Texas Sheet Cake

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No need to make a trip to the Lone Star State to learn how to make the best Texas Sheet Cake from scratch. This rich chocolate cake is topped with a buttery cocoa frosting that has a delicious crackly texture. It’s unbelievable and so good!

Texas sheet can cut into squares.


 

Texas Sheet Cake has many names: buttermilk brownies, brownie sheet cake, chocolate brownie cake, chocolate sheet brownies, Mexican chocolate cake, Texas brownie cake, Texas cake, and “plain old” chocolate sheet cake. but everyone who tries it agrees that it’s just plain delicious, no matter what it’s called.

For both the cake and the frosting, you boil some ingredients, stir in others, and spread. That’s it! No mixers, no fuss, just a simple, old-fashioned method with delicious results.

Recipe Ingredients

Labeled ingredients for Texas Sheet Cake.

At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.

Equipment and ingredient notes

Step-by-step instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 10-inch by 15-inch jelly roll pan with nonstick spray. In a medium saucepan, combine butter, water, and cocoa. Bring to boil.
Cooking hot cocoa in boiling water.
  1. Meanwhile, in large bowl whisk together flour and sugar. Stir in boiled mixture. Beat in eggs, baking soda, vanilla, and sour cream. Pour into prepared pan.
An unbaked Texas sheet cake.
  1. Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool completely.
An baked, unfrosted Texas sheet cake.
  1. While cake is cooling, in small saucepan bring butter, milk and cocoa to boil. Stir in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth.
Cake batter for Texas sheet cake in a bowl.
  1. Spread on cooled cake while frosting is hot.
A fully-baked, frosted Texas sheet cake.
  1. Cool and cut into 24 bars.
Texas sheet can cut into squares.

Recipe tips and variations

  • Yield: This recipe makes 24 squares, 2 1/2-inch by 2 1/2-inch each, cut in a 4×6 configuration.
  • Storage: Store covered at room temperature for up to one week.
  • Freezer: Tightly cover unfrosted or frosted bars and freeze them up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
  • Texas Sheet Cake with buttermilk: I make my Texas Sheet Cake with sour cream, but if you’d like to use buttermilk, that’s fine, too! You need to add a little more butter, though. For every ½ cup sour cream, substitute ½ cup buttermilk and 1 tablespoon butter.
  • Texas Sheet Cake with cinnamon: Ladybird Johnson made the cake famous by adding a 1 teaspoon of cinnamon to the batter, for a Mexican chocolate flavor that people go crazy for.
  • Texas Sheet Cake with coffee: Some cooks add black coffee instead of water in the batter to give the cake another layer of body. If you love mocha, this variation is for you.
  • Texas Sheet Cake cupcakes: Pour the batter into paper shells and bake, then frost and everyone gets their own.
  • Almond Frosting for Texas Sheet Cake: Use ½ teaspoon almond extract and ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract in the frosting. Add chopped toasted almonds, if you dare.
  • White Texas Sheet Cake: To make Texas Sheet Cake white, you can simply omit the cocoa powder in this recipe and add 1 teaspoon almond extract in its place into the batter. If cakes were clouds, this one would be the fluffiest!
  • Peanut butter frosting: My favorite Peanut Butter Frosting is made with powdered sugar, vanilla, butter, heavy cream, and a pinch of salt.
Texas sheet can cut into squares and served on plates.

Recipe FAQs

What is Texas Sheet Cake?

Besides being flamboyantly rich, Texas Sheet Cake is a giant chocolate sheet cake that eats just like a brownie. This recipe features a butter-cocoa frosting that’s slathered over a rich chocolate cake that brings folks from miles around.

More chocolate desserts to love

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A pan of Texas sheet cake cut into squares and some squares removed from the pan.

Texas Sheet Cake

No need to make a trip to the Lone Star State to learn how to make the best Texas Sheet Cake from scratch. This rich chocolate cake is topped with a buttery cocoa frosting that has a delicious crackly texture.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 24 servings
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Calories 304
5 from 6 votes

Equipment

Ingredients 

For the cake:

For the frosting:

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a 10-inch by 15-inch jelly roll pan with parchment paper or nonstick spray. In a small saucepan, whisk together butter, water, and cocoa. Bring to boil; remove from heat.
  • Meanwhile, in large bowl whisk together flour and sugar. Stir in boiled mixture. Beat in eggs, baking soda, vanilla, and sour cream. Pour into prepared pan and bake 20 minutes. Cool completely.
  • While cake is cooling, in medium saucepan whisk together butter, milk and cocoa and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. Spread on cooled cake while frosting is hot. Cool and cut into 24 bars.

Recipe Video

Notes

  1. Jelly roll pan: To get the ideal cake-to-frosting ratio, bake this cake in a 10-inch by 15-inch jelly roll pan (I love this one by OXO).
  2. Yield: This recipe makes 24 squares, 2 1/2-inch by 2 1/2-inch each, cut in a 4×6 configuration.
  3. Storage: Store covered at room temperature for up to one week.

Nutrition

Serving: 1sliceCalories: 304kcalCarbohydrates: 45gProtein: 2gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 48mgSodium: 163mgPotassium: 60mgFiber: 1gSugar: 36gVitamin A: 425IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 20mgIron: 1mg
Did you make this recipe?Tag @culinaryhill on Instagram so we can admire your masterpiece! #culinaryhill
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Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.

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Comments

  1. My icing wasn’t pour-able. I whisked the ingredients until boiling. They separated. I poured in the powder sugar and it was immediately thick. What did I do wrong?5 stars

    1. Hi Lynn, I’m so sorry for the trouble the icing is giving you. A couple things might have happened. (I wish I was standing next to you in the kitchen so I could better help!)You might have boiled a little too long, the mixture just needs to be brought to a boil, then the powdered sugar and vanilla added in. Also, were the cocoa powder and powdered sugar fluffed up some and spooned into the measuring cup or were they packed in, and was powder sugar sifted? If they were packed in, you would need some more milk in the mixture to thin out and balance the additional dry ingredients. You may want to add the sifted powder sugar gradually to the next batch and stop when it’s the perfect consistency to help control it. I hope this all helps! I’m sorry again about your frosting. – Meggan

  2. Thanks for teaching me what a Texas sheet cake is, Meggan!
    This would be perfect to take to a party – loving the sound of all that butter!5 stars