You are going to love this moist keto chocolate mug cake made with coconut flour. Enjoy it straight out of the mug or transfer onto a plate and smother it with sugar free chocolate sauce! Low carb and gluten free.
After making this rather delicious sugar free lemon mug cake, I decided I needed a chocolate counterpart. Firstly, because mug cakes are my new passion, and secondly, because chocolate is one of my oldest, dearest friends.
I used the recipe for the lemon mug cake as a starting point and began to experiment, swapping out lemon juice with cream and almond flour with coconut flour. A bit of vanilla extract here, another teaspoonful of cacao powder there - and after five attempts this chocolatey beauty was born!
How to make the best ever keto chocolate mug cake:
1.) In a bowl, combine your dry ingredients - coconut flour, baking powder, cacao powder, sweetener. Make sure there are no lumps.
2.) Add your wet ingredients - the egg, cream and vanilla extract. Mix well.
3.) Stir in the chocolate chips and let the batter rest for a minute.
4.) Melt ½ tsp butter each in 2 mugs or 6 oz microwave safe ramekins (30 seconds) and grease the insides. This is an important step if you want to turn your mug cakes out onto a plate. Divide the batter between the mugs/ramekins.
Microwave on high for 1 ½ minutes. Don't microwave any longer or your cakes will become dry.
5. Enjoy straight out of the ramekin or wait until the cake has cooled a bit before you turn it out onto a plate.
6.) For an optional chocolate sauce, melt 2 tbsp sugar free chocolate chips and 1 tbsp butter.
I like to start the chocolate chips off in the microwave (30 seconds, no more) and then put them in a water bath (place a small bowl with the chocolate chips into a larger bowl filled with boiling water).
Stir until liquid and add 2-3 tbsp cream or milk and stir until smooth and pourable.
Tips and tricks
Your chocolate cake in a mug looks a bit soft when straight out of the microwave. Resist the urge to blitz it for another 30 seconds. It dries out easily!
If you want to turn it out onto a plate, wait until it has cooled a little so it does not fall apart.
Make sure you level your tablespoons of coconut flour to use the correct amount. Coconut flour is terribly absorbent, that's why it took me so many tries to get the ratio right.
Stir your dry ingredients really well, to ensure there are no lumps. I couldn't find a sieve, so simply pressed it with my fingers, which was kind of fun.
The Chocolate
I like to use cacao powder instead of cocoa powder. Cacao powder is unprocessed, which means it retains important nutrients and antioxidants. If you are using cocoa powder, which is stronger in taste and darker in colour, you may have to reduce the amount stated in the recipe.
You can either use ready-made sugar free chips like Lily's or simply break 90% chocolate such as Lindt into small pieces.
Alternatively, make your own sugar free chocolate chips! As you can see in the post I linked to, it's really simple and they taste absolutely delicious 🙂
Toppings and variations
If you don't like the idea of a chocolate sauce, you could eat this keto chocolate mug cake with sugar free ice cream or some whipped cream and berries.
As a flavour variation, try 1 tbsp of peanut or almond butter dunked in the batter before microwaving.
Don't like coconut flour? Use 3 tbsp of extra fine almond flour instead! (If you're using ground almonds or coarse almond flour, use 4 tbsp).
Use coconut cream instead of double / heavy cream for dairy free!
Can you make this recipe in the oven?
Yes! Try 180 Celsius / 356 Fahrenheit for 10-15 minutes. Alternatively, try out my sugar free chocolate cupcakes, they've got rave reviews 🙂
Try my other mug cakes:
- Keto Peanut Butter Mug Cake
- Cinnamon Swirl Coconut Flour Mug Cake
- Low Carb Chocolate Pumpkin Mug Cake
- Keto Carrot Cake For Two (Sugar Free)
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Keto Triple Chocolate Mug Cake
from Sugar Free LondonerNote: The servings slider only changes the first amount in each line and not any subsequent amounts. Please make your own calculations where necessary. ***As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Equipment
- 2 ramekins (3.5 inch, 6 ounce capacity)
Ingredients
- 1 ½ tbsp coconut flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 2 tbsp cacao powder
- 2 tbsp powdered sweetener
- 1 egg medium
- 5 tbsp double/heavy cream
- 2 tbsp sugar free chocolate chips
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract optional
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine your dry ingredients - coconut flour, baking powder, cacao powder, sweetener. Make sure there are no lumps.
