This easy-to-make gluten-free sheet cake is rich and moist. And it only requires one bowl to make! Perfect for birthday parties, celebrations, baby showers, or a pot luck dessert.
What is it about a yellow sheet cake? For me, it’s the most comforting homemade cake. There’s just something homey about it. Sure, I love a towering gluten-free white layer cake and making a gluten-free chocolate cake always brings a smile to my face. But a sheet cake? That’s the cake I make for small family birthday parties, pot lucks, and, most importantly, just because.
How to Make a Gluten-Free Sheet Cake
- Use One Bowl. This recipe comes together in one bowl! No need to whip egg whites or do anything fancy.
- Cut in Softened Butter. For a boxed cake texture, softened butter is mixed into the gluten-free flour and sugar before the eggs, milk, and oil are added. This step creates a texture that’s soft and delicate.
- Mix Until Smooth and Fluffy. Once you’ve cut in the butter, add the wet ingredients and mix until the batter is smooth and fluffy. This takes about a minute or so.
- Bake in a Greased Pan. If you want to serve the cake right from the pan, simply grease a 9×13-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray. But if you want to remove the cake from the pan, line the pan with parchment paper. Be sure the paper hangs over the edge of the pan. This makes it easy to lift the cooled cake out of the pan.
- Frost with Your Favorite Frosting. What’s your favorite frosting? Oh, that’s funny! That’s the perfect frosting for this cake. (My favorite frosting varies. Some days I love chocolate frosting. Other times I like to make the vanilla frosting. And, when I’m feeling jazzy, I’ll whip up a batch of cream cheese frosting for a sheet cake. That one always wins praise.)
The Perfect Gluten-Free Flour for Sheet Cake
This simple sheet cake uses Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour. If you use another flour, the cake might turn out fine or…it might not. Gluten-free flours vary greatly. For the best results use Bob’s. If you don’t want to use Bob’s, use a blend that contains xanthan gum or add ½ teaspoon xanthan gum to the recipe.
FAQs: Gluten-Free Sheet Cake
Can I make this into gluten-free cupcakes?
Sure can! Scoop the batter into 24 cupcake cups. Be sure to line the cups with paper liners or spray very generously with nonstick cooking spray.
Can I make this into a round gluten-free cake?
Yup! Divide the batter evenly between two 8-inch round cake pans.
Can I freeze the gluten-free sheet cake?
You can! Be sure to allow the cake to cool completely before freezing. And, bonus, you can frost the cake before freezing. Frosted cakes freeze really well. (The hardest part? You need room in the freezer for the cake.)
Can I omit the eggs?
Probably not. Cake recipes are hard to make egg-free. I don’t think this one would work without eggs. Sorry.
Can I make this without dairy?
Yes! Replace the butter with either softened coconut oil or softened dairy-free margarine. And replace the milk with dairy-free milk. (Just don’t use full-fat coconut milk. It’s too heavy for the cake.)
Gluten-Free Vanilla Sheet Cake
This easy-to-make gluten-free sheet cake is rich and moist. And it only requires one bowl to make! Perfect for birthday parties, celebrations, baby showers, or a pot luck dessert.
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour (10 ½ ounces; 297 grams)
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar (10 ½ ounces; 297 grams)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup softened butter (2 ounces; 56 grams)
- 1 cup milk (8 ounces; 226 grams)
- ¼ cup canola oil (1 ¾ ounces; 50 grams)
- 3 large eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
Vanilla Frosting
- 1 cup softened butter (8 ounces; 226 grams)
- 4 cups powdered sugar (16 ounces; 170 grams)
- 4 tablespoons milk (2 ounces; 56 grams
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350℉. Grease a 9×13-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray Or if you want to remove the cake for serving, line the pan with parchment paper and grease with nonstick cooking spray.
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Whisk together the gluten-free flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Add the softened butter. Mix, on medium speed, until the butter is incorporated. Very small pieces of butter should dot the mixture.
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Add the milk, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract. Mix until batter is smooth and fluffy, about one minute.
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Spread batter evenly into prepared pan. Bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
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While the cake cools, make the frosting.
Mix butter until smooth in a medium mixing bowl. Add powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract. Mix, on low speed, until smooth.
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When cake is cool, frost it and then enjoy.
Linda says
Hello Elizabeth. Love your new recipes using the Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour.
I have given my two daughters that are also Celiac your first two cook books. Keep them coming please. Appreciate that you create and test the recipes for us amateurs 😉
Karen says
Needed a recipe for a friend’s birthday. Found yours. It came out great. Thank you!
