Easy Vegan Chocolate Peppermint Cake (Gluten Free)
Super fudgy vegan chocolate peppermint cake with a dairy free vegan vanilla peppermint frosting for the easiest holiday cake recipe! Made with just oat flour, this gluten free and dairy free fudgy chocolate peppermint cake is the perfect festive Christmas cake!
Amazing One Bowl Chocolate Peppermint Cake
If you love chocolate and peppermint, then this secretly vegan and gluten free chocolate peppermint cake is a must for you to try this holiday season!
With layers of super fudgy and rich chocolate peppermint cake that’s made in just one bowl and entirely (and secretly) eggless, dairy free, and gluten free, this vegan Christmas cake is perfect for any holiday party or Christmas dessert!
You’d never know that the cake is actually made from oat flour- and just oat flour! No need to purchase an expensive gluten free 1:1 baking flour blend here. This vegan chocolate peppermint cake is as easy as it is delicious. If you’re a first time cake baker, then this cake is for you.
We’re also frosting the chocolate peppermint cake entirely in a dairy free vanilla peppermint frosting that could easily be enjoyed on its own.
Decorated in Christmas style, you’re just going to love this easy vegan Chocolate Peppermint Cake!
Vegan Chocolate Peppermint Cake Ingredients
You’re going to love how simple these ingredients are. Here’s what you need to make this amazing Christmas cake:
- Oat flour: I recommend using store bought oat flour if you want a vegan gluten free cake that truly doesn’t taste vegan nor gluten free. If you use homemade oat flour, the cake will have a bit more of a rustic feel to it and taste a bit oat-ier. Still a wonderful flavor, but it depends on what you’re going for.
- Cocoa powder: I recommend using Valhrona cocoa powder- it’s truly amazing! Please try not to use cacao powder though, as cocoa powder has more acidity and will help your cakes to rise better. Since this is a vegan chocolate peppermint cake, we need all of the rise we can get, as there are no eggs in it. Using cacao powder might hinder your cakes from rising properly.
- Unsweetened applesauce: This acts as the “egg” and adds a bit of natural sweetness, helping reduce the sugar.
- Organic sugar: I recommend using organic granulated sugar, such as Wholesome Sweets or Florida Crystals, as these two brands are vegan. Not all sugar is vegan unfortunately, but buying organic means they’ll use beet powder to whiten the sugar. You can also use coconut sugar, which would then make this cake refined sugar free as well!
- Peppermint extract: Make sure you’re using a food grade peppermint extract, and not peppermint oil.
- Vanilla extract
- Dairy free milk: You can use soy milk (I love Forager Project’s new soy milk!), oat milk, cashew milk, almond, or coconut milk! We’ll mix this with a touch of apple cider vinegar to create a vegan buttermilk. You can also skip this entirely and just use Forager Project’s drinkable unsweetened cashewmilk yogurt. It acts just like buttermilk!
Not outlandish ingredients, right? The only note I want to make is that if you’re nut free, definitely go with coconut or oat milk, or even soy milk.
How to make a one bowl vegan chocolate peppermint cake (overview)
For the full written instructions and ingredient measurements, see the bottom of this post in the recipe card. You can also hit the “jump to recipe” button at the top of this post! Here, we’ll go over a brief overview of the steps, along with providing visuals for a better understanding of the recipe.
The best part about this vegan and gluten free cake recipe is that it is just so easy. You just need one main mixing bowl, and not even a hand mixer to do the work!
Here’s how to make this amazing vegan chocolate peppermint cake:
- Whisk together the dry ingredients.
This is the oat flour, arrowroot starch, cocoa powder, and leavening agents. You’ll set this aside once mixed.
- Then combine the wet ingredients.
In a large bowl, use a whisk to mix together the applesauce, sugar, vegan buttermilk, peppermint extract, and vanilla extract.
- Fold in the dry ingredients.
Use a whisk or a rubber spatula to fold in the dry ingredients to the wet.
- Bake the cakes!
Divide the cake batter into three 6″ cake pans (or 8″ cake pans! If you’re using 8″ or 9″ cake pans, you can double the recipe to get the even, thick layers), and bake! You’ll know the cakes are finished once a toothpick comes out clean.
How to Make Vegan Vanilla Peppermint Buttercream
Making a vegan vanilla frosting has become my go-to for all of my cake recipes ever since my vegan vanilla cake. It quite literally is the best vanilla cake ever, and the frosting is a huge part of that!
If you want to make your vegan chocolate peppermint cake with chocolate frosting, you absolutely can! My recipe for an easy vegan chocolate buttercream is one of my favorites as well. You can add in a teaspoon of peppermint extract to the frosting too. Sprinkle with crushed candy canes and you’re good to go!
Personally, I felt that the chocolate on chocolate might be overwhelming because this cake is sooooo fudgy and rich. But my fiancé, Jared, loves anything chocolate, and he prefers the double chocolate that way!
So back to the vegan vanilla frosting. You’ll need:
- Vegan Butter
- Powdered Sugar
- Vanilla Extract
- Peppermint extract
Super simple, and you basically make it like any other buttercream frosting!
- First begin creaming the softened vegan butter in a large bowl with a hand mixer or stand mixer.
- Sift in the powdered sugar (and yes, sift! You don’t want clumps!) in 1 cup increments while continuing to beat the frosting.
- Add in a touch of vanilla extract and peppermint, and continue to cream together until smooth and fluffy.
- Frost your cake!
Then you can decorate your chocolate peppermint cake any way that you’d like! I do recommend that you apply a crumb coat to this cake for the first layer of frosting, as the cake can be delicate.
How to decorate a Christmas cake:
I recommend using about 3/4 cup to 1 cup of vegan frosting in between the layers, and what you’ll want to do is spread the frosting to go just beyond the edges of the layers.
