Gluten Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake Recipe (Paleo)

Pass it along!

This gluten free pumpkin chocolate chip cake is the perfect fall dessert that our family requests all year round! With the perfect texture—gluten free or not—this flavorful cake is a great recipe for everyone!

If you’ve been around here at all, you know our love for butternut squash. It grows easily, stores well all winter long, and is versatile in so many recipes. 

From baked goods like muffins and this gluten-free pumpkin cake to roasted as a side dish, butternut squash is the perfect addition. We even use it in chili or to replace tortillas in enchilada casserole or noodles in lasagna.

Instead of using fresh pumpkin from a pie-pumpkin, we prefer to make our homemade pumpkin puree from butternut squash. This makes for a thicker, creamier texture similar to what you would find in canned pumpkin.

How to Make Pumpkin Puree

Whether you are using butternut squash, a different winter squash, or pie pumpkin, the process of making homemade pumpkin is the same.

Simply wash your squash and slice it in half. Scoop out all of the seeds inside.

Tip: Don’t toss those seeds! You can roast the seeds to eat. Or, our chickens go crazy over the squash seeds.

Place your squash cut side down in a glass baking dish.

Bake at 350-400°F for 45 minutes — 1 hour. It’s not an exact science but will depend on how big your squash is and your oven.

It’s done when you can easily push in the well-cooked squash with your finger so that it’s no longer firm but has plenty of give.

Once soft, remove your squash from the oven and flip over to let cool.

After it’s cooled, scoop out all the orange squash flesh. Then, to turn into pumpkin puree, use a potato masher or fork to mash the squash until a smooth, creamy puree is formed.

Ingredients in Gluten-Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake

This gluten-free cake is one of my favorite recipes to make for company or a potluck. It’s the perfect dessert to serve a crowd—we’ve found it’s well loved by those with gluten intolerance or celiac disease who need to eat gluten free as well as those who have no idea what gluten even is!

I am also a big fan of this recipe because it’s a great way to use extra eggs, which adds more protein to your cake. The finished cake contains 8 eggs but does not taste overly eggy. 

Tip: When you use coconut flour in baking, you need to add extra eggs because of the way that the coconut flour soaks up moisture. If you use less eggs, the resulting texture would be dry and crumbly losing the moistness this delicious cake offers!

​What do you need?

Eggs – I have not experimented with trying to substitute the eggs out for flax eggs or another egg substitute in this recipe. Because of the way that the eggs interact with the coconut flour in this recipe, I’d stick to using whole large, eggs.

Pure Maple Syrup – You could substitute honey in place of the maple syrup here but I love the way that maple syrup compliments pumpkin recipes perfectly.

Apple Cider Vinegar

Vanilla Extract (optional)

Pumpkin Puree – Homemade pumpkin puree as I described above is ideal in this recipe. But storebought canned pumpkin puree could work too. Just avoid canned pumpkin pie filling in this gluten free pumpkin cake.

Coconut Flour

Tapioca Flour (or arrowroot flour) – When it comes to gluten free baking, my favorite combination is using a blend of coconut flour and tapioca flour. I love the texture that it gives to baked goods and prefer it over a premixed gluten-free flour blend or all-purpose flour mix.

Baking Soda

Cinnamon – Pumpkin pie spice (a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and allspice) would work as well instead if you wanted more variety of those warm spices that compliment pumpkin so well.

Chocolate Chips

How to Make Gluten Free Chocolate Pumpkin Cake

As a family without a dishwasher, the best part about this recipe is that it can be whipped up quickly and easily in just one large mixing bowl.

Gather your ingredients, preheat the oven, and generously coat a 9×13 pan (we use a glass pyrex baking dish) with coconut oil, olive oil, or melted butter.

Mix the wet ingredients (eggs, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, vanilla extract, and pumpkin puree) in a large bowl.

Once thoroughly mixed, add in the dry ingredients except for the chocolate chips (coconut flour, tapioca flour, baking soda, and cinnamon) and mix well.

After the flour mixture is added in and no clumps of flour remain, stir in your chocolate chips.

Pour your pumpkin cake batter into the prepared pan and bake at 350°F for 28-30 minutes.

Gluten Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Recipe

Yield: (1) 9×13 Pan or 24 servings

Ingredients:

8 eggs
2/3 cup maple syrup
½ tsp apple cider vinegar
2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
2 cups pumpkin puree
1 cup coconut flour
1 cup tapioca flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and grease 9×13 baking dish.

2. Mix wet ingredients in a large mixing bowl (eggs, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, vanilla extract, and pumpkin puree).

3. Add dry ingredients (coconut flour, tapioca flour, cinnamon, and baking soda).

4. Stir dry ingredients into wet until thoroughly mixed. Hand mix chocolate chips into pumpkin cake batter.

5. Pour into prepared baking pan. Sprinkle light layer of chocolate chips on top (optional).

6. Bake at 350°F for 28-30 minutes.

Alternative Variations

I made this recipe for a 9×13 baking pan but you could easily cut the recipe in half and use an 8×8 baking pan instead.

This recipe also makes great muffins if you prefer that over cake. Here’s the recipe for gluten free pumpkin muffins.

Chocolate chips not your thing? Instead, omit the chocolate chips and add a cream cheese frosting or cinnamon sugar on top by mixing brown sugar or coconut sugar and cinnamon.

How to store for short and long-term storage?

This pumpkin chocolate chip cake will store on the counter in an airtight container at room temperature on the counter for 2-3 days. For long term storage, cut into slices and freeze. Store in a freezer bag and pull out as needed—just thaw and enjoy!

Could I use a hand mixer or stand mixer instead?

Yes! Instead of mixing by hand, you could use a hand mixer or stand mixer. Simply add ingredients as directed in the recipe into the bowl of a stand mixer and mix as directed. You will just want to make sure you hand mix in your chocolate chips at the end.

---

Other Recipes You’ll Love:

The Best Gluten Free Apple Bread (Dairy Free)
Fudgy Pumpkin Buckwheat Brownies
Cinnamon Maple Roasted Almonds
Simple Gluten Free Butternut Squash Muffins

Pin it for later!