Silicone spatulas are the whole reason half of this list works. Folding whipped cream into melted chocolate, scraping the last of a ganache out of a warm bowl, getting a mousse into a glass without knocking the air out of it: a wooden spoon fights you and a silicone one does not, and mine have earned their place in the drawer. So here are 33 chocolate dessert recipes sorted by how much of your evening they want. Some are a five minute mousse with three ingredients. Some are a flourless truffle cake you start the night before. There are no bake pies for a hot kitchen, a mug cake for one, paleo and gluten free chocolate desserts that do not taste like a compromise, and a pudding cake that makes its own hot fudge sauce while it bakes. Pick by the time you actually have.
1. Flourless Chocolate Truffle Cake
Seven ingredients, no flour, and a texture closer to a truffle than a cake. The trick is the warm sugar syrup: water, salt and sugar dissolved in a saucepan, then beaten into melted bittersweet chocolate along with a cup of butter one tablespoon at a time. It bakes low and slow at 300 degrees for 45 minutes in a 9 inch pan, then chills overnight, so this is a make ahead dessert rather than a tonight dessert. Gluten free without trying to be. Twelve small slices, because nobody finishes a large one.
Get the full tutorial at Joy Food Sunshine.
2. Baked Chocolate Crumb Donuts
Baked, not fried, which means a donut pan and about 14 minutes instead of a pot of hot oil. The batter uses two cocoas, unsweetened and dark, for a deeper color than a single cocoa gives you, and sour cream keeps the crumb tender. Greek yogurt subs in fine. Then they get a vanilla glaze and a buttery crumb topping, which is the part that makes them read as bakery rather than breakfast. The recipe makes six, so double it if more than two people are awake.
Get the full tutorial at Baking a Moment.
3. No Bake Chocolate Cream Pie
Three layers, an Oreo crust and not one minute of oven time, which is the entire point in August. The step worth copying is putting your metal bowl and whisk in the freezer for 10 minutes before you whip the cream, because cold equipment gives you volume that a room temperature bowl never will. A cream cheese and melted dark chocolate layer goes down first, then instant chocolate fudge pudding folded with some of that whipped cream. Twenty minutes of work, serves 10.
Get the full tutorial at Inside BruCrew Life.
4. Black Forest Chocolate Cupcakes
Black forest cake shrunk down to 12 cupcakes, and the cherry jam is homemade rather than spooned from a can, which is what separates these from every bakery version. Three cups of cherries cook down with sugar and a splash of Kirsch, or lemon juice if you would rather not buy the bottle, set with a little gelatine. Buttermilk keeps the chocolate base soft. Fill the cases only two thirds full and bake 18 to 24 minutes, turning the pan halfway.
Get the full tutorial at Sugar Salt Magic.
5. Homemade Cosmic Brownies
This is the lunchbox brownie from childhood, made properly. A teaspoon of instant espresso powder goes into the batter, which you will not taste as coffee at all, it just makes the cocoa read darker and rounder. They bake at 350 in a 9 by 13 for 20 to 25 minutes, then the glaze goes on: half a cup of heavy cream poured hot over a cup and a half of semisweet chips, stirred smooth, spread while still loose, and finished with mini M&Ms so it looks like the wrapper.
Get the full tutorial at DIY Joy.
6. Chocolate Lasagna
No pasta, obviously. A whole package of 36 Oreos gets crushed with six tablespoons of melted butter for the base, then a sweetened cream cheese layer, then two boxes of instant chocolate pudding whisked with three and a quarter cups of cold milk, then Cool Whip and mini chips. It sets in a 9 by 13 in the fridge. Thirty five minutes of assembly and no heat anywhere, and it is the pan that comes home empty from every potluck.
Get the full tutorial at The Kitchen Snob.
7. Nanaimo Balls
The Canadian bar, rolled. A graham crumb, coconut, pecan and cocoa mixture makes the outside, a buttery filling stiffened with a couple of tablespoons of vanilla pudding mix makes the middle, and melted semi sweet chocolate makes the shell. Roll the filling into three quarter inch balls, coat them in the crumb mix, then freeze for 30 minutes before dipping, because a cold center is the only way the chocolate sets cleanly instead of sliding. Makes about 40.
Get the full tutorial at The Bewitchin' Kitchen.
