Dark Chocolate Mug Cake
Many of us are looking for something sweet to eat on Valentine’s day – especially chocolate – and this mug cake is the perfect solution.

- It’s fast and easy to make – the batter gets mixed up in a bowl, transferred to a coffee mug and microwaved for 1 minute. Literally 1 minute!
- It’s just enough for 1 or 2 people, making it the perfect dessert to share on Valentine’s day.
- It satisfies the chocolate deliciousness we sometimes crave – even when it’s not Valentine’s day.
- It’s made of dark cocoa powder and dark chocolate chips (so much amazing chocolate!), which contains antioxidants that are good-for-us. Yay!

And overall, it’s just super fun to make a dessert in a coffee mug. If you decide to share, it’s scrumptious served with a scoop of ice cream or frozen yogurt. The perfect sweet treat!
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Dark Chocolate Mug Cake
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 1 min
- Total Time: 6 mins
- Yield: Serves 1 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Microwave
Description
A personal dark chocolate cake that cooks in 60 seconds in the microwave!
Scale
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour*
- 2 tablespoons dark cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- ΒΌ teaspoon baking powder
- Pinch kosher or sea salt
- 3 tablespoons milk*
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 egg white
- Β½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons dark chocolate chips, divided
- 1 tablespoon chopped walnuts (optional), divided
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder and salt. Whisk in the milk, oil, egg white and vanilla extract until combined. Fold in half the dark chocolate chips and walnuts (if using).
- Coat a coffee mug with cooking spray. Pour the batter into the mug. Top with the rest of the dark chocolate chips and walnuts (if using). Microwave on high 45-60 seconds or until set. Serve immediately.
Notes
Substitution Tips: Use all-purpose, whole wheat, oat or gluten free flour. Use any milk.
Serving Tip: Split the cake in half and microwave in 2 mugs (30-45 seconds or until set). Serve each with a scoop of frozen yogurt and share!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 mug cake
- Calories: 374
- Sugar: 14g
- Sodium: 287mg
- Fat: 20g
- Saturated Fat: 5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 15g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 42g
- Fiber: 13g
- Protein: 13g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
Keywords: cake, chocolate, chocolate cake, mug cake, Valentine’s day, dessert
Nice nice nice.
★★★★★
π
This sounds amazing. I wonder if I can use coconut flour? π
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I haven’t tested it with coconut or alternate flours, but I think it’d be worth a try. Usually mixing some almond and some coconut flour works best for baked goods!
Almond flour is better. You can combine almond and coconut but remember to add more liquid as coconut flour will make it very dense and keep the amount of coconut flour to a minimum. Also, if you’re on keto, either skip the chocolate chips or use chips sweetened using either monkfruit or Stevia.
Thanks for your comments, Carol. It really depends on the person on what is a better option – wheat and oat flour are great sources of fiber and are also a great source of B vitamins and other nutrients. Almond and coconut flours are also a good source of fiber, vitamins and minerals, but are higher in calories and fat and have very little carbs – so it really comes down to the person on what they’d prefer, their health goals, etc. – both are nutritious options. If you swap in coconut and/or almond flour instead of wheat or oat flour, you will need to play around with the entire recipe because, like you said, you will need different amounts of liquid and eggs, and will also need to change around the total amount of flour. As for chocolate chips, you could use unsweetened chocolate chips, but they are very bitter in taste; those sweetened with stevia or monkfruit are often hard to find, but would be a great option if you like the flavor of those sweeteners. If anyone gives an almond/coconut flour version a shot, let us know what ratios worked well!
Coconut flour usually takes more liquids or eggs, maybe try using the entire egg with it.
Yes, it’s definitely a bit different, so you’d have to play around with the ratio of the other ingredients.
can we use banana in place of egg white?
I haven’t tried this, but I would think it would turn out fine. It may have a bit of a textural difference, though!
I have had success with other recipes using aquafaba (the water from a can of chickpeas) as an egg white substitute.
Great idea! A flax egg should also work well.
Can this be baked in an oven instead?
You definitely can, you’ll just have to play around with the cooking time. I’d put the batter in a greased ramekin or two, depending on the size you have, and bake it at 350. Once it hits 10 minutes, I’d check it regularly.
What a cute valentines day idea!! I will certainly try it when i can π
I hope you get a chance to try it, Ruben!
Thank you for posting this. I love the Substitution Tips and enjoyed reading the other comments. I’m excited to try it! <3
You’re welcome, Marcy! Enjoy!!
OMG I have to try this!!
It’s delish!!
this would be so fun to do for my boys for valentines day
Have fun with it, Donica! They’re yummy!
this recipe looks yummy but why is Stride promoting a food that has lots of fat and not much nutritional value??
Hi Sharon – The mug cake is meant to be a Valentine’s treat that only makes 1-2 servings rather than making a full cake for 1-2 people. As for nutritional value, the traditional cake is made with all-purpose flour, whereas we use whole wheat or oat flour for more fiber; and dark chocolate has antioxidant properties, whereas milk chocolate doesn’t. You can add the walnuts for a boost of omega 3s and fiber. Portion-controlled desserts can easily fit into a healthy, balanced diet!
Made this last night – so delicious! It was easy and quick to make. We used the serving tip and topped ours with frozen yogurt. I will definitely be doing this again!
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I’m making these for my grands tonight and will personalize their mugs for V-day tomorrow. Thanks for sharing Julie!
I love that idea! I bet they’ll enjoy it, Gernine! π
**leaves meeting to run to the store to buy the ingredients
What Mini said! This sounds delicious. In Texas, pecans, of course.
Love pecans!!
Ha! No time like the present for chocolate cake. π
Just took this recipe for a test drive. It is super fast, easy and SO tasty. Thank you for sharing!
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Awesome! Thanks so much for the feedback, and glad you enjoyed it, Tegan!