This single serving chocolate brownie in a mug recipe is the perfect choice for any time you’re craving a simple gooey chocolate fudge brownie dessert!
Chocolate brownie in a mug
Say hello to a rich, moist, and delicious chocolate treat, ready in under five minutes.
For any true chocolate lover, this dangerously easy chocolate mug brownie for one might become your new favorite recipe, because you can whip it up almost instantly, as soon as a chocolate craving hits.
There’s no need to even heat up an oven!
I’ve made the recipe at least a dozen times over the past month, with no plans to stop. It’s warm, comforting, and so decadent.
You may also like these Black Bean Brownies
The best brownie mug cake
Single serving and easy to make, this decadent chocolate recipe can also be high protein, gluten free, sugar free, and vegan, with no eggs required.
And do you want to know the best part? Unlike many other chocolate brownie mug cake recipes, this one calls for absolutely no box brownie mix!
Feel free to add chocolate chips, or top with Coconut Ice Cream or Keto Ice Cream.
The gooey brownie in a mug was adapted from my healthy chocolate mug cake, which is one of the reader favorite recipes on my site.
To turn it into a single serving brownie, I played around with the ingredient ratios and also added some Dutch cocoa to give it that ultra rich, deep and chocolatey classic brownie flavor.
Also be sure to try this Healthy Banana Bread
Step by step recipe video
Brownie mug cake ingredients
Cocoa powder – The recipe calls for both regular unsweetened cocoa powder or cacao powder and Dutch process cocoa powder.
If you can only find regular cocoa, it still works without Dutch. The brownie mug cake will just not have as much of a rich traditional brownie flavor.
What type of flour? You can use white all purpose flour, whole grain spelt flour, or oat flour. There is also a keto option included in the recipe.
I have not tried almond flour, coconut flour, or whole wheat flour here and therefore cannot recommend those.
Oil or applesauce – The video uses coconut oil, but you can substitute any neutral oil or your favorite healthy nut butter of choice, such as peanut butter or almond butter.
While I prefer using oil instead of a low fat version, many readers have written in to say they love the results when replacing the fat for applesauce or mashed banana. So you can try one of these fat free ideas if you want to experiment.
Flavor variations
Protein Mug Brownie. Simply substitute the tablespoon of cocoa powder with an equal amount of your favorite chocolate protein powder.
Mint Chocolate. Add a few drops of pure peppermint extract (up to 1/4 teaspoon) along with the wet ingredients.
Mocha Brownie. Stir half a teaspoon of instant coffee powder in with the cocoa powder. Or use espresso in place of the milk.
Nutella Mug Brownie. Replace all of the oil with a heaping spoonful of jarred chocolate hazelnut butter or this Homemade Nutella Recipe.
How to make the recipe
To whip up the chocolate dessert, simply stir together the cocoa powder, flour, sugar or sugar free sweetener, baking powder, salt, oil or nut butter, milk of choice, and pure vanilla extract in a in a coffee mug or heat safe dish.
The brownie can be made in a microwave or a conventional oven. Be sure to grease the mug first if you want to remove the cake before eating it.
If you are baking the mug brownie in an oven, preheat it to 350° Fahrenheit or 176 °Celsius. Once it reaches the set temperature, bake the mug cake dessert for fourteen minutes on the center rack of the oven, then let it cool.
Or if you prefer a microwave brownie, place the dish or coffee cup in your microwave and cook until done. Time will depend on your microwave’s wattage.
I cooked my fudgy mug brownie for a minute, followed by two ten-second increments, so the mug dessert will be ready in about eighty or ninety seconds total.
Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to three days.
Wait, what leftovers?
