This Chocolate Yogurt Cake recipe is soft, tender and super moist thanks to yogurt, then finished with a rich chocolate glaze. It makes for a deep, dark, decadent breakfast, dessert or afternoon treat.
The nice people at Tillamook sent me some of their new light yogurts to try. My kids love to eat yogurt, and my husband has been adding a container (he especially likes the Northwest Berry Patch) to his smoothie every morning and loves it.
But more importantly – I love to bake with yogurt.
Baking with yogurt works the same way as buttermilk. It adds a tang and tenderness to whatever you are baking. And when mixed with homemade chocolate cake mix, it’s absolute heaven.
This chocolate yogurt cake is rich, so a little goes a long way. But my favorite part is the glaze. I love how shiny it makes the cake. Gorgeous.
Ingredients
The ingredients for this decadent chocolate cake are broken down into the chocolate yogurt cake mix and the chocolate glaze.
For the cake batter, you will need flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, vanilla yogurt, water, vanilla extract, butter, sugar and eggs.
To make the chocolate glaze, gather together powdered sugar, cocoa powder, water and vanilla.
Cocoa Powder. The cocoa powder provides an intensely rich, deep chocolate flavor. I use it in both the cake and the glaze. Use whatever you have on hand, just make sure it is natural cocoa powder, not dutch-processed. For best results, a high-quality cocoa powder will provide the best flavor.
Yogurt. I love baking with yogurt for many reasons. It’s slightly tangy, acidic and provides so much moisture. Yogurt is a natural tenderizer, so part of it’s job is to keep this fudgy loaf cake soft and tender.
I used one (6-ounce container) Tillamook Light Vanilla yogurt that is already slightly sweetened and flavored with the essence of vanilla. However, plain, regular yogurt will work just as well. Feel free to add an extra 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract.
If you prefer to use Greek yogurt, use one 5.3-ounce container and thin it out with 1-2 Tablespoons milk or heavy cream since Greek yogurt is thicker than American-style.
How To Make // The Steps
All it takes is a few easy steps to make a decadent chocolate loaf cake with chocolate glaze. Simply:
- Mix the dry ingredients. Preheat the oven to 350-degrees. In a bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Mix the wet ingredients. In another small bowl, whisk together yogurt, water, and vanilla. Set aside.
- Cream together butter and sugar. Until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time.
- Alternate dry and wet. Add half of the flour mixture to the butter. Add the yogurt mixture, and add the remaining flour.
- Mix until just combined. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.
- Bake for 1 hour. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Turn out and cool completely.
- Make the glaze! Whisk together powdered sugar, cocoa, water, and vanilla until smooth. Pour over cooled cake.
Decadent and divine.
What Makes This Chocolate Yogurt Cake So Good?
- It’s rich in deep, dark chocolate flavor with double the chocolate in the cake mix and the glaze!
- The yogurt provides tangy flavor and tenderizes the cake to keep it soft and tender.
- Baking it in a loaf pan makes for a dense crumb and moist cake!
Top Tips For Easy Chocolate Yogurt Cake
- Make sure the ingredients are at room temperature. This will make the cake mix smoother, resulting in a more evenly baked cake. Plus, it prevents you from overmixing the batter.
- Do not overmix. The more you mix, the gummier the cake will be. Overmixing produces more gluten, which means the cake will be dense and chewy rather than soft and tender.
- Use natural cocoa powder. Unlike Dutch-processed cocoa powder (which has been processed with alkali, neutralizing its acidity), natural cocoa powder still has all of its acidity intact. This reacts with the baking soda and keeps the flavors balanced.
- Replace the water with coffee. The coffee compliments the chocolate and actually brings out the rich flavor of chocolate. Try it out if you’d like a more intense chocolate flavor!
How To Store
This glazed chocolate cake will keep best in an airtight container on the kitchen counter for 3 days or in the fridge for 5 days.
I would not wrap the cake in plastic wrap or foil. You will lose part of that luxurious chocolate glaze since some of it will stick to the wrapping.
If storing in the fridge, remove for 5 minutes before enjoying.
More Chocolate Recipes //
- Chocolate Kahlua Cake
- Mexican Chocolate Cake with Mascarpone Frosting
- Chocolate Cake with Kahlua Chip Frosting
- Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- Simple Chocolate Rum Cake
- Chocolate Preacher Cake
- Gluten Free and Dairy Free Chocolate Olive Oil Cake
Originally published in May 2010, updated May 2020 with updated images and updated recipe card.
If you make this recipe, I’d love to know how it goes! Be sure to follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest, too!
Chocolate Yogurt Cake
This Chocolate Yogurt Cake is super moist and finished with a rich chocolate glaze making it a deep, dark, decadent breakfast, dessert or afternoon treat.
