2-minute Peanut Butter Healthy Mug Cake
on Aug 10, 2019, Updated Oct 28, 2025
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This healthy peanut butter mug cake is the perfect solution to those pesky after dinner sweet cravings. It’s vegan, gluten free, dairy free, refined sugar free, and egg free. The best part? It’s hassle free, taking just 2 minutes to make!
The best ’emergency’ dessert
Please tell me I’m not the only one who needs ‘emergency’ desserts sometimes? Usually the ‘need’ strikes on random evenings when the day’s jobs are done and I finally get to sit down and chill.
I have my cup of tea and Netflix controller in hand, but there’s something missing…
I need something sweet, and I need it now!
That’s where this wonderful invention called a mug cake comes in.
Like many of us these days I go through phases of trying not to eat too much sugar. So one day I literally threw some peanut butter into a mug with a little coconut flour, date syrup and almond milk and microwaved it. The result was a gooey peanut buttery dessert for one that I’ve since stank out the kitchen (!) with on more occasions than I’d like to admit!
But it’s been worth all the moaning from Mr. Scrummy – who thinks it’s a disgusting idea! This healthy peanut butter mug cake recipe has come to my rescue time after time.
I sincerely hope it becomes one of your go-to ‘emergency’ desserts too, oh fellow peanut butter lovers.
📌Recipe snapshot
- 2-Minute Recipe (yes, just 2 minutes)
- Just 5 very simple ingredients (don’t skip the chocolate chips!)
- No refined sugar. It’s also accidentally gluten free, dairy free, egg free and vegan.
- Easy to make with different flours and sweeteners.
- “Tastes like a soft, warm, peanut butter cookie.” (According to one reader!)
5* Review
“I have literally made this for dessert every night since I fist tried out this recipe a few weeks ago. Love that it’s only 5 ingredients and it’s so unbelievably delicious! I’ve shared it with all my friends and my kids LOVE it too.” (Amy)
Ingredients for this healthy mug cake
You’ll find a full list of ingredients with amounts in the recipe card below. But here’s a summary of what you need to know.
- 1 tablespoon coconut flour: I’ve made this with almond flour before instead of coconut flour and it was very good. One more crazy idea. Use unsweetened cocoa powder instead of coconut flour for an ooey, gooey chocolaty version!
- 2 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter: I like to use natural and organic, but you can use any kind you like.
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup OR date syrup OR honey (my favourite is date syrup!)
- 2 tablespoons non-dairy milk: Almond milk is great, but any kind of dairy-free milk will work. If you don’t need to use dairy free milk, you can even use regular milk.
- Chocolate chips: Just a sprinkle! I usually get 70% cocoa or higher chocolate chips, but you can just use your favorite kind. I really think the chocolate makes this dessert.
How to make a healthy mug cake (peanut butter flavor!)
Grab your favourite mug and add a tablespoon of coconut flour, 2 tablespoons of peanut butter, a tablespoon of your favourite healthy sweetener (date syrup, maple syrup, honey…), and 2 tablespoons of almond milk (or other non dairy milk). (photos 1-4)
Give it all a really good stir (make sure you mix in all the sneaky bits of coconut flour at the bottom). (photo 5)
Press a few chocolate chips (or small pieces of chocolate from a bar) into the top. (photo 6)
Microwave for 1 minute. Your cake won’t look like it’s changed or risen very much, but don’t worry – plunge in your spoon and you’ll soon see that it’s cakey, gooey, and totally yummy! (photos 7-8)
Either eat just by itself, or – my favourite – plop a scoop of ice cream, or healthy nice cream (instructions below!) on top!
Helen’s Top Tips
- You can take this healthy dessert to next-level delicious by throwing a scoop of ice cream on top. But you thought this was supposed to be a healthy dessert, right? No worries, freeze a chopped banana, throw it in a food processor with a tablespoon of cacao/cocoa and a tablespoon of nut butter, and make some healthy ‘nice cream’! (full recipe for nice cream here)
- Try substituting the coconut flour with cacao – or a half-and-half coconut flour and cacao mix. This gives you a deliciously gooey, splodgy chocolate mug cake. Don’t skip adding a scoop of ice cream (nice cream!) on top of this one!
- Don’t expect a typical ‘cake texture’. One reader described it as like ‘a super soft, warm, peanut butter cookie’. Maybe it’s a love it or hate it kind of situation? Try it to find out which camp you’re in!
Recipe FAQs
Yep. I’ve made it with almond butter and it was good. I haven’t personally tried tahini but a reader has and said it turned out well so go ahead and try it. I think any nut butter or alternative would work. Give it a try and let me know how you get on!
Oops. This mug cake is very hot when first cooked. Leave it for a minute or two to cool down before eating, or add a scoop of healthy ice cream on top! 😉
I’ve tried using all-purpose flour and wasn’t a fan of the texture together with the maple syrup. If you do want to use all-purpose flour, I would suggest using regular brown sugar instead of a liquid sweetener. A little less healthy, but if that works for you then go for it!
I believe that mug cakes are one of those things that you have to experiment with a bit to get ‘just right’ for your particular microwave. If your cake turned out too dry, try again but reduce the cooking time by around 20 seconds. If it was too gooey, cook for 20 seconds longer.
Absolutely! One reader has done this for gluten free dinner guests and told me it worked well. Just multiply the ingredients by the number of people, then pour into separate mugs or ramekins. Microwave one by one. Only mix the ingredients just before serving – otherwise the coconut flour will soak up too much moisture and the desserts might turn out too dry.
