This post may contain affiliate links.
Chocolate Cobbler has a warm, fudgy pudding covered with a moist chocolate cake. It’s like a chocolate lava cake, but wayyyy easier and just as delicious. Top it with a scoop of ice cream, and it’ll soon be at the top of your list of easy chocolate dessert recipes!!
A couple of my siblings told me lately that they “couldn’t believe” I hadn’t added this family favorite to the blog yet. It’s a recipe I’ve been meaning to add for awhile now and let me tell you, it’s worth the wait!!!
You see, my mom is simply incredible….she become a chiropractor, raised four kids, helped on the farm and she was (still is!) a fantastic cook! For lunch, she’d typically serve some sort of meat (meatloaf is my fav!), a potato dish, some sort of veggie, and dessert. If Mom was in a hurry, this Chocolate Cobbler from one of the old cookbooks was a go-to dessert!
A Chocolate Lovers Dessert
I’ve heard this dessert be called many different things over the years. My mom always called it Baked Chocolate Pudding. A former boss of mine called it boiled water cake. I’ve heard chocolate pudding cake, molten chocolate cake, molten lava cake and everything in between! But no matter what you call it, you’ll love a change from your typical fruit cobbler recipes!
Ingredients Needed
- All Purpose Flour
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- Sugar
- Cocoa Powder
- Butter
- Milk
- Vanilla Extract
- Walnuts or Pecans, Optional
- Brown Sugar
- Boiling or Very Hot Water
How do you make Chocolate Cobbler?
For real, this is a super easy chocolate cobbler recipe. There are just a couple important steps that you’ll want to pay close attention to…
First, you’ll make a simple batter and spread it into the bottom of the baking dish. Or better yet, simply use the baking dish as a bowl to mix the ingredients! This batter is quite thick – that’s just fine!
Then in a separate bowl, you’ll combine the dry ingredients for the “topping” and sprinkle it over the cake batter.
Lastly, you’ll pour a cup of boiling water over the top and put it right in the oven. It’s super important that you DO NOT stir after pouring the water on top. I know, it seems odd, but it works.
While the cobbler bakes, the cake batter will cook and rise to the top and a fudgy chocolate sauce will form underneath. It’s. So. Good!
Tried this and it is GREAT!!!! Everyone should make this if you love chocolate. So easy and quick.
Sandy
Other Add-Ins and Toppings
- Use pecans or walnuts in the batter. Toast them ahead of time for even more flavor!
- Sprinkle the top with chocolate chips or drizzle with caramel sauce once it comes out of the oven.
- Try using hot coffee or espresso in place of the boiling water! Coffee will enhance the flavor of the chocolate even more!
- Top with a scoop of ice cream or homemade whipped cream!
How do you know when the cobbler is done?
Once the chocolate cobbler has been in the oven for about 25 minutes, I like to take a fork and see if the center of the cake is done.
If it’s done on the outsides and still looks like batter in the middle, it needs more time. Once the cake is done on top (no longer looks or feels like batter in the center), the next part is up to you…
Want a lot of sauce on the bottom (which I highly recommend)? Then, your chocolate cobbler is ready to eat! If you want a little less fudgy sauce, let it cook a little longer as more water will evaporate and there will be less sauce.
This Chocolate Cobbler is absolutely incredible as-is, but adding a scoop of vanilla ice cream is the best way to enjoy it! The ice cream will melt into the hot fudge sauce and turn into a chocolatey, creamy, delicious mess!
How to Store Leftover Chocolate Cobbler
I always think that chocolate cobbler is best fresh out of the oven. The texture and chocolate flavor is just so perfect when it’s fresh! But leftovers are understandable…
Store at Room Temperature
If you plan to eat the cobbler in the next day (24 hours-ish), let the cobbler cool to room temperature and cover with plastic wrap.
Stored in the Fridge
If you plan to store this for more than 24 hours, you can keep it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. I don’t recommend freezing the cobbler.
How to Reheat
When you want to satisfy your next chocolate craving, add a scoop of the cobbler onto a microwave-safe plate. Pop it in the microwave for 20-30 seconds to heat it up and top with a scoop of ice cream!
Delicious Dessert Variations
- Chocolate Cobbler in the Slow Cooker
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Cobbler
- Chocolate Turtle Cobbler
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Cobbler
- Chocolate Cobbler for Two
Connect with Dance Around the Kitchen!
Follow along on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook so you never miss a recipe!! And as always, thank you for following along with my blog, making my recipes, liking and sharing on social media and any other way you support Dance Around the Kitchen! -Kelsey
Chocolate Cobbler
Equipment
- 1 1.5 qt. casserole dish or square baking dish
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts optional
Topping
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 cup water boiling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and cocoa. Then stir in the melted butter, milk and vanilla.
- Spread the mixture into a greased 1.5 qt casserole dish (or square pan). Set aside.
- In another bowl, combine the dry topping ingredients (sugar, brown sugar, salt and cocoa). Sprinkle on top of the batter; do not stir.
- Pour the boiling water on top; do not stir.
- Bake for 30 minutes, or until the top of the cake is almost set. The cake will rise to the top and a pudding will form on the bottom.
