People say this fudgy chocolate mug cake recipe is the best mug cake they’ve ever tried. And you can make it in the microwave or oven!
The best chocolate cake in a mug
This is the chocolate mug cake recipe for chocolate lovers.
Rich, decadent, and delicious, the recipe has over two thousand positive reviews from readers who’ve made the chocolate cake and absolutely love it.
So if you’ve been disappointed with other chocolate mug cake recipes in the past, definitely be sure to give this one a try, because it will not disappoint!
Readers also love this Brownie in a Mug
Microwave chocolate mug cake recipe
I could tell you that I labored in front of a hot oven all day baking this cake.
But the reality is that the chocolate mug cake took only one minute.
Yes, really.
And it is made with pantry staple ingredients you can always keep on hand, with no eggs required.
Any time you are craving chocolate, now all you have to do is head to the kitchen and whip up this easy chocolate dessert in the microwave.
You can even portion out the dry ingredients ahead of time and store the chocolate cake mix in small Ziploc bags so the recipe will be even quicker to make when you’re ready to eat.
It’s like chocolate cake meal prep!
For a larger version, try this Vegan Chocolate Cake
Chocolate mug cake flavors
Chocolate Peanut Butter: Omit the oil in the recipe below, and stir in one or two tablespoons of peanut butter (or almond butter) in its place.
Nutella Mug Cake: Instead of oil, add a tablespoon of your favorite chocolate hazelnut spread. I like this Homemade Nutella Recipe. Top with more Nutella!
Chocolate Peppermint: Stir a fourth teaspoon of pure peppermint extract into the liquid ingredients before stirring everything together to form a batter.
Dark Chocolate Coconut: Use coconut oil, and top the finished mug cake with dark chocolate chips, shredded coconut, and a scoop of Coconut Ice Cream.
Mocha Mug Cake: Stir half a teaspoon of instant coffee granules, regular or decaf, in with the cake’s dry ingredients.
Chocolate Orange: Add one teaspoon of orange zest to the mug before stirring.
What is your dream single serving mug cake flavor? If there are any other ideas you’d like to see that I do not have listed above, definitely let me know!
Frosting options
Feel free to decorate your single serving chocolate cake with shredded coconut, chopped walnuts or pecans, mini chocolate chips, hot fudge sauce or caramel sauce.
I used this homemade Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting.
Or you can frost the cake however you wish, such as with store bought or homemade vanilla or chocolate frosting, powdered sugar or melted chocolate, sliced bananas, strawberries, cherries, blueberries, or raspberry jam.
It’s also wonderful topped with Coconut Whipped Cream or Almond Milk Ice Cream.
Chocolate mug cake recipe video
Above, watch the step-by-step video
How to make a chocolate mug cake
Step One: Start by combining all of the dry ingredients in a cereal bowl or small dish. Stir very well, to ensure the salt and baking powder are evenly distributed.
Step Two: Add liquid, stir to form a chocolate cake batter, and pour the batter into a microwave or oven safe dish, ramekin, or coffee mug.
Especially if you are not planning to eat the cake straight out of the mug, be sure to grease the dish well before adding the batter.
Step Three: Microwave for thirty to forty seconds. Mine is always fluffy and cooked through after this time, but you may need to cook longer depending on your microwave’s wattage.
Or bake the mug cake in the oven for fourteen minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out mostly clean.
Step Four: Frost the top of the chocolatey dessert and enjoy. To store leftovers… Wait, what leftovers?
Mug cake recipe ingredients
Here’s what you need to make the single serving recipe: cocoa, flour, sweetener, salt, baking powder, milk of choice, pure vanilla extract, and oil or banana.
Cocoa powder – Use regular unsweetened cocoa powder for the first tablespoon of cocoa. Dutch cocoa powder, hot chocolate mix, or additional regular unsweetened cocoa can be used for the two teaspoons.
Flour – The recipe works well with white flour, oat flour, all purpose gluten free flour, or spelt flour (my personal preference). I have not tried it with any other options such as whole wheat flour or pastry flour.
A keto mug cake version with almond flour is also included in the recipe box below.
Sweetener – This can be granulated sugar or unrefined coconut sugar or a liquid option like pure maple syrup or honey.
For a sugar free mug cake, use xylitol or granulated erythritol. Stevia technically works, but the flavor and texture are better if you go with one of the other options listed here.
Fat source – I think the cake tastes best made with coconut oil. My second favorite choice is peanut butter or almond butter. Vegetable oil is also fine to use.
If you want a low fat or fat free mug cake, many readers have written in to say it works to substitute applesauce, Greek yogurt, sweet potato, pumpkin, or mashed banana. I much prefer the taste with some fat added, but that is a personal taste preference.
Vegan chocolate mug cake
The mug cake is already naturally eggless, which means it is super easy to create a dairy free and vegan version.
Just use a plant based milk, such as coconut milk, soy milk, or almond milk. If topping with chocolate chips, ice cream, or frosting, choose vegan options for those as well.
For a gluten free chocolate mug cake, use either oat flour or gluten free all purpose flour. If you experiment with any other gluten free flours, let me know how it goes.
You may also like these Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate Mug Cake
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- 2 tsp Dutch cocoa powder or additional regular
- 3 tbsp flour spelt, white, oat, or all purpose gluten free (or try this Keto Mug Cake Recipe)
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp sweetener of choice
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 2 1/2 tsp oil or nut butter (While I much prefer the version with fat, many commenters say they love substituting applesauce or mashed banana here)
- 3 tbsp milk of choice
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- How to make a chocolate mug cake recipe: Combine dry ingredients and mix very, very well. Add liquid, stir, then transfer to a little dish, ramekin, or even a coffee mug. Either microwave 30-60 seconds (time will depend on your microwave's wattage) OR cook in a preheated 350 F oven for about 14 minutes. If you don’t want to eat it straight out of the dish, be sure to spray your dish first and then wait for the mug cake to cool before trying to remove it. Frosting ideas are listed above in the post!View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
Easy Chocolate Dessert Recipes
Hi Katie,
I just made this cake using Garbanzo flour and it came out amazing! The garbanzo flour I used was a bit gritty and made the cake denser than probably most people would like, but I didn’t mind at all. Adding the raw chocolate frosting made it so decadent, and I was surprised to find I couldn’t even finish the serving! thanks for sharing.
