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Home ‏‏‎ ‎/‎‎‏‏‎ ‎ Party Food ‏‏‎ ‎/‎‎‏‏‎ ‎ Cake Recipes ‏‏‎ ‎/‎‎‏‏‎ ‎ Chocolate Brownie Cake

Chocolate Brownie Cake

By:

Britni Vigil

08/21/2024
5 from 5 votes
Jump to Recipe

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A sheet pan with cut chocolate brownie cake with walnuts with text for Pinterest
A sheet pan with cut chocolate brownie cake with walnuts with text for Pinterest

This easy chocolate brownie cake is an old-fashioned recipe that gives you the the taste of chocolate walnut brownies in sheet cake form. Just like grandma used to make!

A sheet pan with cut chocolate brownie cake with walnuts
A sheet pan with cut chocolate brownie cake with walnuts with text for Pinterest
A sheet pan with cut chocolate brownie cake with walnuts with text for Pinterest

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Grandma’s Brownie Cake

A few years ago my grandma gave everybody in the family a cookbook of recipes that she loves along with some fun stories to go along with it.

Talk about vintage recipes right? Some of them I’m not sure how to try because ingredients aren’t readily available anymore. Some of them have been family favorites for years like this homemade chicken noodle soup and pizza loaf.

And some of them – like his chocolate brownie cake – have become new favorites! I remember having these growing up but just recently tried making them on my own, and they’re just as good as I remember.

If you like brownies, you’re going to love these brownie balls!

Why you’ll love this recipe

  1. Classic recipe – It tastes like a classic recipe you grew up eating (tastes like it because it is!).
  2. Easy – It’s easy to make for a crowd and one everyone always enjoys
  3. Customizable – You can make it with or without the nuts for allergies
  4. Piece of cake – It tastes like a delicious chocolate walnut brownie but with a bit more of a cake texture.

Ingredients

Baking ingredients for chocolate brownie cake with labels

Ingredient Notes

  • Buttermilk – if you don’t have buttermilk, combine 1/2 cup milk with 1/2 TBS lemon juice or distilled white vinegar and let it sit for about 10 minutes. Homemade buttermilk!
  • Chopped walnuts – I prefer this with the walnuts on top but just like in this chocolate chip zucchini bread, the walnuts are optional if you’re concerned about nut allergies.

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and grease a large baking sheet like this one.

Mix the flour and sugar in a large bowl and set aside.

Glass bowl with dry baking ingredients and a pink whisk

Heat a saucepan on the stove over medium-high heat to start making the chocolate part of the batter.

Melt butter in the saucepan. Once melted, add your cocoa powder and water and bring the mixture to a boil. Once boiling remove from the heat.

Melted butter in a pot with a spoon of cocoa above it

Add the boiling chocolate mixture to the flour mixture from earlier and stir until well combined.

Metal pot pouring chocolate mixture to flour mixture in glass bowl

Add buttermilk, eggs, baking soda, and vanilla to the mixture and combine until you have a nice smooth batter.

Glass bowl with batter for chocolate brownie cake inside

Pour the batter into the prepped baking sheet and bake in the oven for 20-22 minutes or until the cake is cooked all the way through.

Glass bowl pouring chocolate brownie cake matter into sheet pan

While the cake is baking, make your icing. It’ll seem very similar to what you did for the cake batter but the results are totally different.

Start by heating a saucepan to medium-high heat and adding butter. Melt the butter then add the cocoa and milk to the melted butter.

Bring the mixture to a boil.

Glass measuring cup adding milk to melted butter in a pot

Put your powdered sugar into a small bowl then pour the boiled mixture (deja vu anyone?) over the powdered sugar and stir to combine to make your icing.

Powdered sugar and chocolate brownie cake icing in a bowl with a pink whisk

Ice cake within five minutes of removing cake from the oven. This will seem really runny but it will set up once cooled.

Glass bowl pouring icing onto chocolate brownie cake

Top with chopped walnuts if desired. You can even top half with walnuts for households like mine with nut lovers and purists.

Chocolate brownie cake with walnuts in a sheet pan

Allow the cake to cool completely then cut into squares and serve either by itself or a la mode with a little (or a lot) of ice cream.

Or go all out and make it a chocolate brownie cake sundae! That sounds pretty delicious right about now!

A piece of chocolate brownie on three stacked plates with a glass of milk with pink straws
Three chocolate brownie cake slices stacked on top of each other with milk in the background

Expert Tips

Add the walnuts immediately after adding the icing rather than waiting until it hardens. This will keep the nuts from falling off when you slice the cake (kind of like dipping rainbow donuts in sprinkles while the frosting is still warm).

Use a spatula to make sure that the chocolate brownie cake batter spreads around the entire sheet pan in one even layer.

Leave the chocolate brownie cake in the pan rather than slicing it all and removing for storage. I recommend just covering it with something like this sheet pan lid.

Remove the chocolate mixtures from heat as soon as they start boiling, don’t let them keep boiling or you’ll lose some of the moisture in the cake and icing.

Use a small rectangle spatula to remove the cake squares from the pan without destroying the rest of the squares.

Slice of chocolate brownie cake on a spatula above a sheet pan of cake

Recipe FAQs

Can I cook this in a cake pan?

