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Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake gives you everything you want from a chocolate cake without messing with layers, fillings, and a sink full of dishes. It bakes up thin and tender in a sheet pan, then gets topped with warm icing poured straight over the hot cake.
The icing melts into the surface, sets up smooth, and finishes the cake with that classic chocolate-pecan layer.
Here’s Why This Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake Recipe Works
Hot cocoa bloom: Bringing butter, oil, cocoa powder, and water to a brief boil wakes up the cocoa and deepens the chocolate flavor before it ever hits the flour.
Oil and butter combo: Butter adds richness while oil keeps the crumb soft and moist even after the cake cools.
Warm icing: Pouring the icing over the hot cake lets it spread easily and soak slightly into the surface instead of sitting on top like frosting.
Classic thin sheet cake: The large pan creates the signature Texas sheet cake texture; thin, tender cake with a smooth chocolate layer on top.
If you like easy chocolate desserts, you will also enjoy my condensed milk brownies or chocolate cream cheese cupcakes.
Key Ingredient Notes
Cocoa powder: This recipe uses a generous amount of cocoa powder to give the cake its deep chocolate flavor. Natural cocoa powder works well here, but Dutch-process cocoa will also work if that’s what you have on hand.
Butter and oil: The combination of butter and oil gives the cake the best texture. Butter adds flavor while oil helps keep the crumb soft and moist.
Boiled cocoa mixture: Bringing the butter, oil, cocoa powder, and water to a brief boil helps bloom the cocoa. This step deepens the chocolate flavor and helps the cocoa dissolve smoothly into the batter.
Buttermilk: Buttermilk adds a slight tang and reacts with the baking soda to help the cake rise. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make a quick substitute by adding 1½ teaspoons of vinegar or lemon juice to ½ cup milk and letting it sit for a few minutes.
Powdered sugar: The icing uses a fairly wide range of powdered sugar because different cocoa powders absorb liquid differently. Start with 3½ cups and add more if you want a thicker icing.
Pecans: Chopped pecans are traditional for Texas sheet cake and add a little crunch to the icing. If you want a more caramelized flavor, you can use my candied pecans instead.
Recipe Tips
Use the correct pan: An 18×13-inch sheet pan gives the proper thin cake layer. A smaller pan can cause the batter to overflow.
Boil briefly: Thirty seconds is enough to bloom the cocoa without over-reducing the liquid.
Let the batter rest: Giving the batter a quick 2–3 minute rest after adding the hot cocoa mixture helps everything hydrate evenly.
Keep the icing warm: Warm icing spreads smoothly across the cake and settles into a shiny layer.
Pour icing immediately: As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, pour the icing on top so it melts into the surface.
Chop the pecans fairly small: Smaller pieces spread more evenly across the icing so you get pecans in every slice instead of a few big clusters.
Let the icing set before cutting: Give the cake 30 to 45 minutes so the icing firms up. If you slice too soon, the icing can run and the cuts won’t look as clean.
This Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake is perfect for potlucks since one pan makes plenty of slices for a crowd. If you’re bringing more than one dessert, my brown butter blondies are another easy option that travels well.
Chocolate Sheet Cake
Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake keeps things simple: a thin, soft chocolate cake baked in a sheet pan and finished with warm icing poured right over the top. The result is a cocoa-rich cake with a smooth chocolate layer and just enough crunch from pecans.
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Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake
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Equipment
Ingredients
Cake
- 8 tablespoons butter, ½ cup; 113 grams
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil, 66 grams
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 63 grams
- 1 cup water, 227 grams
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, 240 grams
- 2 cups granulated sugar, 396 grams
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup buttermilk, 113 grams
- 2 large eggs, beaten, 100 grams
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Icing
- 16 tablespoons butter, 1 cup; 227 grams
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 42 grams
- 7 tablespoons milk, 98 grams
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 4 grams
- 3 ½ to 4 ½ cups powdered sugar, 396 to 509 grams
- ⅔ cup chopped pecans, 76 grams
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease an 18×13-inch sheet pan or line it with parchment paper.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter with the oil. Stir in the cocoa powder and water, then bring to a gentle boil. Let it boil for 30 seconds then remove it from the heat and set it aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
- Pour the hot cocoa mixture over the flour mixture and whisk until combined. Let rest for 2 to 3 minutes.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla. Stir into the batter until smooth.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the center is set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
Make the Icing
- While the cake bakes, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the cocoa powder, then remove from heat.
- Add the milk and vanilla, followed by the powdered sugar, stirring until smooth and pourable. Stir in the pecans, then keep the icing warm over very low heat until the cake is done.
- Pour the warm icing over the hot cake as soon as it comes out of the oven. Let the cake and icing cool before slicing into squares.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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