If you grew up tearing into a Little Debbie Zebra Cake on the school bus, this one’s for you. These homemade copycat Zebra Cakes have everything you loved about the original, with soft yellow cake, creamy buttercream in the middle, and a coating of vanilla almond bark. But they taste so much better than the store-bought version!
I admit, I have a thing for Little Debbie snack cakes. But once I made these at home, going back to the box felt like a step backward. The cake is moist in a way the store-bought version never quite manages, and the buttercream is rich without being too sweet. And that semisweet chocolate drizzle on top is simply the best.
These are very straightforward to make. Fair warning, though, they do take some time because the assembled cakes need to freeze before you dip them. But every individual step is simple.
There is no fancy equipment or hard-to-find ingredients. It is just a simple yellow cake, a quick buttercream, and a dip in melted almond bark. It is the kind of recipe that looks impressive on a plate but won’t wreck your kitchen or have you pulling your hair out.
Below, I’ll walk you through every step: baking the cakes, making the buttercream filling, dipping them, and getting that signature chocolate stripe on top. Whether you’re making these for a bake sale, a weekend treat, or purely for yourself, they deliver every time.
Looking for more simple and adorable treats? Try my recipes for Rice Krispies Oreo treats, cream cheese puff pastry, or chocolate-covered pretzels.
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Ingredient Notes
For exact amounts needed see the recipe card below
- Yellow cake mix
- Eggs
- Butter
- Milk
- Vanilla extract
- Powdered sugar
- White vanilla almond bark: This is different from white chocolate chips. You’ll find almond bark in the baking aisle, usually in a package or block. It melts smoothly and hardens nicely.
- Semisweet chocolate chips
How to Make Copycat Zebra Cakes
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and grab a large mixing bowl.
- Add your cake mix, milk, melted butter, vanilla, eggs, and an extra egg yolk to the bowl. Mix everything until the batter is completely smooth.
- Line a 9×13-inch baking dish with parchment paper, then spray it with nonstick cooking spray. Pour your batter into the prepared dish and spread it evenly.
- Slide the dish into your preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes. It’s done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for about 15 minutes.
- Lay another piece of parchment paper on a tray, then lift the cake out of the baking dish by grabbing the edges of the parchment paper it baked on. Flip it upside down onto the fresh parchment paper. Place your empty 9×13 dish on top of the cake and press down gently. Leave the dish sitting on top while the cake finishes cooling completely. This flattens any dome and gives you an even surface to work with.
- Once your cake has cooled to room temperature, pop it in the freezer for 1 hour.
- While the cake freezes, make your frosting. Add the softened butter to a large mixing bowl and beat it with a mixer until it’s light and fluffy – this should take about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla extract, then add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Once all the sugar is incorporated, beat the mixture for 3-5 minutes until it’s super creamy. Add the milk and beat until everything is smooth and spreadable.
- Scoop the buttercream into a large ziplock bag, seal it up, and cut a small piece off one corner. Set this aside until your cake is frozen solid.
- Remove the frozen cake from the freezer and use a 3-inch cookie cutter or the rim of a straight-sided cup to cut circles. I usually get about 12 circles from a 9×13 cake. Carefully slice each circle in half horizontally to create two thinner rounds.
- Pick up one of your sliced cake rounds and pipe the buttercream in a spiral on top, starting from the center and working your way out to the edges. Place the top half back on and press down gently to create a sandwich. The frosting should spread to the edges but not squish out. Place each assembled cake back on your parchment-lined tray and repeat with all the others. Stick the whole tray back in the freezer while you melt the chocolate.
- Add the white vanilla almond bark to a large microwave-safe bowl and microwave it, stirring every 30 seconds, until it’s completely melted and smooth. In a separate small microwave-safe bowl, melt the semisweet chocolate chips the same way. Transfer the melted chocolate to a small ziplock bag and snip off a tiny corner.
- Pull your cakes out of the freezer and work quickly. Pick up one cake by placing your thumb on the bottom and your index finger on the top. Dip the sides into the white almond bark, rotating the cake until all the sides are completely coated. The frozen cake helps the coating set up almost immediately. Place it back on the parchment paper and repeat with the rest.
- Take a large spoon, scoop up some of the melted almond bark, and pour it over the top of each cake. You can gently smooth it out with the back of a spoon, but the coating usually settles nicely on its own.
- The white coating should harden almost right away on those frozen cakes. Take your bag of melted semisweet chocolate and pipe wavy lines or stripes across the tops of the cakes to create that classic zebra pattern.
Serving Ideas
These copycat zebra cakes are so good that they rarely make it past the first day in my house. My kids see them sitting in the fridge, and they disappear! These cakes have that nostalgic, lunchbox-snack vibe, so they’re perfect alongside your morning coffee or an afternoon glass of cold milk.
You don’t need to dress these up much. Pop one on a plate and call it dessert. The moist yellow cake, creamy buttercream, and chocolate-vanilla coating do all the heavy lifting for you. The cakes travel well and look impressive sitting on a dessert table.
How to Store
Store your finished zebra cakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2 days. They’ll stay moist, and the coating stays firm, which means you get that satisfying bite every single time. I like using a shallow container so they don’t get squished under other items.