If you try this and like it, you might also like this gluten free mug cake for two. It’s packed with banana, almond and white chocolate, and pretty healthy too 😉
More healthier desserts
- This 30-minute healthy chocolate cake is packed with goodness (and hidden veggies!) but no one will ever suspect it’s a healthier cake.
- These Greek yogurt blueberry muffins (low sugar recipe) seem to work well however you adapt the recipe.
- These Greek yogurt chocolate chip muffins (low sugar recipe) are the slightly naughtier sibling to the above! 😉
- You have to try these 5-ingredient healthy chocolate orange truffles. They make such a great healthy snack or gift. Prefer bars? I’ve got you covered with these healthy chocolate orange date bars.
- These easy rhubarb bars are so easy to make, and mostly contain natural ingredients.
2-minute peanut butter healthy mug cake
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon coconut flour
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup, or date syrup, or honey
- 2 tablespoons almond milk, or other non-dairy milk – or ordinary milk
- a few dark chocolate chips, or a 10 gram piece of 70% dark chocolate
Instructions
- Put all the ingredients apart from the chocolate chips in a small mug and mix really well with a spoon.1 tablespoon coconut flour, 2 tablespoons peanut butter, 1 tablespoon maple syrup, 2 tablespoons almond milk
- Press the chocolate into the top of the mixture. Microwave for 1 minute.a few dark chocolate chips
- Enjoy immediately either by itself or with a small scoop of ice cream/nice cream on top!
This was really good! I used almond flour instead of coconut and microwaved for an extra 30 seconds. Super easy and delicious! I also added banana “nice cream” on top!
This makes me so happy, Taylor, and thanks for giving the nice cream a go too. Have a wonderful holiday season! 🙂
I made this with almond flour and it did not look like the picture. It’s was very gooey. Not cake like at all. It did take care of my sweet tooth though.
Thanks for the feedback, Megan. This is definitely on the gooey side, but that’s what I like about it, especially with a bit of ice cream on top!
I didn’t have any coconut flour or pb and was so happy to see you mention substituting cocoa powder and almond butter in the notes! This turned out so delicious!! It was so easy and I love that the only dishes I had to get dirty were a tablespoon, a mug and a spoon lol. It’s soo easy, perfectly fudge, and delicious! Im obsessed!!!
Thanks so much for the feedback, Madi. I’m so happy you enjoyed it so much and hope it becomes a favourite! 🙂
This is my new fav quick dessert!! Thanks so much for sharing! I substituted almond flour for coconut since I didn’t have any. I used raw honey. And I added about a quarter tbsp. of cacao without shorting the almond flour. It tastes like a rich chocolate pudding to me. 😋💕. Confession: I thought I saved it but didn’t and spent over an hour looking for the recipe. Was relieved that Google tracked my history. 😃 God bless you.
What a huge compliment, Tamara! I’m so pleased you managed to find the recipe again and that it worked out so well for you. Thank you for letting me know and happy new year!
The taste was fine and it’s definitely decent for a quick dessert when watching what you’re eating. However, I found it to be gummy/rubbery – could this be because I had only tapioca flour on hand?
Hello, karen! I’m glad you liked the taste of the mug cake! This is definitely more of a moist/sticky texture. It’s worked with the flours I’ve tried including coconut flour, all-purpose flour and even cocoa, but I’ve never tried tapioca flour. It may be that it’s a bit more ‘gummy’ with that. I hope you’ll try again with a different flour, and thanks for leaving your review – I so appreciate it!
I couldn’t imagine how this would turn out when I saw the recipe and I admit I was very skeptical, but decided to give it a shot. I made it with cocoa powder (no brown sugar) and it turned out great!! So quick, so simple, so yummy! Amazing!! Thank you!
I sliced banana on top as I ate, so every bite had some of the cake and some banana, which I find pairs well with the richness of the chocolate 🙂
I’m so very happy to hear this, Bramble – thank you so much for letting me know, and interesting that you used cocoa powder instead of sugar!
To clarify, I didn’t use cocoa powder instead of sugar, I used it instead of coconut flour. I added the maple syrup as in the original recipe but didn’t add any extra sugar.
Got it! Thanks for clarifying. I have tried that once or twice too! 🙂
this tasted absolutely amazing thank you. However, I would like to confirm… Does this contain any cholesterol at all?
I really hope it doesn’t because I’m adding it to my repertoire if that is the case. I’ll probably be one of those that eat it every day too..
I added dark black cherries cut up in it and some pieces of banana. I also added chocolate powder, I am freezing pieces of the banana as suggested as I think this will really be amazing. Thank you. ❤️Lisa
Hello Lisa! I’m so happy to hear this! And no, this recipe does not contain cholesterol. Stick to very dark chocolate if you’d like to include the chocolate (maybe 70-80% cocoa). I love the sound of the black cherries… mmm! And glad you found the tip re. freezing bananas helpful! 🙂
Hi, i can’t wait to try the recipe. I don’t have a microwave in the house so i was wondering if there’s any way i could try this in the oven. If so, what temperature and time should i use! Thank you!
Hello Aletheia! What a beautiful name you have! Is it Greek? Now, full disclosure, I have never tried making this in a regular oven. However, in theory it should be possible. This is what I’d do: Preheat your oven to 175°C (350°F). Prepare a small oven-safe ramekin instead of a mug. Lightly grease it with a bit of oil or butter to prevent sticking. Mix all the ingredients as you would for the microwave version, and press the chocolate into the top. Bake for 8–12 minutes, or until the edges look set but the center is still slightly soft. If you do try it, I’d love to hear how you get on! 🙂