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This easy chocolate mug cake recipe has no eggs and can be made for one or two (if you like to share). It is one of the easiest dessert recipes you’ll ever make and you’ll never make another mug cake again after you try my recipe!

A large spoonful of chocolate mug cake sitting on top of a white mug that says "Mugs Are For Cake, Too"
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Holy bananas, you guys. This chocolate mug cake recipe is one of your all’s favorite desserts to make. The simplest chocolate dessert yet incredibly moist, easy, and the best single-serving dessert out there (to share or not to share)! Mug cake for one or two and it is eggless and all made in the microwave!

You likely have ALL the ingredients in your pantry already. When you get that late night craving? Or want a small batch dessert (and not whip out a giant baking pan to make brownies to nip that craving)? This chocolate mug cake IS FOR YOU!! If you haven’t made this yet; you are 100% missing out.

What is a mug cake?

I still seem to get this question a lot and a mug cake is literally as it sounds. A cake in a cup! It’s great because you don’t need to whip out a bunch of tools to make this easy chocolate mug cake.

A large spoonful of chocolate mug cake sitting on top of a white mug that says, "Mugs Are For Cakes, Too." the mug is sitting on a white linen napkin with gold measuring spoons and mini chocolate chips.

Why is this the BEST Easy Chocolate Mug Cake recipe out there!

Seriously though, you’re probably so over mug cake recipes and you’re probably rolling your eyes at me right now but STOP! I promise you this isn’t like any other mug cake out there. I’ve tried a bunch of mug cakes and I hated them.

I thought they were a really neat concept for a quick dessert fix but nothing would ever beat baking an entire cake or cupcake. I hated that all the mug cakes came out SPONGY and they had the grossest texture.

Last week, I was CRAVING chocolate like none other. It was a pretty dire situation. We didn’t have any desserts in the house because I hadn’t been baking and I didn’t want to run out to get anything so I thought I’d give a mug cake a shot.

It ended up turning into a recipe development hour because the first batch came out horrible. Like, I threw it in the trash can and it was just one lumpy sponge thing.

The second one was slightly better but still really bad. The third, I switched out some ingredients and added a little bit more of some and it came out how I wanted but I knew it could’ve been better so on the fourth try, I finally got it to work and the exact texture I wanted.

A large spoonful of microwaved chocolate mug cake sitting balancing on top of a white mug that says "Mugs Are For Cakes, Too" and gold measuring spoons at the bottom of the image.

Ingredients you’ll need

For the exact measurements, please scroll down to the recipe card.

  • All-purpose flour
  • Unsweetened cocoa powder
  • Baking powder – make sure to check the “best by” date for this. It’s an important factor.
  • Sugar
  • Salt
  • Milk
  • Oil
  • Chocolate hazelnut spread

Substitutions and variations

  • You can use dark cocoa powder if you desire but I actually have a dark chocolate mug cake recipe for that!
  • I’ve heard of so many variations that folks have used for the chocolate hazelnut spread. Here are a few ideas:
    • Mini chocolate chips
    • Lindt truffle in the center
    • Mini M&M’s or your favorite mini candy bar
    • Caramel sauce

How to make chocolate mug cake

For complete instructions, visit the recipe card below.

Whisk together dry ingredients. In a small bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.

Add the liquids. Next, add the liquids into the bowl and whisk until a batter-like consistency forms and there are no remaining dry ingredient lumps.

Pour into a mug. As it’s a microwave mug cake, make sure you are pouring the batter into a microwave-safe mug!

Time for add-ins! If you’re using the chocolate hazelnut spread, go ahead and add that right into the center! Same for other add-ins. You don’t have to push it down, the batter will cook around it and sink it down.

Microwave! Time cook it! Place the mug in the microwave and cook for 70 seconds (please see important notes below).

Tips for success

  • Please note that ALL microwaves are different therefore can yield different results and can overcook this mug cake if you aren’t careful. My microwave is 950 watts and I cooked mine on 100% power for 70 seconds*. Knowing this information, it may help you better judge how long to cook yours for and at what power.
  • Mug size makes a huge difference! If you’re using a larger mug that is taller then it will take longer to cook. If you’re using a larger but wider mug, it may take less time to cook. There isn’t a one size fits all for this, sadly. The cooking time is a general cook time that works best for most. Unfortunately, there are so many factors that can contribute to your particular mug cake.
An overhead shot of the chocolate mug cake with hazelnut spread in the center. The mini chocolate chips and gold measuring spoons are on the side of the mug cake and sitting on a white linen towel.

Common questions

This chocolate mug cake is made without eggs. Why?

Okay, I get asked this a lot too and the reason why this mug cake is made without any eggs is because that is what makes it have a spongey texture!

If you think about it, it makes sense. Why would you put an entire egg into a mug cake when a regular full-sized cake often asks for one or two eggs? This isn’t a full-sized cake. And of course I’m not going to ask you to divide an egg in half. Just omit it! Best texture, ever!

Can I make this with self-raising flour?

You can, but I tested it with self-raising flour and it just came out spongey and not the texture I wanted.

