If you’re after a quick and easy healthy sugar-free cake, then you need this low-carb mug cake.
It can be made in the microwave, oven and even your air fryer!
Scroll down and watch the quick cooking video to see how easy these low carb mug cakes really are. I even line up 3 mugs for my children and prepare all 3 at once for a super quick treat after school.
What are mug cakes?
Mug cakes are a single serving of a traditional cake but are made in the microwave in 1 minute. They can also be made in the oven or air fryer too.
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These mug cakes are sugar-free, gluten-free, and lower carb.
If you’re feeling peckish, you can have a cake ready and in your tummy in under 5 minutes! Now, what’s not to love about that idea? And with only 5.1g net carbs, they’re sure to become a staple treat when a cake emergency arises.
Instructions
The recipe shown is for 1 large coffee cup size mug cake. If you prefer, you may divide the low carb mug cake mixture between 2 smaller cups but ensure you reduce the cooking time from 1 minute to 40-50 seconds. Cooking time will depend on YOUR microwave.
3 ways to cook
1: Microwave
These low carb mug cakes are cooked in the microwave, and so because all of our microwaves are completely different, it may take a little experimentation to get the cooking time just right (so please don’t come running back to me if yours was over/undercooked, I won’t reply because I’ll be busy eating mine 😉 ).
If you know your microwave is powerful, reduce the cooking time by a little and test the center. You can always add another 10 seconds or so but there is nothing worse than an overcooked, dry, and rubbery mug cake.
Do I need a microwave?
No, you can also cook mug cakes in the oven or in your air fryer. If you use the oven, you will have to choose a heat-proof small baking dish, large muffin tray, or ramekin.
2: Oven
Make the mug cake batter as shown in the recipe card then bake at 180C/250F for 15 minutes. Or until the center is cooked.
3: Air fryer
To cook mug cakes in the air fryer you need to find a small baking dish or ramekin to fit inside your air fryer. There must be at least 1 inch on all sides to allow the heat to circulate evenly.
- Preheat your air fryer to 180C/350F.
- Place the butter in your small baking dish and heat for 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until completely melted.
- Make the mug cake following the recipe card below.
- Gently lower your baking dish onto the air fryer wire rack. Ensure there is plenty of space between the ramekin dish and the side of the basket.
- Cook for 10 minutes, depending on the size of your air fryer and the size of your ramekin or small baking dish.
Serving
Serve your cooked chocolate mug cake with full-fat cream and low sugar berries for a real treat.
For adults only, you might like to pour a little brandy over them or add brandy to the whipped cream for a grown-up indulgence.
Low-carb baking guides
If you are new here, you may want to print a copy of the cooking conversion charts. You’ll discover kitchen conversions for metric/imperial, tbsp to ml, temperatures, and even international ingredient names. So no more guessing what a recipe needs.
Once you discover how easy it is to use low-carb flour such as almond flour and coconut flour, you can make delicious and healthy cookies, cakes, and even pies that are all sugar-free, gluten-free and tasty.
Low Carb Mug Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter melted
- 4 tbsp almond meal/flour
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder (unsweetened) unsweetened
- 1 tsp granulated sweetener of choice or more, to your taste
- 1 eggs – medium
- 1 tbsp coconut flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Melt the butter in the mug in the microwave (or preheated air fryer).
- Add the almonds, cocoa and sweetener. Mix well.
- Add the egg and all other ingredients. Mix well.
- Cook in the microwave (see notes above) on HIGH for 1.5 minutes or until cooked in the centre.
- Serve with whipped cream and berries.
Video
Notes
- For a grown up indulgence, add some brandy to the whipped cream or pour a little over the cooked mug cake.
- You can add cacao nibs for a little crunch.
- Each mug cake is quite large, so even try putting half the mixture into another mug and make 2 small ones and cook for 40-50 seconds depending on your microwave.
