Chocolate Crunch Cake Recipe
I first made this cake a couple of days before the family and I left for the lake cabin. We rented it for the last week of summer. I didn’t want to cook for long hours in the kitchen. I also didn’t want to take away time from swimming with my kiddos. So, I made many dishes ahead of time, including this exceptional Chocolate Crunch Cake dessert. I made it in a deep aluminum casserole dish. The dish came with a plastic lid. It was perfect for baking. It also made transferring to the cabin neat and easy.
We recently had family come up to the cabin, and let me tell you—this dessert didn’t stand a chance. It disappeared almost as quickly as I set it on the table. Every single person who grabbed a slice had something to say, and the compliments just kept rolling in. They absolutely raved about it. Before long, we were all gathered around brainstorming fun ways to switch it up next time. It turns out this dessert is wonderfully adaptable. You can keep the same easy, irresistible base. Simply mix and match different candies, toppings, and icing flavors to create brand-new versions. The possibilities are surprisingly endless. Below are several creative ideas for how you can change things up and make this dessert your own.
Crunch Cake Variations & Tips
LOW to NO SUGAR: Substitute white granulated sugar and powdered sugar for Swerve Sugar Substitute Sweetener. I can do this with a 1:1 ratio. I have used Swerve often, and the cake comes out wonderful. You can also use Jell-O Sugar Free Instant Pudding in place of regular-flavored mixes.
CANDY BAR VARIETY: Add your favorite candy bar topping to the crunch topping. The picture above shows mint chocolates candy pieces sprinkled on top. M&M’S MINIS, Heath Bar pieces, or KIT KAT chunks would work great for this recipe. You can even fold in some candies into the cake batter before baking.
FLAVORED ICING: I like to give a distinct flavor to the icing. To do this, I substitute the milk in the icing with flavored coffee creamer. In the picture above, I used COFFEE-MATE Peppermint Mocha coffee creamer instead of milk.
CHANGE CRUNCH TOPPING FLAVORS: Pudding mix makes up the majority of the crunch coating. It provides the flavor as well. This makes it easy to change the flavors. Use Oreo Cookies ‘N Cream pudding with crushed Oreos, or Cheesecake Pudding flavor with Graham cracker bits on top.
SAVE FOR LATER: Chocolate crunch cake can be fully made and frozen for up to six months to enjoy later.
Similar chocolate recipes to try
Cost to make recipe
Coming Soon
Recipe adapted
My chocolate crunch cake is a Vintage Mountain Homestead original recipe. All images and text are original to this website. Please visit our disclaimer page for more information.
Chocolate Crunch Cake
Ingredients
Vanilla and Chocolate Crunch Coating
- 1 stick butter, cold & divided…[$1.00]
- 1 package chocolate pudding mix, …[$1.00]
- 1 package vanilla pudding mix, …[$1.00]
- 1 cup all purpose flour, divided…[$
Chocolate Pudding Cake
- 2 cups white granulated sugar, …[$
- 1¾ cups all purpose flour, …[$
- ¾ cup cocoa powder, …[$
- 1 package chocolate pudding mix, …[$
- 2 tsp baking powder, …[$
- 1 tsp baking soda, …[$
- 1 tsp salt, …[$
- 2 large eggs, …[$
- 1 cup milk, …[$
- ½ cup vegetable oil, …[$
- 2 tsp vanilla extract, …[$
- 1 cup boiling water, …[$
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- 1 stick butter, softened…[$1.00]
- 3 cups confectioners sugar, …[$
- 3 Tbsp milk, …[$
Instructions
Vanilla and Chocolate Crunch Coating
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with foil or use a silicone mat.
- Divide the stick of butter in half and place each half into two separate bowls. I designated one bowl for vanilla and the other chocolate.
- Pour the entire vanilla pudding mix contents into one bowl. Then pour the entire chocolate pudding mix contents into the other bowl.
- Put ½ cup of flour into the vanilla bowl and ½ cup of flour into the chocolate bowl.
- Blend with your hands each bowl separately until you get a crumble mixture. Then crumble both bowls contents onto the baking sheet and bake for 7 minutes. Stir the crumbles around and bake for another 7 minutes.
- Take out of the oven, place in a container, and set in the refrigerator to cool down while you make the cake and frosting.
Chocolate Pudding Cake
- In a large bowl, put all dry cake ingredients together and mix until uniform.
- Add all the wet cake ingredients to the dry and blend.
- Grease a 9×13 baking pan and pour cake batter evenly in. Bake at 350°F for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Take out of the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- Blend all frosting ingredients together until it reached a smooth consistency. Add more milk or sugar to receive the desired smoothness and spreadable.
Putting It All Together
- When cake is cooled enough to touch, smear on all frosting, then sprinkle on the crunch later. Eat and enjoy!
- Save for later. The completed cake is freezable for six months.
Chocolate Crunch Cake
Ingredients
Vanilla and Chocolate Crunch Coating
- 1 stick butter, cold & divided…[$1.00]
- 1 package chocolate pudding mix, …[$1.00]
- 1 package vanilla pudding mix, …[$1.00]
- 1 cup all purpose flour, divided…[$
Chocolate Pudding Cake
- 2 cups white granulated sugar, …[$
- 1¾ cups all purpose flour, …[$
- ¾ cup cocoa powder, …[$
- 1 package chocolate pudding mix, …[$
- 2 tsp baking powder, …[$
- 1 tsp baking soda, …[$
- 1 tsp salt, …[$
- 2 large eggs, …[$
- 1 cup milk, …[$
- ½ cup vegetable oil, …[$
- 2 tsp vanilla extract, …[$
- 1 cup boiling water, …[$
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- 1 stick butter, softened…[$1.00]
- 3 cups confectioners sugar, …[$
- 3 Tbsp milk, …[$
Instructions
Vanilla and Chocolate Crunch Coating
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with foil or use a silicone mat.
- Divide the 1 stick butter in half and place each half into two separate bowls.
- Pour 1 package chocolate pudding mix into one bowl. Then pour the entire 1 package vanilla pudding mix into the other bowl.
- Put ½ cup of 1 cup all purpose flour into the vanilla bowl and the other half into the chocolate bowl.
- Blend with your hands each bowl separately until you get a crumble mixture. Then crumble both bowls contents onto the baking sheet and bake for 7 minutes. Stir the crumbles around and bake for another 7 minutes.
- Take out of the oven, place in a container, and set in the refrigerator to cool down while you make the cake and frosting.
Chocolate Pudding Cake
- In a large bowl, put all dry cake ingredients (2 cups white granulated sugar, 1¾ cups all purpose flour, ¾ cup cocoa powder, 1 package chocolate pudding mix, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, and 1 tsp salt) together and mix until uniform.
- Add all wet cake ingredients (2 large eggs, 1 cup milk, ½ cup vegetable oil, 2 tsp vanilla extract, and 1 cup boiling water) to the dry ingredients bowl and blend.
- Grease a 9×13 baking pan and pour cake batter evenly. Bake at 350°F for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Take out of the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- Blend all frosting ingredients together (1 stick butter, 3 cups confectioners sugar, and 3 Tbsp milk) until a smooth consistency has been reached. Add more milk or sugar to receive the desired smoothness and spreadable.
Putting It All Together
- When cake is cooled enough to touch, smear on all frosting then sprinkle on the crunch later. Eat and Enjoy!
- Save for later. The completed cake is freezable for six months.
I made this cake last week and it turned out great! Super tasty and easy to make. This is one of my favorite cake recipes. Thank you.