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. 👀
This is by far the best mug cake recipe yet! I tried making them with other recipes, that included egg, but they turned out gross. I up the sugar a bit and cook for 45 sec to get a gooey, chocolaty and sweet mug of cake. My go to recipe to satisfy my sweet cravings!
Yay! Mug cake, portion control, no egg, used almond milk and butter…what’s not to like! Thanks!
First, your blog has made it into my bookmark bar on my browser. I bet half of the views you’ve received since two weeks ago were from me :D
Second, I tried this with the expectation that this would be /too/ simple and I would mess it up. But not so! I made a marshmallow sauce with chocolate, cinnamon, and nutmeg and subbed the peanut butter for that. I ate it, then made a mess. In my food pants.
Thanks for the recipe! Keep up the good work!
Oh, btw, the new website is absolutely beautiful! Congrats, Beth!
OMG! This is the best mug cake recipe. So simple, I can make it during commercial break. lol! I’ve also tried some fun variations….a splash of vanilla in the mix, a spoonful of chocolate flavored pb in the center, or a mini candy bar in the center. Fabulous!
Awwwww yeah. This is definitely the best mug cake I’ve made. I used brown sugar instead of white because that’s all I had and it turned out great!
Holy buckets! I have an entire pinboard devoted to “mug cakes,” and I’ve tried a LOT of them (more than I should probably admit…I have a bit of an addiction.) But this is — hands down — the best recipe I’ve found. I love that it doesn’t have an egg because I agree, they usually turn out rubbery with egg in the recipe.
I used dark cocoa powder for a richer taste (and it’s what I had on hand) and substituted the PB for Nutella. Oh my sweet heavens…it is perfection in a mug!!! Thank you!
P.S. I love your blog. So many of my favorite recipes are from you, so I shouldn’t be surprised that this one is amazing, too!
Tried with applesauce and with oil. The flavor is a little different but the texture is still spot on.
FYI I didn’t have any cocoa powder and decided to use a packet of hot chocolate. Works just fine, but not very sweet. I will have to retry once I get cocoa powder ;-) but I imagine it’s very similar.
I recommend upping the cocoa and sugar to 1 tbsp each, dropping the salt, and mixing in bittersweet chocolate chips. I also added in a little rum, which was very good!
As written, this recipe is inedible. It *needs* more sugar or chocolate chips. I can still taste the vegetable oil.
I was skeptical whether this would actually taste like a cake but I tried this out today and it’s just fantastic! Just like an oven baked one. You’re right that it isn’t a very sweet though! I like my cakes plenty sweet so I’ll probably be adding a ton more next time I make it. I’m not happy that it’s so easy to make because now I can see myself eating this every day and that’s just not good for my health!
Since we’ve started a 7 weeks lent on Wednesday (no religious reasons, simply to shed a few pounds), yesterday the “no sweets” rule hit us both hard, I guess we were really hypoglycemic, so I decided that, before we would lose it and ravenously stuff a chocolate bar down our throats, I’d rather make this …. it saved our lives and probably also our marriage, LOL! We were both satisfied afterwards, but not feeling we might have sinned (a bit of flour, cocoa powder and oil hardly counts as sinning, right ;)). This will be our life saver whenever the craving gets overpowering. Beth, you are a SAINT <3
Didn’t have pb on hand so I just tried it without–you’re right, it does lessen the texture a bit. But still delicious! thanks loads!
I ate the BATTER of the cake. Delicious :) I had SR flour and no baking powder though :/ :D
This was wonderful – satisfied my sweet tooth AND I had everything on hand already! Unfortunately, the bf wasn’t a fan (he would prefer something else instead of the PB, or icing – but I don’t keep anything like that on hand so too bad for him!)