Chocolate Applesauce Cake (Moist, Fudgy and Easy)

Name: Chocolate Applesauce Cake
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 80 min
Ingredients: 2/3 cup vegetable oil; 3/4 cup white sugar; 3/4 cup brown sugar; 2 large eggs; 3 teaspoons vanilla extract; 2 cups unsweetened applesauce; 1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips (divided); 2 cups all-purpose flour; 5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder; 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda; ½ teaspoon salt; ½-¾ cup chopped pecans

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If you're looking for an incredibly moist, rich chocolate cake that's easy to make with simple pantry ingredients, this Chocolate Applesauce Cake is the recipe you've been searching for. Unsweetened applesauce keeps every bite soft and tender while cocoa powder and melty chocolate chips deliver deep chocolate flavor that's perfect for birthdays, potlucks, holidays, or an everyday dessert.

A slice on a spatula lifting out of a cake.

Chocolate Applesauce Cake Recipe Essentials

🍽️ Course: Dessert
⏱️ Cooking Time: Prep: 15 minutes | Bake: 30 to 35 minutes | Cooling: 30 minutes | Total: 1 hour 20 minutes
🍴 Servings: 12 large squares, or 15 smaller slices
🍫 Flavor Profile: Rich, chocolatey, moist, soft, and perfectly sweet
🍨 Best Served With: Vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, fresh berries, coffee, tea, or a cold glass of milk
🧊 Make Ahead?: Yes! Bake the cake a day ahead and store it covered at room temperature until ready to serve.

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One of my favorite things about this cake is how effortlessly it comes together. There's no complicated decorating or fancy techniques. Just mix, bake, and enjoy.

My grandma always had a way of making simple desserts feel extra special. She believed the best cakes weren't necessarily the fanciest ones, but the ones everyone reached for seconds of. She loved baking with everyday ingredients, and I know she would have appreciated how the applesauce keeps this chocolate cake soft while letting the rich chocolate flavor shine.

This recipe was inspired by my chocolate caramel poke cake and chocolate peanut butter poke cake, and it pairs perfectly with homemade Oreo ice cream.

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Chocolate Applesauce Cake Recipe Essentials
Why You Will Love This Recipe
How We Tested This Chocolate Applesauce Cake
Why Use Applesauce in Chocolate Cake?
Ingredients
Variations
How to Make Chocolate Applesauce Cake
Recipe Tips
Storage Directions
Serving Suggestions
Chocolate Applesauce Cake Recipe FAQs
More Chocolate Cake Recipes
Chocolate Applesauce Cake

Why You Will Love This Recipe

Rich chocolate flavor: Cocoa powder and plenty of chocolate chips create a decadent cake that's fudgy and loaded with chocolate in every bite.
Easy to make: Simple pantry ingredients and straightforward steps make this an ideal recipe for beginner bakers. Just like our chai cake.
Stays moist: Applesauce keeps the cake soft and tender, and the oil version stayed soft the next day.

How We Tested This Chocolate Applesauce Cake

Butter vs. Oil: We compared melted butter, vegetable oil, and a combination of both. Oil produced the moistest cake and stayed softer the following day, while butter gave it a richer flavor. A half-butter, half-oil combination offered a good balance.
Applesauce and Texture: Two cups of unsweetened applesauce gave the cake a wonderfully soft, fudgy texture. The chocolate covered most of the apple flavor, and the cake held together well once cooled.
Chocolate Flavor: Five tablespoons of cocoa powder provided a balanced chocolate flavor. Dutch-process cocoa gave the cake a darker, richer taste, while an additional tablespoon of cocoa made the chocolate flavor more pronounced.
Chocolate Chips: We preferred 1½ cups of semisweet chocolate chips, with half folded into the batter and half sprinkled on top. Mini chocolate chips distributed more evenly, while regular chips created bigger pockets of chocolate.
Baking Time: Our cake generally needed 30-35 minutes at 350°F. A toothpick with a few moist crumbs was the best indicator of doneness.
Cooling and Storage: The cake stayed moist for 24-48 hours and sliced most neatly after cooling completely. Refrigeration made the cake firmer.

Why Use Applesauce in Chocolate Cake?

Applesauce is the secret to this cake's tender texture. It adds moisture without making the cake taste like apples, allowing the rich chocolate flavor to shine. Combined with cocoa powder and chocolate chips, it creates a soft, slightly fudgy cake that's somewhere between traditional chocolate cake and a brownie. It's also a wonderful way to use up extra applesauce!

Ingredients

This applesauce chocolate cake comes together with everyday baking staples you probably already have in your kitchen.

Wet Ingredients: Vegetable oil, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and unsweetened applesauce create a rich batter that's soft and flavorful.
Dry Ingredients: All-purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt provide the structure while keeping the cake light and deeply chocolatey.
Chocolate Chips: Semisweet chocolate chips are folded into the batter and sprinkled over the top before baking, creating melty pockets of chocolate throughout every slice.

See the recipe card below for exact ingredient amounts, nutritional information, and detailed instructions.