Nutrition
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I want to start to follow the low carb diet
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Oh, you meanie. Don’t you know you’re responsible for all my failures if I try your recipes? 🙂 So wipe your mug cake off your mouth… (I loved that line in your post.) My kids would love me if I let them try this. I will have to do that. I like it when they hug me. 🙂 Pretty photo too.
Of course your recipe failures are my fault, as is your oven at the wrong temp, out of date ingredients, substituting ingredients, using the wrong dish and an ingredient completely missed off the recipe 😉 I do have to laugh at some of the comments I get sometimes “if I don’t have stevia can I use sugar?” “this tasted like old feet, not that I know what old feet taste like”. You soon learn to have thicker skin around here.
I’m glad also that I have given your children a reason to hug you (double wink 😉 ). Have a great day Terri xxx
“Serve with full fat cream and berries for a real treat.” … sounds good to me.
Well done to you and your daughter for these ‘mug cake’ ideas – and a good tip about how microwaves vary … they certainly do, but i think we all quickly get used to timings.
All the best Jan
Thanks Jan, my daughter is definitely my chef in training. Last night she made spinach and feta parcels and a chocolate keto brownie. We had a bit of a bake off session for the week and the freezer.
Hi. I tried this recipe today. I loved the texture but it was quite bitter. I had it with double cream plain yoghurt and tasted much better. I’m not sure if I put in too much cocoa, or if it’s the bitter aftertaste of the stevia. I may just try it with xylitol next time.
Which brand of stevia did you use? I use
Natvia Brand
which is blended with erythritol and doesn’t have any bitter aftertaste.I was wondering why the recipe has so many calories?
The calories come from the nuts, egg and healthy fats. When you go low carb, you no longer count calories. We count carbs as it is the carbs and the insulin that drive fat storage an hunger. it also makes an incredibly large mug cake, or you can split it between 2 smaller cups.
Free e-book? Plz tell me more! I want to do Banting/LCHF so badly, but am only succeeding in abt 40% of my meals….I need help!!
Hi there. click on the photo to subscribe and receive my free eBook with recipes (some exclusive to the eBook) and you will receive emails only when I post a recipe or article.
Yay! I am loving the look of this recipe! I absolutely love the wheat belly one but found it was getting annoying having to make sure that I had the all purpose mix already done up. Everytime I wanted a muffin, I never had any in there lol! This recipe is very similar so I am excited! (It doesn’t have flaxseed in it though which my kids will love haha!They hate the texture of it) I might even throw some chopped up dark chocolate or sugar free chocolate chips in too… Yummmmm
Why would you eat paleo – expensive ingredients then microwave them!!!!!!!!!!!
Because there is nothing wrong with using the microwave. It does nothing to denature ingredients or nutrients more than cooking in an oven does.
These look good! Do you happen to know, for someone like my mom whose microwave died recently, how these would cook up in an oven if you popped the mug in there? Could you pop the mug in there?? Thanks!
As long as the mug is heat proof they should work fine, if not, just pop the mixture into a cupcake tray.
Can I use almond flour for the ground almonds?
Sure you can, I just use ground almonds in all my recipes because it is so much cheaper.
Do the mug cakes have 5gram carb or 11gram…..? Looking forward to trying them…..have been doing LCHF for couple months now and loving it
They have 11.9g total carbs with 6.8g fibre so net carbs is 5.1g. Enjoy 🙂
Tree nut allergies. What could I use instead?
That unfortunately would have to be an entirely different recipe. Maybe try my keto brownies instead, they are nut free and incredibly low carb.
seed flour or ground flax will work!
Used sunflower seed meal instead of almonds (nut allergy) and it was awesome. Stirred in some cinnamon and cut up 100% dark chocolate chunks.
This was so yummy. Didn’t have any almond flour, but did have flax meal. Subbed that in and used probably a little less butter than it says, because I didn’t know the conversion for tbsp or tsp. I was incredibly impressed. Thank you, now I don’t have to make a huge batch of bread and feel bad for eating it lol.
Awesome. Flax meal is a fabulous source of fibre and vegetable omega 3 so I bet yours was incredible.
it looks moist and delicious!Thanks for sharing the recipe,
Mine was really grainy. Did I do something wrong?
