• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Nordic Food & Living
  • Home
  • Recipes
    • Breakfast
      • Nordic Bread
      • Bread
      • Jam - Spread - Dip
    • Lunch
    • Dinner
      • Pork
      • Chicken
      • Fish
      • Pie
      • Tapas
      • Fast and Easy Food
    • Desserts
      • Nordic Dessert
      • Cake
      • Pie
      • Ice Cream
    • Side Dish
      • Bread
      • Salads
      • Jam - Spread - Dip
      • Snacks
    • Healthy Food
    • Traditional Danish
    • Nordic Christmas
    • Kitchen guides
  • Travel Guides
  • About Me
    • Privacy Policy
  • In Danish
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Breakfast
  • Lunch
  • Dinner
  • Traditional Danish
  • Nordic Bread
  • Nordic Christmas
  • Nordic Dessert
search icon
Homepage link
  • Breakfast
  • Lunch
  • Dinner
  • Traditional Danish
  • Nordic Bread
  • Nordic Christmas
  • Nordic Dessert
×

"Home" » Cake

"Home" » Cake

Healthy Chocolate Cake without Sugar and Flour

Published: Sep 15, 2014 · Modified: Sep 1, 2019 · About 4 minutes to read this article. · By Kim Nielsen

Recipe for healthy chocolate cake without refined sugar and flour. This chocolate cake has a fantastic consistency, a wonderful taste and it is a great alternative to normal chocolate cake.
Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
Recipe for Healthy Chocolate Cake without Sugar and Flour

Recipe for homemade Healthy Chocolate Cake without Sugar and Flour

Recipe for Healthy Chocolate Cake without refined sugar and flour

Today many people are talking about cutting down on fat and carbs, and the fitness centers are packed with people working out and trying to get in shape.

See also: The best Nordic recipes

We have several times said that it's sad to take some good food and replace a few ingredients with healthy choices. Most of the times you risk to replace some ingredients that was there for an important purpose - and by that changes the specific dish to something bad.

We believe that food should taste good, and if it's unhealthy we just eat less of it. The first time we came across this recipe for a healthy chocolate cake without sugar and flour we had our strong doubts whether it was any good. We have always thought a chocolate cake should at least contain sugar and flour - we couldn't be more wrong!

Read also: The best recipe for marzipan without sugar

This chocolate cake is so delicious! It has a wonderful taste, it's soft and moist exactly as a chocolate cake should be.

Recipe for Healthy Chocolate Cake without Sugar and Flour

Healthy Chocolate cake Without the Word Healthy

The word healthy is a funny word to use in a sentence where the word cake is includes. Of cause compared to our broccoli salad it's wrong to use the word healthy.

However, compared to a regular chocolate cake this is a perfect word to use. If you are like us - don't get scared away because of this small word healthy. This is just a cake that doesn't have sugar of flour in it - it's simple and super delicious!

Recipe for Healthy Chocolate Cake without Sugar and Flour

The Secret to make healthy cake

The secret in this recipe for a healthy chocolate cake is that the sugar and flour is replaced with dates, bananas and coconut oil. These ingredients brings the sweetness and softness into the cake which is normally the sugar and flour's main purpose.

See also: Recipe for Danish Butter Cookies

Of course the cake is not completely sugar free - the dark chocolate does contain some sugar but not in the same amount compared to a regular cake. We have used dark chocolate with a cocoa content of 70 % which has a rich and strong chocolate taste.

If you are trying to cut down on sugar and gluten we definitely think you should try out this healthier chocolate cake. If you are looking for a completely regular chocolate cake we can also recommend this one - it's also moist and super delicious.

