Vegan Chocolate Chip Crumb Cake

This vegan chocolate chip cake is moist, delicious, and topped with a cinnamon brown sugar crumb topping. An absolute slice of heaven that’s perfect with a cup of tea or coffee!

Do you have a favorite variety of cake? I’m pretty partial to vegan chocolate cake, but I can’t really call it a favorite. I love them all! Vanilla cake has such a wonderful mellow sweetness, coffee cake has the delicious crumble topping, and spice cake has it’s cinnamony goodness.

Well I might have just found a favorite. This vegan chocolate chip cake has all the wonderful elements of each of those cakes going for it: a sweet vanilla base, studded with chocolate chips and baked up with a cinnamon crumble topping. All of those things are delicious, and when they’re combined in this cake they’re absolutely amazing!

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Ingredients You’ll Need

Flour. This recipe calls for all-purpose wheat flour, also known as white flour. I haven’t tested it using other types of flour, but I think whole wheat pastry flour or spelt flour should work. An all-purpose gluten-free flour blend is probably your best bet if you need to keep the cake gluten-free.
Brown sugar. Use organic sugar in order to keep the recipe vegan.
Cinnamon.
Salt.
Vegan butter. Most grocery stores sell vegan butter near the regular butter. Look for popular brands like Earth Balance, Melt, and Miyoko’s.
Vegan yogurt. Vegan yogurt makes a great egg substitute in cakes (see how it stacked up against other egg replacers in this comparison). Here we’re also using it to stand in for ingredients like sour cream that you’d find in lots of non-vegan crumb-style cake recipes. Use any variety that’s unflavored and unsweetened.
Vegetable oil. Use your favorite baking oil. Corn oil, melted coconut oil, and canola oil are all fine options.
Non-dairy milk. Use any non-dairy milk suitable for drinking, as long as it’s unsweetened and unflavored. Almond milk, soy milk, oat milk, and cashew milk are all great options. Read my guide to dairy-free milks if you need help choosing one.
Vanilla extract.
Sugar. This needs to be organic, just like the brown sugar does.
Baking powder.
Baking soda.
Vegan chocolate chips. I used Enjoy Life Baking Morsels, but any brand of vegan chocolate chips will do, and you can use any size, from big chunks to mini morsels.

How It’s Made

The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you’d like to skip right to the recipe!

Bowl of crumble topping with a pastry cutter.

Make the crumble topping. Mix flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt, then add cold vegan butter. Cut it in with a pastry cutter (or fork) until it resembles coarse crumbs. Stick it in the fridge while you make the batter.

Wet ingredients for cake batter in a liquid measuring cup.

Stir the wet ingredients together in a small container, such as a liquid measuring cup: yogurt, oil, milk and vanilla.

Tip: Make sure your wet ingredients are at room temperature before using them in this recipe. The same goes for pretty much all baked good recipes, unless otherwise specified.

Bowl of dry ingredients for cake batter with whisk.

Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

Cake batter in a bowl with wooden spoon.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and stir everything up just until the batter is mixed. Don’t overdo it!

Bowl of cake batter with chocolate chips in it.

Fold the chocolate chips into the batter, being careful not to disturb it too much when stirring.

Unbaked Vegan Chocolate Chip Crumb Cake in a cake pan.

Transfer the batter to an oiled 9 x 13 inch baking pan, then sprinkle the crumble topping over it. Pop your cake in the oven.

Tip: Prefer to make this cake without the topping? Go for it! It’ll probably bake up quicker, so start checking it around the 25 minute mark. Vegan chocolate buttercream frosting would make an excellent alterative topping.

Slice of Vegan Chocolate Chip Crumb Cake on a cake server.

The cake is done when the crumble topping is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Shelf-Life & Storage

Leftover vegan chocolate chip cake will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 to 4 days, in the fridge for about a week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

More Vegan Cake Recipes

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Vegan Chocolate Chip Crumb Cake

This vegan chocolate chip cake is moist, delicious, and topped with a cinnamon brown sugar crumb topping. An absolute slice of heaven that’s perfect with a cup of tea or coffee!

Ingredients

For the Crumb Topping

1
cup
all-purpose flour
½
cup
organic brown sugar
1
teaspoon
ground cinnamon
¼
teaspoon
salt
½
cup
vegan butter,
chilled

For the Cake

1
cup
unflavored vegan yogurt
¾
cup
vegetable oil
¾
cup
unsweetened and unflavored non-dairy milk
2
teaspoons
vanilla extract
2 ¼
cups
all-purpose flour
1 ¼
cup
organic granulated sugar
2
teaspoons
baking powder
½
teaspoon
baking soda
½
teaspoon
ground cinnamon
½
teaspoon
salt
9
ounces
vegan chocolate chips
(about 1 ½ cups)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350° and lightly oil a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.
To make the crumble topping, first stir together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Cut the butter into about 8 slices, then add them to the mixture. Cut the butter in using a pastry cutter (or fork), until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Place the crumb topping into the fridge to chill while you make the batter.
Stir the yogurt, oil, milk and vanilla together in a small container, such as a liquid measuring cup.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
Pour the yogurt mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients, then stir everything together until combined.
Fold in the chocolate chips.
Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan, then sprinkle the crumble topping over it.
Bake the cake until the topping is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 40 to 45 minutes.
Place the cake on a cooling rack and let it cool completely before slicing and serving.