Karla says
I live in Nova Scotia (Truro area) and can’t find the Bob’s 1:1 GF flour in the blue package
Elizabeth says
Some readers have used Robin Hood flour with good results! Or have ordered online. Hope this helps! I wish I had more info for you.
Hui Yee Greenaway says
I was looking for a no fuss gf cake recipe (who has time to beat egg whites??) and came across yours. I subbed in one cup of almond meal instead of using all gf flour, used a random gf flour blend that my local Australian supermarket had and cooked it in 3x20cm layer pans for about 40 minutes. Then put it all together with some buttercream. It turned out great! Super moist even the day after cooking, and tasty. Thanks so much! This will likely be my go-to gf cake recipe from now on.
Virginia says
Hi, Wanted to use this cake recipe for a fresh strawberry topping recipe. The problem I had was incorporating the butter into the flour mixture. It was softened butter, and did break into small bits, but when I added the egg/milk/vanilla/oil mix & beat the mixture, the butter never incorporated! I’ve finally put it in the oven to bake but am not looking forward to the result! I think it would be a good recipe it the butter& oil is incorporated with the sugar & eggs & vanilla first.
Elizabeth says
The small bites of butter are what gives the cake a very light texture. I think it should work out just fine! Let me know how it goes!
Frances Wilson says
Made this for our daughter’s birthday. Used Bob’s AP GF flour (NOT the GF 1:1 baking flour) and added 1/2 tap xanthum gum as recommended. Used eggs, almond milk and goat’s butter at room temperature. Split it into 2 x 9” round pans, greased and lightly floured. I tapped the pans lightly on the counter once the batter was poured in and levelled. Baked them 33 mins @ 350F in the centre of the oven. Let them cool 10 mins in the pans before turning out. They held well for stacking into 2 layers, icing with buttercream and for slicing for serving. They turned out great (light, airy, moist, fluffy, not crumbly) and was so delicious (sweet, vanilla but not overly so). I’m adding this one as a regular option for celebrations! I can foresee many flavouring options using extracts, spices (cinnamon, etc) with this base recipe (although it is GREAT as a vanilla option all on its own).
Frances Wilson says
That should say that I added a 1/2 teaspoon (tsp not tap) of xanthum gum.
Pooja says
Really delicious!! Never eaten a gluten free cake that tasted so good
Natalie says
I’ve used this recipe so much with the Aldi gf plain flour and added xantham gum. I’ve baked it in so many different shaped tins. I even used two loaf tins and made a little extra in a square tin to stack and created a ginormous train cake for my 1yo birthday! He smashed it! So yummy!
Natalie says
Should also mention I use rice milk and dairy free nuttelex and it is still amazing!!
Devanie says
At first I thought this was a great recipe… until I tried to cook it. My cake was for an hour and never cooked so I ended out throwing it out because I wasn’t keen on serving a raw cake to my family. Sorry but will not ever be using this recipe again.
Elizabeth says
I’m sorry you had trouble with the recipe! I tested the recipe again to make sure everything was fine. (I posted the test on Facebook if you want to see it.)
My guess is that either your oven temperature was off or there was a scaling error.
Sue Ogden says
This cake was so good! I just lightly glazed it with some strawberry jam that never set up.
Elizabeth says
Glad you liked the cake! Jam glazes tend to remain sticky. If you want the strawberry flavor but not the sticky texture, you could mix the jam with some powdered sugar. It makes a white glaze. So not the same but very good. Hope this helps!
Anastasia says
hi I loved this recipe as a cake however I found it needed 45 min baking time here in Australia in a 160C fan forced oven. how long would you recommend for cupcakes?
Susan Littlefield says
I planned on baking a 8 inch cake and waiting to see how it came out and make a second one. I decided to make waffles with the leftover batter. It tastes good with maple syrup.
Elizabeth says
Oh! I love that! How’d the waffles turn out with the batter?
Cindy says
I have never baked anything that was gluten-free (GF) but choose this recipe for a camping trip where I knew several people were GF. I used GF Vanilla Buttercream Frosting with creamy organic butter. What a hit! Friends were coming back to the campsite for two mornings asking for breakfast cake with their coffee!
KJ says
This recipe is awesome. Thank you!
Theresa says
Substituted unsweetened vanilla almond milk for the milk, organic refined coconut oil for the canola oil, and organic coconut sugar for the granulated sugar. All 1 to 1 substitutions except maybe a little less sugar. No frosting. Instead, I spread a very thin layer of homemade strawberry jam over the top of the just out of the oven cake. Wonderful! There was one piece left! This was for my birthday and my family demolished it! It wasn’t overly sweet which is what I like. Thanks so very much! I am looking forward to checking out your other recipes!