Moist, fudgy and mega chocolatey vegan mug cake that is ready in minutes! Perfect to satisfy that late night chocolate cake craving!
So how’s this… you’re sitting at home watching Netflix on a Sunday night and you get a craving for chocolate cake. But you are not going to go and make a whole cake right now, I mean… who has time. You need to get back to binge watching that show!
Enter the vegan mug cake. The cake you can bake in 90 seconds, in a mug, in the microwave. In a perfect one serving portion. And it tastes every bit as good as the best chocolate cake! Can it get any better?
Well yes, if you put a little vegan cream on top of it, then it gets even better.
And if you prefer vanilla to chocolate then you’ll LOVE our vegan vanilla mug cake.
How To Make Vegan Mug Cake
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Add all purpose flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder and salt to a coffee mug.
- Mix it up.
- Add non-dairy milk, canola oil and vanilla extract to the dry ingredients and mix it up into a smooth batter.
- Add vegan chocolate chips.
- Fold the chocolate chips into the batter.
- Bake in the microwave on high for 90 seconds.
- Add a few more vegan chocolate chips to the top.
- Add a dollop of vegan cream (optional) and serve!
Ingredient Notes
We used regular white granulated sugar but if you want to use coconut sugar instead you can definitely do so.
You can use any non-dairy milk. We used soy milk, but almond milk or really any non-dairy milk will work here.
Canola oil. We used canola oil, but any vegetable oil will work fine.
Vegan chocolate chips. These are optional, but recommended! This a dream dessert for chocoholics, and the chocolate chips add all the gooey melted chocolate deliciousness you want.
Pro Tips for the Best Vegan Chocolate Mug Cake
Make sure you mix it well without over-mixing. You can use a small whisk (called a whiskette, such a cute name!) to mix the batter, but definitely also stir with a teaspoon making sure you get all the flour from the bottom mixed in.
It’s a common thing to get to the bottom of your mug cake and find a bunch of dry flour that didn’t mix in properly before you baked it. You could also mix the ingredients separately and then add it to your mug, but that just creates an extra dish to wash and this mug cake is all about getting your dessert fix with minimal effort. So just make sure you mix it well but also not too much, or your cake can become rubbery.
Let it cool for a few minutes before eating it. It’s wonderful to eat it hot, but not nuclear. It takes a few minutes to cool down to an edible temperature.
Recipe Q&A
Yes you can! If you prefer to be oil-free, you can switch the oil for applesauce. The cake will be less rich, but still good.
Yes you can. Just switch the all purpose flour for a gluten free all purpose flour blend. Everything else remains the same.
I have not tested this recipe in any way other than the microwave. But I think if you wanted to try it in the oven, you could do so.
My best guess would be to bake it at 350°F (180°C) for 12-15 minutes. Keep a watch on it, as this is just a guess. You would need to make sure to use an oven safe mug or ramekin to bake it in. If you do try it like this, let us know how it goes!
Serving Suggestions
A few extra vegan chocolate chips sprinkled on top are really all you need. This way it tastes great AND looks great.
If you want to really jazz it up then a dollop of vegan cream takes this next level. The same applies to a dollop of vegan ice cream.
Let it cool for a few minutes before serving and then get out a spoon and enjoy it warm.
More Vegan Chocolate
- The Best Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Vegan Chocolate Brownies
- Classic Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes
- Vegan Hot Chocolate
- Homemade Vegan Chocolate
- Vegan Chocolate Muffins
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Mug Cake
Ingredients
- 4 Tbsp All Purpose Flour
- 2 Tbsp Cocoa Powder Unsweetened
- 3 Tbsp White Granulated Sugar
- ¼ tsp Baking Powder
- ⅛ tsp Salt
- 4 Tbsp Soy Milk or other non-dairy milk
- 2 Tbsp Canola Oil or Vegetable Oil
- ¼ tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2 Tbsp Vegan Chocolate Chips
For Serving (Optional):
- Vegan Chocolate Chips
- Vegan Whipped Cream
Instructions
- Add the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder and salt to a coffee mug and mix together.
- Add the soy milk, vegetable oil and vanilla extract to the dry ingredients and mix it up into a smooth batter. Stir well, making sure the flour at the bottom of the mug is properly mixed in, but don't overmix.
- Add the vegan chocolate chips and fold them into the batter.
- Bake in the microwave on high for 90 seconds.* (See Notes)
- Let it cool for a few minutes and then add a few more vegan chocolate chips to the top and a dollop of vegan whipped cream (optional).
Notes
- Gluten-free. If you want to make this mug cake gluten-free you can use gluten-free all purpose flour instead of the regular flour, in the same quantity.
- Cooking times. Microwaves vary and if you have a much more powerful microwave than mine, you might be able to cook it for a shorter time. We made this in a 900 watt microwave and 90 seconds was perfect. However, if your microwave is more powerful it will be ready in a shorter time and if it’s less powerful it will need longer. This microwave calculator can help you figure it out based on the watts of your microwave.
- Under-baking is better than over-baking. It’s best to err on the side of under-baking rather than over-baking this mug cake. If it’s under-baked you can always put it back in for a little longer.
- Nutritional information is for the mug cake only and doesn’t include any vegan cream or ice cream that you may serve it with.
Hi! Do you think it would be possible to make this with maple syrup? I’m trying to cut out white sugar but it’s not so easy 😉 xxx
Hi Kathryn, I don’t think maple syrup would work well as it would throw out the balance of ingredients, but you could definitely use coconut sugar. 🙂
This tasted great and will definitely make it again, but ours didn’t rise even halfway up our regular coffee mugs, any ideas what we’re doing wrong?
Baking powder usually has a shelf life of about 9 to 12 months. Testing it is super easy. Just stir about half a teaspoon of baking powder into a cup of hot water. It will immediately start to fizz and release carbon dioxide gas if it’s still fresh enough to use. Opened baking powder will last 6 months
Fabulous! Family movie night with vegan chocolate mug cake for dessert. What a treat. It was delicious, fun and super easy for each of us to make. Thank You!!!
Awesome! Thanks so much Kaitlyn!
I’d not tried this sort of thing before, and I’d been feeling a bit low.
This mug cake was just the pick-me-up I needed. Next time I’m tempted to try it with some cinnamon.
So glad it worked well as a pick-me-up! Thanks for sharing and the great review!
First mug cake and it’s delicious! If I wanted to do a strawberry mug cake how much strawberry purée should I use?
So glad you enjoyed it! I’m not sure about a strawberry mug cake, I think it would change the recipe quite a bit.
Just tried the recipe and used some chocolate soy milk, I don’t know if it did a difference but OMG! it’s the best chocolate cake ever!!!