Published: · Modified: by Olivia Wyles · This post may contain affiliate links · 8 Comments
Why is it called a mug cake? I’m guessing it’s because CUP cake was already taken. Ah yes, I’ll be here all week. So you’ve probably seen the latest craze with the keto diet: the keto mug cake. There’s a reason for the popularity. It’s incredibly easy to make with just a few ingredients (kind of like the chaffle).
So I bet you just scrolled down to see how many ingredients there are. Don’t let any of this look daunting to you. This can all be made in one mug with a fork so no worries about dirtying a bunch of dishes.
Plus these can all be prepped in about 2 minutes with a 1 minute cook time. That is pretty amazing, and I think your sweet tooth can wait that long for something this spectacular.
Do I need special ingredients for keto mug cakes?
If you think the ingredients look too specialized, make sure to check out my keto pantry staples guide. While on the keto diet, you should definitely keep your pantry and fridge stocked with ingredients like almond flour, avocado oil, and gluten free baking powder (specifically this Rumford brand from your local grocery store). Having these ingredients on hand all the time will just make your keto life easier, and eventually, you won’t think they are that special.
I’m a huge fan of keto baking, but it didn’t start out that way. Keto baking is a fine art. Regular baking is already a difficult skill to master. Throw on top a specialized diet, and it can get quite tricky. Don’t let it overwhelm you though.
My two biggest tips are:
1) follow the recipe to the letter and don’t substitute ingredients you *think* might work. If you have a food allergy, ask the recipe creator for a substitute they think might work so they can give you the proper measurements
2) work with room temperature ingredients almost every time. If you have zero patience like me, you can put ingredients like butter, cream cheese, and eggs in a sandwich bag and place in warm water for about five minutes until room temperature.
How do you make the best keto mug cake?
Since I’m a big fan of keto baking, I decided to take on the challenge of testing and creating 5 keto mug cake recipes for you to try yourself. I came up with a few tips for you along the way:
- Don’t overcook your mug cake. If you do, you’ll end up with a dry mess and wasted ingredients. This happened to me on my first keto mug cake. It took me months to work up the courage to try again. I thought keto mug cakes were a just big joke and everyone was playing along pretending to like it because they missed sweets so much. No, I was just doing it wrong. So, always stick to the recipe instructions, but usually it’s about 60 seconds in the microwave for a keto mug cake. I typically put it in for 30 seconds, check it, and then proceed with 30 more seconds depending on what it looks like. If it looks too done, I will just microwave an additional 20 seconds. It also varies depending on your microwave. You know your appliances best so adjust the cooking times to your needs. You can even undercook it for a more lava cake texture if you are into that sort of thing.
- Mix well means mix well. Make sure there are no lumps or clumps or traces of egg. You can even let the batter sit for a quick minute before putting it into the microwave to make sure everything jives well. If you are a perfectionist, you can even sift your dry ingredients beforehand to make sure there are no clumps. But we are talking keto mug cakes here, not your wedding cake. So it’s totally okay to just throw the ingredients into the mug and mix it really well with a fork (yes, the same fork you’ll be eating it with). As with any baking, it’s best to add the wet ingredients to the mug first, mix well, then add the dry ingredients, and mix well again.
- If the recipe calls for melted butter, melt the butter in the mug in the microwave first, then allow to cool slightly before adding more ingredients.
- Depending on the mug you use, you may have to grease the mug beforehand. For all the recipes I tested, the mug cake usually pulled away from the mug quite easily without the extra grease. I used Keto Chow’s limited edition mug for all my recipe tests!
- If you don’t have a microwave, you can bake these in the oven at 350 degrees F for about 10-12 minutes
- Experiment! Testing these keto mug cakes was the most fun I’ve had in a while. I love baking and testing out new recipes, and since there are minimal ingredients, time, and dirty dishes, I was able to test these over and over without the headache of cleaning the kitchen every time. You can try different things to make your cakes more moist like sour cream or mayonnaise (yes, I said mayo. Look it up, baking maestros!) Personally, I think avocado oil makes the most moist and best tasting cake with butter taking a close second.
