This chocolate Texas Sheet Cake recipe is a potluck favorite that is baked in a single sheet pan! It’s a quick cake to prepare in 40 minutes and decadent in flavor. The light and fluffy cake base is topped with a poured chocolate icing that you can make with or without pecans for extra texture and crunch!
If you have a sweet tooth and you’re looking to feed dessert to a crowd at family gatherings or potlucks, look no further than this Texas Sheet Cake Recipe! My grandma used to make this classic recipe every summer to take to our annual family reunion and it’s been a favorite all my life.
This cake is anything but intimidating, it’s super easy whip up thanks to an ingredient list using less than 10 pantry staples. The warm, pourable chocolate frosting really sets Texas Sheet Cake apart from other chocolate cakes. It creates a thin, almost fudgy layer on top of the cake beneath, especially after it cools.
I always add chopped pecans to my frosting before pouring it over the cake, but you can leave them out entirely if you aren’t a fan of nuts or just sprinkle them over the top after pouring the frosting instead.
Be sure not to miss some of our other favorite chocolate desserts like Mississippi Mud Brownies, Moist Chocolate Cupcakes, and these Fudgy Chewy Brownie Cookies!
Reader Review: “I made this tonight and it is crazy good!! I couldn’t stop at one piece, I had to devour 2 more! Love the buttery, chocolatey flavor, definitely saving this recipe!” – Susanne
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- Easy to assemble in one sheet. There’s no stacking, layering, or even fancy icing of this cake. It’s all poured into the baking sheet to bake quickly and easily.
- Perfect for any large gathering. If you need to feed a lot of people quickly, this is the dessert you should try.
- Have fun with variations. Add nuts or coconut to the frosting. Even stir chocolate chips into the batter, it’s easy to make this your own.
What is a Texas sheet cake?
A Texas chocolate sheet cake is a large flat cake baked in a baking sheet. It’s a slightly dense, rich chocolate cake that is bordering on being brownie-like in texture.
Typically, Texas sheet cake isn’t as strongly chocolatey as other chocolate cakes, which gives it a unique flavor all it’s own and let’s the tanginess of the buttermilk shine through a bit more. I add slightly more cocoa powder than classic Texas sheet cake recipes, because that’s how I like it, but I don’t go so far as to overwhelm the classic taste of Texas sheet cake by turning it into just another standard chocolate cake. You will definitely notice a difference in flavor between this cake and my One-Bowl Chocolate Cake Recipe, which is a classic chocolate cake baked in a 9×13-inch pan.
Everything is bigger in Texas and this cake is no different! When you cut the thin chocolate cake into squares for serving, you’ll notice that you can easily cut it to feed a dozen people or more, depending on how large you cut your squares.
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour: The base to the cake batter. Be sure to scoop and level the flour when you measure and avoid packing. Over-measuring flour makes for a dense cake.
- Sugar: You’ll need both granulated sugar for the cake and powdered sugar for the Texas sheet cake icing.
- Baking soda: Leavening ingredient that helps the cake to be light and airy in texture.
- Salt: A little pinch helps to enhance the flavors.
- Water: Key to thinning the cake batter to the correct consistency.
- Salted butter: I prefer salted, but if you already have unsalted at home, add an extra pinch of salt.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder: Adds that rich chocolate flavor.
- Buttermilk: Shake well before adding. The acid in the milk compliments the sweetness of the cake and helps to tenderize the cake.
- Large eggs: Binds the cake batter together.
- Vanilla extract: Always use pure vanilla extract for the best flavor.
- Milk: To help make the frosting the correct consistency.
- Pecans or Walnuts: Optional, but I highly recommend or a nutty crunch.
How to make Texas Sheet Cake
- Prep. Preheat your oven to 350°F and lightly grease a large, rimmed 13×18 baking sheet.
- Whisk dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt, then set it aside.
- Heat butter, water, and cocoa. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the water, butter, and cocoa powder. Bring it to a boil and continue stirring to make sure that there are no lumps. Pour your chocolate mixture over the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
- Stir in remaining ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk (or sour cream, which also works in this recipe), eggs and vanilla, then pour into the chocolate cake batter, stirring just until combined. You can do this with a hand mixer if you want to make sure that there are no lumps, but it’s pretty easy to manage by hand.
- Pour & bake. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread the batter into an even layer. Bake for 18-20 minutes until the cake springs back lightly when touched and has barely started to pull away from the sides of the pan. Do not over bake!
Texas Sheet Cake Frosting:
- Timing. Wait until the cake is almost done baking before you begin to make the icing. Because this is a cooked, poured icing that will set up as the cake cools, you don’t want to make it too early or it will start to set up in the pan.
