• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

A Grateful Meal

  • Home
  • About
  • Nutrition Coaching
  • Blog
  • Recipe Box
  • Press
  • Contact Me

Vanilla Mug Cake

November 16, 2020 by Melissa Leave a Comment

Vanilla Mug Cake
Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe
Close up of a bite of the vanilla mug cake with the cake in the background with the words "microwave vanilla mug cake. Done in 60 seconds!"

This vanilla mug cake is perfect when you just need one serving or don’t want to fuss with making a big dessert. This recipe can easily be doubled if you need extra!

I really love to bake – at least sometimes I do. Other times, I just want a piece of cake. And part of intuitive eating, I’ve learned to honor my hunger and satisfy my cravings. Unfortunately, I can’t always have everything I want when I want it. Sometimes, I forget to put certain things on my grocery list. Other times, it’s just not reasonable to satisfy a craving at that moment, or I don’t want to go through the work (like baking or going back to the store) to satisfy.

I love this mug cake recipe for that reason – I can truly satisfy my craving with minimal effort. It’s a mug cake made with ingredients that generally go into larger cakes (and none of that cardboard tasting diet-y stuff), and it’s easy. (Side note: it’s not diet-y to use some substitutes for ingredients that I mentioned below if you’re opting for a more plant-based eating pattern or adapting for an allergy like celiac disease. I’m referring to the substitutes just for the sake of low calorie.) While this “serves 1,” it’s okay if you need more – intuitive eating teaches us that no one else knows our own hunger or desires, so it can be easily adjusted to give you the right amount for you and what you want.

Close up of the vanilla mug cake with whipped cream and mixed berries on top.

Ingredients for the Vanilla Mug Cake Recipe

Butter: I love the taste of real butter in cake, but if you’re plant-based or vegan, you can use your favorite buttery spread.  


Sugar: Plain old white sugar is best to use. You can sub in brown sugar, honey, or agave nectar, but it might change the texture.   

Milk: I used 2% milk because it’s what I had, but again feel free to use a plant-based milk if you want. Vanilla-flavored plant-based milks might give a little extra vanilla kick for more flavor.  

Vanilla extract: Do yourself a favor and always buy the 100% vanilla extract, not the imitation – the flavor is so much better.  

Baking powder: No swaps here – baking powder is needed to make it rise.   

Salt: Just a tiny pinch is all you need. Salt makes the flavors more pronounced.

Flour: I used all-purpose flour. You could go with cake flour also, but if you’re gluten-free, I would try a gluten-free baking mix of flours or this one here.

Toppings: My favorites are whipped cream, mixed berries, and/or sprinkles, but you do you – top with whatever you like!

Close up of a bite of the vanilla mug cake with the cake in the background on a white surface.

How to Make a Vanilla Mug Cake

Mug cakes are the easiest thing to make on the planet. Just like making a regular cake, you’ll mix your wet ingredients separate from your dry ingredients and then mix them together until smooth. I used a large ramekin for mine, but all you need to “bake” the cake is a large coffee mug. You’ll microwave the mug cake about 60 seconds, then top with your favorite toppings.

Overview of the vanilla mug cake with a white spoon on a white surface with whipped cream and mixed berries.
Print

Vanilla Mug Cake

Overview of the vanilla mug cake with a white spoon on a white surface with whipped cream and mixed berries.
  • Author: Melissa
  • Prep Time: 4 minutes
  • Cook Time: 1 minute
  • Total Time: 5 minutes
  • Yield: 1 serving 1x
  • Category: dessert
  • Method: microwave

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 tbsp. butter, melted
  • 2 tbsp. sugar
  • 2 tbsp. milk
  • ¼ tsp. vanilla extract
  • ¼ tsp. baking powder
  • Pinch of salt
  • ¼ cup + 1 tbsp. flour
  • Toppings (optional): whipped cream, mixed berries, sprinkles, etc. 

Instructions

  1. Whisk butter and sugar into a small bowl with a fork. Add milk and vanilla extract and whisk again. In a separate small bowl, whisk together baking powder, salt, and flour.
  2. Add the dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until no lumps remain. Add batter to a large mug or large ramekin.
  3. Microwave for 60 seconds. Allow to cool (or serve warm if preferred). Top with favorite toppings like whipped cream, berries, or sprinkles.

Keywords: dessert, mug cake, cake, snack

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @gratefulnutritionist on Instagram and hashtag it #gratefulmeals

Filed Under: Dessert, Snack

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

logo
Health Ads by

Meet Melissa

Melissa Macher, RDN

Recent Posts

  • What It Is Like Working with an Intuitive Eating Dietitian
  • Yogurt Flatbread Recipe
  • Homemade Pepperoni Rolls with Peppers
  • Vanilla Overnight Oats Recipe
  • Oat Flour Pancakes Recipe [Gluten Free]

Looking for something specific?

logo
Health Ads by

Categories

  • Air fryer
  • Appetizer
  • Baking
  • Beef
  • Breakfast
  • Brunch
  • Burger
  • Chicken
  • Christmas
  • Citrus
  • Cocktail
  • Dessert
  • Dinner
  • Fall
  • Father's day
  • Game Day
  • Gluten free
  • Grilling
  • Halloween
  • Instant Pot
  • Meal Prep
  • Mother's day
  • Nutrition
  • Pork
  • Seafood
  • Side dish
  • Snack
  • Soup
  • Spring
  • Summer
  • Thanksgiving
  • Uncategorized
  • Valentine's Day
  • Vegan
  • Vegetable
  • Vegetarian
  • Winter
logo
Health Ads by

Before Footer

Footer

Photos by Adrienn and Ogo from Pexels

Copyright © 2021 · Grateful Meal Nutrition, LLC | Privacy Policy & HIPAA Privacy Practices

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.

SAVE & ACCEPT