Chocolate cake for breakfast sounds like a terrible idea right up until you remember it started as flour, cocoa, and optimism in a bowl. This homemade chocolate cake mix keeps the dry work done ahead of time, so when you need dessert, you only have to add eggs, water, and vanilla.
Chocolate cake is one of my favorite desserts, personally I could eat it for breakfast. Here is one of the easiest make ahead mix recipes to keep on hand for an easy throw-together dessert. In addition to cake, this mix also makes excellent Cookies as well.
One batch makes enough mix for one 9×13 cake, and it also gives you a solid head start for other chocolate bakes when you want something simple without paying boxed-mix prices.
Ingredients for Chocolate Cake Mix
You only need pantry basics to put this jar mix together. The flour gives the cake structure, the dry milk adds richness, the cocoa brings the chocolate flavor, and the shortening gets worked right into the mix so the finished cake stays tender.
- 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup nonfat dry milk
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon shortening
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
To bake the cake, you will also need:
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 jar chocolate cake mix
If you want a finer, softer crumb, homemade cake flour can help, but the original mix works just fine with all-purpose flour.
How to Make the Mix
Mix recipes only save time if you set them up well the first time. Stir the dry ingredients thoroughly so the baking powder and cocoa do not settle in streaks, then cut in the shortening until the mixture looks evenly crumbly.
- Measure the flour, nonfat dry milk, baking powder, salt, sugar, and cocoa powder into a large bowl.
- Whisk or stir until the dry ingredients are evenly combined and no cocoa pockets remain.
- Add the shortening.
- Cut the shortening into the dry ingredients until the mixture is uniform and resembles a coarse, sandy mix.
- Spoon the finished mix into a clean, airtight jar or container and seal tightly.
A pastry blender works well here, but two knives or even clean fingertips will do the job if you keep moving and break up every visible bit of shortening. No one wants a surprise grease pebble in their cake mix.
How to Bake the Cake
Once the mix is made, the cake itself is as straightforward as it gets. Preheat first, grease the pan well, and mix just until everything is smooth.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Grease and flour a 9×13-inch cake pan.
- Add the eggs, water, vanilla extract, and one full jar of chocolate cake mix to a mixing bowl.
- Mix well until the batter is smooth and fully combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.
- Cool completely, then frost as desired.
Because this batter contains raw flour and eggs before baking, do not taste it straight from the bowl. The FDA explains that flour is a raw food and should be fully cooked before eating, which is one more reason to leave the spoon alone until the cake is done.
If you’re only feeding one or two people, you can also use the same pantry flavor profile to make a faster single-serve dessert like this Rich Chocolate Mug Cake.
Tips for Best Results
Cut in the shortening evenly. This is what helps the dry mix stay consistent from edge to edge. If some areas are powdery and some are greasy, the cake can bake unevenly.
Use an airtight container. Dry milk, cocoa, and baking powder all hold up better when moisture stays out. A jar with a tight lid works well, but a sealed food-storage container is even easier to scoop from.
Mix until smooth, not forever. You want a fully blended batter, but there is no prize for beating cake batter into submission. Once the dry pockets are gone, stop.
Grease and flour the pan well. Chocolate cakes have a talent for sticking when you rush this step. The cake does not care that you’re in a hurry.
Variations and Uses
This mix is built for a 9×13 cake, but it does not have to stop there.
- Make it into cupcakes: Fill lined muffin cups about two-thirds full and start checking earlier since smaller cakes bake faster.
- Turn it into a snack cake: Bake, cool, and dust with powdered sugar instead of frosting if you want something simpler.
- Use it for cookies: The original notes mention it also makes excellent cookies, so this mix gives you more than one route to a chocolate fix.
- Dress it up: Stir in chocolate chips, top with a basic buttercream, or pair it with peanut butter frosting for a richer finish.
- Build from scratch ingredients: If you regularly make pantry staples at home, this mix fits right alongside a good cake flour substitute and other DIY baking basics.
Storage and Shelf Life
Dry mix storage: Store the jar mix in an airtight container in a cool, dry cupboard. Because the mix includes shortening, dry milk, cocoa, and baking powder, a conservative shelf-life estimate is up to 3 months at room temperature for best quality. If your kitchen runs warm, store it in the refrigerator for a longer quality window.
Baked cake storage: Once baked and cooled, cover the unfrosted or frosted cake tightly. It can sit at room temperature for about 1 to 2 days if your kitchen is cool, or refrigerate leftovers for 3 to 4 days. That refrigerator window is a safe estimate for a baked cake made with eggs and milk ingredients.
Freezing: Wrap fully cooled cake pieces tightly and freeze for up to 3 months for best quality. Thaw wrapped pieces in the refrigerator or at room temperature before serving.