- Cook the butter, cocoa powder, milk, and salt. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, cocoa powder, milk, and salt. Stir constantly just until the mixture comes to a simmer, which is usually between 6-9 minutes.
- Whisk in remaining ingredients. Immediately remove from heat and add in the vanilla. Whisk the powdered sugar into the cocoa mixture until the icing is smooth. Stir in the chopped nuts if you plan on using them. If the icing is done before the cake is ready, keep it warm and stir it every so often so that the icing doesn’t crust over and harden on top.
- Pour & spread. Let the cake cool for 10-12 minutes after it is done baking, then pour the hot icing over the warm cake and spread it out with a spatula. Let the frosting set for at least 20 minutes before cutting the cake into squares. The frosting will continue to set up and harden after 1-2 hours, which provides a nice fudgy shell almost on top of the cake if you can wait that long.
- Serve. Texas sheet cake is delicious served warm or at room temperature and it’s great with a glass of cold milk or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Ways to Cut A Sheet Cake
Let the cake cool completely before cutting it because cutting a hot cake results in torn pieces and a lot more crumbs. Take a sharp knife and cut down the center lengthwise first, then again on both sides before cutting the shorter sides to get evenly sized pieces. You can make them larger or smaller, depending on personal preference.
Expert Tips
- Avoid over-baking the cake. It’s easy to do since this cake is so thin. Keep and eye and set a timer or else your cake won’t be fluffy in texture.
- Sift dry ingredients to avoid lumps. If you are concerned lumps will form in the cake batter or icing, use a mesh sieve to sift everything together before assembling.
- Pour the hot icing over the warm cake. This sounds wrong when you first read it, but it’s essential to how Texas Sheet Cake is made. Once the cake and icing cool together, it becomes a delicious, fudgy consistency.
- If you don’t have buttermilk, simply combine ½ cup milk with 1 ½ teaspoons lemon juice or vinegar.
- Make the frosting richer. I will sometimes sub in 1 tablespoon of Dutch-process cocoa powder for 1 tablespoon of the unsweetened cocoa powder, if I have some on hand, for a deeper chocolate flavor in the cake and frosting.
- Swap the pan. You can also make this sheet cake in a standard 10×15-inch jelly roll pan by baking for around 20 minutes or in a 9×13-inch baking dish by baking for 23-25 minutes.
Storage
For leftover chocolate Texas Sheet Cake, you can transfer the sliced cake pieces to an airtight container for up to 3 days. It freezes well for up to 2 months too.
While Texas sheet cake tastes great warm, it can also be served at room temperature, so it’s perfect as a make-ahead dessert. Just be sure to cover it with plastic wrap so that it doesn’t dry out.
FAQs
A sheet cake is a large flat cake cooked in a pan with the intention of only frosting the top (or not frosting it at all). A regular cake is typically a cake made from smaller pan sizes with the intention of stacking, filling, and/or frosting the layers.
You will want to use a standard baker’s half-sheet pan, which is 13×18 inches. It’s probably the most common size baking and the one most of us have 2 or 3 or 8 of floating around in our kitchens that we use for baking cookies or making sheet pan dinners.
If for some reason you don’t have a half-sheet pan handy, you can also use different sized baking pans to make this sheet cake. A 10×15 inch jelly roll pan or a 9×13 baking dish will both work, but keep in mind that you will need to adjust the baking times since both pans are smaller and will take longer for the cake to bake through.
I have no idea why it’s really called a Texas sheet cake because I don’t know for sure that it originated in the Lone Star State, but this cake is the size of Texas and flavor of this perfect cake is definitely larger than life!
If your cake is turning out dense, be careful not to over mix the batter when adding the flour mixture. Instead of using an electric mixer, stir in the dry ingredients by hand in a large mixing bowl so as not to work the gluten in the flour too hard and make the cake dense.
More Chocolate Dessert Recipes
Texas Sheet Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 cups (282g) all-purpose flour
- 2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt
- 1 cup (240g) water
- 1 cup (227g) salted butter
- 6 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup (120g) buttermilk*
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Chocolate Glaze
- 1/2 cup (114g) salted butter
- 6 Tablespoons milk
- 4 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- Pinch of salt
- 3 1/2 cups (420g) powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup (88g) chopped toasted pecans or walnuts (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉ (177℃). Lightly grease a large, rimmed 12×18-inch baking sheet (aka a half sheet pan).