- Add your wet ingredients - the egg, cream and vanilla extract. Mix well.
- Stir in the chocolate chips and let the batter rest for a minute.
- Melt ½ tsp butter each in 2 mugs or ramekins (30 seconds) and grease the insides. This is an important step if you want to turn your mug cakes out onto a plate. Divide the batter between the mugs/ramekins.
- Microwave on high for 1 ½ minutes. Don't microwave any longer or your cakes will become dry.
- Enjoy straight out of the ramekin or turn out onto a plate. See post and notes for an optional chocolate sauce!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
This post was first published in 2018. It was updated in January 2020 with new images and recipe tips.
This post contains affiliate links. If you click on one of these links and purchase a product as a result, I may make a small commission, at no extra cost to you. This money helps with the running costs of my website. Thank you for supporting Sugar Free Londoner.
Fantazzia Bender says
Tastes great- really helps to satisfy my sweet cravings and makes Keto realistic for me!
Iris Saxon says
Katrin, can you please tell me what power your microwave is. You say to cook on high power. My microwave is 1,000W and could burn the mug cake to a crisp if your microwave is a lower wattage. Also, at the moment of total isolation, would it be possible to use self raising flour? Many thanks!
Katrin Nürnberger says
Hi Iris, I just checked for another reader. My microwave is 900W. I'll add this to the post. And of course you can use self-raising flour, it should work. You may need a little more though, maybe up to twice as much. See how much you need to get a good dough consistency.
Kim McAulay says
Omgggg! I've had several different mug cakes over the last year and this is by far the best one! It was perfectly moist and the texture was perfect! Thanks for this great recipe I will be saving this.
Lisa says
This was the best keto mug cake I have ever made and I have made plenty. Phenomenal! Thanks so much! The texture was spot on. I can’t believe it was a microwave cake. The crumb was soft and perfect. Kudos! You are a very talented recipe creator!
Katrin Nürnberger says
Thank you so much!!!
Debbie says
This is a fabulous recipe-Thank you! I made this in one oval ramekin, and by chance the chocolate chips were concentrated in the centre of this dish and the result was an amazing chocolate lava cake. I’m going to do it intentionally next time!
Katrin Nürnberger says
Mmmmmh, that sounds divine! Sounds like it's worthy of a Valentine's dish 😉
Lynda says
This was a great mug cake. Thanks
Katrin Nürnberger says
Glad you liked it!
Beth says
I just made this and it was delicious! I even did the chocolate sauce. I don't normally have cream in my fridge (I happened to this time) and I wonder if you could use just milk or even plain yoghurt for the cake? I might try that next time.
Katrin Nürnberger says
Hi Beth, glad you liked it! Both milk and yoghurt would probably also work. It would change the taste a bit, but in the end it's about keeping to the same wet/dry ratio.
fani says
there are no words for this cake
i am a chocoholic
i would eat this in place of any other food
you are so talented and amazing, this is what you were meant to do
Katrin Nürnberger says
Fani, I think we feel exactly the same way about chocolate!!!!!!
stephanie says
can you put the chocolate chips on the bottom then add the batter so that when you turn it out the chocolate oozes down?
Katrin Nürnberger says
I think that's a great idea!
JULIET COOK says
A fantastic cake. I made a hole in them straight out of the oven in the ramekins and poured in a mix of double cream sweetner and butter as a sauce ad made chocolate lava cakes!
Katrin Nürnberger says
OMG. This sounds AMAZING!!!!!
Barbara T says
Hi Katrin
I always have luck with your recipes and this was no exception. Thanks.
This is a bit off topic but I am going to London next week for 3 weeks and wonder if there is any bread that you can get in the supermarkets that we could use for toast as I am not sure what the kitchen will be like in the mews flat we are renting. Thanks for any advice of what to look for to save me looking at the labels of all the breads!
Katrin Nürnberger says
Hi Barbara, glad you liked the cake! As for the bread - tricky. Carbzone is a brand that makes tortillas and sliced brown protein bread which I have tried. But I order my food from Ocado, an online supermarket who stocks it - none of the other large supermarkets seem to. If you're there for 3 weeks it might be worth signing up (it's free) and arrange a delivery. There is great bread here in London, just not low carb bread!