Serving Suggestions
Frost it with vanilla buttercream, chocolate frosting, or a simple cooked icing if you want to keep the budget in check. This cake also works well served plain with coffee, tucked into lunchboxes, or warmed slightly and topped with a scoop of ice cream when you want it to feel more dessert-table than weekday-pan.
If you’re leaning hard into the chocolate theme, serve it after a smaller chocolate dessert night with something like Double Chocolate Lava Cakes for the people in your house who think there is no such thing as too much cocoa.
💸 Budget101® Price Breakdown: Make Your Own Chocolate Cake Mix
Ingredient |
Walmart Item |
Pkg Price |
Amount Used |
Cost Used |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Chocolate cake mix |
$1.12 |
1 |
$1.12 |
|
All-purpose flour |
$2.96 |
2 1/3 C. |
$0.37 |
|
Nonfat dry milk |
$9.28 |
1/3 C. |
$0.29 |
|
Baking powder |
$1.24 |
3 t. |
$0.06 |
|
Salt |
$0.62 |
3/4 t. |
$0.01 |
|
White sugar |
$2.98 |
1 1/2 C. |
$0.49 |
|
Plus 1 tablespoon shortening |
$3.98 |
1/2 C. |
$0.30 |
|
Cocoa powder |
$2.68 |
1/4 C. |
$0.25 |
|
Eggs |
$1.47 |
2 |
$0.25 |
|
Water |
– |
1 C. |
$0.01 |
|
Vanilla extract |
$5.94 |
1 t. |
$0.50 |
|
Chocolate cake mix |
$1.12 |
1 jar |
$1.12 |
💸 |
Cost |
|---|---|
🧾 Total Batch Cost |
$4.77 |
👨👩👧👦 Cost Per Serving |
$0.32 |
📅 Walmart prices last verified August 26, 2026. Prices may vary by location and are subject to change. Learn how to calculate the cost of a recipe on your own!
🛒 Walmart Grocery List
- All-Purpose Flour, 5 lb
- Nonfat Dry Milk, 25.6 oz
- Baking Powder, 8.1 oz
- Salt, 26 oz
- Granulated Sugar, 4 lb
- Vegetable Shortening, 48 oz
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder, 8 oz
- Eggs, 12 count
- Vanilla Extract, 2 fl oz
- Chocolate Cake Mix, 15.25 oz
Not sure exactly what this batch costs you per serving? Here’s how to break down the real cost of any recipe so you know before you shop.
Frequently Asked Questions about Make Your Own Chocolate Cake Mix
Not for the shelf-stable jar mix. Butter contains water and needs refrigeration, so it changes both the texture and the storage life. If you want butter flavor, bake the cake as written and use butter in the frosting instead.
Keep the dry milk in the mix itself, since it adds richness without adding moisture. If you do not want to use dry milk, leave it out of the stored mix and plan to experiment later with liquid milk when you bake, but that changes the original formula and may affect texture.
Check the smell and the texture first. If the cocoa smells flat, the shortening smells off, or the mix has hard damp clumps, toss it. Baking powder also loses strength over time, so an older mix may bake up dense even if it still looks fine.
Absolutely, as long as you scale every ingredient by the same amount. Double everything for two full jars, then whisk very thoroughly before you divide the mix so the cocoa, salt, and baking powder stay evenly distributed instead of settling in one unlucky jar.
Because the shortening in the batter helps the crumb, not the pan release. A 9×13 chocolate cake has plenty of sugar and cocoa, both of which can encourage sticking, so a greased and floured pan gives you cleaner slices and fewer muttered regrets.
You can, but expect a slightly different result. Dutch-process cocoa is less acidic than natural cocoa, and this recipe was written simply as cocoa powder, so regular unsweetened cocoa is the safer choice if you want the mix to behave exactly as written.
Vanilla buttercream is the easiest contrast because it lets the chocolate stand out. Chocolate frosting works if you want a deeper cocoa flavor, and peanut butter frosting is a solid choice when you want something a little richer without changing the cake itself.
Yes, just fill the lined cups about two-thirds full and start checking them before the full cake time. Cupcakes bake faster because the batter is divided into smaller portions, so waiting the full 25 to 30 minutes without checking is how you end up with dry little bricks.
The usual culprits are too much flour, unevenly mixed shortening, or overbaking. Measure carefully, mix the batter until smooth, and start checking near the 25-minute mark so you catch the cake when it is done instead of when it is officially over with.
Yes, and it freezes well if you wrap it tightly first. Cut it into portions, wrap each piece or the whole slab well, and freeze for up to 3 months for best quality so you can thaw only what you need instead of committing to cake for every meal.