Recipe for Healthy Chocolate Cake without Sugar and Flour

Healthy Chocolate Cake without Sugar and Flour

Recipe for healthy chocolate cake without refined sugar and flour. This chocolate cake has a fantastic consistency, a wonderful taste and it is a great alternative to normal chocolate cake.
Print Recipe Rate Recipe
Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes minutes
Total Time: 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes
Course: Cake, Dessert
Cuisine: Danish
Keyword: Chocolate cake, No Flour, No sugar
Servings: 8 people
Author: NordicFoodLiving.com

Ingredients

Metric - US Customary
  • 125 g nuts (use what you have)
  • 150 g dark chocolate
  • 50 g coconut flakes
  • 50 g cocoa powder
  • 75 g coconut oil
  • 1 dl milk
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • 5 dates
  • 2 ripe bananas (or frozen if you have any)
  • 2 eggs
  • pinch of salt
  • Topping
  • 50 g mixed nuts
  • 25 g coconut flour or large coconut flakes/chips

Instructions

  • Use a blender to blend 50 g (2 oz) of the nuts into fine nut flour/powder.
  • Coarsely chop the last 75 g (2.5 oz) of the nuts and the chocolate.
  • Mix the nut flour, chopped nuts, coconut flakes, chopped chocolate, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt in a large bowl.
  • Remove the stones from the dates and blend them together with the bananas in a blender.
  • Melt the coconut oil a little at low heat and pour it in the date/bananas mixture together with milk, eggs and vanilla essence. Mix it well.
  • Pour the date/banana mixture in the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix it all well.
  • Pour the cake batter in an oven proof dish or similar which is lined with baking/parchment paper. We used a 20x25 cm (8x10 inch) pan.
  • Decorate the cake with chopped nuts and some coconut flakes/chips.
  • Bake the cake at 170 C (330 F) for about 40-45 minutes.


Recipe for homemade Healthy Chocolate Cake without Sugar and Flour

Recipe for homemade Healthy Chocolate Cake without Sugar and Flour

Recipe for homemade Healthy Chocolate Cake without Sugar and Flour

Recipe for homemade Healthy Chocolate Cake without Sugar and Flour

Recipe for homemade Healthy Chocolate Cake without Sugar and Flour

Recipe for homemade Healthy Chocolate Cake without Sugar and Flour

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Amy

    October 26, 2014 at 1:27 am

    This cake looks so rich and delicious. I must try!

    Reply
    • Kim Nielsen

      October 26, 2014 at 8:05 am

      Thank you very much. It's really good :-)

      Reply
      • Natalie Osman

        August 27, 2023 at 10:15 am

        Hi. Can you freeze this cake?

        Reply
        • Kim Nielsen

          October 23, 2023 at 8:07 am

          Yes this cake be frozen.

          Reply
  2. Jasmin

    October 26, 2014 at 7:14 am

    Kim and Louise,
    this chocolate cake looks delicious,
    I really like it has no sugar - we could enjoy in it without
    any guilt ;)

    Reply
    • Kim Nielsen

      October 26, 2014 at 8:10 am

      Hi Jasmin, It's really good - we personally can't taste that it doesn't have any sugar or flour in it. :-)

      Reply
      • Annonymous

        May 19, 2020 at 3:34 am

        Hey is there any way to replace bananas with anything else?

        Reply
        • Kim Nielsen

          May 19, 2020 at 5:10 am

          Hi - unfortunately, I can't come up with an ingredient to replace the bananas. The bananas gives texture and moist to the cake. It is not the taste of the bananas we are looking for in this recipe :-) Regards Kim (NordicFoodLiving.com)

          Reply
          • Rose

            November 26, 2022 at 3:59 pm

            What about apple purée ?

        • András

          November 20, 2021 at 4:38 pm

          Avocado perhaps

          Reply
  3. Loreta

    October 26, 2014 at 2:06 pm

    What size pan did you bake it in? 8x8?

    Reply
    • Louise Dam

      October 26, 2014 at 2:24 pm

      Hi. Sorry, we've forgot to write the pan size. We used a 8x10 inch. But I believe you can use a 8x8.

