Moist Keto Mug Cake Recipe (Low Carb)
Satisfy your sweet tooth with this Keto Chocolate Mug Cake! It’s moist, full of rich chocolate flavor, and ready in two minutes in the microwave! This is one of my go-to low carb desserts because you only need a few simple ingredients, it’s quick and easy to make, and it’s delicious!
The best part? There are ZERO net carbs in this recipe!
Low Carb Chocolate Mug Cake Recipe
I’ve always had a sweet tooth, and my weakness is chocolate!
Over the summer we whipped up these Keto No Bake Cookies and they were sooo amazing! We’ve made quite a few batches since then, and a lot of readers have let me know that they are a staple in their home too.
As much as I LOVE those cookies, every now and then I crave a piece of chocolate cake.
Chocolate cake is my favorite dessert in the whole world! It’s what I request for every birthday and it was my number one pregnancy craving with my youngest daughter. (I think I ate a piece of cake every single day during the last two weeks of my pregnancy!)
Even now that I’m living a more low carb lifestyle, I still HAVE to have chocolate cake in my life. Seriously, what is the point if you don’t treat yourself every now and then?
On my new Keto website I shared a Keto Lemon Mug Cake and it got me thinking…why not try it with chocolate?!
You guys…
Wow!!
My first attempt at making a low carb chocolate mug cake turned out amazing!! Even my husband was impressed (and he is actually the chef in our family, not me!)
See how moist it looks?! YUM!!
More Recipe Inspiration: Check out our collection of 65+ Healthy Snack Ideas too!
What is the Keto Diet?
At its core, the Keto diet is a low-carb, high-fat eating plan. With this type of diet, your body will enter a state known as “ketosis,” where it burns fat for energy instead of the carbohydrates that it would normally use.
Related: How many carbs can you eat on keto?
Following a ketogenic diet can also help shed excess water weight, curb cravings (since fat tends to keep you feeling full longer), and lead to substantial weight loss. To see those benefits, you’d need to faithfully follow the plan, as eating carbs can kick you right back out of ketosis.
However, making keto desserts like this mug cake helps to take care of my cravings for sweets without eating real sugar.
Plus, this recipe is so easy that you have a rich, homemade dessert ready in way less time than it takes to go buy something at the store or bakery!
Want to learn more about the Keto Diet?
For your convenience, I’ve included shop-able ad links to resources used to make this recipe and about the Keto lifestyle. Disclosure policy available here.
Chocolate Keto Mug Cake Ingredients
Since this recipe includes a few specialized ingredients, I’ve provided shop-able ad links to some of the products on Amazon.
You should also be able to find all or most of these items in a regular grocery store, but feel free to click on the links to see the brands we used if you’re unfamiliar with any of them.
- Butter — Provides the fats that our bodies use for energy on the keto diet. Make sure to use unsalted butter!
- Coconut oil — More good fats, plus the brain boosting benefits of coconut oil! It also adds a little depth of flavor to our cake.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder — For that rich chocolate flavor, without the sugar and carbs like a traditional cake batter mix.
- Almond flour or almond meal — Finely sifted, blanched almond flour will make the lightest cake. However, a coarser grind or almond meal will still work great!
- Granulated Erythritol (Swerve) or monk fruit sweetener — You can use either sweetener above, but I love monk fruit because it doesn’t have an aftertaste or unpleasant digestive side effects like some other sugar substitutes. I highly recommend Lakanto brand monk fruit sweeteners and if you shop through my link and use code “SOCCERMOM” you can save 15% every time you purchase!
- Egg — This makes our mug cake rise like a real cake!
Kitchen supplies used:
- Mug — Be sure it’s microwave safe!
- Small whisk — To blend the ingredients quickly and completely. These little whisks come in handy for so many things in the kitchen, we’re always using ours!
How to Make a Keto Mug Cake
First, melt the butter and coconut together in your mug.
Melting the coconut oil and butter first allows you to better mix the dry ingredients to make a quick batter. Otherwise they won’t incorporate well and the cake may not turn out as expected.
Stir butter and oil until there are no solid lumps.
Add dry ingredients and an egg and whisk to combine. Place mug in the microwave and cook for 90 seconds.
TIP: For an even fluffier cake, add 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder. This is totally optional, and the mug cake pictured here did not have baking powder used.
When microwaving your mug cake, keep an eye on it in case it starts to overflow. If this happens, simply pause cooking for a few seconds to let the cake settle, then continue cooking again.
Be sure to handle with care, as the mug may become hot while cooking.
Can You Have Coconut Flour on the Keto Diet?
One of the most common reader questions I get about our keto mug cake recipes is if there is a substitute for almond flour, such as coconut flour.
Coconut flour is perfect for those on the keto diet, as it actually contains fewer carbs, more fat (aka fuel), and is higher in fiber than almond flour.
The reason we use almond flour for our low carb mug cake recipe is because it is easier to use than coconut flour and milder in flavor.
However, if you don’t like almond flour or have allergies, you can absolutely use coconut flour. Because coconut flour is much more absorbent, you’ll only need to use 1/3 the amount of coconut flour as the amount of almond flour listed in the recipe. Keep the liquid ingredients the same.
Is Baking Cocoa Keto-Friendly?
Another question I receive periodically is whether to buy baking cocoa or hot cocoa mix. This is an important distinction, because most hot cocoa mixes contain added sugars and are a no-no for keto.
Baking cocoa is located in the baking aisle — be sure to stick to the unsweetened variety!
Can You Have Whipped Cream on the Keto Diet?