Variations

Change the Chocolate: Use milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, peanut butter chips, butterscotch chips, or a combination of your favorites for a different flavor profile.
Add Fruit or Nuts: Fold in chopped walnuts, pecans, shredded coconut, dried cherries, raspberries, or sliced strawberries for added texture and flavor.
Boost the Flavor: Stir in a teaspoon of espresso powder, cinnamon, almond extract, or orange zest to enhance the chocolate and create a unique twist.
Dress It Up: Frost the cooled cake with chocolate buttercream, cream cheese frosting, whipped chocolate ganache, or simply dust it with powdered sugar for an easy finish.
Bake It Your Way: Divide the batter into 12 cupcake liners and bake for 18 to 22 minutes, or use two 8-inch round cake pans and bake for 25 to 30 minutes to create a beautiful layer cake.

How to Make Chocolate Applesauce Cake

This cake is as simple as mixing the wet ingredients, combining the dry ingredients, and baking until soft and chocolatey. Preheat the oven to 350°F and lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

Wet ingredients being mixed together in a bowl.

Step 1: Prepare the Batter. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the vegetable oil, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and applesauce until smooth and fully combined.

Dry ingredients and wet ingredients are blended together in a bowl.

Step 2: Add the Dry Ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.

Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring just until no streaks of flour remain.

Cake batter spread into a baking dish and topped with chocolate chips.

Step 3: Add Chocolate Chips and Fill the Baking Dish. Gently fold in ¾ cup of the chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and spread it evenly with a spatula. Sprinkle the remaining ¾ cup of chocolate chips evenly over the top.

Freshly baked cake cooling in the baking dish.

Step 4: Bake and Cool. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.

Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 20 to 30 minutes before slicing and serving. For the cleanest cuts, or if you plan to frost the cake, let it cool completely on a wire rack for 1½ to 2 hours.

Serve with whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, or your favorite frosting.

A slice of cake on a spatula held above a cake.

Recipe Tips

Measure flour and cocoa carefully: Spoon and level the flour and cocoa powder instead of scooping directly from the container to keep the cake light and tender.
Don't overmix: Stir only until the ingredients are combined to avoid a dense or tough cake.
Use quality cocoa and chocolate: Good-quality cocoa powder and chocolate chips make a noticeable difference in the richness of the finished cake.
Use natural cocoa: Natural unsweetened cocoa works with the baking soda in this recipe.
Use unsweetened applesauce: It adds moisture without extra sweetness. Avoid chunky applesauce for the smoothest texture.
Check early: Every oven bakes a little differently, so begin checking at 28 minutes. A toothpick should have a few moist crumbs, not wet batter.

Looking for more chocolate cake? Try our naked chocolate cake and chocolate cherry dump cake.

Storage Directions

Room Temperature: Cover the cooled cake tightly with plastic wrap or store it in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

Refrigerator: Store covered in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Let slices come to room temperature before serving for the best flavor and texture.

Freezer: Wrap individual slices or the entire cake tightly in plastic wrap followed by aluminum foil or place in a freezer-safe container. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator or at room temperature before serving.

Reheat: Warm individual slices in the microwave for 10 to 15 seconds for soft, melty chocolate chips, or enjoy the cake at room temperature.

Serving Suggestions

Classic Dessert: Serve warm with vanilla or sprinkles ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, or caramel sauce for an irresistible dessert.
Holiday and Party Dessert: Add chocolate frosting, cream cheese frosting, fresh berries, chocolate curls, or festive sprinkles for birthdays, holidays, and celebrations, and set out a plate of our chai cupcakes alongside.
Fresh Fruit: Garnish with baked strawberries, raspberries, chocolate covered blueberries, sliced bananas, or pretzel chocolate peanut butter bites for an extra-special dessert.
Lunchbox and Snack Time: Pack slices for school lunches, picnics, bake sales, potlucks, or an easy afternoon snack everyone will enjoy.
Coffee Break Favorite: Enjoy a slice with coffee, espresso, cappuccino, cinnamon hot chocolate, peppermint hot chocolate or your favorite tea for an afternoon treat.

Chocolate Applesauce Cake Recipe FAQs

Does the applesauce chocolate cake taste like apples?

Not at all. The chocolate flavor is the star of the recipe. The applesauce simply keeps the cake moist and tender while blending seamlessly into the batter.

Why did my chocolate applesauce cake turn out dry?

Overbaking and too much flour are the two most common causes. The tips above cover how to check for doneness and measure the flour.

Is butter or oil better for chocolate applesauce cake?

Vegetable oil makes the cake softer and helps it stay moist longer. Melted butter gives it a richer flavor. For a balance of moisture and buttery flavor, use ⅓ cup of each.

Why is my chocolate applesauce cake dense?

This cake naturally has a moist, slightly fudgy texture because it contains 2 cups of applesauce. However, overmixing the batter or adding too much flour can make it unnecessarily dense.

Can you freeze chocolate applesauce cake?

Yes! Freeze it for up to 3 months. See the storage directions above for how to wrap and thaw it.

How many slices does this cake make?

A 9x13-inch cake cuts into 12 large squares, or 16 smaller slices if you want smaller portions.

A bite on a fork held in the air above a piece of cake on a plate.

More Chocolate Cake Recipes

Here are some delicious chocolate cake recipes you may also enjoy trying.

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