This recipe was written for the size of a sheet pan, so I do not recommend making this in round or a 9×13 cake pan. The thickness of the cake will be off and not cook the way you want it to.

Can you freeze chocolate brownie cake?

You can freeze this chocolate brownie cake for up to six months. I recommend slicing into squares and freezing squares in individual plastic bags if possible so the icing doesn’t freeze the squares together.

How to store chocolate brownie cake?

Store this chocolate brownie cake either in an airtight container or with a sheet pan lid on top for up to a week.

What is a chocolate brownie cake?

A chocolate brownie cake is a chocolate cake with chocolate icing that you cut into squares like brownies rather than slices like cake.

A chocolate brownie cake square on a white plate with a sheet pan of cake in the background

More Chocolate Desserts

  • Striped delight
  • Snickers poke cake
  • Reese’s peanut butter pie
  • Homemade moon pie recipe
  • Peanut butter s’mores bars
A sheet pan with cut chocolate brownie cake with walnuts with text for Pinterest
A sheet pan with cut chocolate brownie cake with walnuts with text for Pinterest

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Print Rate
5 from 5 votes

Old-Fashioned Chocolate Brownie Cake

This easy chocolate brownie cake is an old-fashioned recipe that gives you the the taste of chocolate walnut brownies in sheet cake form. Just like grandma used to make!
Prevent your screen from going dark
Prep: 10 minutes minutes
Cook: 20 minutes minutes
Total: 30 minutes minutes
Serves 20 squares

Ingredients

Brownie Cake

  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • ¾ cup butter
  • 2 TBS cocoa powder
  • 1 cup water
  • ½ cup buttermilk
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts optional garnish

Icing

  • ½ cup butter
  • 1 TBS cocoa
  • 6 TBS milk
  • 2 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

Brownie Cake

  • Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and grease a large baking sheet.
  • Mix the flour, salt, baking soda, and sugar in a large bowl and set aside.
    2 cups flour, 2 cups sugar
  • Heat a saucepan over medium-high heat on the stove. Melt butter in pot.
    3/4 cup butter
  • Once melted, add the cocoa powder and water and bring the mixture to a boil.
    2 TBS cocoa powder, 1 cup water
  • Once boiling remove from heat and add the boiling chocolate mixture to the flour mixture from earlier and stir until well combined.
  • Add buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla to the mixture and combine until you have a nice smooth batter. This can be done by hand or with a hand mixer.
    1/2 cup buttermilk, 2 eggs, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/2 tsp salt
  • Pour the batter into the prepped baking sheet making sure to evenly spread it across the entire sheet pan.
  • Bake cake in the oven for 20-22 minutes or until cake is cooked all the way through.
  • While the cake is baking, make the icing according to the instructions below.
  • Top the cake with icing within five minutes of removing the cake from the oven.
  • Top with chopped walnuts if desired.
    1 cup chopped walnuts
  • Allow cake to cool completely then cut into squares and serve.

Icing

  • In a medium, heat-safe bowl, measure out powdered sugar and set aside for later.
  • Heat a pot over medium-high heat on the stove. Melt butter in pot.
    1/2 cup butter
  • Add cocoa and milk to melted butter and bring to a boil.
    1 TBS cocoa, 6 TBS milk
  • Put your powdered sugar into a small bowl then pour the boiled mixture over the powdered sugar and stir to combine to make your icing.
    2 cups powdered sugar

Tips & Notes:

Add the walnuts immediately after adding the icing rather than waiting until it hardens. This will keep the nuts from falling off when you slice the cake.
Use a spatula to make sure that the chocolate brownie cake batter spreads around the entire sheet pan in one even layer.
Leave the chocolate brownie cake in the pan rather than slicing it all and removing for storage. I recommend just covering it with something like this sheet pan lid.
Remove the chocolate mixtures from heat as soon as they start boiling, don’t let them keep boiling or you’ll lose some of the moisture in the cake and icing.
Use a small rectangle spatula to remove the cake squares from the pan without destroying the rest of the squares.

Nutrition Info

Serving: 1square, Calories: 325kcal, Carbohydrates: 43g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 16g, Saturated Fat: 8g, Cholesterol: 48mg, Sodium: 230mg, Potassium: 73mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 32g, Vitamin A: 395IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 26mg, Iron: 1mg
Nutritional Disclaimer
Author: Britni Vigil
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Did You Make This?Tag @PlayPartyPlan on Facebook and Instagram and hashtag it #playpartyplan so I can see your creations!
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5 from 5 votes (3 ratings without comment)

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  1. Denay DeGuzman
    09/14/2020

    5 stars
    This chocolate cake was a big hit at my house! Next time around I’ll be making two cakes at the same time so I can drop one off at my parents’ home. I know they would really enjoy a little surprise treat like this!

    Reply
    1. Britni Vigil
      09/15/2020

      Ooh that’s such a nice idea for your parents!

      Reply
  2. Ashley
    09/14/2020

    5 stars
    Such a great recipe! Love the brownie in cake form!

    Reply
    1. Britni Vigil
      09/15/2020

      me too! It’s one of our favorites!

      Reply

Hi I’m
Britni

I love sweet treats, my family, games, and anything fun!

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