Craving cake while sticking to your ketogenic diet? This guide explores the wonderful world of 3-ingredient keto mug cakes. These single-serving desserts are quick, easy, and satisfying, perfect for those moments when you need a sweet treat without the fuss.
Why Mug Cakes?
Sometimes you just need a good, low carb chocolate cake, and sometimes, you need that cake immediately. And sometimes, you only need one, perfect piece of cake to satisfy your craving. That is when you should make a mug cake. Mug cakes are super simple cakes that are baked in the microwave. They all are essentially made the same way. All of the ingredients are mixed together in the mug or a small bowl and then the batter is microwaved for a minute or two. The result is a perfect, warm cake that will serve just one!
The Allure of Keto Mug Cakes
There are actually a lot of keto mug cakes and low carb mug cake options out there. The dessert has become somewhat of a hallmark of the keto community. Maybe we all need access to a quick cake? Options are great! However, we were thinking that maybe, just maybe, the mug cake could be made even easier. Yes, they are already super quick to make when compared to baking a traditional cake. But what if you don’t feel like measuring multiple ingredients. Or what if your pantry is running low and you only really have a few things on hand. They say that sometimes simple can be best and that is definitely true with this recipe. It is chocolate cake at it’s finest without any extra fanfare or complicated ingredients.
The Basic 3-Ingredient Keto Mug Cake
The beauty of this recipe lies in its simplicity. With just a few ingredients, you can have a warm, delicious cake in minutes.
Core Ingredients:
- Cocoa powder
- An egg
- Some erythritol
Those three simple ingredients are things you probably already have at home which means you could go make this cake right now!
Read also: Creamy Keto Dessert
Optional Enhancement:
- Vanilla extract
Now, you may be looking at the recipe and thinking “hey, there’s a fourth ingredient on this list!”. You are correct. We have added vanilla extract to the list but it is completely optional. If you don’t have it or don’t want to measure out an extra ingredient, just skip it! The cake is delicious without it. However, a tiny splash of vanilla extract really takes this three-ingredient mug cake to the next level. Vanilla adds a warm, sweet taste that helps naturally enhance the flavor of the chocolate. It is also keto-friendly so you don’t have to worry about any extra carbs. We have also made this cake using almond extract and that was a wonderful keto mug cake version as well. You could even use coconut extract, peppermint or maple extract to switch up your three-ingredient cake.
Instructions:
- Whisk all the ingredients together in a small bowl, breaking up the egg well and dissolving the erythritol.
- Grease a microwavable safe mug or ramekin with butter or cooking spray.
- Pour the batter into the mug then microwave for 60 seconds.
- Enjoy right away while nice and warm!
Variations on the Theme
Once you've mastered the basic recipe, feel free to experiment with different flavors and additions. Here are a few ideas:
Chocolate Keto Mug Cake
This chocolate keto mug cake in the microwave is another one of my favorite quick keto desserts!
Ingredients:
- Coconut flour or almond flour
- Sweetener
- Cocoa powder
- Baking powder
- Vanilla
- Beaten egg
- Butter
Instructions:
- In a microwave safe coffee mug, melt the butter in the microwave for 10 seconds.
- Add the coconut flour or almond flour, sweetener, cocoa powder, baking powder, vanilla and beaten egg.
- Mix well.
- Microwave on high for 60 seconds, being sure not to overcook. If you overcook it, it will be dry.
- Top with sugar free chocolate chips of desired.
Vanilla Keto Mug Cake
Ingredients:
- Coconut flour or almond flour
- Sweetener
- Baking powder
- Vanilla
- Beaten egg
- Butter
Instructions:
- In a microwave safe coffee mug, melt the butter in the microwave for 10 seconds.
- Add the coconut flour or almond flour, sweetener, baking powder, vanilla and beaten egg.
- Mix well.
- Microwave on high for 60 seconds, being sure not to overcook. If you overcook it, it will be dry.
- Top with sugar free chocolate chips of desired or mix in before cooking.
Peanut Butter Keto Mug Cake
A single serving microwave peanut butter mug cake that is only three ingredients. This cake is based on my flourless peanut butter mug cake so the cake has a flourless souffle-like texture. It is not supposed to have a texture like a flour-based cake. It is soft, fluffy and rises quite a bit.
Ingredients:
- Natural peanut butter
- Egg
- A sugar substitute
Instructions:
- In a microwave-safe mug that can hold at least 12 oz of liquid, add all ingredients.
- Mix with a whisk until batter is completely smooth and egg is fully incorporated with no egg streaks remaining. Your batter should look like melted peanut butter.
- Cook in the microwave at full power for about 1 minute. I used a 1000 watt microwave. You may need to adjust cooking time and power if your microwave is a different wattage.
- To make the mug cake even fluffier, add 1/8 tsp baking powder to the batter.
Dark Chocolate Keto Mug Cake
You will need a GOOOOODDD dark chocolate or low carb chocolate. Lily’s Brand is the status quo. However, as of late it’s not jiving with my body. So I’ve opted for Alter Eco 85 or 90% dark that is only 4 ingredients and has less carbs than even Lily’s despite being sweetened with cane sugar.
Read also: Low-Carb Pizza Guide
Ingredients:
- Dark chocolate
- Cream
- Egg
Instructions:
- Microwave on high for 30 seconds.
- Mix the coconut cream and egg until smooth.
- Add in 20 drops stevia, 1 tsp vanilla extract and a pinch of salt.
- Then mix in 3 tbsp cacao powder, mix until smooth.
Important Tips for Mug Cake Success
- Don't overcook: Overcooking is the enemy of a good mug cake. If you overcook it, it will be dry. Start with 60 seconds and adjust as needed based on your microwave.
- Mix well: In the directions, we tell you to mix the ingredients in a separate bowl. This is so that the ingredients are fully incorporated and you won’t hit any spots of dry cake mix while eating your mug. The batter needs to be well-mixed.
- Mug Size Matters: You should use a microwave-safe mug that can hold at least 12 oz of liquid. This cake will rise quite high during cooking before sinking back down.
- Sweetener Adjustments: If you have a favorite keto friendly sugar substitute, it will likely work with this recipe. You can also use regular powdered erythritol instead of Swerve if you wish.
- Peanut Butter Considerations: I recommend using natural creamy unsalted peanut butter. There are a lot of peanut butter choices out there these days. But they are not all the same. I always look at the ingredient list and buy ones that list peanuts as the only ingredient.
Ingredient Substitutions
- If you don’t want to use butter, you can substitute melted coconut oil.
Serving and Enjoying Your Mug Cake
The cake is best consumed warm. You can top the cake with a little powdered sugar substitute or sugar-free syrup. For my peanut butter sauce, I warmed up 1 tbsp of peanut butter in the microwave and whisked in a little milk (1 tsp at a time) until it reached a thick syrup consistency. I also mixed in a little stevia until it reached my desired sweetness.
Nutritional Information
We provide nutritional data for our recipes as a courtesy to our readers. We use Total Keto Diet app software to calculate the nutrition and we remove fiber and sugar alcohols, like erythritol, from the total carbohydrate count to get to the net carb count, as they do not affect your blood glucose levels. You should independently calculate nutritional information on your own and not rely on our data.
A Note on Mug Cake Skepticism
Oh the mug cake! Not going to lie, the first time I heard of mug cakes I thought they were an abomination. However, I have since been converted. Alas, I am quite the mug cake connoisseur. At first my keto mug cake experiments were too egg. Or too dry.
Read also: 5-Ingredient Keto