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The vanilla version to my chocolate mug cake is this very vanilla mug cake! It’s just as easy to make as her chocolate friend and just as light and fluffy! Still has no eggs and fully customizable!
A very vanilla mug cake to rule the land!
If you have been hanging around the blog for a few years now, you’ll know that my chocolate mug cake has been such a hit.
But not everyone is a fan of chocolate, which is quite shocking.
That’s always the age-old question, right? “Chocolate or vanilla?”
So if you are a vanilla lover, here is the vanilla mug cake version of the chocolate mug cake!
Honestly, several of people asked for one and honestly, it wasn’t a bad idea.
It’s like having chocolate and vanilla ice cream flavors to choose from.
Sometimes you’re wanting chocolate, some days you’re wanting vanilla. Same deal for mug cakes, right?
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 that is made in a mug!
It’s great because you don’t need to whip out a bunch of tools to make this simple mug cake.
This vanilla 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 recall how it turned out and/or what temperature or time.
What is different about this vanilla mug cake vs. your chocolate mug cake?
Well, for one, the most obvious: this is vanilla, not chocolate!
Additionally, this mug cake takes slightly longer to “bake” since the batter is thicker than the chocolate mug cake one.
Also, this vanilla version is easier to be built upon (or at least I think so) – add chocolate chips to it, a dollop of peanut butter, a dollop of nutella, anything!
I mean, what you can put on a cupcake, I’m sure you could put in this :)
If you love mug cakes, you may like these different variations on my vanilla mug cake:
- Chocolate mug cake
- Dark chocolate mug cake
- Pumpkin spice mug cake
- Salted caramel apple spice mug cake
The Moistest Very Vanilla Mug Cake
Ingredients
- ¼ cup (31 g) + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoon granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup (59 ml) + 2 tbsp milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- ½ tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.
- In a measuring cup, whisk together milk, vanilla bean paste, and vanilla extract.
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients then pour the milk mixture into the center, followed by the melted butter.
- Whisk until no lumps remain and batter is smooth and well combined.
- Pour into a 16-ounce microwave-safe mug.
- Microwave on high for 130 seconds or 2 minutes and 10 seconds.
- Carefully remove and enjoy!
I made this tonight, I doubled the ingredients and put everything in a soup bowl. I was so surprised to see it worked. I didn’t have any milk, but had evaporated milk, so I used it instead, and I added a tad more sugar. It came out great.
This is the best mug cake I have ever had. I will try the chocolate next time.
HELP!
I made this cake, it tastes great! My only problem is that the sides pulled in. So now I have, like, a cylinder cake…Not so great for presentation. What did I do wrong?!!
I’m guessing I used a too small mug. Does the mug have to 16 oz (will it affect the cake)?
The sides do pull in a little regardless of mug size because the baking powder will make the cake expand and then after there’s no more heat from the microwave, it’ll retract, therefore, pulling in away from the sides. The mug cake is intended to be eaten within the mug. If you’re trying to take the entire mug cake out of mug and putting it on a platter, it’ll definitely be whatever the shape of the mug is, so if it’s a taller mug, definitely a cylinder shape.
Thanks!
No egg?
No egg. The egg is what gives it the spongy texture. If you think about it, cakes/baked goods made for regular serving sizes usually require 1 or 2 eggs…for a single mug cake to use 1 whole egg is way too much. With the egg omitted, the spongy texture won’t be there. Trust me. I’ve tested this 4 times, with and without the egg :)
Hi JULIE, I’ve just tried this recipe without the vanilla bean paste, using 1tbsp of vanilla extract and one egg instead. You’re right, one egg is way too much for flavour.
Tried your recipe and it was better ! thank you.
Beautiful flavor! Will definitely try again with wheat flour (rice flour-based GF mix yielded a gummy texture.) Used coconut crystals and almond milk. Just delicious, thank you for sharing!
This was SO GOOD! At first I was skeptical about the amount of liquid to dry, but OMG it was delicious!
You are so right – this cake is wonderfully moist and delicious! I doubled the recipe and added 1 tablespoon of almond extract. Also made a quick thin glaze with powdered sugar mixed with a little almond extract and milk; then spread it on top of the cake immediately when it came out of microwave Thanks so much for this one!
Mine turned out horrible! I really wanted to come out well though.. I guess I did something wrong? It was really spongy and not edible at all!
I tried this and it was terrible and extremely rubbery . I followed the recipe just as written and it tasted awful.
You must have cooked the cake for long. It turns out rubbery when you cook it for even 10 seconds extra.
Thank you for this amazing recipe. Just made it with a few changes. Used coconut oil instead of butter and unsweetened almond milk instead of regular milk. Plus I drizzled some maple syrup over it, it’s delicious mhhhhh