of the cooled cake. The cake can be covered and refrigerated until ready to serve.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclosure
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.
I just made this. The cake is great. My “frosting” looks nothing like yours. I consider myself a good baker and know my way around the kitchen. I’d like to know how you were able to get your chocolate mixed in with the cool whip without it seizing up. I cooled the chocolate per the recipe instructions, mixed it together and as soon as it hit the cold cool whip it looked like specks of chocolate.
Hmmm, interesting. I’ve made this frosting a few times and never had those problems. I definitely let my chocolate come to room temperature before mixing it to the cool whip.
Cool Whip DOES make a Sugar free Cool Whip…I’m not sure if there’s any chemical sugar substitute in it, but I don’t believe so!
Hello Beth、I warched your helpful video and made it for the first time yesterday using whole wheat flour. But hmmm. I’m not sure why mine came out wet、 dense、chewy..
(. I’m not sure if I was supposed to but I dry it on the rack after cool it down in the pan for 10 min. )
Your picture looks really good and looks nicely fluffy.
Maybe because I used dark color pan?
If you happen to know how I can make it better、it’ll be great if you could let me know. I’d love to bring it for our church potluck someday:) thank you!
The material the pan is made out of will affect baking time. Next time try baking it for less time, checking it throughout baking.
I just tried making it. And i just took it out from oven. It came out good!:)
This is a basic baking question. But am I supposed to cool this cake on rack or just leave in the pan?? Also、 am I supposed to put a plastic wrap over it while cooking the cake? The first I tried、 the surface got dried because I didn’t cover with anything while cooling it down.
Overall great recipe! thanks Beth!
No, don’t cover it while cooling. Let the cake cool in the pan. If the surface is getting dried out, I’m thinking the cake could have been over-baked.
Hi, just want to let you know that I made this cake and I LOVED it! I’m always looking for healthier options for desserts and this cake tastes amazing! Plus, it was super easy to make. It’s definitely something I’ll make again.
The only thing that didn’t come out quite right is the frosting. It tastes fine but the consistency doesn’t seem like frosting, it’s more liquidy with chocolate specks, even after I put it in the refrigerator. Did you defrost the Cool Whip before mixing it with the melted chocolate? Thank you!
Hi Gillian! The cool whip definitely needs to be defrosted. Did you let the melted chocolate cool before adding it to the cool whip? Be sure to mix the frosting together by hand.
Hello, Is it possible to make this cake with fruit jam instead of chocolate?
Hi Ida! I haven’t tried that myself so I cannot give a recommendation.
instead of skim milk, can I use whole milk or almond milk?
I think it would turn out fine using a different milk!
What kind of chocolate did you use for the melted chocolate part for the topping?
I used semi-sweet chocolate chips!
What could I substitute greek yogurt with if I do not have it on hand? Sour cream for ex.?
Hi Lisa! I haven’t tried substituting the greek yogurt for sour cream myself.
This recipe is PERFECT! I made it without the frosting and it was still delicious. It checks the box for everything that traditional chocolate cakes delivers: this cake is moist, chocolate-y, and so easy to make. I can’t believe there’s no added oil! I’ve made this recipe at least three times already, and would love to see more of your healthier creations. Thanks for the recipe!