This dairy free chocolate pudding cake is gooey, rich, chocolatey goodness that you won’t feel one bit deprived eating! Topped with dairy free ice cream or plain all by itself, it’ll quickly become a family favorite!

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hot fudge pudding cake with ice cream in a vintage china bowl on a white counter with a blue tea towel

This is an old fashioned, classic dessert that’s known by many different names. Brownie Pudding, Pudding Cake, Chocolate Pudding Cake, Chocolate Cobbler, and Hot Fudge Pudding Cake are the ones that I’ve heard. No matter what you call it, it’s a delicious chocolate dessert that comes together in minutes and is a real crowd pleaser!

This is one of the easiest, most fuss free, turn-out-great-with-almost-any-substitution recipes that you will ever find! Dairy allergy? Substitute non-dairy milk or water for the milk. Celiac? Swap out the flour for GF flour. Prefer not to cook with refined sugars? Exchange the sugar for your favorite sweetener…sucanat, coconut sugar, maple syrup, xylitol…you get the idea.

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Easy Beginner Dessert Recipe

Chocolate Pudding Cake is also a great first dessert for kids to learn to make because it’s so extremely hard to mess up. It’s also neat for them to see the water they poured over the cake batter turn into thick, rich, pudding-y goodness under the cake.

If you were a smart person, I’m sure you could make a really good science lesson out of making this recipe. I’m not that smart so we just cook and eat it. We’re definitely smart enough for that!

dairy free chocolate cobbler in a small antique bowl on a white counter with a blue tea towel

The Dairy Free Breastfeeding Diet

Both of my nurslings have had tummy aches and sleeping problems when I eat dairy while nursing so I’m completely dairy free while breastfeeding.

Insert crying sad face! I love me some dairy! And geez, we have a milk cow.

Even though it’s hard to be dairy free, the difference it makes for my babies is totally worth it! On a side note, if your baby seems extra fussy, gassy, and doesn’t sleep well, consider cutting out dairy and see if it makes a difference. It was life changing for us!

homemade chocolate pudding cake in a small vintage china bowl sitting on a blue tea towel with a cast iron skillet in the background

Making Dairy Free Chocolate Cobbler

When I make dairy free Chocolate Cobbler, I substitute the milk for water and where some recipes call for butter, I use oil. Refined coconut oil is what I use for the majority of my cooking so it’s what I use in this recipe. Avocado oil would be another really good option. I definitely don’t care for the flavor of olive oil in baked goods so I’d steer clear of it personally.

In lieu of milk, you could use any kind of non-dairy milk if you’d prefer that over water.

brownie pudding in a cast iron skillet sitting on a white vintage stove

While I can’t eat it like this at the moment, the best way to eat Chocolate Pudding Cake is warm, straight out of the oven with a big ole scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. It’s like brownie a la mode but even better! It’s even worth buying expensive dairy free ice cream for!

a vintage silver spoon scooping a bite of ice cream and chocolate hot fudge cake out of an antique china bowl

Hot Fudge Cake Ingredients:

For Cake layer:

1 cup flour
2/3 cup sweetener – I use sucanat or coconut sugar typically
2 tablespoons cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 water – or milk if not making dairy free
2 tablespoons oil

For Pudding layer:

1 1/4 cup sweetener – again sucanat is what I used
1/2 cup cocoa
2 1/2 cups hot water

How to make hot fudge cake:

Preheat oven to 350º
In a medium size bowl, mix together dry ingredients for cake
Add liquid ingredients and stir to combine
Pour into a 9-10″ cast iron skillet or 8×8″ or 9×9″ greased baking dish
In the same bowl, combine sucanat and cocoa for the pudding layer. Add hot water and stir to make a cocoa soup concoction.
Carefully pour cocoa soup over cake layer
Bake for 45 minutes or until cake looks done
Let cool for a few minutes and enjoy!

Note: I like to do things extra sometimes. You can call it overindulge if you want but I call it delicious! That being said, I’ve changed the recipe to make about 1 1/2 times the amount of “pudding” for extra hot fudge goodness!