This dark chocolate fudgy mug cake takes under 5 minutes to make and seriously satisfies intense chocolate cravings. It also happens to be gluten-free, can easily be made vegan, and is pretty freaking healthy.
Are you a patient person?
Am I a patient person? Well, it depends. If I’m explaining basic math to a kid, sure. If my mom and I are shopping for jeans and she wants to take a detour through the purses, of course. Honestly, even in the car, I just accept the slow flow of traffic. No big deal.
But there’s a huge difference between being patient when the outcome is certain and when you have no idea what’s going to happen. I know that eventually the kid will understand math, I’ll find a decent pair of jeans, and the car will make it to the intended destination.
When am I impatient? Mostly when I don’t know what’s about to happen. Right now, this primarily applies to serious things like applications for internships or, oh, I don’t know… the entire future. Ugh. These are heavy topics on a Saturday. We’ll come back to these at a later date. Like, when I’m no longer waiting.
Occasionally, though, my lack of patience rears its ugly head at other times. More specifically, it surfaces when I’m exhausted, really freaking hungry, or craving something.
Once upon a time Last week, I was craving chocolate. Now, I am never without chocolate. I have 86% Ghirardelli in my dorm room at pretty much all times and I also had an open bag of mini Reese’s at the time of this particular chocolate craving. But if you’ve ever really been craving chocolate, then you know that sometimes a piece of chocolate just isn’t going to cut it. This was one of those times. There was no time to whip up some chocolate chip cookies or go to the store and buy a box of brownie mix. I was impatient – and I wanted something warm and gooey and chocolatey.
Enter the mug cake.
Now, I’ve seen a lot of mug cakes floating around the internet, but I had never made one until last week. And? Well, now I know why mug cakes exist. They’re the perfect way to have dessert when you just need dessert right now – without having a whole lot of it. I’m the queen of baking a batch of muffins and then eating 8 in a day. Been there, done that. Sometimes that’s fine, but it’s probably better if we make that a not-everyday occurrence, am I right?
Anyway, over the course of a week, I made 5 different versions of this mug cake and this is my favorite. It’s not super sweet, so know that going in (I advise you on how to make it sweeter in the recipe notes). It is dense, gooey, and super-chocolatey and not actually unhealthy at all. I mean, I’m not saying it’s like eating a veggie-packed, salmon-topped, olive oil-dressed salad, just that it’s a pretty healthy cake.
And that the night I shot these pictures… I was impatient and hungry.
The result: those two cakes became (most of) my dinner.
- 1 T. coconut flour
- 2 T. cocoa powder
- 1/4 t. baking powder
- 1 t. granulated sugar*
- 2 T. milk of choice
- 2 T. Greek yogurt or unsweetened applesauce**
- 1/2 T. nut butter***
- 1 T. maple syrup
- 1/2 t. vanilla extract
- In a microwave-safe bowl or mug, combine coconut flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and sugar.
- Add milk, Greek yogurt or applesauce, maple syrup, nut butter, and vanilla extract and stir until smooth.
- Microwave for 1.5 to 2 minutes, until set.
- Enjoy! I love topping these with berries, nut butter, or chocolate chunks while they're still warm. Everything gets a little melty and extra delicious. Also good: chopped Reese's.
- *This sounds small and easy to leave out, but don't do it! If you want a sweeter chocolate snack, add up to another teaspoon.
- **My favorite is with Greek yogurt, but both are good! You can use plain, vanilla, coconut, or whatever flavor sounds good to you. Plain obviously doesn't add any sweetness.
- ***I usually use cashew butter. It has a natural sweetness and it's also very mild in flavor. Any nut butter will work, though, and peanut butter adds a bit of a peanut taste.
Not craving chocolate right now? Pin it for later!
Are you a patient person?
Have you ever made a mug cake?
I love mug cakes, and I love how you titled this one. 🙂
Thanks so much, Emily!
I agree, when you want chocolate, a thick dense slab of cake is just what the tummy deserves! I am totally not a patient person. It is a struggle for me to heat the waffle iron up to make waffles one day a week. A struggle! I love mug cakes and no bake stuff like this because it’s so simple and quick. Thanks for sharing
Haha I’m the same way with breakfast. I want it now!
Yummy!! I do love me some chocolate and wil definitely be trying this sometime soon!!
I’d love to know what you think!
This looks amaaaazing! I am a patient person when it comes to some things, but when I’m hungry? Patience flies out the window and escapes to some far away country, haha!
Haha hungry me is definitely not a patient person 🙂
Mug cakes should be one of those things EVERYONE has a favorite go-to recipe for (and always chocolate!)
I’m probably one of the LEAST patient people. It’s bad, but I don’t plan on fixing it. It’s REALLY bad when I’m waiting on another person to do something, respond, or arrive…the nerve of some people 😛
I totally feel you on the “arrive” thing. Lack of punctuality makes me a little impatient 😛
I am obsessed with mug cakes! Can’t go wrong with chocolate, especially if you use dark cocoa powder!
Dark cocoa powder is my favorite!
hmmm now I have tried to many times to get a deliiicious mug cake. My problem? everytime it is just so dry 🙁 I think I might have found a solution in your recipe: I like how you use nutbutter, yoghurt and apple sauce! I will definitely give it a try
I hope you like it, Sarah! The combination of ingredients definitely ensures it’s not too dry! Adding a couple chocolate chips is also a solid idea 😉