Everything you will need:
Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1.75 cups flour
0.75 cups cocoa powder
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
1.5 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 chia eggs (to make chia eggs):
2 tablespoons chia seeds
5 tablespoons water
1 cup dairy free milk (I used OWYN vanilla protein shake)
0.5 cup oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
Vegetable spray
Equipment:
13"x9" baking pan
Steps:
Preheat your oven to 350°F
Make your chia eggs:
Combine in small bowl or cup:
2 tablespoons chia seeds
5 tablespoons water
Set aside for 5 minutes
Before:
Top: Dry seeds
Bottom: Right after water is added
After:
Seeds will absorb the water and congeal
Mix together dry ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1.75 cups flour
0.75 cups cocoa powder
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
1.5 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Add and mix:
2 chia eggs
1 cup dairy free milk
1/2 cup oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
Batter will be a little thick at this point
Heat 1 cup of water to boiling (microwave is fine) and add to the mixture.
Mix and scrape down the sides of the bowl until homogenous
The batter will be very thin at this point
Pour the mixture into a well-greased 13x9 baking pan.
Bake for ~25 minutes or until a knife inserted into the cake comes out clean
The thin batter and quick rising cake creates this differential between edges and middle, but this cake is fully baked in the middle and the texture is pretty uniform throughout.
Ok, now let's discuss
There's a couple of factors that make this cake so great despite being vegan. There's no milk or eggs, but you still get a nice rich flavor with lots of sugar and cocoa powder. The Chia eggs also do an excellent job of holding moisture and binding the cake together, like an egg would. You can feel little chia seed texture when you eat it, but it's barely noticeable and honestly the upside way outweighs any concerns from that. I would consider putting chia seeds in a non-vegan dessert.
The protein shake we used for the milk replacement also makes a big difference I'm sure. OWYN has a decent sugar and fat content as well as some nice vanilla flavor that adds some depth. I would hesitate to try other milk alternatives, but I think protein shakes are pretty well suited for this purpose.