The texture is never going to be as fine as refined white flour but did you use ground almonds or almond flour? Which stevia did you use? Some brands are more grainy and don’t dissolve as well as others.
Hi! I was
Wondering if raw Cacao can be used? (I’m new at this so not sure if it’s the same lol) thanks in advance! Xxx
Yes you can use raw cacao. Sometimes products use cacao and cocoa interchangeably. As long as it is dark and rich in taste. Some people get confused between baking cocoa/cacao and drinking cocoa which is full of sugar and fillers ant not much chocolate and lacks flavour.
Omg just made this it was amazing!!! Just the perfect amount – hubby and I shared one ?
I substituted the cocoa with some melted dark chocolate and it was amazing. So fluffy and light like a wheat flour cake.
Claire how much melted chocolate did you sub? Sounds like something I will try!
Wow! Kiss your daughter for me, that was amazing! Although having that much yumminess is only a couple of minutes could be dangerous! Perfect for a single mum like me who doesn’t want to have loads of baked goods hanging about, my son is going to love making this! ?
How much is an ounce of ground almonds? Don’t have a scale … and without an accurate measurement, this record is useless.
I made these a few days ago, and then once again the next day! I didn’t have coconut flour so I put some chocolate protein powder instead and it came out very good. Another great recipe, thank you 🙂
Just made this. Came out amazing. Just picked up some hazelnut meal so I gave it a try since they go well with chocolate and its lower carb than almond meal but of course more expensive. I also used coconut oil instead of butter as I didn’t have enough. In my microwave I cooked it for 1m10s and it was a hair too long. Next time I’ll try 55 seconds. Thanks for the recipe.
Microwave’s sure are individual and independent little appliances aren’t they? I’m liking you’re substitutions. Great ideas.
So, whipped cream. Is this heavy cream that you whip up? Do you add stevia to it, or any flavoring? Thanks!
Yes. I sometimes add stevia and sometimes vanilla. My husband prefers it without either and my children prefer it with both so we alternate. Add stevia according to your sweet tooth which for all of us will be completely different.
This -he is ruin by ads everywhere esp in the middle of recipes
It funds the website and my time, I could switch and sell protein powders and low carb bars instead?
Wow… what an attitude
I’m happy to put up with the ads. Thank you for such great recipes!
Agreed. I was about to leave and never come back. Incredibly slow to come up & crazy frustrating to close an ad, settle in, and have another and another to close (just aiming for the x – not reading any ads). Googled and downloaded adblocker (currently blocking an astounding 49 ads), and can enjoy the experience. Not my intent to offend; just to help others equally annoyed by intrusive ads.
I used to make these pre-keto. They were good. This looks great too. But here’s the thing. I don’t like fake sweeteners much. There’s always a bloody after taste and it makes something that should be a sweet treat kinda eh.
I’d honestly rather just use half a teaspoon of real nice brown sugar instead (which I think would be like 2g of carbs?), make a little mug, a bit of vanilla to enhance and yay, something super yummy. I don’t like sweet things so this would be a very rare thing and if it fits in my macros who cares 🙂
Try Lakanto. It’s a natural sweetener that also has 0 net carbs and has no after taste. I use it in everything that calls for sugar.
Hi! I just st made this recipe for the second time and I want to say Thank You! It was delicious both times. I used walnut flour instead of almond because that’s what I had but it was great.
Thank you so much for sharing!
Thanks Vanessa for letting us know http walnut flour works also.
My husband follows the SCD diet for his colitis and to make this SCD friendly I’m wondering if I can drop the cocoa (maybe add vanilla instead?) and replace the stevia for honey?
Sure drop the cocoa if you like, you would have to add some more ground almonds to compensate for the loss of dry ingredients. If you choose to use honey, just be aware that it will no longer be sugar free or low carb. Vanilla and/or cinnamon would be amazing flavours.
Can you cook several at once? How long should you cook them for if you are cooking 4 at a time?