8. Easy 3-Ingredient Chocolate Mousse
Heavy cream, cocoa powder and powdered sugar, whipped in a chilled bowl until stiff, piped into glasses, done in five minutes. What makes this one worth saving is the dial: a quarter cup of cocoa with half a cup of powdered sugar gives you a sweet milk chocolate mousse, and a third of a cup of cocoa with only a quarter cup of sugar gives you a genuinely dark one. Same bowl, same five minutes, completely different dessert. A quarter teaspoon of almond extract is optional and good.
Get the full tutorial at Kitchen Cents.
9. Brick Street Chocolate Cake
The surprise ingredients are half a cup of instant chocolate pudding mix and a cup of chocolate chips stirred straight into the batter, on top of a full cup of cocoa and two and a quarter cups of buttermilk. That is what keeps a cake this dense from going dry. It bakes for a full hour, so check at 50 minutes if your oven runs hot, then gets a cooked cocoa icing with three and a half cups of powdered sugar. A birthday cake, not a Tuesday cake.
Get the full tutorial at Through Her Looking Glass.
10. 3-Ingredient Dark Chocolate Covered Date Nut Bars
Dates, mixed nuts, dark chocolate. That is the list. Eleven or twelve Medjool dates soak for five minutes, drain, then go into a food processor with a cup and a half of nuts until the mixture holds together with small pieces of nut still visible, which is the texture you want, not a paste. Press into a lined loaf pan, pour over a cup of melted dark chocolate, and freeze for 10 minutes to set. Twelve bars and no added sugar anywhere.
Get the full tutorial at Fit Mitten Kitchen.
11. Paleo Chocolate Pudding
One avocado, a quarter cup of cocoa, a tablespoon of honey and a little vanilla, blended until no green flecks remain. Five minutes, two servings, and the avocado is doing texture rather than flavor, so nobody guesses unless you tell them. The one thing that ruins it is an underripe avocado, which stays grainy no matter how long you run the blender, so use one that gives when you press it. Cold from the fridge is better than straight from the blender.
Get the full tutorial at Wicked Spatula.
12. Chocolate Chip Cookie Cheesecake Bars
Five ingredients, and one of them is a roll of refrigerated cookie dough, which I will defend all day for a weeknight. A little over half the dough presses into a lined 9 inch square pan, a simple cheesecake layer of cream cheese, sugar, one egg and vanilla goes on top, and the rest of the dough gets torn over in pieces so the top bakes up craggy. Thirty minutes at 350. Sixteen bars, and they cut much more cleanly cold.
Get the full tutorial at Mom on Timeout.
13. Triple Chocolate Cheesecake
Three separate chocolates: about 25 Oreos in the crust, 12 ounces of melted semisweet plus cocoa in the filling, and a poured glaze of another four ounces with a little corn syrup for shine. It bakes for 75 minutes and then chills, so allow the better part of a day rather than an afternoon. Every dairy item goes in at room temperature, which is the difference between a smooth batter and one with small lumps you cannot beat out later. Fifteen servings.
Get the full tutorial at Baked by an Introvert.
14. Moist Chocolate Cupcakes
The half cup of hot water at the end of the batter looks wrong and is the entire secret. It thins the batter to something you pour rather than scoop, blooms the cocoa, and produces a crumb that stays soft for days. The buttercream is not a cocoa frosting either, it takes 12 ounces of melted semi sweet chips, which is why it tastes like fudge instead of sugar. Twenty minutes in the oven and you get 14 to 16 cupcakes.
Get the full tutorial at Life Love and Sugar.
15. Chocolate Ganache Tarts with Coconut Macaroon Crust
The crust is a coconut macaroon: whipped egg whites and salt, honey or maple syrup, vanilla, then two cups of shredded coconut folded in and pressed up the sides of the tart pans. It bakes at 325 for 25 to 30 minutes until golden. The filling is two ingredients, a cup of hot coconut milk poured over 10 ounces of chopped dark chocolate and stirred to ganache. Paleo, gluten free and refined sugar free, and none of that is obvious from eating it. Six servings.
Get the full tutorial at Bakerita.
