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Because it’s Friday and we need our fix…5 Minute Molten Chocolate Mug Cake. You don’t need to be a skilled baker to bake up these deliciously EASY chocolate mug cakes. This deep-dish style cake in a mug requires just one coffee mug, simple pantry staple ingredients, and takes almost no effort or time to make. There are hints of vanilla, swirls of melted chocolate, and every bite is truly delicious. Enjoy this personal-sized cake warm, right out of the microwave, with a scoop of ice cream.
The entire world is baking right now, it’s impressive and exciting. I love so much that you all are making the best of this time at home…and baking up a storm. I’ve said it before, but it’s so fun to see all the HBH recipes being made. And the desserts are without a doubt the most popular.
But the thing that I’ve come to realize? Some of us don’t need a strawberry cobbler that serves eight people. Or a three-layer cake that feeds a twenty-person birthday party. Or two dozen homemade Somoas cookies. Nope, most of us don’t need all those servings. Though I personally love a little leftover dessert…you know for late-night snacking and TV watching.
Sometimes, like on Friday or Saturday night, we just need a rich, heavy on the chocolate, warm, and melty piece of chocolate cake…with a scoop of ice cream too.
Yes, sometimes that is just what we all need most.
Enter these cute little warm chocolate-filled mug cakes. They require no oven and instead are baked in the microwave and ready in just about five minutes.
Truth is, I’m not usually someone who uses the microwave. In fact, for many years I actually didn’t have a microwave in my house. I don’t often find many uses for it, but sometimes it’s a handy kitchen appliance. And you know something? It does have the ability to create a delicious chocolate mug cake within just 5 minute’s time. If there was ever a reason to own a microwave, this cake recipe is it.
The quick details.
This cake comes together in five minutes tops, so the details are pretty darn quick.
Start with your wet ingredients. I like to use coconut oil as the oil for these cakes. Melt it in the microwave in the mug you plan to “bake” your cake in. Once melted, whisk in a single egg, a few tablespoons of milk, a splash of vanilla, and honey…to sweeten things up. I personally like to use honey as my sweetener as I’ve found it creates a perfectly soft, tender, and moist cake. But maple syrup or granulated sugar work well too.
Once the wet ingredients are combined. Stir in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and a pinch of salt. At this point, the cake is almost ready for “baking”.
But I have a couple secrets.
First, coffee. Now, if you don’t enjoy coffee you can use an equal amount of water, but I will say that you really don’t taste the coffee. It only highlights the flavors of the chocolate and creates a slightly “gooey” cake. You want to swirl the coffee into the batter, not fully incorporating it. This is key and keeps the cake from drying out.
Second, chocolate chunks…and a generous helping too. The chunks are a must and act as the “molten” layer to these mug cakes. You will add them to the center of the batter. As the cake bakes, the chocolate sinks in, melting as it sinks. It leaves you with a puddle of warm melted chocolate at the bottom of your cake. With every bite, a little of that melted chocolate is scooped up with the cake.
And it is delicious.
Key for success.
Eat this warm, right after cooking. This isn’t a cake you want to eat leftover, it’s meant as a quick chocolate fix. It should be eaten right away and preferably with ice cream on top.
Nothing is better than warm cake with vanilla ice cream. SO. GOOD.
I will say that that every microwave is different, so the cooking time is a little tricky. That said, I tested this on two different microwaves and found two minutes to be just the right amount of time. You may need to adjust slightly by fifteen seconds, give or take.
So with all that, have I convinced you that you need a chocolate mug cake in your life tonight?
This is the best afternoon pick me up…warm after dinner dessert…or late-night snack with a side of TV watching. Hey, don’t judge, this is life in quarantine. It’s weird, and the normal “rules” of life just don’t apply. So enjoy your cake…any time of day you like!
See you all tomorrow for another Cocktail Saturday.
Looking for other quick desserts? Bake these up!
Crinkle Top Chocolate Peanut Butter Skillet Blondies
Coconut Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread
5 ingredient Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies
watch the how to video:
5 Minute Molten Chocolate Mug Cake
Servings: 1 large mug
Calories Per Serving: 1080 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Watch the How-To Reel
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil (or olive oil/canola oil)
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2-4 tablespoons honey, maple syrup, or granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon brewed coffee
- 1 ounce semi-sweet chocolate chunks, very roughly chopped
Instructions
- 1. Melt the coconut oil in a (10-12 ounce) microwave-safe mug. Whisk in the egg, milk, vanilla, and honey until combined. Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt, stirring until just combined. 2. Spoon the coffee into the center of the batter and gently swirl it in. Do not fully incorporate the coffee. Place the chocolate chunks in the center of the batter. 3. Microwave on full power for 1 minute 45 second to 2 minutes (I always do 2 minutes). Dig your spoon deep into the cake to spoon up melted chocolate with every bite. Serve with ice cream. ENJOY.
