Favorite Vegan Chocolate Cake

A couple of years ago I tried making a vegan chocolate cake for my sons birthday.  It didn't turn out that great, and so I ended up just using regular cake for the next few birthdays in our family.  My son turned 7 last month and I was searching for a different vegan cake to try.  I found a couple of recipes, but I was worried about trying them in case it didn't turn out, and I didn't want his birthday cake to be gross.  Then it occurred to me that I already had a vegan recipe!  When I was a kid my mom would make chocolate tidbit cake, and it was always one of my favorite treats.  I even made it the night before I had my first baby, because I wanted one last hit of chocolate. :)  Anyway, this cake doesn't have any eggs in it, and I totally forgot all about it.  So I made it for Gage's birthday last month and it turned out great!  My mom told me that she actually got the recipe from The Friend magazine back in the eighties.  You mix the cake in the same pan it bakes in, and I am always a fan of less dishes!

Chocolate Tidbit Cake

1/2 C. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 C. sugar

3 Tbs. cocoa

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. vanilla

1 Tbs. vinegar

5 Tbs. oil

1 C. cold water

1/2 - 1 C. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Using a fork, combine the first five ingredients in a square baking pan.  Make a well in the middle of the pan and stir in the vanilla, vinegar and oil.  Carefully pour water over everything and stir well.  Sprinkle the top evenly with chocolate chips.  Bake for 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Cool on a rack for 10 minutes.

To make it healthier you can use applesauce instead of oil.  I found some extra dark chocolate chips that didn't have any milk in them, but you could also use carob chocolate chips, or whatever vegan kind you like.   You can even leave off the chocolate chips if you want to, but why would you do that? More chocolate is never a bad thing. ;) We had visitors so I doubled the recipe and made it in a 9x13 pan.  I still baked it at 350 and it only needed about 5 more minutes of baking time.