There comes a time in every girl’s life when she needs a chocolate mug cake.
Perhaps it’s one of those days where you just want to curl up on the couch all day and watch bad Lifetime movies about stolen babies (ladies, you know what I’m talking about).
Or maybe you just ran four miles for the first time in your entire life and unless you counteract it immediately with a dessert, the universe will be thrown out of balance and implode, and the entire 2012 apocalypse will be all your fault.
Or maybe it’s your birthday and everyone forgot so there was no cake. Okay, sorry, that last one was kind of depressing. Anyway, my point is, sometimes you just need a bite of cake to make things right. Just a bite.
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Love peanut butter and chocolate? Check out my No-Bake Pretzel Peanut Butter Bars or Peanut Butter Fluff Cups.
What Makes This Mug Cake The Best?
I was never a fan of mug cakes because all of the versions I’ve tried have turned out rubbery and just not at all delightful. Until I found this recipe, which for me is the one. This is why I like it:
- It’s not overly sweet. (If you want it sweeter, add more sugar or some chocolate chips.)
- It’s small. Other recipes I’ve tried have just been too big and they make me feel like I just over indulged. This one is just a few, rich, delightful bites.
- There is no egg. I find that eggs make mug cakes rubbery or spongey and they also mean that you can’t scale the recipe in size. If you want a small cake, you can’t just split an egg in half, right?
- There are a lot of variations. Add chocolate chips, use nutella, jam, or caramel sauce in place of the peanut butter, vegan-ize it by using soy milk in place of cow’s milk… lots of options.
Don’t be tempted to leave out the peanut butter (or jam, or whatever you drop in the center) because it helps keep the cake moist and rich. It simply wouldn’t be the same without it.
Make it a Vegan (Dairy-Free Mug Cake)
With one simple swap, this Chocolate Mug Cake can be made vegan. Simply swap the milk with your favorite non-dairy milk and you’re good to go! Life is good.
So, shout out to Jessie at Made From Scratch for experimenting with mug cakes until finding this perfect mix. You just saved the universe from imploding!
“The One” Chocolate Mug Cake
Servings 1Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour ($0.02)
- 1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder ($0.03)
- 2 tsp sugar ($0.01)
- 1/4 tsp baking powder ($0.02)
- a pinch salt ($0.01)
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.04)
- 2 Tbsp milk ($0.04)
- 1 Tbsp peanut butter ($0.13)
Instructions
- In your mug, stir together the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, and a pinch of salt). Make sure there are no clumps.
- Stir in the vegetable oil and milk until the mixture is smooth. Drop a tablespoon of peanut butter into the center and push it down into the batter.
- Microwave on high for one minute and then enjoy!
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Notes
Nutrition
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Love microwave mug cakes? Check out my Funfetti Mug Cake, or Cinnamon Nut Swirl Mug Cake!
How to Make a Chocolate Mug Cake – Step By Step Photos
Add 2 Tbsp flour, 1 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder, 2 tsp sugar, 1/4 tsp baking powder, and a pinch of salt to a microwave-safe mug. Stir them together very well.
Add 2 Tbsp milk and 1 Tbsp oil, then stir until it forms a batter.
Drop a dollop of peanut butter (about 1 Tbsp) down into the center of the batter.
Microwave on high for one minute and you’ve got yourself a cake with a melty, peanut butter center! The cake turns out extra light and fluffy and the peanut butter kind of sinks in as the cake rises up around it. So magical!
Every bite has a light cake and a gooey, rich bit of melty peanut butter. Absolutely perfect.
And then five or six delightful bites later, you’re done and you don’t feel like you do when you “accidentally” eat a whole pint of ice cream. …not that that ever happens. 👀
Hi! I love this recipe so much! My favorite is the gooey PB center. I’m trying to be good with a low-carb diet/lifestyle and plugged this recipe in MyFitnessPal to see. As amazingly tastey as it is I needed a “healthier” version. Scrolling through all the comments and it looks like people are adding more to it! :P
Here’s what I did to cut out over a third of the calories: I substituted the 1 tbsp of PB with (Reese’s) 1.5 tsp PB baking chips. Stir the chips in the batter. Bake the same time. Perfect!
Thanks Beth! I adore your site!!!
I had a terrible sweet tooth last night. I wanted to make the All Edge Spiced Brownies, but wasn’t in the mood and too lazy to use the oven. So, I made the Chocolate Mug Cake. I added two teaspoons of sugar, because I LOVE desserts that are sweet. Also, I added some Nutella, chocolate chips and walnuts. The Mug Cake satisfied my sweet tooth, and it was so good. Thank you, Beth for this awesome recipe!!!! :-)
Danggggg, best cup cake I’ve ever made! Perfect consistency and not too sweet! I usually put half the amount of sugar recipes call for but I didn’t need to for this one. Thanks Beth!
Love this recipe! It’s my go-to mug cake.
Not being a huge fan of peanut butter, I tried it with chocolate chip and Nutella. I think I’ve eaten about 5 servings since I first tried it. Yesterday afternoon. 😝 lol
It works REALLY well with Nutella. Not that I’d know first hand or anything ;)
I have made this several times now. I LOVE it and my waistline will never be the same, but I DON”T CARE. LOVE!
I have always loved this recipe. There are times I add more sugar other times I don’t depends on the sweet tooth. Most recently I discovered that I had some left over Andes Mints so I got a little inspired and stuck about 5 of them in the middle instead of peanut butter. It was heavenly It was rich sweet minty chocolate. The mints melted perfectly to keep things moist. Good thing I don’t have enough mints to do it again cause I would eat it all the time.
Very tasty! I doubled it (because I’m a glutton…hehe) and microwaved it for 1:20, since it seemed like it would need a little more time. It turned out delicious!
OMG!!!! This cake is perfect!! Thanks Beth for another great recipe!
This is the most perfect mug cake! I used Reese’s chocolate/peanut butter spread in the middle and it was super yum. I rarely make mug cakes because they are always too heavy and too big. But this was light and the perfect size!
I just made this but didn’t have any milk. I had moosetrack vanilla ice cream though. So I used ice cream instead of milk, stirred in two tablespoons of Nutella instead of pb, and added some water to make the batter more smooth. Cooked for 55 seconds. It was a weird consistency but tasted yummy with the ice cream.
I made this mug cake gluten free by using Cup4Cup GF flour in place of the flour. It turned out amazing & my husband keeps asking me for it!!
I’ve made this often and it was soon good!
I was a little skeptical about a cake being made in the microwave, but it worked! It came out a little spongy but nice anyways :)
This cake came out perfect and just the right size. Other mug cakes are far too big and dense for me and make me feel bloated after. This had the perfect ratio. I did increase the sugar by 1 extra tsp.