This Keto Chocolate Mug Cake is a quick & easy low carb treat with a brownie texture and rich chocolate flavor. Gluten-free and with built in portion control – it will satisfy your chocolate craving without blowing your carb budget!
This keto chocolate brownie mug cake recipe has been popular here on IBIH for quite a few years now. I decided to dust it off and update the post a bit for those of you that haven’t come across it yet.
The thing I love about keto mug cakes is that they are so easy (and fast!) to make, and that you aren’t committed to an entire bowl or pan of something. Portion control is so much easier when you are only making one or two servings of keto dessert at a time, instead of an entire chocolate cake!
I knew I wanted to do a keto chocolate mug cake, and definitely wanted it to have a brownie-like texture.
It took some experimenting (oh the things I do for you), but I finally hit on the right combination to get both the taste and texture that I wanted. Not too dry, with just the right amount of gooeyness! You could almost call these keto chocolate mug brownies – and you wouldn’t be wrong.
This keto chocolate mug cake was warm and comforting, and perfect with some whipped cream or sugar free vanilla ice cream on top.
In fact you almost need something creamy to break up the richness of the brownie. I used Rebel Natural Vanilla (not sponsored, I just like the brand) for this photo shoot and the results were delicious.
I added walnuts to mine because nuts are a must in brownies as far as I’m concerned. I’m listing them as optional though, because some crazy people out there don’t like nuts in brownies. Oh the humanity!
Keto Mug Cake FAQs and Variations
How do you bake a keto mug cake?
Typically, since mug cakes are all about convenience, they are cooked a microwave oven rather than a traditional bake oven. That being said, you can absolutely bake a mug cake in your regular oven. To do so I recommend a ramekin instead of a mug, a bake temperature of about 375 degrees Fahrenheit, and about 10-12 minutes of baking time.
If using a microwave as this keto mug cake recipe (and many others) call for, please be aware that microwave strengths and mugs vary – I found this out the hard way when testing this keto mug cake recipe out.
I had been using the same microwave-safe mug for several tries with great results, then I made the last one with a thinner walled mug and it was WAY overdone. So I’m giving you the shortest likely time, and if it’s too gooey just throw it back in for another 30 seconds until it’s the consistency you want.
Once you go over it’s trashed, so err on the conservative side if your microwave is really strong, or your mugs are really thin walled.
Same goes on the other side of the coin, if your mugs are really thick or your microwave oven is whimpy, you might need to add a little time to cook them all the way through.
I divided this keto chocolate brownie mug cake into two portions – but you could just as easily make it in one large mug or small bowl and microwave it for a minute and 30 seconds to 2 minutes.
What ingredients are in a keto mug cake?
The ingredients used in a keto mug cake will vary based on the flavor, but typically they are made with almond flour, coconut flour, a sugar free sweetener like erythritol or xylitol, coconut oil or butter for the fat to make it tender, and baking powder to help it rise.
This particular chocolate mug cake also contains vanilla extract, a good quality cocoa powder, sugar free chocolate chips, and either pecans or walnuts.
How many net carbs are in this keto chocolate mug cake recipe?
This keto mug cake contains only 2 grams of net carbs, but a whopping 6 grams of protein. So it’s basically health food – especially if you throw a few berries on there. You’re welcome.
Can this chocolate mug cake be made dairy free and Paleo?
Yes! The only dairy in this mug cake recipe is the butter, so you can replace that with ghee (which is free of milk solids) or coconut oil with great results. To sweeten it, you can replace the erythritol (which is a natural sweetener but highly processed) with either honey or maple syrup for Paleo diets.
Keto Chocolate Brownie Mug Cake – Low Carb – Gluten Free
- Total Time: 6 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Warm and comforting, this keto chocolate mug cake is the quickest way to low carb brownie bliss there is! Gluten free too!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons superfine blanched almond flour
- 1 teaspoon coconut flour
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar substitute
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar free chocolate chipsÂ
- 1 tablespoon chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a small microwave safe bowl (about 30 seconds in microwave).
- Add the remaining ingredients and stir until combined.
- Pour batter into 2 small greased mugs or ramekins.
- Microwave for 1 minute. (add another 30 seconds if necessary).
- Serve with whipped cream or sugar free vanilla ice cream.
Notes
Approximate net carbs per serving = 2g
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 minute
- Category: Keto desserts
- Method: microwave
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 mug cake
- Calories: 216
- Fat: 22g
- Carbohydrates: 4g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 6g
amber unrast says
hi! that sound awsome good, but only issues with tree nuts like pecans,almond flour.. or any other tree nuts i not able to eat due allgies , darn them!!
but can just delete almond flour and just use coconut flour?
delete pecands and just use peanuts
that all i can eat them.. mostly like all almonds nuts, flour or even almonds milk.. they make me very sick to my tummy.. sometime it will make me end up to er.. it no fun with tree nuts allgies >.>
but let me know if i can able make those tasty brownies! <3
Mellissa Sevigny says
I would recommend looking for a coconut flour based mug cake to start with Amber, this one is based on the almond flour and since coconut flour behaves very differently it would require different ratios of liquid, etc. so won’t come out right if you simply sub the coconut flour! I’m sure there are lots of delicious options out there using just coconut flour though!
Lynne says
Ummmm……….Lindt chocolate is not gluten free
Mellissa Sevigny says
Direct from the Lindt site: “Is there gluten or barley malt in Lindt chocolate?
Gluten can be found in several premium chocolate products that Lindt & SprĂĽngli produces; either as a cereal ingredient or as a barley component. For consumers who are sensitive to gluten, we do offer certain premium high cocoa content products that are manufactured without cereal or barley malt, which may be suitable for consumers with such dietary restrictions. These offerings include four bars from our EXCELLENCE line – 70%, 85%, 90% and 99%. Please always refer to a product’s packaging for definitive advice.”
The 90% bars I use in this and other recipes here on the site are gluten free, though if you have celiac’s disease and are incredibly sensitive, you may want to avoid them simply because they may be processed in the same plant that could process some of their other chocolates as well.
Kati says
This was really gross and dry!!!!
Angela says
Omg….I know i am late to the party but. WOW. This was seriously delicious. I used baking chocolate since i had no other and it was so freKin good. THANK YOU!
Melanie says
This mug cake was very tasty and the texture wonderful. I made this for my family and the overall response was good but it wasn’t sweet enough as written. I will add more Swerve next time.
Tobi says
Ive made this twice and both times it was super salty? I even reduced the baking powder to 1/8 of a tsp! Not sure what Im doing wrong but definitely not loving it.
Mellissa Sevigny says
Sorry to hear that – it definitely shouldn’t taste salty, not sure what is going wrong!
Sarah says
It’s probably the butter if you are using salted butter.
Amy says
I just made this for the first time. I omitted the Lindt since I didn’t have any, and I topped it with Walden Farms chocolate syrup and whipped cream. Seriously delicious!
Kira says
Ok I made this cake with a few tweaks!
70 seconds or 1 minute 10 seconds…..
added 1oz of cream cheese (softened and added with the melted butter)
And 1.5 tablespoons of heavy cream.
Cake was delicious. Not eggy and NOT dry! I ate the whole thing. Very delicious.
Beth pece says
I just made this for my sweetie and me. It turned out perfectly!! So delish!!
Liz says
Wow. Just tried this for the first time. It was surprisingly amazing. Even my super picky mom was really impressed with the texture. I’m having a bit of a time converting to things that don’t involve regular flour and this one is definitely a win!!! (I don’t eat stuff with regular flour anymore, jjst kind of been avoiding baking because of it… but with the seasons changing, the mood is setting in :) )