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Did you make this recipe? Leave a comment and tell us how you served it, what frosting you used, or whether you turned the mix into cake, cupcakes, or cookies. That kind of kitchen intel helps everybody.
🖨️ Print-Friendly Make Your Own Chocolate Cake Mix
Make Your Own Chocolate Cake Mix
Ingredients
- Chocolate cake mix
- 2 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup nonfat dry milk
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups white sugar
- ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon shortening
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 jar chocolate cake mix
Equipment
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, nonfat dry milk, baking powder, salt, sugar, and cocoa powder.
- Stir or whisk until evenly blended.
- Cut in the shortening until the mixture is uniform and crumbly.
- Transfer the mix to a clean, airtight jar or container and seal.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Grease and flour a 9x13-inch cake pan.
- In a mixing bowl, combine 1 jar chocolate cake mix, eggs, water, and vanilla extract.
- Mix well until smooth.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.
- Cool completely and frost as desired.
Recipe Size Alteration
💡 If you altered the ingredients above by doubling or tripling the recipe, you may also need to change the pan/dish size and adjust the cook time.
Notes
Prep time is estimated from measuring, mixing, cutting in shortening, and preparing the batter and pan.
Store the dry mix in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to 3 months for best quality.
Refrigerate leftover baked cake and use within 3 to 4 days for best safety and quality.
how much goes into a jar? or is this just for 1 jar?
1 jar of mix refers to the ingredients listed above for the mix. The recipe makes 1 jar.
thank you… i am still trying to get the hang of this… im a convience junky so it seems…
i believe whaat mommalace is asking is what size jar to use to store the cake mix. from i can tell by looking at the ingredient list there is about 5 cups of dry mix, therefore a quart jar and a pint jar would be required. That is alot of cake mix for a 9 x 13 baking pan don’t you think?
We use a qt jar for this mix, it fits fine, the ingredients settle, you just gently shake/tap the jar and then finish filling it. The cake is YUMMY! :Pumpkins:
what are the different instructions for cookies?
will this be enough mix to make two 9 inch round layers?
made this recipe tonight. got exactly 24 cupcakes out of it. My question, how do you mix the ingredients if you put them in a container for later use?
When i mixed it earlier, the shortening would not mix without the dry ingredients flying everywhere.
When i made a 2nd batch, i mixed the shortening and sugar first then the rest of the ingredients. This worked but doesn’t seem like it’ll fit in a container. Am i missing something?
Also, we found that more chocolate is needed.
They had a hint of chocolate, but nothing like a boxed mix, or any chocolate recipe. We added half a cup and they were better.
is there something i could substitute for the eggs? my daughter is allergic to eggs and i haven’t been able to find a good substitution in cake mixes. i have tried the following and they either didn’t work or tasted odd.
1 T vinegar + 1 T water + 1 t baking powder = 1 egg
1/4 cup mashed banana = 1 egg
1/4 cup apple sauce = 1 egg
1 T veg oil + 1 T water + 1 t baking powder = 1 egg
If anyone has another suggestion I would appreciate it. 🙂
Thank you!
dbsummersun, My Little has the same problem. We use Ener G egg replacer when I bake bread and cakes that call for them. I am even at high altitude 7,500 and I have never had a problem with cakes not rising or being “off” in some way.
They have a shop online.
Have you tried Flax? I’ve read somewhere it can be used as an egg substitute.
pureed pumpkin (found in a can, not pumpkin pie mix) can sub for both butter and eggs, but may not rise as much, and avocado may work. it can sub for butter, but not sure about eggs. i’ve seen the flaxseed thing subbed a lot.
use ground flaxseeds mixed with water.
not sure about the ratio, but i’m sure you can find it if you search “egg substitutes in baking.”
flax eggs is supposed to be a good substitute for real eggs.
note: freshly ground seeds work best, over the store-bought milled variety. for eachegg, combine 1 tablespoon of ground flax seed (measure after grinding) with 3 tablespoons of water. Stir well, and place in the fridge to set for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, the result should be a sticky egg-like substitute.
Here are several more ways to do the same thing.
https://www.budget101.com/showthread.php?t=1596
does anyone store their mixes in zip bags? i’m looking at an online store and there are tons off options. wondering if the dry ingredients would fit into a 5×7 bag or smaller for better storage.
I don’t have room to use jars.
iam making this right now but i added cherries to the mix before baking…any one else ever mix in fruit with it?
Have to try this. Love chocolate cake! :Coffee:
Can this be made sugar free?
How long can I store these mixes?
Also, can I omit the shortening and add oil to the wet ingredients?