Once you’ve dipped them and drizzled on the chocolate, skip the freezer. The almond bark coating can get weird and crumbly if you freeze it after assembly. Stick with the fridge instead.
Tips & Tricks
Be sure to check out the step by step instructions
- When you dip a room-temperature cake into melted chocolate, you’re basically asking for a mess. The frozen cake holds together beautifully and delivers clean, professional-looking edges.
- Once you pull those little cake sandwiches out of the freezer, you’ve got about 10-15 minutes before they start to soften. I like to have my almond bark already melted, and my chocolate piped into that ziplock bag before I even open the freezer door.
- If your cake comes out with a dome on top (and most do), resting the pan on top flattens it. If it doesn’t have a dome you can skip that step.
- I’ve used everything from cookie cutters to the rim of a sturdy glass for this. My favorite is a 3-inch round cookie cutter with a sharp edge. Press straight down and twist slightly. You’ll get cleaner cuts that way.
- I know that the cake mix box has instructions on the back. Ignore them. We’re not making a regular sheet cake here; it needs to be sturdier for dipping.
Reader Questions
Absolutely! While the classic Zebra Cake is yellow all the way through, I’ve made these with chocolate cake mix, and they were incredible. You could even try Funfetti for a party version. Just stick with the same measurements, and you’ll be good.
White chocolate chips will work, though you might want to add a tablespoon of vegetable oil to help thin it out for dipping. Almond bark sets up firmer and has that classic coating texture.
Almost anything! I’ve crumbled them into yogurt, made cake pops, frozen them for later trifles, or just eaten them straight with a cup of coffee. My kids fight over them, honestly.
While homemade buttercream tastes better and has a better texture, you could use store-bought frosting if you prefer. Just make sure it’s a thicker frosting that won’t squish out when you assemble the cakes.
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Copycat Zebra Cakes
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 box yellow cake mix 15 ounces
- ¾ cup milk
- ½ cup butter melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 eggs
- 1 egg yolk
Frosting
- ½ cup butter softened to room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 24 ounces white vanilla almond bark
- ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and get a large mixing bowl.
- Add the cake mix, milk, melted butter, vanilla, 3 eggs, and the egg yolk, and mix until there are no dry bits left and it’s smooth.1 box yellow cake mix, ¾ cup milk, ½ cup butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 3 eggs, 1 egg yolk
- Line a 9×13-inch baking dish with parchment paper and spray it with nonstick cooking spray. Pour the batter into the lined baking dish.
- Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes clean when you poke it. Let the cake cool for 15 minutes.
- Place another piece of parchment paper on a tray, lift the cake out of the dish by grabbing the sides of the parchment paper, and then flip the cake upside down onto the parchment paper you laid out. Place the 9×13 on top of the cake and press down slightly; let the dish rest on top while it continues to cool completely.
- Once it’s cool, place the cake in the freezer for 1 hour. Make the buttercream while waiting.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the softened butter and beat with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time. Beat again for around 3-5 minutes. Add milk and beat again.½ cup butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 3 cups powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons milk
- Scoop the frosting into a large ziplock bag, seal it, and cut a small piece off the corner of the bag. Set it aside until the cake is frozen.
- Once the cake is frozen, remove it and cut it into 3-inch circles. A cookie cutter or a straight-edged cup will work. Cut the circles in half to make two thinner circles.
- Pipe the icing in a circle on top of one of the sliced circle cakes, then place the top back on and press down slightly to make a sandwich. Place back on the parchment paper-lined tray. Repeat with the others. Place back in the freezer while you melt the chocolate.
- In a large microwaveable bowl, add the almond bark and stir every 30 seconds until melted. In another small microwaveable bowl, add the semisweet chocolate and stir every 30 seconds until melted. Put the chocolate in a small zip-lock bag and cut off a tiny piece of the corner.24 ounces white vanilla almond bark, ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
- Take the cakes out of the freezer, pick one up by holding a thumb on the bottom and your index finger on the top, and dip the sides into the white almond bark; twist until all the sides are coated. Place on the parchment paper and repeat with the others.
- Take a large spoon and scoop a bit of almond bark, then pour it on top of the cakes and lightly smooth it out if needed.
- It should harden right away. Take the semisweet chocolate and make zebra strips or wavy lines across the tops of the cakes. Allow it to harden and then serve and enjoy!!
Notes
- When you dip a room-temperature cake into melted chocolate, you’re basically asking for a mess. The frozen cake holds together beautifully and delivers clean, professional-looking edges.
- Once you pull those little cake sandwiches out of the freezer, you’ve got about 10-15 minutes before they start to soften. I like to have my almond bark already melted, and my chocolate piped into that ziplock bag before I even open the freezer door.
- If your cake comes out with a dome on top (and most do), resting the pan on top flattens it. If it doesn’t have a dome you can skip that step.
- I’ve used everything from cookie cutters to the rim of a sturdy glass for this. My favorite is a 3-inch round cookie cutter with a sharp edge. Press straight down and twist slightly. You’ll get cleaner cuts that way.
- Ignore the instructions on the back of the cake box. We’re not making a regular sheet cake here; it needs to be sturdier for dipping.
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition facts are estimates.
