A rich, self-saucing dessert, this Easy Chocolate Pudding Cake is simple to whip up and absolutely delicious! You’ll never guess the secret ingredient! I first tasted this Chocolate Dessert nearly 20 years ago when visiting with our lovely neighbors about traveling to Ireland.

My friend, Shelli, served it again for our holiday book club meeting and I easily found it thanks to Google, though I knew I was just a text away from another source if needed. It was time to make this easy chocolate dessert for my family!

Easy Chocolate Pudding Cake in a white bowl with a red handled fork.

Why You Must Make

  • Using Bisquick in place of a number of other ingredients makes this pudding cake easy to throw together!
  • Who wouldn’t love a dessert that makes its own fudge sauce?
  • Simply served with a scoop of ice cream, it’s perfect for a casual family dinner but delicious enough for guests.

Chocolate pudding cakes are not new to our family, but this one had a shortcut, that you’d never guess by tasting it. I finally weaned the hubby off of Bisquick and he now makes homemade pancakes and waffles for his Sunday morning fare. But that same Bisquick helped cut down on prep time without compromising the taste of this decadent chocolate self-saucing dessert.

How to Make

  1. Preheat the oven.
  2. Melt ⅓ cup of the chocolate chips.
  3. Whisk together the melted chocolate, Bisquick, ⅓ cup of the sugar, milk, oil, vanilla, and egg.
  4. Scrape into an ungreased baking dish, then spread evenly. Set aside.
  5. Heat the water and the remaining ⅔ cup of sugar until it boils.
  6. Stir in the remaining ⅔ cup of chocolate chips until melted.
  7. Pour this over the batter in the pan.
  8. Bake as directed, until the top of the dessert is firm.
Self saucing chocolate pudding cake in an oval casserole dish dusted with powdered sugar.

Expert Tips

This unassuming pudding cake only reveals its magnificence when a spoonful is removed from the baking dish. That’s when the underlying fudgy sauce is exposed as it oozes to fill the void.

  • The chocolate in this Bisquick (affiliate link) pudding cake recipe comes from melted chocolate chips. I prefer to use the microwave for melting, stopping to stir at 15-30 second increments until smooth. Feel free to use the stovetop if desired, but use low heat.
  • Sometimes chocolate chips don’t completely melt, but small bits of chocolate in this batter will be fine.
  • PRO-Tip: The key to making a pudding cake is to pour on the hot liquid without stirring it into the batter. Through some magic of baking chemistry, this liquid works its way to the bottom of the dish turning into a rich chocolate sauce.
  • This is a retro recipe from Bisquick that once may have been featured on their box. For a recipe from scratch, my family also loves this Hot Fudge Pudding Cake. And if you’re looking for a candy recipe, this No-Fail Chocolate Fudge will hit the spot.
Easy Chocolate Pudding Cake in a bowl with a spoon and a scoop of ice cream.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Pudding Cake?

A chocolate version was not my first taste of a pudding cake. My mother-in-law treated us to a lemon pudding cake years ago, and it was terrific, too. Note to self: track down that recipe!
A pudding cake, by definition, is a dessert that separates into a cake-like layer and a saucy, pudding-like layer when baked. It’s like having two desserts in one!! Fine Cooking calls it a souffle with too much liquid, but since this version does not contain whipped egg whites, like a souffle, it doesn’t quite meet the criteria.

Is the egg in this recipe fully cooked?

This dessert casserole is cooked at 350° for over half an hour, so the egg will heat to above 140°, the temperature that will kill any potential bacteria.

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Easy Chocolate Pudding Cake featured image

Easy Chocolate Pudding Cake

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Yield 8 servings

A self saucing chocolate cake that magically makes a fudge sauce while baking!

Ingredients

  • 1 cup chocolate chips, divided
  • 1 ½ cups Bisquick baking mix
  • 1 cup sugar, divided
  • ½ cup milk
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 egg
  • 1 ½ cups hot water

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Melt ⅓ cup of the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl, stopping to stir at 15-second increments until melted and smooth.
  3. In a large bowl, vigorously whisk together the melted chocolate, Bisquick, ⅓ cup of the sugar, milk, oil, vanilla, and egg. Scrape into an ungreased 9 x 9-inch (or comparable-sized) baking dish, then spread evenly. Set aside.
  4. In a small saucepan, heat the water and the remaining ⅔ cup of sugar until it boils, stirring occasionally. Stir in the remaining ⅔ cup chocolate chips until melted. Pour this over the batter in the pan.
  5. Bake for about 35-40 minutes, until the top of the dessert is firm.

Notes

I used semisweet chocolate chips, but you can use bittersweet chocolate chips for a more intense chocolate flavor.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 411Total Fat: 17gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 25mgSodium: 501mgCarbohydrates: 64gFiber: 2gSugar: 41gProtein: 5g

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