A soft and fluffy single serving carrot cake in a mug is the perfect easy dessert for Easter, or for any other day of the year too!
Why you’ll love this carrot mug cake recipe
- It tastes like restaurant style carrot cake packed with sweet carrots and cinnamon, in the convenient form of a portion controlled mug cake.
- Whip up the entire cake in under five minutes, with no oven required.
- Dairy free, egg free, high protein, high in vitamin A, and just 120 calories.
- Enjoy as a quick and healthy snack, or add frosting and toppings and serve for a decadent after dinner treat. A single serving carrot cake recipe that’s made in the oven or microwave and is secretly good for you? It doesn’t get much better than that!
Also try this reader favorite Chocolate Mug Cake
Step by step recipe video
Carrot cake in a mug ingredients
Flour – You need a fourth cup of flour. I like whole grain spelt flour because it adds nutrition and gives you a lighter texture than whole wheat flour.
Oat flour, cup-for-cup gluten free flour, or white all purpose flour work as well. Almond flour does technically work, but the cake will crumble so it is best to eat this low carb version straight from the mug.
Carrots – It sounds funny, but the easiest option is to buy carrot puree in the baby food aisle of your local grocery store. Alternatively, you can puree canned carrots or steam and then puree peeled fresh carrots in a food processor.
Sweetener – Choose any granulated sugar or granulated sugar free substitute. I like to use minimally processed or unrefined sugar, such as turbinado. White sugar, coconut sugar, or xylitol are also good options. Substituting pure maple syrup or honey will yield a somewhat gummy texture, so keep that in mind if you wish to use a liquid sweetener.
Milk of choice – Use any milk in your refrigerator, including plant based varieties like almond milk or coconut milk. You will also need a tablespoon of oil (coconut oil or vegetable oil), almond butter, or an additional tablespoon of milk for a low fat mug cake.
Vanilla – Look for pure vanilla extract instead of imitation, because it gives you the most natural vanilla flavor. If using vanilla flavored milk, you may omit the vanilla extract.
Spices and dry ingredients – The recipe also calls for half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon, a fourth teaspoon of baking powder to help with rising, and an eighth teaspoon each of salt and baking soda. Feel free to throw in a small pinch of ground nutmeg or ginger if desired.
How to make the cake
- Begin by greasing a small mug or two small ramekins well. Set aside.
- If you want to bake the mug cake in an oven instead of a microwave, preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit or 176° Celsius.
- Add the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, sugar or sweetener, and salt directly into the mug. Stir very well. (If using ramekins instead of a mug, simply combine all ingredients in a cereal sized bowl, then smooth the batter into the prepared dishes.)
- Now stir in the milk, optional oil or almond butter, vanilla extract, and pureed carrots until just evenly mixed.
- Microwave on high power until soft and fluffy. Time will vary by wattage of your machine, and mine takes around two minutes total. Alternatively, bake in an oven safe dish for fifteen minutes or until fully cooked in the center.
- Enjoy straight from the mug. Or let the carrot mug cake cool before going around the sides with a knife to pop the cake out onto a plate.
- If you want to make a cute double layer cake, carefully slice through the middle and frost each layer. Garnish with shredded carrot, diced pecans or walnuts, and raisins as you wish.
Frosting the mini carrot cake
The recipe tastes amazing topped with Coconut Butter or Coconut Whipped Cream.
Or I like to make a basic cream cheese frosting recipe by whipping 2 ounces cream cheese with 1 ounce butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar or monk fruit, 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, and a few drops milk of choice if needed. (Use plant based cream cheese and butter for a vegan cream cheese frosting.)
This is simply a small batch of the frosting I use on my Carrot Cake Bars.
Carrot cake and frosting are meant for each other. But it need not be cream cheese! You can use almond butter, cashew butter, vanilla yogurt, or a dusting of powdered sugar if preferred.
Carrot Cake In A Mug
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup flour (30g) (or here's a Keto Carrot Cake)
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp sugar or sugar free xylitol (24g)
- 3 tbsp cup carrot puree (jarred or steamed from fresh) (45g)
- 1 tbsp water (15g)
- 1 tbsp oil or almond butter, or additional water (15g)
- 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- 1. Grease a small mug or two small ramekins well.
- 2. If baking in the oven instead of a microwave mug cake, preheat the oven to to 350° Fahrenheit (176° Celsius).
- 3. Stir dry ingredients in a cereal bowl or directly in the mug. Then stir in wet ingredients until evenly mixed.