Gosh it may have to be a case of trial and error with your microwave as there are just so many variables (power, size, cup depth etc). But for example if I were to try it in my microwave (800W) and one mug cake took 1.5 minutes, then 4 might take 5 minutes. But that would be an absolute guess. Pop them in and watch them. Press stop as soon as you see the middle cooking through.
I also use a trace of honey to sweeten instead of artificial sweeteners as I’m sensitive to them, taste as well as side effects. Honey also has beneficial properties for people with allergies such as myself. I use so little as it packs a big punch. It still keeps me lchf but keeps “fake” ingredients at bay. I cannot eat any processed foods or artificial sweeteners so a teeny bit of honey is the lesser of the two evils when it comes to adding a touch of sweetness. By going lchf we’ve really gotten rid of our sweet tooth but still like the occasional treat. In my opinion, it’s much healthier to use a trace of sugar than some chemically altered sugar substitute and yes, Stevia is still anot artificial sweetener that has been chemically altered no matter what plant it originated from. They are doing more studies that are showing its not as benign as everyone thinks.
I just made this. Unfortunately I think 90 seconds was too long for my microwave. It came out quite dry, but I smothered it in yogurt so it was still delicious. I will adjust the cooking time and try again. Thanks for the recipe:-)
I tried this four, yes FOUR, times and it was grossly bitter/metallic each time. I was determined that since lots of people were raving about it, that it must be something I was doing…and I found it!! Ladies, check your baking powder for aluminum. Every “double acting” baking powder I looked at, had this ingredient. And of course, the two different kinds I had BOTH had it in there! Yuck!!
Once I found an aluminum-free baking powder, I tried again and…SUCCESS!! Yummy! Thanks for the recipe! That cake is so BIG.
Ahhhhh, so that’s it. I have never bought double acting baking powder so would never have figured this out. Thank you so much for this. I love getting to the bottom of a mystery. Now I need to solve why some people say my walnut fudge is salty when there is none in there – hmmmm.
Maybe they’re using salted butter. Just a guess!
This happened to me too – salty metallic taste from the baking powder. I’m wondering about leaving it out or doing just a pinch of bicarb instead. I could beat the egg more instead perhaps.
Thank you for this recipe. I used chia seeds instead of coconut flour, and five drops of liquid stevia instead for the granulated stevia. For my microwave, it was important to use level tablespoons of all of the dry ingredients. The texture and flavor are amazing!
can you use coconut oil instead of butter
Simple, quick and tasty recipe.
Recipe instructions were perfect.
Thank you ?
I’m curious as to why it is 533 calories? I’m giving this a try will add walnuts to it.
I really enjoyed this cake!! Super easy! Cake itself was not sweet at all but I added a packet of
stevia to my whipped cream and poured it all over the warm cake! So gooood 🙂 Thank you for this!!
Mmmm…made it twice tonight. Once for myself and my oldest and the second time I used coconut oil instead of butter because my baby is lactose intolerant. OMG!!! Chocolate coconut cake! I imagined toasting some coconut to toss on top of it too!
It was awful!. I then sat down and looked at was in it with what the result was and made adjustments for a great result. Sorry, ghastly.
Major fail. Not enough moisture to offset the dry ingredients. Went straight into the trash.
Not to bad. Mine was a little dry, any way to make it a bit more moist? the taste wasn’t to bad. I added in some homemade sugar free chocolate to it for flavor. Over all it’s a keeper 🙂
I added 2T almond milk and a 1/2 tsp of coconut oil. It came out great!!
Major win in our house! Both kids & hubby LOVED it! Only needed to cook for 1 minute & came out perfectly! Will definitely be making again. Thanks Libby…and your daughter ?
YAYYYY what a superb review, thank you 🙂
Hello Libby!
Thanks for sharing this recipe. I bet my kids will love this snack after a tiresome day at school. Well, I actually like cocoa but one of my kids hate it. Do you have any suggestions that could replace cocoa? Something less sweet?
You could try a lemon mug cake? Vanilla then add a topping with berries? You may need to add a little more almond flour/meal as the cocoa has been omitted which is one of the main dry ingredients.