- Serve warm with ice cream.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
As I’ve mentioned before, I grew up on a pig, corn and soybean farm. We all helped out – my dad, mom, and all of us siblings. Okay now, I’ll admit that my brothers helped out quite a bit more than my sister and I, but we did help nonetheless.
Today, my brothers and dad run the farm, Mom does the paperwork (and lots of the field work), and my sister and I…..well I guess you could say we’re moral support 😉
But no matter how busy life on the farm was, Mom would always make time to keep our bellies full. Especially in the summer when the four of us kids were home, we’d come inside for lunch with a big appetite.
My siblings and I requested this dessert probably more than any other. Luckily, it’s super easy to throw together and bakes up quickly. I still look forward to meals back home! <3
I just made this 3 times in 4 days because everyone who had it loved it so much, including me! I made the base and mixed the topping up before dinner and kept them separate until dinner was finishing. We ate it fresh out of the oven with vanilla ice cream each time and it’s been amazing! Thank you for a new favorite, super quick dessert recipe!
Oh Mary, thanks so much!! This truly made my day. So glad you all enjoyed it! -Kelsey
My Mom used to bake something very similar to this and I loved it. Quick question though. I live at over 4500 ft elevation. Will this work as is in high altitude or will the usual adjustments need to be made? I’ve lived at sea level my entire life and even trained as a pastry chef but since moving 7 mos to higher country it’s like I’ve never baked anything before in my life and it’s driving me crazy. Any advice you could offer would be appreciated. I miss dessert! Lol
Is there anyway you could add Cherry pie filling in this recipe?
We made this tonight, and it was perfect! Thank you! It is our new family favorite. So easy and such specific and helpful directions.
Thanks, Shannon!!! 🙂 I’m so glad you found the instructions to be helpful and enjoyed the cobbler! 🙂
SO GOOD. Made it for the first time on Monday. Making it again tonight 😋 Thank you for sharing this recipe!
So happy to hear that, Nina!! It’s one of our favorites! 🙂
LOVED it! What would be your thoughts on baking this in a pie crust?
I can’t help but think it would be amazing 🤩
As long as it fits in the pie crust, I’m sure it would work just fine! 🙂
Think the pie crust would need to be blind baked first?
I would. My concern with adding it to a pie crust is that it might get soggy with the “pudding” on the bottom. If you try it, let me know how it turns out!! 🙂
Do you think this would work with Almond flour and Monkfruit sugar? This looks so good… but trying to stay on keto diet…
That’s a great questions – I’ve never tried it!! If you do, let me know how it turns out! 🙂
Can you use self rising flour?
Hi Gayle – I’ve never tried this with self-rising flour, so I’m not much help!! Sorry!
I used self-rising flour since that’s all I had on hand. I dropped the baking powder to 1 tsp. You could check the King Arthur Baking website to get a better feel for substituting flour. I probably needed to cook mine a few more minutes (not a result of the substitution). All in all, this was a great recipe! Thank you!
Made this for Christmas! I doubled the recipe (baked in 9×13). AND added a box of chocolate pudding with an additional 1/4 cup of water and milk! The cake rose perfectly and made a lovely thick sauce!!!
🙂 Chocolate Cobbler is always a good idea in my book. Doubling the recipe is a GREAT idea! 😉
Just made this tonight! Super easy and so good! Will be a regular in our house!
Hearing that makes me so happy! And thank you for the great review! I can’t tell you how much that helps my small business!! 🙂 -Kelsey
Do you use unsweetened cocoa or just regular cocoa mix? TIA
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder 🙂
My grandmother use to make this cake. The original recipe is very old came from a hershey’s cocoa box I think. You can even use box cake mix instead of homemade if I remember correctly. Some called it hot fudge cake, hot fudge upside down cake, lava cake or molten cake. It doesn’t matter the name people love it! Try adding a small drizzle of really good homemade caramel sauce over top when serving it and then add a sprinkle of chopped roasted pecans. Also homemade whip cream is good substitute for ice cream too. Love your blog.
We made a gluten free version of this that is HEAVENLY- we substituted the flour for 3/4 c of cup for cup gluten free flour. TDF! ❤️
My grandmother made this for me as a kid.. She called it Devil’s Float. I still make it to this day!!
I’ve heard it called SO many things (Boiled Water Cake, Chocolate Cobbler, Baked Chocolate Pudding)….but I’ve never heard it called Devil’s Float! haha! And I can see why you still make it – it’s just SO good! 🙂 -Kelsey
This looks delicious! Could you use a box cake mix (I know it’s sinister) for the same results? Not sure if it will save time, but maybe in a crunch?
I made this years ago and when I saw your recipe, I knew I had to make it again. I prepared it for a church function… and let me tell you, it certainly went over. One young man said I needed to teach his wife how to make it. I love that old recipes are coming back. Thanks for sharing your family favorite with us. Blessings.
1000/10 we absolutely loved this! My husband couldn’t get enough. Will be making again!!
That made my day! Thank you for the fantastic review – happy you guys enjoyed it!! 🙂
Do you think I could use a gluten free cake mix, and follow the instructions for the topping? It has to be gluten free!
Can this be made a day ahead and refrigerated
Hi Rena – I don’t recommend it. It’s really best right after it’s made! ~Kelsey