- 4. Microwave on high until soft and fluffy. Time will vary based on wattage. Mine takes around 2 minutes. Or bake in an oven safe dish for 15 minutes or until cooked through the center.
- 5. Enjoy hot out of the mug, or allow the cake to cool before going around the sides with a knife and popping onto a plate.
- 6. For a fun double layer carrot cake in a mug, slice through the middle and frost with cream cheese frosting (recipe included above). Garnish with shredded carrots, chopped walnuts, and raisins if desired.
Video
Notes
More easy mug desserts
I just whipped up one of these guys and it was spot-on! I used 2 Tbsp of egg beaters and coconut milk (no oil). My success with the texture of mug cakes has been a bit spotty, so i opted for the oven. i divided it into 2 ramekins and they tool about 18 minutes, plus 20 minutes of cooling time. It ended up moist and very cake like! I went for some Greek yogurt mixed with vanilla and powdered sugar for frosting. Totally satisfied my cravings! I’ve made 5 CCK recipes in the last week or so, and I must say I’m hooked. Thanks, Katie!
Would it be possible to do it flourless? Subbing in chickpeas? Have you tried that? I’m really curious if it would work. Please let me know! I’m dying to find a way to do some fast, single-serving desserts without flour!
Wow! totally tasty & easy; my picky 7 yr old declared this his favorite dessert : )
I subbed apple sauce for the oil, flax for egg, pumpkin instead of carrot, and I used coconut sugar. It came out the consistency of a mousse or cobbler instead of a cake, but it was amazing. Next time I will add raisins and zap it for maybe 15 seconds longer in the ‘wave. Perfection once again Katie!
Cassandra, I just noticed your post & you might want to try flax meal or almond meal instead of traditional flour. I used almond and it came out great but I sub in flax often in many recipes and it usually works well. If you try it let us know!
These cupcakes are amazing! I’ve made them all for my mom and this was definitely her favorite one!
Made these at a friend’s house yesterday, and she didn’t have flour. (I know, what?) So we ended up making our own oat flour and using frozen (and then steamed) carrots. SO DELICIOUS. We made several each and ate with vanilla ice cream….it was absolutely fantastic.
This was really good! I used the flax, milk and coconut oil, and I used 1/3 cup of fresh grated carrot. Because I used a fresh carrot, I had to add a little more almond milk (maybe another tablespoon or so). I also went with just the 1.5 T brown sugar and then a half a packet of stevia. It was delicious!
Now you really struck the right “chord.” THANK YOU!!!! I am not a chocolate lover and this IS my favorite.
Hi, Katie.
I am going to make this little carrot, but i have a question. Would coconut oil work? Also, can i cream coconut oil in its solid state just like butter if i’m using it in a recipe that calls for that? I have just purchased coconut oil for the first time ever and have been wondering about that…
Thanks,
Sharon
http://www.thequarterinchshop.etsy.com
Coconut oil will work. I would melt it completely first.
I love your blog and finally got to try some recipes this weekend! I made the carrot cake in cupcake tins because I don’t have ramekins. I’m not sure if I put too little in the cupcake tins but they seem really dense. Does the density depend on the type of flour you use? I used whole wheat flour… They’re delicious tasting just not as fluffy looking as yours!i hope you have some advice!
Read the recipe again. The recipe doesn’t call for whole wheat flour.
This was fantastic! I doubled the recipe and it made one small little mini-loaf bread pan that I baked in the oven. Then I liberally frosted with your healthy cream cheese frosting and no one was the wiser (except me!). Just perfect for a small family dessert without all the leftovers. I have been so happy making the recipes on your site these last few months since I found you. Thank you for sharing!
I made a larger version of this for my dad’s birthday. I just multiplied all the ingredients by 4 and it made about a 6 inch cake. I put a crumb topping on it. My parents really liked it and so did I! Although I would have used less sugar if I was making it for myself. It was a bit too sweet. Thanks CCK!
I made this with apples instead and added ginger, cloves & allspice plus raisins. It got rave reviews 🙂
I really can’t get this… How can you get it to so little calories? When I counted, it was in abput 300 calories for the whole recipe, and that’s so much more!
Anyway, it taste super good, eventhough I baked it 15 minutes more:)
But please, why do I get the calories so high?
Do you think that using WW pastry flour would also work?
Looks gorgeous! And your timing couldn’t have been more perfect – February 3rd is Carrot Cake day! 😀