This is why I stick to this keto diet.
This recipe post has a special guest appearance from my favorite meal replacement shake brand: Keto Chow. They recently released their keto mug cake kit with a limited edition keto mug cake cup. The mug is adorable and the kit comes complete with enough Keto Chow to make 12 mug cakes with 4 chef curated recipe cards. The work is all done for you!
The possibilities with Keto Chow are endless since you can bake and cook with it. It’s my favorite versatile ingredient and you should pick some up for your pantry today. I love meal prepping taco soup with their savory taco soup base.
Enough of my chatter, here are 5 ways you can make a keto mug cake and love the outcome. Tell me what you think in the comments!
Keto Mug Cake Recipe – 5 different ways
1. Vanilla (Keto Chow version by Chef Taffy): 2 tablespoons melted Butter + 1 large Egg Yolk + 1 tablespoon unsweetened Almond Milk + 1 tablespoon Sugar-Free Sweetener + ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract + Mix well + 1 tablespoon Coconut Flour + 2 tablespoons Vanilla Keto Chow (or Almond Flour) + ¼ teaspoon Baking Powder + Mix well + Microwave 60 seconds [4.3 net carbs]
2. Chocolate: 1 large Egg + 1 tablespoon Avocado Oil or other neutral oil + ¼ teaspoon Vanilla Extract + 2 tablespoons Almond Flour + 2 tablespoons Sugar-Free Sweetener + 1 tablespoon Cocoa Powder + ¼ teaspoon Baking Powder + Mix well + Microwave 60 seconds [3.2 net carbs]
3. Cheesecake: 5 ounces Cream Cheese + 1 large Egg + Mix well + ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract + 2 tablespoon Powdered Sugar-Free Sweetener + Mix well + Microwave 30 seconds + Repeat in 10 seconds intervals until edges are set but center jiggles + Chill in fridge for 1 hour [3 net carbs]
4. Churro: 2 tablespoons melted Butter + 1 large Egg + 1 tablespoon Sugar-Free Sweetener + ¼ teaspoon Vanilla Extract + Mix well + 2 tablespoons Almond Flour + ½ teaspoon Baking Powder + ¼ teaspoon Cinnamon + Mix well + Microwave 60 seconds + Sprinkle Sugar-Free Sweetener and Cinnamon on top [2.7 net carbs]
5. Vanilla Whiskey: 1 tablespoon melted Butter + 1 large Egg + 2 tablespoons Sugar-Free Sweetener + ¼ teaspoon Vanilla Extract + 1 tablespoon Whiskey + Mix well + 3 tablespoons Almond Flour + ½ teaspoon Baking Powder + Mix well + Microwave 60 seconds [2.7 net carbs]
**Bonus recipe**
Cookies and Cream:
1 tablespoon melted Butter + 1 large Egg + 1 tablespoon Sugar-Free Sweetener + ¼ teaspoon Vanilla Extract + Mix well + 3 tablespoons Almond Flour + ½ teaspoon Baking Powder + 1 tablespoon Cocoa Powder + Mix well + Microwave 60 seconds + Allow to cool + While cooling, make Frosting + 2 tablespoons softened Cream Cheese + ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract + 1 tablespoon Sugar-Free Sweetener + Mix well + Cut cooled cake in half lengthwise (ugly sides go on the inside!) + Spread cream cheese frosting on cakes + Sandwich two halves together [5.2 net carbs]
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Did you make any of these amazing keto mug cakes? Tell me about it in the comments, tag me on Instagram or Facebook, or add your “try” to any of my Pinterest pins. Happy baking!
Looking for a judgement free community where you can ask questions and get more quick + easy recipes, join my Facebook group: Quick + Easy Keto Recipes!