I like my cakes light, fluffy, and moist and with the self-raising flour, it just didn’t yield the results I wanted.

There have been many people who have used self-raising flour in this recipe and didn’t notice a difference so if you’re up for the challenge, I say go for it.

Can this mug cake be made in the oven?

No, this was solely developed for the microwave. I have had readers who have baked this but I honestly don’t recall how it turned out and/or what temperature or time.

A spoonful of chocolate mug cake peeking out of a white mug that says "Mugs Are For Cake, Too" on top of a white linen towel with a measuring spoon of mini chocolate chips.

If you love mug cakes, you may like these different variations on my chocolate mug cake:

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4.50 from 1055 votes

The Moistest Chocolate Mug Cake

This best and moistest chocolate mug cake you will ever have. It’s not spongey or dry like other mug cakes! You will never use another chocolate mug cake recipe again!
Prep Time: 1 minute
Cook Time: 1 minute
Total Time: 2 minutes
Servings: 1

Ingredients 

  • ¼ cup (31 g) all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ¼ teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 tablespoon granulated sugar, (you can add 1 tbsp. more if you like it a bit sweeter)
  • teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¼ cup (59 ml) + 1 tbsp. milk
  • 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon hazelnut chocolate spread or mini chocolate chips

Instructions 

  • In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.
  • Whisk in the milk and vegetable oil until all ingredients are combined and batter has no clumps.
  • Pour batter into a microwave-safe mug. Mine was a 14-ounce mug. You want enough head space for the cake to rise without pouring over.
  • Add hazelnut chocolate spread in the middle of the batter or mini chocolate chips. Just drop it in the middle, no need to push it down and sink it in the batter. It does that on its own when it cooks! :)
  • Place a paper towel into the microwave and set the mug on top (this is to catch any batter if your mug cake overflows).
  • Microwave mug cake for 70 seconds on high (PLEASE READ NOTES CAREFULLY BELOW)
  • Carefully remove from microwave and enjoy!

Notes

Please note that ALL microwaves are different therefore can yield different results and can overcook this mug cake if you aren’t careful. My microwave is 950 watts and I cooked mine on 100% power for 70 seconds*. Knowing this information, it may help you better judge how long to cook yours for and at what power.
*When this recipe was developed, we were in another house. That microwave in that house took 70 seconds for me to cook the mug cake. When the video was filmed, we were in a new home. In our current microwave, it takes 90 seconds…which is why there are two different times. The fact still remains: all microwaves are different and can yield different cook times, which proves to be true with my two different microwaves in two different homes.
You can totally omit the tablespoon of chocolate hazelnut spread if you want or use a different spread of your choice (peanut butter, biscoff, etc.) or even chocolate chips like I used in the video. I just thought it made the cake even more moist but the cake itself is moist enough without it!
**This recipe is specifically made for the microwave. I developed it for the microwave. I don’t know cook time or temperature for an oven…I’d imagine it’d be a very quick cook time at a low temp., but since I didn’t test the recipe for an oven, I cannot give specifics. Sorry!
No eggs? Correct. There are NO EGGS in this recipe. Why? Egg is what makes the mug cake spongy. If you think about it, when you bake a full-sized cake, you typically use 1 or 2 eggs…for a mug cake to use 1 egg is A LOT!
Self-rising flour? I have tested this with self-rising and it does NOT work. At least I felt it didn’t work because it was too spongy for me. You are more than welcome to use it, however, please keep in mind that I don’t recommend this method.
Salty? What kind of salt did you use? Kosher salt and table salt ≠ the same thing. Here’s a great post on different kinds of salt and its densities.
If you’re looking for a VANILLA version, here is the link to The Moistest Vanilla Mug Cake recipe!

Nutrition

Serving: 1mug cake, Calories: 606kcal, Carbohydrates: 55g, Protein: 10g, Fat: 42g, Saturated Fat: 16g, Fiber: 7g, Sugar: 21g

This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition information can vary for a variety of reasons. For the most precise nutritional data use your preferred nutrition calculator based on the actual ingredients you used in the recipe.

The default measuring system for this website is US Customary. Unit conversions are provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. While we strive to provide accurate unit conversions, please be aware that there may be some discrepancies.

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Recipe Rating




3,731 Comments

  1. Felt like a sweet treat and had nothing at home but had all these ingredients. Honestly the best mug cake I’ve ever had. So moist!

  2. This recipe definitely lives up to it’s name! I’ve never tried a mug cake that was this good and perfectly sweet (I used three tablespoons of sugar). However, I used wayyy too much table salt the first time making this cake. I learned my lesson!

  3. I love this cake! It’s so easy to make. I’ve had the recipe for several years and made it many times – it always comes out perfect!

  4. Listen!!! In my 36 years of living I never believed in these mug cakes. I craved for custard and night decided to make this as a compliment. My goodness!! Game changer. My microwave is 700 Watts so based on her commentary I used 2 minutes and it’s perfectly done. Never baking long ways again ever!!!!

    1. Very quick easy and wonderful! This is a very rich chocolate cake. I added melted frosting on top. oh la la!