Good news here! If you love a dollop of whipped cream on your chocolate cake, you can enjoy this treat on the keto diet.
However, many pre-made whipped creams contain added sugar, so your best bet is to make your own.
To make homemade whipped cream is actually fairly easy. Simply add heavy cream and your favorite keto sweetener to a chilled metal mixing bowl and whisk until stiff peaks form.
Another delicious topping idea is a spoonful of natural peanut butter or sugar free ice cream!
Be sure to try our chocolate peanut butter keto mug cake too!
More of our favorite keto chocolate recipes:
- Keto Whipped Hot Chocolate
- Chocolate Keto Cookies
- Keto Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Keto Chocolate Fudge
- Chocolate Keto Mousse
- Keto Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Keto Chocolate Mug Cake Recipe (Printable Copy)
If you like this recipe, rate it! We’d also love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
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Keto Chocolate Mug Cake (ZERO Net Carbs!)
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 1 Tablespoon coconut oil
- 2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3 Tablespoons almond flour
- 2 teaspoons erythritol or 3 tsp for a sweeter cake
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Add butter and coconut oil to a microwave-safe mug.
- Heat on high for 20-30 seconds until almost melted. Stir until there are no solid lumps.
- Add dry ingredients and egg and whisk until everything is well incorporated. It's ok if the batter looks slightly grainy.
- Return mug to microwave and cook for 90 seconds.
- Allow to cool and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
More Easy Keto Recipes
Click here to see all of our favorite easy keto recipes! There are enough meal ideas to last an entire month or more – from breakfast, to dinner, to dessert!
Pin our Low Carb Chocolate Mug Cake on Pinterest:
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I just started Keto so I’m still transitioning off of “sweet” food. I tried this and thought…this a good, but when I added just a little whip cream, it was the perfect sweetness for me. Thanks for the recipe!
Glad you liked it! Once you wean off sugar, you’ll find that you crave sweet stuff less and less. That’s why I made this mug cake not so sweet, but it’s easy to adjust as you’ve found 🙂
I could not figure out how to start my own comment so I’m replying to one of yours. When I put the ingredients into My Fitness Pal, I came up with 12 net carbs. How did you come up with 4?
I’m diabetic so I cannot count carbs as NET carbs, I have to count the full and total amount of carbs so how can I do this with your recipes? My nutritionist said I cannot follow the Net Carbs on like an Atkins bar that just shows net carbs and then the full amount of carbs on the nutrition panel. How can I make myself a mug cake with my almond flour and an artificial sweetener like Splenda and Stevia?
Thank you
Hi Ginna, if you look at the nutrition info list at the bottom of the printable recipe card, the “carbs” number listed there is total carbs. Net carbs is noted in the recipe itself, so you’ll see that’s a different number. Hope this helps!
I love the texture and taste. Used a little less cocoa and a little extra sweetner. This is by far the best chocolate mug cake I’ve tried.
Awesome! Thank you for letting me know you enjoyed our mug cake recipe!
How do you state 0 net carbs but it has 4?
Net carbs and total carbs are different calculations. Net carbs = total carbs minus fiber and sugar alcohols.
This recipe received a thumbs up from my 3 year old, literally! She ate most of it.
They always do steal our food, don’t they 😉
I found that when I got into ketosis everything tasted WAY too sweet, so I always err on the side of less sweet for our recipes. However they can easily be adjusted to your taste preference!
What can be substituted for the coconut oil? I am allergic…
To get the fat that coconut oil provides, you could swap with mayonnaise. It would have a little different flavor, but should be tasty too!
You can substitute yogurt for the coconut oil if you don’t want to use Mayo.
What about using ghee instead of coconut oil&butter? I can’t stand coconut and I also am lactose intolerant, so ghee for me is always the best option, it’s nutrient dense and also has a high smoke point and a good nutritional value with fat-soluble vitamins and “good”colesterol other than short chain fatty acidsto feed the gut…
I think ghee should be fine!
Very good! Next time I will add a dribble of flavoring-vanilla, almond, or raspberry. Also added a small pinch P.H. salt. I whipped 2T heavy cream with 1/2 t Erythritol and a dribble of vanilla as a topping and it was very satisfying! Thanks!
Great tips! Glad you loved it!
What kind of Erythritol are you using? Im just wondering because what I have it says it’s 4g of carbs per 1 tsp. But the recipe says 3 tsps which would be a lot of carbs if I use what I have..
Hi Rachel – we like Swerve because it measures out like sugar and doesn’t have an aftertaste. The thing to keep in mind with sugar alcohols (which erythritol is) is that when calculating “net carbs” you subtract sugar alcohols because they don’t impact blood sugar. So the equation would be: Total Carbs – Fiber – Sugar Alcohols = Net Carbs. This explains it a little better: https://how2doketo.com/starting-keto/how-many-carbs-keto/
Tried this for the first time and it was delicious! I’m new to Keto (using Carb Manager to log my foods) . This seems like a lot of calories?
Hi Rosie – I’m so glad you enjoyed our mug cake recipe! Since keto is low-carb and high-fat, there will be some foods that are higher in calories than you might be used to seeing because fats contain more calories. If you’re good about managing carbs, it works! 🙂
Definitely the BEST keto mug cake I have had! This is the only recipe I will use from now on. It is so tasty and I love it because it is not overly sweet. Thank you!
Awesome! Thank you so much for letting me know you loved it! I also like this mug cake because it is not overly-sweet 🙂
So goood!! Thank you for sharing!!
Glad you loved it! Thank you for letting me know!