I’m eating this as I type, and it is delicious! Came to the light, fluffy consistency of fresh chocolate cake- I couldn’t even wait for it to cool to eat. Especially great since I use Nesquick as my makeshift cocoa powder haha (:
Just tried this and all I can tell you is that I’m almost in tears 🙂 I’ve been eating clean for 6 weeks trying to lose 135 pounds…36 down and 99 to go…this site is a GODSEND! Honestly….there’s not one bit of guilt and 100% of the pleasure of eating a dessert. Thanks so much! There are so many things I cannot wait to try, in moderation 🙂
Aw so glad you liked it!
Hi Katie!
I am posting again, because I am very curious to have an answer to my doubt, since I loved very much this recipe and want to make it almost everyday! heheeh 🙂
Well, thing is I used WHOLE (not regular) spelt flour… and could feel a strange sensation… like it would “burn” my mouth… “sticky”…very strange! Although the cake was good! I thought it could be too much cocoa, but then I made it again using regular white flour (italian 00). It didn’t have that sensation anymore (although consistence changed completely! it was better first!).
Well, I made a test trying to taste the whole spelt flour and could sense that “acidity”… perhaps that’s the thing! Then I thought maybe adding some baking soda could help to reduce it!
What you think?
Thank you very much!!
Sorry, I really don’t know. I use spelt flour in baking all the time and have never experienced the sensation you’re talking about. Maybe your flour is bad? That’s the only thing I can guess!
Hi Katie! My husband says that WHOLE flours have the tendency to have a stronger taste, bit acid… I think it is this! Maybe I will buy the regular spelt one and give it a try!
Thanks anyway!
I actually buy whole-grain spelt. But maybe there’s a difference in the US? Good luck, in any case!!
Hi Katie!
I just made it again tonight adding baking soda and less cocoa… Didn’t feel that burning sensation anymore! Well, I dont know what it could have been, but it seems it is ok now!!! 🙂
Hey there,
I’ve read a few of your blog posts and recipes and see that your health and the health of your readers is very important to you. That being so, I’m writing to inform you of the hazards of using a microwave as instructed in this recipe. Microwaves are actually illegal in many countries whose governments are less influenced by industry. They vibrate polar molecules in the food, like water, some amino acids, and manyother, and this vibration is what heats the food. The problem is that the vibration overloads the structural integrity of the molecules and they break. Fracturing nutrients not only lowers the nutritional content of the food, but having these broken food complexes in your blood stream confuses your immune system and your white blood cells spike to cells similar to late-stage leukemia. You can form antibodies to these damage food complexes and since they are similar to tissues in our own body, this increases the likelihood of developing an autoimmune disorder. Also, studies have been preformed on plants in which one group of plants were watered with fresh water and the other group (of the same species of plant) with water that had been microwaved then left to cool. It showed that plants given microwaved water died after nine days while the others lived on long after. Technically nothing was different about the water. Microwaving does something to food and water on an energetic level that is deadly to anything that consumes it.
So, I’d recommend destroying your microwave, it’s not worth the convenience.
These are urban legends. Microwaves have not been banned from any countries.
http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4080
http://www.snopes.com/science/microwave/plants.asp
Sorry, but this is silly and not true at all.
So delish!! I added a few drops of peppermint extract. YUM! Thank you for giving me a quick and easy guilt free dessert! xx
OMG. I have been hunting for a simple and delicious quick chocolate cake. I’ve tried about 3 other recipes so far and by far this is the most simple and the absolute most delicious. It tastes like a fudgy brownie. I did use a different frosting made with confectioners sugar, cocoa, and milk.
So Katie,
You wouldn’t happen to have the measurements for this recipe for a bigger cake, would you?
I love how this tastes…and I would be able to share with a full size cake!
Elena
Sorry, I don’t!
You could probably just scale it up for a bigger cake–if this makes one serving and you want to make a cake with 8-12 servings, you could multiply everything by that amount (and for the teaspoon/tablespoon/cup conversion, some helpful hints: There are 3 teaspoons in a tablespoon and 16 tablespoons in a cup). Hope this helps!
This is probably me stating the obvious (I’ve been told I do that a lot, hehe), but I doubt a larger cake would still work in the microwave. I would guess if you do make a scaled-up version you can look up the oven baking temp / time for a similar-sized cake as a starting point and then check it frequently. Good luck!
Hi Katie,
I just wanted to let you know I made this cake for my husband and myself. It was one of the best chocolate cakes I have ever had in terms of flavor, ease of preparation and serving size. Thank you so much. I really find your blog valuable. I am a weightlifter and stick to a very strict diet. I have weekly cheat meals but often prefer to opt for a healthier option. I have found your recipes to be perfect for this, especially all the single servings (no left overs to tempt me).
Hooray! This totally saved me from unhealthy snacking last night. I used dark cocoa powder, 2 tbsp whole wheat flour and 1 tbsp cake flour, applesauce instead of oil, and added maybe 20 mini chocolate chips before micro-ing the whole shabang. Reminded me of a lava cake in a mug. I’m making it for my husband tonight too, he was jealous 🙂 Yummy, yummy, yummy. Thank you!!