Ingredients
Chocolate Yogurt Cake
- 1 3/4 cups flour
- 2/3 cup cocoa
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 (6-ounce) container Tillamook Light Vanilla Yogurt
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 6 Tablespoons butter at room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 2 eggs
Glaze:
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 2/3 cocoa
- 3-4 Tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In another small bowl, whisk together yogurt, water, and vanilla. Set aside.
- Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time.
- Add half of the flour mixture to the butter. Add the yogurt mixture, and add the remaining flour.
- Mix until just combined. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.
- Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for one hour. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Turn out and cool completely.
- Whisk together powdered sugar, cocoa, water, and vanilla until smooth. Pour over cooled cake.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 297Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 47mgSodium: 314mgCarbohydrates: 54gFiber: 1gSugar: 36gProtein: 5g
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This Post Has 88 Comments
Good grief, Bree, this looks delicious! Hope your little boy gets well soon!
thank you Stephanie!
Just a small side note, in reference to your child dealing with the pain “like a man”, if you’d had a little girl how would’ve you described that? Not just men are strong. 🙂
The recipe looks tasty, I’d be happy to try this healthy cake.
I know more than anyone that women are strong. I do not need the reminder, and I really don’t think that my word chioce deserved to be nit-picked.
I think she was just joking…
I am not sure what you are referring to.
Oh come on you would tell your girl to be strong and try to take it like a big girl, who raises men? Its women, we should not be too soft with the boys though. Like the song goes where have all the cowboys gone.
This looks so good. I hope the little guy feels better very soon!
thank you Sarah. I hope so too.
Awh, I’m so sorry he broke his arm. This loaf looks delish!
Me too Sarah!
That looks so delicious! I don’t usually like chocolate cake, but that looks super moist and I imagine it tasting like a tangy brownie. . .
It does. It is deep and dark, so if you are a chocolate lover, this is for you.
i recently made a choc banana bread using yogurt, it was soo moist and yummy. no chocolate on top though, must give this one a try 🙂
It really adds something nice to a batter.
How much cocoa goes in the glaze? The recipe just says “2/3 cocoa”.
2/3 cup.
Great recipe. I love yogurt in cake , just makes it wonderful and this looks yummy and tempting
Thank you Priyanka.
So sorry about the small ones elbow. Not good.
Tillamook is one my all time favorite companies. Delicious cheese, delicious yogurt (the only one we buy) and scrum diddly umptious ice cream. Plus a bunch of other treats too. The factory is a lot of fun and you can even see a display of my Grandpa upstairs. He was the Head cheesemaker for nearly 40 years! 🙂 So, I might be slightly partial. lol
The cake looks very yummy-I love the shot with the glaze pouring. How’d you do that?
I would be partial too! I love Tillamook. Unfortunately, where we live, we do not get all of the products that they make.
Aww. I’m so sorry to hear about your son’s broken elbow 🙁 I hope he gets better soon.
I love eating yogurt. I think I have it as an afternoon snack almost everyday! And this loaf cake looks way awesome and oh so chocolatey! 🙂 YUM!
Thank you Becca, he is getting better.
This cake looks beauteous. I’m wondering…are there other substitutions you might make if you used whole milk yogurt instead of light? Maybe a little less butter? Hmm.
I would not change the amount of butter, but I would happily use whole milk yogurt, in fact that what the original recipe used.
I cracked my elbow when I was in college (we’re talking 40 years ago) and I CAN STILL REMEMBER HOW MUCH IT HURT!! So your young one has my utmost sympathy. Hope he heals soon. T.
Thank you Tina. Right not the swelling is more the issue. It is still so swollen that it cannot get a plaster cast.
I hope your son is feeling better!
And this cake is absolutely GORGEOUS! I love using yogurt in my cakes and muffins – you get such amazingly light and moist cakes.
Thank you very much, he is better. Me too, yogurt is great to bake with.
That glaze really makes it look mouth watering!
Glaze is the best part of any cake!
Hi – I tried to see if anyone else posted this q – this is in the oven, but the batter was not very.. liquid. Almost more of a cookie batter. Did I do something wrong? It smells delish…. will let you know how it turns out. And best wishes to your little man! Sounds awful!
Leah, BC, Canada.
It is a very thick batter. You did not do anything wrong.
This looks super rich and decadent! I love your photographs! Xx
Thank you very much Hannah!
Those pesky monkey bars! That’s how I broke my wrist as a kid, too! I was 4 and had just learned how to do the monkey bars. My neighbors had a wooden play-set and I was not prepared for the bar twisting on me. I send him good thoughts for a speedy recovery!
Seriously! Thanks for the well wishes.
OMG this looks sooooo awesomeeee 😀
Greets from bfc
thank you Big Fat Cook. 🙂
I just discovered your blog via Go Bold With Butter, and this chocolate cake immediately grabbed me. I’m making it next on my list! I’m glad your little guy took it like a man (!) and is feeling better. Am looking forward to visiting your site daily. Thanks!