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.2 cups (282g) all-purpose flour, 2 cups (400g) granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon table salt
- In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the water, butter, and cocoa powder and bring to a boil, stirring to make sure there are no lumps.1 cup (240g) water, 1 cup (227g) salted butter, 6 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- Pour the chocolate mixture over the dry ingredients and stir until combined.
- Add the buttermilk (or sour cream, see note), eggs, and vanilla, and mix until combined. You can do this with a hand mixer to make sure there are no lumps.½ cup (120g) buttermilk*, 2 large eggs, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread in an even layer. Bake for 18-20 minutes until the cake springs back lightly to the touch and has barely started to pull away from the sides of the pan. Do not overbake!
Icing:
- When the cake is almost done baking, start to make the icing. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, cocoa powder, milk, and salt. Heat, stirring constantly, just until the mixture comes to a simmer.6 Tablespoons milk, 4 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, ½ cup (114g) salted butter, 3 ½ cups (420g) powdered sugar, ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract, Pinch of salt
- Immediately remove from heat and add the vanilla, then whisk in the powdered sugar until the icing is smooth. Stir in the chopped nuts. If the cake isn't ready yet, keep the icing warm and stir it every so often so it doesn't harden on top.¾ cup (88g) chopped toasted pecans or walnuts
- Let the cake cool for 10-12 minutes, then pour the hot icing over the warm cake and spread it evenly with a spatula. Let the frosting set for 20 minutes before cutting the cake into squares. The frosting will completely set after 1-2 hours.
- Serve the cake warm or at room temperature.
This cake looks seriously good! Such a classic recipe to have on hand! Can’t wait to give it a try.
I made this tonight and it is crazy good!! I couldn’t stop at one piece, I had to devour 2 more! Love the buttery, chocolatey flavor, definitely saving this recipe!
Easy and delicious 🥰
So yummy! I made this for my entry into her February giveaway and it was delicious!!
Thanks, Ginny! I’m glad you guys liked it!
This is my favorite chocolate cake. I’ve been making it for years! The only difference in my recipe is the addition of 1 tsp cinnamon to the batter. It makes the cake taste like Mexican Hot Chocolate. I sometimes add a sprinkle or two of cinnamon to the frosting as I’m mixing it up too. It’s delicious! 😋
What a great idea! I’m going to have to try that next time!
Can parchment paper be used instead of spraying the pan?
Yes!
I made this last night for my family of 6. Everybody loved it! My husband thought it was maybe a little too rich, but that’s just him. Everybody else came back for seconds!
I used parchment paper instead of spraying the pan. Much easier cleanup.
I like nuts in Texas sheet cake frosting, but my daughter is allergic to tree nuts. I still wanted something crunchy in it, so I used Butterfinger Bits ice cream topping. So good!! (I’ve tried rice crispies before, but they just get soggy and then turn really gummy. I wouldn’t recommend that.)
Love the idea of butterfinger bits! I bet toffee bits would be good too!
I have made this cake for over 39 years and it’s always a hit.
Can this be doubled to fit a full 18×26 sheet pan? What would the new bake time be if it can be doubled? Or perhaps this is not advisable??? I can see if I have some 1/2 sheets at the school. Thank you.
If using the sour cream in place of buttermilk, is the exchange exactly the same amount, 1 cup sour cream for 1 cup buttermilk?
Yes, it’s 1 for 1.
This cake is CHOCOLATEY WONDERFUL 💝
Yes it is!
I’ve been making this for years! I add a heaping tsp of instant espresso powder to the water in the cake & the powder to the frosting! You can’t tadte it, but it brings our the chocolate!
Yum! Sounds delicious!
Great recipe! Also want to thank you for putting the amounts down in the instructions! It helps so much!!
Thanks Anita! Yes it makes it so much easier to see the amounts!
I was hesitant that the cake would flow over the sides but it didn’t! Also, I lightly tapped my cake with a butter knife and it seemed to go down without springing back up, so I poked the cake & since the knife was clean, I called it good. EVERYONE complimented me on the cake & the cake was gone by the end of the night. To be fair, I had myself 5 slices lol. 2 were eaten the next day & they were still so good! The cake was so good we forgot about scooping out the ice cream! Lol. I also had no milk & so I ended up using coconut cream & it was amazing! Thank you for sharing This recipe!
Thanks Pou! This cake is always an instant hit with friends and family!
Delicious! I used Dutch processed cocoa powder and sour cream in the cake and I used coconut milk in the frosting. Thank you for another fabulous recipe.
Sounds great Deborah! Thanks for sharing your variation! I love hearing how readers make recipes their own.