Texas Brownie Cake

Texas Sheet Cake is a classic recipe that packs a punch! It’s been served at potlucks and church bazaars as long as I can remember. If you love Chocolate desserts, here are a few tried & true recipes, Best Chocolate Cake Recipe, Chocolate Zucchini Cake, Chocolate Brownie Cake, and my famous Brownie Recipe!

Texas Sheet Cake

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 17 minutes mins

Total Time 22 minutes mins

A famous recipe that lives up to its name!

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Ingredients

• ▢ 1 cup (2 sticks or 226g) butter
• ▢ 2 eggs, room temperature
• ▢ 1/2 cup buttermilk
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 2 cups sugar
• ▢ 2 cups all purpose flour
• ▢ 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• ▢ 1 cup water
• ▢ 2 teaspoons vanilla

Instructions

• In a medium saucepan combine butter, water and cocoa. Stir and heat to boiling. Once it boils remove from heat.
• In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Pour butter mixture over flour mixture and gently stir. Add buttermilk and whisk together. (Make sure the mixture has cooled to a luke-warm temperature) Add in eggs and vanilla and whisk until just combined.
• Pour into a prepared sheet pan. I used a 17 1/2 x 11 cookie sheet.
• Bake at 400°F (375 for convection oven) for 15-18 minutes.
• Once cooled cover in the frosting of your choice or drizzle with melted chocolate. 

Notes

If you don't have buttermilk you can make your own. 

Homemade Buttermilk

1 tablespoon vinegar or fresh lemon juice

1 cup milk (I prefer whole milk)

Place the vinegar and milk in measuring cup. Stir to combine and let stand for 10 to 15 minutes (The mixture should begin to curdle).

Course: Dessert

Keyword: texas sheet cake

Servings: 12 pieces

Author: Amanda Rettke

Did you make this recipe?

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Texas Sheet Cake

Chocolate sheet cake covered in rich melted chocolate.  I love a classic dessert and love that this recipe has stood the test of time!

In doing research for the Texas Sheet Cake I discovered that most recipes either use buttermilk or sour cream. Both are big robust fats that offer a lot to the recipe. I chose to stick with buttermilk in this recipe. (A homemade buttermilk option is in the recipe notes!)

Chocolate Sheet Cake

I also like this cake as a layer cake! It will make a 2-layer cake (using 8-inch rounds) and this chocolate frosting recipe will cover that if you do not use too much between the layers.

I have not made this recipe as cupcakes ( I love my Ultimate Chocolate Cupcake recipe) but if you do you will want to fill each liner 2/3 full with batter and bake for 16-22 minutes at 350°F. Start checking at 16 minutes as you do not want to overbake the cupcakes. Cool and frost with chocolate frosting recipe. If you want to pipe pretty designs on the cupcakes you can add a bit more confectioners sugar for a thicker consistency.

How to Measure Flour for Sheet Cake

To accurately measure flour, take a fork and sift the flour in the bag. Use a spoon and add the flour to the measuring cup (make sure you are using a dry measuring cup!) then use the back of a knife to level the measuring cup.

How Do You Prepare a Pan for Texas Sheet Cake?

One of my favorite methods is to use parchment paper to line the pans. This ensures that none of your cake will stick to the pan.

You can also use the traditional butter + flour method, which is buttering the pan generously then adding about a 1/4 cup cocoa powder (or flour). Slowly turn the pan around and around making sure the flour covers every nook and cranny. Tip it over the garbage and shake out the excess. This is how our grandmas did it many years ago!

You can also use bakers spray, which is an aerosol pan release. I prefer the “bakers” version (says it contains flour) as it seems to work best on baked goods.