16. Layered Chocolate Cheesecake with Oreo Crust, No Bake
A no bake layered cheesecake on an Oreo base, which is the combination that shows up at every family gathering and never comes home. The appeal is that it looks like an afternoon of work and is really an assembly job plus a long sit in the fridge, so it belongs on the make ahead list. Give it the full chilling time the recipe asks for; a layered no bake cut too early slides instead of slicing.
Get the full tutorial at Yummiest Food.
17. Guinness Chocolate Mousse Cake
Guinness in all three layers, which sounds like a gimmick and is not: the beer is doing the same job as coffee, deepening the cocoa rather than announcing itself. Half a cup goes into the cake, a ganache layer sits in the middle, and the mousse on top is 10 ounces of chips with more Guinness and whipped cream, set with a little gelatin so it holds a clean edge. Twelve to 14 slices. This is the St Patrick’s Day cake, and it is better in November.
Get the full tutorial at Life Love and Sugar.
18. Fudgy Double Chocolate Mug Cake
Two tablespoons of coconut flour, a tablespoon of cocoa, baking powder, maple syrup, almond milk and an egg, stirred in the mug you will eat it out of, then two and a half to three minutes in the microwave. Coconut flour drinks liquid, so stir until absolutely no clumps remain before the egg goes in or you will find dry pockets. A flax egg works. This is the single serving answer to wanting cake at 9pm without committing to a pan of it.
Get the full tutorial at Running with Spoons.
19. Paleo Chocolate Fudge Pie
An almond flour and coconut sugar crust, blind baked, then a filling of a cup and two thirds of paleo chocolate chips melted with coconut oil and coconut cream, eggs and vanilla. It bakes 28 minutes and then needs about five hours in the fridge before it is sliceable, which is the part people skip and regret. The texture is fudge rather than custard, so cut small pieces. Twelve servings out of one pie, comfortably.
Get the full tutorial at Texanerin Baking.
20. Pure Chocolate Mousse Cake
A French gateau, built at home. The cake layers are made with olive oil and a shot of espresso topped up with water instead of butter and milk, which keeps them moist enough to take a soaking syrup of sugar, water and a tablespoon of brandy. Then more than 14 ounces of dark chocolate at 55 to 70 percent goes into the mousse. Allow about two and a half hours, most of it waiting. Twelve servings, and it looks like a pastry case bought it.
Get the full tutorial at The Hungry Bites.
21. Raspberry Chocolate Cups
Seven ounces of dark chocolate get brushed inside six aluminum muffin cups and chilled to make edible shells, and the aluminum matters because it peels away from set chocolate in a way paper never does. The filling is a raspberry puree made from five ounces of berries with sugar, folded through a chocolate cream. They look like a restaurant dessert and take about 40 minutes. Six servings, and the shell cracking under the spoon is the best part.
Get the full tutorial at Home Cooking Adventure.
22. Salted Caramel Chocolate Cake
Three 9 inch layers, a cup and a half of sifted cocoa, and a cup and a half of hot water that goes in last to bloom it. Sour cream and a little oil are what keep a cake this tall from drying at the edges. The frosting alone is two cups of very soft butter and four and a half cups of sifted confectioners sugar, so soften the butter properly rather than microwaving it. Budget about two and a half hours including cooling, and do not frost a warm cake.
Get the full tutorial at Baker by Nature.
23. Hot Fudge Chocolate Pudding Cake
This is the one that makes its own sauce, and watching it work never gets old. A plain batter goes into a greased 9 inch square pan, a dry mix of sugar, brown sugar and cocoa gets sprinkled over the top, then a cup and a quarter of boiling water is poured over the whole thing and not stirred. In the oven the water sinks and becomes hot fudge under a layer of cake. Thirty five minutes at 350, five minutes of prep, nine servings.
Get the full tutorial at Cafe Delites.
24. Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Ice Cream Bars
Six ingredients and no ice cream maker. Frozen bananas blend with a can of full fat coconut milk and frozen strawberries into a base that goes into popsicle molds, leaving a quarter inch at the top because it expands. They freeze six to eight hours, then get dipped in a shell of melted coconut oil, maple syrup and cocoa that hardens on contact with the cold bar. Vegan, dairy free and paleo. Makes 10 to 12, which is a summer’s worth if you pace yourself.
Get the full tutorial at Beaming Baker.
25. Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
Seven ounces of cream cheese stands in for the butter here, with a little oil, and that is why these stay soft for days instead of going crisp on day two. Three quarters of a cup of natural cocoa goes into the dough with a cup of chips on top of it. Scoop with a two tablespoon scoop, leave two inches between them, and pull them at nine to 11 minutes while the centers still look slightly underdone. Twenty cookies, and they firm up on the sheet.
Get the full tutorial at Salt and Baker.
26. Easy Paleo Brownie Brittle Bark
Brownie brittle is a double bake, and that is the whole technique. The batter, built on almond flour, whipped egg whites and coconut sugar, spreads onto a lined sheet in a rectangle roughly 12 by 8 inches, which is thinner than feels right. It bakes 18 minutes at 325, comes out, cools five minutes, gets cut into about 24 squares and spread apart, then goes back in for another five to 10 to crisp. Dairy free chips on top.
Get the full tutorial at Real Food with Jessica.
27. Baileys Chocolate Mousse
Two teaspoons of gelatin are what keep this one standing up at a party instead of weeping into the glass an hour in. Bloom it in cold water, dissolve in boiling, cool it, then beat it into cream whipped with sugar and cocoa while you pour in half a cup of very cold Baileys. Chill the bowl and beaters 15 to 20 minutes first, and keep the liqueur cold too, because warm alcohol deflates cream on contact. Six half cup servings.
Get the full tutorial at Lemon Tree Dwelling.
28. Chocolate Eclair Dessert
Real choux pastry, which is less frightening than its reputation. Butter, water, milk, salt and sugar come to a full boil, the flour goes in all at once, and then four eggs are beaten in a few at a time until the dough falls in a ribbon. Pipe eight logs about five inches long, bake at 400, and sprinkle a little water on the parchment first for steam. The pastry cream needs at least three hours in the fridge, so make it the day before.
Get the full tutorial at Of Batter and Dough.
29. Chocolate Eclair Crepe Cake
An eclair with the pastry swapped for a stack of crepes, which is honestly easier than piping choux. The batter is flour, eggs, milk, water, salt and melted butter, whisked until the lumps go, and a quarter cup per crepe in a lightly sprayed pan. The filling is french vanilla instant pudding folded with whipped topping, and the whole stack gets covered in chocolate frosting. Forty minutes, 10 servings, and it slices like a cake.
Get the full tutorial at Six Sisters' Stuff.
30. Chocolate Cream Pie
Nine egg yolks. That is not a typo, and it is why this filling sets into something silky rather than sturdy. Three and a half cups of half and half get thickened with the yolks, sugar and cornstarch, then nine ounces of semi sweet and two of bittersweet melt in. The crust is chocolate graham crumbs bound with butter and brown sugar and baked 10 to 15 minutes. Then four and a half hours in the fridge, which is not negotiable. Eight to 12 slices.
Get the full tutorial at Sugar Apron.
31. Silky Dark Chocolate Avocado Truffles
Avocado does the texture and dates do the sweetening, so there is no refined sugar and no oil in these at all. Blend for a full five minutes until the batter is smooth, then add coconut flour a tablespoon at a time until it is thick enough to roll, because avocado sizes vary and this is the step that goes wrong. Roll, dust in dark cocoa, and chill one to two hours to firm. Soak the dates three hours first if you want them truly silky. Makes 10.
Get the full tutorial at Paleohacks.
32. Dark Chocolate Chia Pudding
Chia pudding is the overnight dessert that doubles as breakfast, and a dark chocolate one is the version that converts people who think chia is a texture problem. The seeds need a good stir about ten minutes after mixing, then another before they go in the fridge, because otherwise they clump on the bottom and the top stays liquid. Make it in jars and you have four mornings sorted.
Get the full tutorial at Sinful Nutrition.
33. Dark Chocolate Tart with Espresso Whipped Cream
Espresso and dark chocolate belong together, and this tart is the proof. The crust is fourteen chocolate graham crackers ground fine with a stick of melted butter and six tablespoons of sugar, pressed up the sides of a ten inch pan and blind baked for ten minutes. The filling is a ganache, a cup and a quarter of boiled cream poured over nine ounces of bittersweet chocolate with two eggs whisked in, and it comes out of the oven still wobbly in the middle. Do not swap Oreos in for the grahams, because the extra fat leaks butter out of the pan. Twelve servings.
Get the full tutorial at Bakers Brigade.