      Regards Louise

      Reply
  4. holly

    November 03, 2014 at 8:25 am

    Hiya. Is it fresh dates or are dried dates OK? Thanks :-D

    Reply
    • Louise Dam

      November 03, 2014 at 7:04 pm

      Hi Holly. Actually it doesn't say on the box. They are not fresh and not completely dried, so I believe they are called semi dried dates. You can see the dates at the first picture.

      Reply
  5. Miss Polkadot

    August 24, 2015 at 2:52 pm

    Wow, your cake looks amazing. Nobody would guess it's sugar- and flour-free from just looking at it. I don't eat eggs so likely won't try it but maybe share the recipe with some friends.

    Reply
    • Louise Dam

      August 24, 2015 at 6:26 pm

      Thank you so much! We appreaciate that :-)

      Reply
    • Smita

      January 05, 2017 at 8:32 am

      Each egg in the cake could easily be replaced with 1 tablespoon of ground flax seed with 3 tablespoons of water,when this mix is set aside while you prepare other ingredients, it turns out to be the same consistency of whisked eggs. Hope this helps.

      Reply
      • Melissa

        December 03, 2018 at 12:20 am

        This definitely helps :) Thankyou. I'll be doing the egg free version- no eggs, sugar or flour! It looks delish

        Reply
  6. Shenae

    November 10, 2015 at 9:16 pm

    Hi would really love to make this but i have no dates-will it be alright without them??

    Reply
    • Louise Dam

      November 10, 2015 at 9:23 pm

      The dates are used in the cake as sweetener. Maybe you can use some honey instead. But I'm not sure.

      Reply
  7. Lisa

    December 13, 2015 at 12:12 am

    Looks delish! Any ideas of nutritional info? Carbs? Calories? Fiber?

    Reply
    • Louise Dam

      December 14, 2015 at 9:21 pm

      Sorry, I haven't calculated it. But I know there are a lot of free sites where you can make these calculations. If you do - please give us the results :-)

      Reply
  8. Julia

    February 19, 2016 at 11:00 pm

    Made it for my brothers birthday. Everyone loved it!

    Reply
    • Louise Dam

      February 21, 2016 at 11:38 am

      Lovely to hear! :-)

      Reply
  9. Donna Knipp

    February 26, 2016 at 6:29 pm

    What kind of dark chocolate did you use -- did it have any sweetener in it?

    Thanks for any help on this. Also, I can't eat bananas but often substitute other fruits for bananas in various recipes.

    In baking, people seem to favor applesauce as a substitute for bananas. Any thoughts on how that might work?

    If you think applesauce might be too runny, I have also used papaya in place of bananas for smoothie recipes, Would something like papayas work better here? .

    many thanks.

    Reply
    • Louise Dam

      February 28, 2016 at 2:15 pm

      I used a 70 % chocolate. But use one with as high a cocoa procent as possible.

      Reply
  10. Donna Knipp

    March 01, 2016 at 4:44 am

    Thanks. So you used the kind of dark chocolate that people can eat by itself -- the chocolate bars that we all enjoy eating as snacks? There is also another kind chocolate, called baking chocolate, that doesn't have any sweetener in it, and you couldn't eat it on its own.

    I guess you weren't using baking chocolate -- right?

    thx.

    Reply
  11. LoritheRD

    March 08, 2016 at 5:59 am

    Not saying this doesn't sound like a delicious recipe but calling this cake "sugar free" is a bit deceptive. Saying "no additional sugar added" would be more accurate because both bananas and dates have a good amount of sugar in them. Even though it is natural sugar and not refined sugar it may still be too much for someone who is on a sugar restricted diet. Like omeone with diabetes for instance. Just as a guide for anyone wondering, 1 cup of mashed bananas ( about 1 med banana) has
    approx 28 grams of sugar and 1 cup of coarsely chopped dates has approx. 93 grams of sugar. Just don't want anyone to think this is a sugar free food that can be eaten indiscriminately.

