Healthier Chocolate Peanut Butter Mug Cake
Posted: 05/18/16
Updated: 10/17/22
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This rich, decadent, microwave mug cake is a total game changer. Completely free from refined flour and refined sugar, my single-serving healthier chocolate peanut butter mug cake is a simple sweet treat you can feel good about eating.
What Makes This Recipe So Good
- It’s tender and rich, quick and easy, full of flavor and the perfect portion size. Those melty chocolate chips! Those heady swashes of peanut butter! That mug! You microwaved it! It took literally 5 minutes! You are the best. You are a queen.
- The title might be a very slight misnomer, like.. it’s not as healthy as kale powder sprinkled over a bowl of raw beets, no. But it’s healthier than an average cake made with tons of refined sugar and refined flour. I think that basically makes this chocolate peanut butter mug cake a health food, and you should eat this for three meals a day.*
- I’m a big believer that butter is awesome – I mean, everyone knows butter tastes awesome, but I gravitate towards the philosophy that organic butter, preferably grassfed, is indeed good for you. Organic, grassfed butter is more nutrient-dense than regular butter. Should it be your primary food source? Probably not. Does it provide a helping of healthy, unsaturated fats? I certainly think so. It’s also a good way to get your vitamin A and your beta carotene and your vitamin K2 and your CLA and your omega-3s.
*Note that I am not a medical professional. Please do not replace all of your meals with chocolate peanut butter mug cake because some random lady on the internet made a joke.
Chef’s Tips
- I’ll be honest, if you’re vegan or dairy free, I really have no idea if coconut oil would work here. Probably! It really probably would. I just might make one or five tonight to make sure… But it’s not really a question of melting point here, so I’d figure they’re fairly interchangeable. Non-dairy milk? Absolutely! An easy swap.
- Don’t overdo it in the microwave, especially if your microwave is really good at its job. Did you ever have those frozen dinners when you were a kid that came with one section filled with a chocolate brownie? Remember what happened when you microwaved them too long? Rock hard chocolate bricks. A chocolate peanut butter mug cake won’t turn into a brick necessarily, but it WILL dry out if you microwave it too long, which is basically just as disappointing as those frozen dinner brownies.
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More Delicious, Better-For-You Sweet Treat Options
- Keto Peppermint Layer Brownies
- Flourless Keto Chocolate Torte Dessert (Gluten Free, Sugar Free, Grain Free)
- Instant Pot Caramel Sauce (Vegan, Paleo, Refined Sugar Free, Dairy Free)
- Paleo Microwave Cookie with Chocolate Chips (Paleo Microwave Dessert)
- Keto Cookie Dough (Sugar Free Edible Cookie Dough)
- Gluten Free Chocolate Mug Cake
Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Mug Cake
This rich, decadent chocolate peanut butter mug cake recipe cuts out the refined flour and sugar for a sweet treat you can feel good about eating. Game officially changed.
mug cake
Ingredients
- 4 teaspoons grassfed butter 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon, cut into small pieces; see Notes
- 2 tablespoons milk of choice see Notes
- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar see Notes
- 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 1 tablespoon dark chocolate chips or 1 half-ounce dark chocolate square, see Notes
- ½ tablespoon creamy peanut butter see Notes
Equipment
- microwave-safe coffee mug
- Microwave
- Fork or small whisk
Instructions
- Place butter in coffee mug. Microwave mug 20 to 30 seconds or until butter is completely melted but not bubbly or burnt.
- Carefully remove mug from microwave. Add milk, coconut sugar, whole wheat flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and sea salt to mug. Stir with fork or whisk until ingredients are fully combined. Be careful not to overmix.
- Dollop ½ tablespoon peanut butter directly in center of batter mixture. Cover top of batter with chocolate chips or 1 dark chocolate square and lightly press chocolate into batter.
- Return mug to microwave. Microwave cake batter 45 seconds, then check consistency. Cake should be fully set. If batter is still wet or jiggly after 45 seconds, return mug to microwave and microwave another 15 seconds or until cake is fully set. Note: Be careful not to microwave cake too long or it will dry out.
- Carefully remove mug from microwave and enjoy immediately.
Notes
- Whole Wheat Flour: This is not the same as white flour or all-purpose flour. Whole wheat flour is simply ground whole wheat, with nothing removed or refined.
- Coconut Sugar: Coconut sugar is an unrefined, plant-based, natural sugar. To make this mug cake added-sugar free, replace the coconut sugar with Brown Swerve.
- Peanut Butter: Use a peanut butter that’s made from only peanuts, or from peanuts and salt. Avoid any with added sugars or really any other ingredients – they’re just not necessary.
- Make it Vegan/Dairy Free: Replace the butter with coconut oil and use a non-dairy milk. Make sure your chocolate is vegan.
Nutrition Information
Serving Size: 1mug cake, Calories: 431kcal, Protein: 7g, Fat: 27g, Saturated Fat: 16g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 47mg, Sodium: 365mg, Potassium: 294mg, Total Carbs: 47g, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 23g, Net Carbs: 42g, Vitamin A: 550IU, Vitamin C: 0.1mg, Calcium: 170mg, Iron: 2mg
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
This is by no means healthy, there’s plenty of fat, salt, and sugar. While it may be good the healthy tag on it is entirely misleading.
It does contain a decent bit of healthy fats from the grassfed butter, yes, but in general there’s nothing inherently unhealthy about unsaturated fats or salt. The coconut sugar is a natural, unrefined, plant-based sugar, but you could also use a sugar substitute like Brown Swerve to make it free of added sugar.
Haven’t tried it yet, but we will – it sounds delicious. But what about the sugar and flour aren’t refined?
So sorry, this recipe was updated incorrectly a while back! It should be made with whole wheat flour and coconut sugar, both of which are unrefined!
To much Salt in my opinion but besides that pretty good!!!
Appreciate the feedback, Sophie! Glad you still enjoyed it!
This chocolate mug cake is amazing! I’ve made it a countless amount of times for myself, my friends, and my family and everyone loves it. I can’t thank you enough! It is by far the most moist mug cake i’ve ever had, and the peanut butter just sends it over the top. <3 Thanks again!
I’m so happy to hear this! Thank you!
Yesssss, I am all about the mug cakes still! Though I don’t think I at any point had the metabolism to handle my love for them 🙂
Right?! ?
I like that you made this in a French jelly jar–I have a cupboard full of those vs no matching coffee mugs. Pinned!
I have sooooo many. I love them, though! Gotta to put them to good use, and this is definitely good use 😀