Here’s a vanilla version: Vanilla Mug Cake
Brownie In A Mug
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (5g)
- 2 tsp Dutch cocoa powder or additional unsweetened cocoa powder (4g)
- 3 tbsp flour (22g) (spelt, white, or oat flour, or here’s a Keto Mug Cake Recipe)
- 2 tbsp sugar or xylitol for sugar free (24g)
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp oil or nut butter (12g) (some readers sub applesauce or banana)
- 3 tbsp milk of choice (45g)
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract (3g)
Instructions
- *If you want to remove the brownie mug cake before eating it, be sure to grease the mug before starting. If you can’t find Dutch cocoa, subbing additional regular will still work; it will just have less of a brownie flavor. I haven’t tried subbing applesauce or banana for the fat and therefore can’t vouch for the taste of that substitution.If baking the brownie in a mug, preheat your oven to 350 F. Combine all ingredients in a mug or 1-cup dish (or two 1/2-cup dishes). Either bake around 14 minutes, OR microwave until set. Microwave times will vary depending on wattage and if using one or two dishes – I cooked mine for 1 minute, followed by two 10-second increments. If you try the recipe, be sure to leave a comment or rate it below!View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
More Healthy Chocolate Recipes
Chocolate Truffles – 3 ingredients
This was the best mug brownie I’ve EVER had. It was so moist! I’ve been so skeptical of mug recipes cause many have failed me no matter how hard I tried. Thank you so much!!!!!
Fabulous. Didn’t have patience for oven so made microwave version with regular cocoa, AP flour, brown sugar, sunflower oil, oat milk. I gilded the lily by shoving a tablespoon of chocolate chips into the center after the first 60 seconds (before the last 20 seconds). Sprinkled the top very lightly with flaky salt while I was waiting for it to cool enough not to burn my tongue. Thank you for this! xo
Oooooo, the salt on the top sounds good!
CHOC CHIPS IN THE CENTRE SOUNDS BLOODY GOOD TOO EH! : )
I subbed in almond flour and it made a wonderful lava cake like base which I then topped with chocolate chips. Would highly recommend!!! Thank you Katie!!!
FYI…I timed myself. It took me slightly over four minutes to add the ingredients and one minute, ten seconds to cook in microwave and I had my kitchen cleaned up in the time it was cooking! Yay! So total t Maybe it’s because I love to cook and I do it a lot. By the way I used regular old good quality Cocoa and canola oil. While admittedly it wasn’t as good as a “normal” pan of my brownies, it was super quick and I was having a craving that this satisfied completely. I topped it with a heaping spoonful of cookies and cream ice cream and it was amazing…much better than ANY of the store bought brownie-for-one mixes. This brownie recipe is delicious and I will definitely make again! Thank you for the recipe!
This looks like my go-to chocolate fix. Thank you Katie.
Am I imagining things or was there a mention of a contest by the maker’s of the chocolate chips you used in the recipe? If you wrote something in the comment box that they liked, then they would provide you with a year’s worth of chocolate. Did I read this somewhere else?
Thanks,
Liz
So thankful for your recipes Katie! My son and I love them. He has an egg allergy and your recipes have allowed him to stills enjoy delicious treats 🙂
Same here!
Everything i have on your blog has turned out so good!!! But this has been our favourite! Have made it so many times for friends and family. Everyone loves it. Thank you so much.
I just made this – it was quick and delicious. Measuring was quick and easy – did 1 minute plus 10 seconds – great recipe!
I made this used part gf flour, added a few drops of olive oil and some mashed banana turned out really well. But if you didn’t want chocolate/banana flavor I would do the applesauce next time. I topped it with carmel and chocolate sauce. Delicious!
Had to laugh at the person complaining about the time – my first thought was, damn girl you gotta big kitchen! Took about 5 min start to finish and only dirtied 1 TBL and the mug. Used reg flour, reg cocoa, canola, almond milk, added in a few nuts and a few vegan choc chips. Microwaved for 1 min 30 sec – Surprisingly the texture was really good, more cake like than brownie, but very good. It’s actually fairly rich, so I topped it with almond milk ice cream and only ate half, saved half for later. The TBL of oil is a lot of calories, so going to try either banana or even flax seed/water next time. All in all, a great recipe to satisfy the craving. Thanks!
Just made the chocolate brownie mug cake exactly as recommended.. 1 min in microwave the 2/10 second hits. Came out perfect..I did sprinkle chocolate morsels on top before cooking.
Just made the Nutella version of this… ? so yummy and definitely met my chocolate brownie fix! Thank you!
Excellent! I’ll be making it often =)
It’s delicious!! I substituted the 3 tbs of flour for 4,5 tbs of almondflour. Works out great!
Could you use coconut flour? If so, would it still be 3 tbsp? If you were substituting the applesauce for the oil, would it be the same measurements? Thanks!