    Reply
    • Louise Dam

      March 12, 2016 at 10:59 pm

      Hi, you're right. There is no added sugar in the recipe. But of course there are some fruit sugar.

      Reply
  12. Sonia

    April 01, 2016 at 9:45 pm

    This looks great. How long would it keep before eating?
    Thanks

    Reply
    • Louise Dam

      April 19, 2016 at 7:35 pm

      A couple of days I think :-)

      Reply
      • Laura

        September 28, 2016 at 5:13 pm

        Do we need to pre heat the oven?

        Reply
        • Kim Nielsen

          September 28, 2016 at 5:52 pm

          It's a good idea to pre-heat but it is not necessary. I'll will not make a big difference :-)

          Reply
  13. Gozde

    April 04, 2016 at 3:03 pm

    Hey,
    Can we replace nuts with oat flour ? I am allergic to nuts but this cakes so yummy :)

    Reply
    • Gozde

      April 04, 2016 at 3:03 pm

      I meant just the portion we add into to cake

      Reply
    • Louise Dam

      May 23, 2016 at 1:13 pm

      I haven't tried it. But I would think it is possible.

      Reply
  14. Sarah

    July 25, 2016 at 12:28 pm

    Hello

    Reply
    • Kim Nielsen

      August 03, 2016 at 12:42 pm

      Hello Sarah :)

      Reply
      • Sarah

        August 10, 2016 at 10:50 pm

        Actually i commented but for some reason it didn't go through.
        I made this twice already. First time i followed the recipe 98%, I used 90% chocolate and semi sweet chocolate chips. The taste was ok, not as sweet as i like and i didnt like the texture...crunch from the nuts and the coconut was too much for me. I also wasn't fond of the banana taste. However my husband loved it

        So i made it again. I left out the bananas and subbed 25g coconut flakes for ap flour. I left the bananas out and added 5 more dates to make it sweeter. I also used a bit butter (15g) and 60g coconut oil instead of all coconut oil. I wasn't trying to go gluten free i just wanted a recipe that was sugar free.

        So the result : it was still good, i liked it better actually. Just wanted to share my epxerience and thank you for the recipe, it was a good base for a sugar free recipe and i found that it worked well even with a few substitutions.

        Reply
  15. Olivia Lafferty

    August 31, 2016 at 1:11 am

    I am not a fan of coconut, would it be okay to leave the coconut flakes out?

    Reply
    • Kim Nielsen

      August 31, 2016 at 4:41 am

      Hi Olivia. I have not tried to leave out the coconut flakes. However, I thing it is possible but then you would need to add a little extra nuts to compensate. I would like to know how it turns out if you try :-)
      Regards Kim

      Reply
  16. HELEN

    January 04, 2017 at 4:30 pm

    COULD THIS CAKE MADE IN VANILLA I DO NOT LIKE CHOCOLATE? THANX, MS.HELEN

    Reply
    • Kim Nielsen

      January 04, 2017 at 4:58 pm

      Hi Helen. I've never this this specific recipe only in vanilla. However, I am quite sure if you just leave out the cocoa and chocolate it is still great. If you try I would like to know if it works out good.

      Reply
  17. Dar

    October 17, 2017 at 9:22 pm

    Hi, I made this cake, this passed weekend, and it was good. I cooked for 50 minutes, and it was a little gooey in the middle. I did put it in fridge, and it was even better. Thank you. So, at 45 minutes baking cake, should it be gooey?

    Reply
  18. Gaila

    March 07, 2018 at 11:33 pm

    Can you please tell me how much milk? It says 1dl (0.5 Cup) but I don't understand.

    Reply
    • Kim Nielsen

      March 11, 2018 at 4:02 pm

      Hi Gaila.