Thank you ELizabeth! My kids loved this cake. The batter is really thick, so don’t be alarmed.
Bree…. Thank you so very much for sharing yet another delicious treat. We made this to fix a “broken head” after a fence had the nerve to jump out at our big kid…surgical glue is the best….chocolate yogurt cake….”epic yumm”
xo
It seems like it is going around this week! I hope that your broken head is on the mend. And yes, surgical glue is a God send.
Bree,
I am so glad I found your blog. This chocolate cake looks Delicious! I’m so glad your little guy is Ok and was a trooper at the hospital. It always amazes me how strong kids are when they need to be.
I would love to invite you to share this, and any other posts you would like to, at my Creative Thursday Link Party (tomorrow) at http://www.michellestastycreations.blogspot.com. Have a great week.
Michelle
I am so glad that you found it too! Kids are amazing aren’t they?
Seems like that is exactly what I’ll be doing tomorrow! And I so get how you feel, having my plaster cast put yesterday because of broken ankle … I think a little baking with the help of friends will definetely cheer me up 🙂
I am so sorry about your ankle! Hope that you are on the mend soon.
I made this tonight and it is SOOOOOOOOO DELICIOUS! I used vanilla greek yogurt though because it’s all that I had but it was still super tasty
I am so glad! Any yogurt will work, use what you have.
This recipe really caught my eye, not only because the cake looks delicious, but because it uses yogurt! I’ve got a big tub that needs to be used before it goes bad, and I know just how to use it now. 🙂
Well look at that! Hope that you were able to use the rest of your yogurt.
I made this because I LOVE chocolate, but I was so disappointed, I ended up throwing the entire cake away! It wasn’t as moist as I was hoping & I didn’t care for the frosting either. It just tasted like chocolate chips..i was hoping for something more decadant. But im not giving up! There’s gotta be something really chocolaty moist out there. Just need to find it!
I am sorry that you didn’t like this. Hope that you will find the perfect chocolate solution.
Hi Bree,
Thanks so much for linking up to Creative Thursday this week. This looks so amazing and I really can’t wait to try the recipe. I’ll probably be making this over the weekend.
I can’t wait to see what you link up next week. Have a wonderful weekend.
Michelle
You are welcome!
This recipe looks awesome! =)
Im a new follower – love your blog!!
Welcome Melissa!
If I wanted to make this as cupcakes instead of a loaf, how long should I bake it for?
I am not sure that this would make a good cupcake. It is a very dense loaf, but I would start at 15-18 minutes and go from there.
I could eat one every day… little crispy from outside and warm and moist from inside..ummmmm.
I just discovered your blog… oh my this looks amazing. Chocolate is healing, right? 🙂
Totally healing. 🙂
Just made the cake as cupcakes and they were amazing. Told my boss these are a keeper. Next will figure out the actual unit cost – we do have a budget to keep! Didn’t have vanilla yogurt – used plain and added a Tbsp of honey, bit extra vanilla and they were great! Don’t think I will have to buy another cake mix!
Try making your own yogurt, it is easy and cheap.
Gorgeous photography. Love this recipe. Bookmarked.
Hope your little one is doing fine now. Btw, love your blog. Gorgeous space. 🙂
thank you so much Sailaja!
I tried this cake yesterday for a friend’s bday and it turned out beautiful!! The texture was so “melt-in-your-mouth”! Am sure going to try lots more of your recipes Bree! 🙂
Hope the Little One is doing better now. 🙂
Pleaso do! I am so glad that you liked it.
Awesome!Yogurts in cake are really my favorite.Thanks for sharing this one to us.
You are welcome!
This is hands down the most PERFECT chocolate cake recipe I ever tried. Thanks sooo much for sharing this!
Wow! I am so glad you like it so much.
I’ve never heard of chocolate YOGURT cake before! Seems sort of obvious when you think about it! Yours genuinely looks absolutely incredible!
thank you!
This cake looks amazing… Just wondering what size loaf tin you use. Thank you xx
I really don’t know. It is just the pan that you buy at the grocery store. Probably 8x4x2.
This looks absolutely perfect! The icing looks particularly delicious!
Thanks!
Your are good mom, Thanks for sharing your Ingredients and method of baking, So we all love to have this chocolate cake..
My pleasure!
Have you ever had a problem with this cake falling? For some reason my chocolate cakes have been falling lately.
I don’t believe so. Try a new baking powder and soda. Whenever I have baking troubles that is the first thing I do.
I made it with 1 cup sugar and in an angel food cake pan, about 25-30 mins time. Turned out great!
Sounds great!
Just made your cake and it came out great! I don’t care for glazes so I just added mini chocolate chips on top, Yummy and very moist! Thank you for a wonderful recipe 😋
I am so glad that you liked it!