Chocolate Loaf Cake
Published May 13, 2026
This moist chocolate loaf cake uses Greek yogurt instead of butter and cocoa powder for the chocolate flavor. Easy to make with pantry staples.
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THIS IS THE BEST CHOCOLATE LOAF CAKE!
I love cake, but I don’t often want to make a layer cake. These take so much time! Loaf cakes are more my speed, and this Chocolate Loaf Cake is ridiculously easy and good! It’s rich and moist, but still light (there’s actually no oil in the cake). It’s also topped with a quick, 3-ingredient chocolate glaze!
Instead of melted chocolate, I use cocoa powder to give this loaf cake its deep, chocolate flavor. I also call for instant espresso and brewed coffee in place of water, which doesn’t make the cake taste like coffee, but instead bumps up the flavor of the chocolate! While I could absolutely eat a slice as-is, topping the chocolate loaf cake with a quick chocolate glaze just makes my heart happy.
Chocolate Loaf Cake Ingredients
For the Cake
- Unsweetened cocoa powder: This is where all the chocolate flavor comes from, so use a good quality one. Dutch-process cocoa will give you a darker, more intense result. Natural cocoa powder works too, but the flavor will be a little lighter.
- Hot water or coffee: Goes in last and loosens the batter after everything else is combined. The batter will look very thin at this point, almost too thin, but that is what keeps the loaf moist. Brewed coffee works better than plain water if you have it, since it brings the chocolate flavor forward even more.
- Dry ingredients: All-purpose flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and instant espresso. Whisk everything together before adding the wet ingredients so the leaveners distribute evenly through the batter. The instant espresso is optional, but worth using if you have it. It dissolves completely and does not come through as a coffee flavor in the finished cake, it just deepens the chocolate.
- Wet ingredients: Eggs, Greek yogurt, milk, and vanilla. Greek yogurt is what keeps this moist chocolate loaf cake tender without any butter, and it works best when all three are at room temperature. Pull them out of the fridge about 30 minutes before you start. If the eggs and milk are cold, the batter can look curdled when you mix everything together.
- Chocolate glaze: Powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and milk. Stir the powdered sugar and cocoa powder together dry before adding the milk so the glaze does not clump. If it is too thick to drizzle, add milk one teaspoon at a time. If it is too thin, stir in a little more powdered sugar.
How to Make Chocolate Loaf Cake
Here is a step-by-step look at how the batter and glaze come together. For exact measurements and full instructions, jump to the → Chocolate Loaf Cake Recipe
1. Mix the Wet Ingredients
Crack the eggs into a medium bowl and add the yogurt, milk, and vanilla. Whisk until completely smooth with no streaks of yolk or clumps of yogurt.
2. Add the Wet to the Dry
Start from the center of the bowl and whisk outward in slow circles, working the wet mixture into the dry ingredients until they start to come together.
3. Whisk the Batter
Keep whisking until no dry streaks are visible, then stop. Overmixing once the flour is incorporated makes the cake dense instead of tender.
4. Pour in the Hot Water
Stir consistently as you add it in a slow stream. The batter will thin out significantly, which is normal and expected at this stage.
5. Fill the Loaf Pan
Transfer the batter to the lined pan and give it a firm tap on the counter to release any air bubbles before it goes in the oven.
6. Bake the Chocolate Loaf Cake
Check for doneness at the 40-minute mark by inserting a toothpick into the center. If it comes out clean, the loaf is done. Let it cool in the pan until it feels stable, then lift it out using the parchment overhang and set it on a wire rack.
7. Make the Chocolate Glaze
Add the powdered sugar and cocoa powder to a bowl and whisk them together dry first, before the milk goes in. This keeps lumps from forming once you add the liquid.
8. Drizzle and Serve
Spoon the glaze over the fully cooled loaf and let it drip down the sides. If the loaf is still warm, the glaze will melt on contact and slide right off.
Full Chocolate Loaf Cake Recipe
Chocolate Loaf Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon instant espresso optional
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- ½ cup Greek yogurt at room temperature
- ½ cup milk at room temperature
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ cup hot water or coffee
For Chocolate Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 3 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line the length of a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving some overhang on each side to use as a sling to remove the cake once baked.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and instant espresso, if using.
- In a separate medium bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the eggs, yogurt, milk, and vanilla until smooth.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and whisk until just combined and no flour streaks remain.
- Slowly pour in the hot water, stirring consistently, to loosen the batter.
- Transfer the cake batter to your prepared loaf pan. Bake for 40–45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Allow the loaf to rest in the pan for 10 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Chocolate Glaze
- While the cake cools, whisk together the chocolate glaze ingredients until smooth. Then drizzle on top of the chocolate loaf cake for serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
Recipe Variations
- Make it even more chocolately: Fold ½ cup chocolate chips into the batter before pouring it into the loaf pan. When the loaf comes out of the oven, sprinkle extra chips on top!
- Add a swirl: Layer half of the batter in the loaf pan, then spread a layer (about 1–2 tablespoons) of peanut butter or Nutella on top. Cover with the rest of the batter, then gently drag a skewer through the batter in a zig-zag motion for a marble effect!
- Finish it with orange zest: After you pour on the chocolate glaze, add 1–2 teaspoons of orange zest on top for a flavorful finish.
Recipe Tips
- Line your loaf pan with parchment paper. I like to place parchment paper into a loaf pan so the sides of the paper overhang the pan. This makes it super easy to lift the chocolate loaf cake up and out!
- Let your cake cool in the loaf pan. You need to let it cool in the loaf pan for at least 10 minutes, or it might crumble. It’ll likely be too soft if you try to remove it right after it comes out of the oven.
FAQs
The easiest way is to use a toothpick. Insert the toothpick into the center of the cake. If very few or no crumbs stick to the toothpick, the cake is done!
You may have overmixed the batter. When you combine the wet and dry ingredients, make sure you mix until just combined, with no streaks of flour.
Comments
Hi Yumma! Love your recipes! I have been trying out all of the “bread” style cakes, my favourite is the date bread. I was wondering, any plans to add metric measures to the recipes? It would really be a help! Keep doing amazing work!
So glad you’ve been loving my quick bread recipes, Julia! I’m so sorry, I haven’t figured out a way to convert measurements into metric on my website yet. There are plenty of online measurement calculators that you might find helpful!
I used less sugar in my cake and used regular full-fat yogurt instead of Greek yogurt, but my cake didn’t rise. What could I have done wrong?
Hmm, I’m not sure yet but I’d love to help troubleshoot! Changing the amount of sugar can affect the recipe, how much did you end up using? As for the yogurt, using regular full-fat yogurt shouldn’t prevent it from rising. Is it possible you overmixed the batter? Overmixing can overdevelop the gluten, which causes more density in the cake.