That way, when you’re ready to frost the sides, it’s a a lot easier to get the frosting on the bottom edges of the chocolate peppermint cake! I also recommend sprinkling a little vegan peppermint crushed candy on top of each layer!
Now, I like to decorate my cakes, so I topped mine with a mini vegan gluten free gingerbread house and piped frosting onto vegan ice cream cones to create Christmas trees. I also sprinkled some crushed candy cane on top and on the sides.
You’re just going to absolutely love this amazing vegan chocolate peppermint cake. It’s so rich and fudgy, and perfectly balanced with the peppermint. This chocolate peppermint cake is perfect as a showstoping Christmas cake or holiday party cake!
As always, I love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there 🙂
Happy baking, frosting, and chocolate cake eating!
More Easy Christmas Cake Recipes and Treats
Vegan Gluten Free Red Velvet Cake
Amazing Vegan White Chocolate Cake
Vegan Gluten Free Gingerbread Cookies
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Vegan Chocolate Peppermint Cake
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 35
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 16 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
Description
Super fudgy vegan chocolate peppermint cake with a dairy free vegan vanilla frosting for the easiest holiday cake recipe! Gluten free and dairy free, this fudgy chocolate cake is a hit!
Ingredients
Vegan Chocolate Peppermint Cake:
- 350 grams unsweetened dairy free milk + 1 tsp acv, room temperature, mixed before the batter
- 360 grams oat flour, sifted
- 75 grams cocoa powder
- 2 tbsp arrowroot powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 375 grams unsweetened applesauce, room temperature
- 250 grams coconut sugar or granulated sugar
- 1 tsp food grade peppermint extract
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Vegan Peppermint Vanilla Frosting:
- 1 cup vegan butter, softened
- 3–4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp food grade peppermint extract
- Optional: crushed organic vegan peppermint candies
Instructions
Chocolate Peppermint Cake:
- Please read through all instructions before beginning.
- Prep: preheat the oven to 350F. Grease and line three 6″ cake pans with cooking oil and parchment paper, and set aside. Measure out all ingredients. Mix together the dairy free milk and apple cider vinegar in a small bowl, and set aside to rest for 5 minutes. This will be called the vegan buttermilk going forward.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients: in a medium bowl, whisk together the oat flour, cocoa powder, arrowroot powder, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside
- Make the batter: in a large bowl, whisk together the vegan buttermilk, applesauce, sugar, vanilla extract, and peppermint extract. Add in the dry ingredients, and whisk gently to combine the dry ingredients into the wet. Mix until just combined.
- Bake: pour the batter into the three prepared pans evenly, and place into the oven to bake for 37-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove the cakes from the oven and allow the cakes to cool in their pans for 10 minutes. Then carefully transfer them to a cooling rack to fully cool before frosting. There should be no heat within the cakes at all prior to making the vegan buttercream.
Vegan Peppermint Vanilla Frosting:
- First begin creaming the softened vegan butter in a large bowl with a hand mixer or stand mixer.
- Sift in the powdered sugar (and yes, sift! You don’t want clumps!) in 1 cup increments while continuing to beat the frosting.
- Add the vanilla extract and peppermint extract, and continue to beat until smooth and fluffy.
- Frost your cake!
Notes
Cocoa Powder: I recommend using Valhrona cocoa powder for a super rich and smooth chocolate cake. Please do not use cacao powder, as it doesn’t have enough acidity in it to create a good rise in the cake.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 312
- Sugar: 32.3 g
- Sodium: 200.7 mg
- Fat: 10.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 53.4 g
- Protein: 3.7 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Your cake looks so beautiful and rich! I have never tried baking with Cassava flour but now I want to give it a try. 🙂
Much love, Ela
Aw Ela thank you thank you!! And I highly recommend it! It’s so easy to use 🙂 Enjoy!!!
This is bringing me all the holiday cheer 🙂 It’s like a peppermint hot cocoa in cake form!
Aw you are too kind!! Enjoy!!
Aw you are too kind!! Enjoy!
What baking time do you think for two 8inch cake tins? I don’t have six inch ones.
Hi Cate! I would suggest checking the cakes after 35 minutes, they’ll probably need about 40, but test with a toothpick at 30 or 35 minutes!
This looks so yummy! Do you think AP flour would work? I don’t have oat.
Hi Denise! Aw I’m so glad! It won’t work exactly the same, as oat flour’s weight is a bit different than AP, but you can use my regular vegan chocolate cake recipe, add in a teaspoon of peppermint extract, and you’ll have very similar results! Here’s the classic chocolate cake recipe using AP flour: https://thebananadiaries.com/best-vegan-chocolate-cake-ever/
This cake is amazing! I haven’t had much success with vegan desserts so was delighted by how well this one turned out (nonvegans in my family loved it too). I used two 8” pans and that worked fine.
So happy to hear this!! Wow!! Thanks for the rating 🙂 Enjoy!
Hi! If I baked this in a loaf pan for a bread version, how long would the bake time be? Thanks!
Hi Jen! I personally haven’t tried this, and it will definitely make more batter than one loaf pan. Typically, loaves take around 35-45 minutes to bake, so that would be the time I would start with, but you’ll definitely have more than one loaf!
Ok! Thanks!
I’m excited to try your recipe! What kind of vegan butter do you recommend? I’ve tried different ones, but for a good buttercream, I’m still searching! Thank you so much!
Oh yes, absolutely!! I really recommend Miyoko’s vegan butter- their European style is amazing for buttercream. Make sure you’re allowing it to come to room temperature just out on the counter for 2 hours or so- don’t melt it or soften it in the microwave! I hope that helps!!
Thank you!!! I’m putting it in my grocery list!
Woo!! Enjoy!!