      1 dl = 1 deciliter = 1/2 US cups. It is a volumen measurement. You can also convert this into weight which in this case would be 50 grams of milk

      Reply
  19. Elizabeth George

    May 18, 2018 at 10:17 am

    This recipe is just INCREDIBLE

    Reply
    • Kim Nielsen

      May 22, 2018 at 7:16 am

      Thanks :-)

      Reply
  20. Richa

    July 25, 2018 at 11:04 am

    Can we replace the coconut oil with anything else?

    Reply
    • Kim Nielsen

      July 31, 2018 at 6:32 am

      Maybe you can use peanut or macadamia oil. I have never tried it but it is worth the test.

      Reply
  21. Lloyd

    August 04, 2018 at 1:08 am

    Thanks for this recipe, looks delicious!
    Would it be ok to substitute cows milk for soy milk?

    Reply
    • Kim Nielsen

      August 04, 2018 at 4:20 pm

      You are welcome. I haven't tried substituting the cow milk with soy milk. However, I can't see why that shouldn't work. I think you should give it a try :-) You can always let us know in the comment section how it turns out.

      Reply
  22. Vicki

    July 10, 2019 at 2:51 am

    5 stars
    I have just made this chocolate cake and it is a real winner. Thankyou for sharing this recipe.

    Reply
    • Kim Nielsen

      July 10, 2019 at 10:54 am

      You are welcome. I'm happy that you like the recipe :-)

      Reply
  23. babumjane

    September 03, 2019 at 8:58 pm

    i WOULD LOVE TO MAKE THIS BUT DON'T KNOW HOW TO COOK WITH GRAM COUNTING

    Reply
    • Kim Nielsen

      September 03, 2019 at 9:25 pm

      If you go to the recipe there is a small blue button named "US Customary" if you click that you will get the US units. Let me know if you can't find it.

      Reply
  24. Miranda McArthur

    November 10, 2019 at 6:29 am

    Hoping to make this soon but can you tell me whether the ‘coconut flakes’ you mention are what we in the UK call dessicated coconut - that is dried grated coconut? Here flakes describes larger pieces and are not easy to find.
    Thanks

    Reply
    • Kim Nielsen

      November 13, 2019 at 2:48 pm

      If you take a look at the first picture after the recipe, then you can see the coconut flakes (coconut shredded) at the left side in the bowl. I hope that you can find them in the UK.

      Reply
  25. Nick

    April 19, 2020 at 4:09 pm

    5 stars
    Delicious cake, very happy with my results.

    Reply
    • Kim Nielsen

      April 20, 2020 at 7:32 am

      I'm happy that you like the recipe :-) Regards Kim (NordicFoodLiving.com)

      Reply
  26. HT

    August 15, 2020 at 11:02 am

    5 stars
    This is so clever, and super yummy. We love it. Tried two times now. Thanks very much. 👍👍

    Reply
  27. MBG

    March 29, 2021 at 2:55 am

    5 stars
    Made half this cake to celebrate my little munchkin's 18 month birthday, and he absolutely loved it! Just watching him enjoy it, licking his lips, applauding the cake, going to town on it made it worthwhile! That too with 72% dark chocolate. The shredded coconut was a bit chewy, so might replace it with dessicated coconut or maybe (probably!) leave it out altogether next time. But regardless, this will forever remain a very special cake to me! 💛

    Reply
    • Kim Nielsen

      March 29, 2021 at 3:58 pm

      Thanks for your comment. I'm happy that you and your kid like the cake. It is also one of my favorite cakes :-) Regards Kim (NordicFoodLiving.com)

      Reply
4.50 from 10 votes (6 ratings without comment)

Write me a comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Give my recipe a rating




Primary Sidebar

Owner of Nordic Food and Living
Follow www.NordicFoodLiving.com on facebook

Footer

COPYRIGHT © 2024 - Nordic Food & Living - By Kim Nielsen

Rate This Recipe

Your vote:




A rating is required
A name is required
An email is required

Recipe Ratings without Comment

Something went wrong. Please try again.