Notes
To Oven Bake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 2 cup oven safe ramekin/mug or 2 muffin tins. Add the batter and bake 22-25 minutes.
Microwave: every microwave is very different, so results may vary slightly. I have a 1200 watt microwave and found 2 minutes to be the perfect cooking time. You may need to cook 1 minute 45 seconds or 2 minutes 15 seconds. Start with 2 minutes.
Coffee: if you prefer to not use coffee, use an equal amount of warm water.
This post was originally published on April 24, 2020
This was amazing! Try using Chipotle chocolate for an extra kick!
Um, whoa! I bet that is awesome! Thanks!
Hi! I was just wondering if you knew how to make this lava-cake like with the center oozing out with chocolate? Excited to try this, thanks for the recipe! 🙂
Hey Joy!
try add in a scoop of nutella to the center before cooking OR you could also use chopped chocolate too. Hope that helps and I hope you love this!
I’m a baker but I must admit, this is the best dessert I’ve ever made!!! We love to use Andie’s mint chips in the center over mint chocolate chip ice cream. My family loves this recipe. Who knew a delicious creation could come from a microwave…everyone must try this!!!!
Hey there,
So excited to try this out! I do have a question though: you mention that baking this in the oven instead of the microwave would take about 10-15 minutes–at what temperature should I bake the cake?
350 degrees F.
Hope you love this!
Thanks a lot!!!!!
what if I dont have coconut oil, what can I substitute for it?
Butter or canola oil will work, enjoy!
Mine turned out the same, way too much like bread pudding. And the flavor was just kind of ‘blah.’
This looks so yum! I was just wondering if you could maybe substitute the cocoa powder for cacao powder? Do you think this would work okay? Or splitting the 2 tbsps of cocoa powder for 1 tbsp of cocoa powder and 1 tbsp of cacao?! Let me know what you think! 😀
Hey Donna! Honestly, I really do not know. I have never used is Cacaco powder. Let me know if you try it!
I made this recipe, followed all yhe instructions but like Sabrina posted, mine turned out not good.
It was like a bread pudding, consistency was off and i was surely disappointed.
I made no changes to the recipe, used great quality ingredients, so i dont know what happened.
Any suggestions? You think one minute would be too little?
Thanks
Hey Anna,
I think this is probably because of your microwave, they are all different. I would try a minute, and then just go longer if needed. Sorry you are having trouble!
I just made this for myself and my mother! We both enjoyed it garnished with some mint chocolate chip ice cream! Very moist! Does great in a pinch or a craving!
I have a chocolate chip cookie in a mug recipe that I just love, so I will definitely try this one. I agree with avoiding microwave cooking but these little mug recipes are so nice in a pinch when you just want something chocolate but don’t want a whole cake or have time to make one. And your photos are gorgeous as always!
Thank you so much, Lucy!! 🙂
I like this recipe. I too am not a mugcake person, per se, but last night I was between dragging myself to the grocery store (drag is an exageration – I live directly across the street from a huge supermarket) for the pint of Ben & Jerry’s I’ve been craving for months, or stay home in my pajamas and make a mugcake to soothe my sugar pangs. I went on a very well known blogger’s site looking for recipes and her “5-minute” recipe was literally a full blown cake just scaled down into one portion. So it had a list of at least 15 ingredients. I’m sorry, but I can’t locate AND measure, AND mix, AND bake with 15 ingredients in 5 minutes. Especially since there’s a step of dicing apples involved. I’m lucky if I can even gather all the ingredients within 5 minutes. AND if I’m going to go through all that work with 21947 ingredients, I might as well just make the full blown cake, cut it into portions, and freeze for later.
Thank you for keeping it on the simple side.
SO HAPPY my recipe was able to please you! 15 ingredients for a mug cake? That sounds like a lot!
Thanks Melissa! Hope you have a great weekend!
If only I would have had this 10 years ago when I was single and making an entire box of brownie batter for just me …. 🙂
My cake came out awful, it was like a bad bread pudding. I also have a 1200 watt and followed the recipe to a “T” ! I was so looking forward to this, (still a great recipe), just an unknown error by me 🙁 ! Thanks for the fun experience though!
Do you have a recommendation for substituting the coconut oil? I have an allergy to coconut. Otherwise, this little recipe would be lovely for when I get a cake craving. I have almost all of those ingredients on hand all the time.
Hi! I would just use canola oil, that will work great!
Hi there!!! Greeting from Argentina!!! I have just made this recipe and it was GREAT! The only thing, though, is that I had to substitute the coconut oil for sunflower oil, which is what we usually use here, and I used regular milk cause I didn’t have coconut milk (besides, it’s way too expensive in my country). I topped it off with a spoonful of DULCE DE LECHE and it was heavenly 😉 Love from way way south <3
So happy you love the cake! Thank you!