Oh, great. That sounds terrific! I will give it a try. Thank you so much for the tips, Libby.
That is delicious! Hit my chocolate spot Thanks!
Delicious! Husband loved it too. Divided into 2 mugs and added some grated dark chocolate stirred through. Very moist and added a big dollop of thick cream. Thanks love all your recipes
🙂 xxx
Loved this recipe. I made it without sweetener and it was delicious with thick cream and so easy. Came out really bouncy on top. I might put in a bit of cinnamon next time.
This, was disgusting.
Just made this and loved it! It was delicious and moist. I tweaked it slightly by adding a bit more sweetener and a splash of cream before cooking it. Will definitely be making it again
What can I substitute for coconut flour? Unfortunately none in the shops here.
Can you explain how the calorie count is so high per muffin given the list of healthy ingredients ? No way 530 cal is correct.
This is horrible. I made zero substitution. Not worth the calories, threw most of it away. Sorry☹️
Wow, what went wrong?? This is such a popular recipe 🙂 LEt’s see if we can figure it out.
Almond flour again!! Anyone out there who has recipe books WITHOUT almond flour, I will subscribe to your posts, and buy your books. I am getting tired of seeing recipes that look good, then finding out they use almond flour, which promotes inflammation, and gives me a belly ache.
Have you seen my entire collection of coconut flour recipes? You can see them all here. They are either made with coconut flour or they have a conversion for you – yay!
Came out excellent! Used aluminum free baking powder, fine almond four not meal, added a touch of heavy cream and bit more Lankanto. So good! This is dangerous!
I made this i only had half to cut the carbs was in a rush to do and i forgot missed the coconut flour but was still great x
I add up the carbs for what i put in i forgot the coconut flour n i got 4.9g carbs
And 7.2g with coconut flour in it
Hows this ?
It all depends on what brand you are using, which app you are using, many of them are completely unreliable because they have “user added” entres. Plus the complexity of where your brands are produced because US/UK/NZ/AUS carb values differ. Some show total carbs, others show net carbs. I use cronometer.com which used national database and is completely accurate. My nutritional panels are provided as a guide. If strict blood glucose control is required, always calculate yours using an accurate method with the actual brands you use. Hope that helps 🙂
Absolutely worst low carb mug cake ever. Very dry, not sweet, just terrible. I tried putting whipped cream in it but it did not help. I have another mug cake recipe that I like and thought I would try a different one. Tried it and will go back to my moist, sweet mug cake that has less calories and carbs.
I’m so sorry to read this, it sounds like it may have been microwaved for too long (always adjust cooking times to reflect the power of your microwave) and if it wasn’t sweet enough, always add more sweetener “to your taste”. We are all on different parts of our sugar-free journey, so if you are just starting out, you may require additional sweetener, to begin with, but as time passes, and the longer you are sugar-free, the amount you require will diminish considerably. Try these mug cakes again, they really are amazing, soft, sweet and fluffy.
I am concerned that this is meant to be moist but uses 4Tbs almond flour and 1 Tbsp coconut flour which seems a lot for a mug cake. No wonder it’s dry
It also has butter and an egg. It works. Try it 🙂
I made this last night and realised half way through that it was in US measurements so my Aussie Tbsp were going to make it too dry. To compensate I left out the coconut flour. Why oh why don’t people use the weights (mls) instead of/as well as the volumes? The USA is the only western country still using Imperial and yet they rarely consider the rest of the world when they write their recipes.
For most recipes here I offer both metric and imperial. I am in NZ and use weight more than cups, as you say, it’s more accurate BUT so many have grown up only using cups and tbsp so would be turned away from a recipe that only states grams. We are a lovely international community here, yay.
These are just the best … top with a little homemade whipped cream and it is so tasty. Very easy to make too
Your measurement chart is in error. 1/4 cup = 4 Tbsp US.
I did not check anything else.
Thanks for catching that–we missed updating this graphic and it is fixed now.