LB says
This is the best chocolate mag cake. I used another recipe before but I will use this one from now on. I have to add that your recipes are the best I have found so far. So, thank you very much for sharing.
Amy says
OH.MY.GOSH!!!!!
As far as I am concerned (have been concerned), my mom is THE best at converting yummy recipes...she started her sugar free journey over a decade ago after being diagnosed with diabetes, and has avoided medication and brought her numbers down lower than prediabetic numbers; teaching me how to live without sugar and carbs at the same time. Sorry I have seriously digressed, but she has been my go to...until now!!
This is such a yummy and satisfying "cake". I really appreciate your guidelines for oven temp because I made them to take for Christmas dessert and needed to take much more than a "mug-full"!
They are lovely as cupcakes and look very pretty with the chocolate glaze. More importantly, they are absolutely delicious, and I can't wait til everyone tastes these. They are spectacular!! Thank you so much, and happy, happy holidays!!
Katrin Nürnberger says
Have a wonderful Christmas, Amy!!!! I feel very honoured this recipe made it onto a Christmas lunch table 🙂
Jessica says
OH MY WORD! This is hands down the absolute BEST keto dessert that I’ve ever made and/or tasted. I followed your beautiful recipe with one exception: I added a tsp of sugar-free Torani English toffee syrup. I am gob-smacked by how rich this was. I accidentally combined the batter into one giant mug cake and I could only eat about 1/3 of it! I also made the chocolate sauce that you recommended. I think I might try one of the commenter’s suggestions of turning this into a cake. My Mom keeps trying to make me a Keto cake for my birthday and they’ve just been nightmares (thoughtful and well/intended but disgusting)...she’s going to flip out when I tell her about this recipe!
Bharat MV says
Can I use the same quantity of coconut cream I get from coconut milk instead of the cream
Katrin says
I hope I am understanding this correctly, you can use the firm part from a can of coconut milk. For the cream to separate from the liquid, it’s always easiest to put the can into the fridge before you open it.
Bharat says
I make my own coconut milk and keep it in a can. Any idea what should be ratio of coconut meat to water to get higher amount of cream from the coconut milk?
Katrin says
My can of coconut milk says it's made with 62% coconut extract and the rest water. I hope this helps 🙂
Tina says
Loved this cake! I was about to bake them and discovered I had forgotten the sweetner. Added it after the fact and the batter mixed up fine and tasted great! Also love your 90 sec english muffins!!!
Katrin says
Haha, it's so easy to forget something! I've done it loads of time and then discovered that it also works without - I made this Keto carrot cake without egg by mistake, which actually tasted great. However, a cake without sweetness may be a step too far 😉
Martin says
First time I have ever tried to Do something like this , and it was delicious. I copied one of the comments above and mixed the ingredients in a small Tupperware container and microwaved it so it was more like a small cake that I cut into slices. Also used nibs instead of chocolate chips. I left half in the fridge overnight and felt it was better the next day when it was a bit firmer. Your site is brilliant. Looking forward to trying some more of you recipes.
Katrin says
So glad you found my site! I haven't used cacao nibs in a while, you have inspired me to get some!
Liz Machin says
Just finished the last mouthful of one of these. I can't believe how moist, tasty, light and fluffy they are. They are better than any commercially made GF cake and are sugar free!
Katrin says
Hihi, I totally agree! Glad it hit the spot 😉
Catrice says
This was delicious
Rene R Hash says
This is wonderful. My husband and both enjoy these so much. Thank you
Katrin says
That's so good to hear Rene!
Mark says
Great website and recipes
Camille says
Did you use 6 oz ramekins? The link goes to the 6oz but I wanted to make sure. There are so many options!
Katrin says
Hi Camille, not sure how many oz it fits. My ramekins have a 9 cm diameter at the top.
Cathy says
This was a winner all round. Even my non keto fussy teenager asked for more. Thank you from Aus.
Katrin says
Great news!!! You're welcome 🙂
Shelly says
My favorite mug cake so far. YUM! I added a small dollop of no-sugar added red raspberry jam - and it was just perfect. Thank you so much for this.
Samantha N Clausen says
I've made this mug cake over 10 times! Absolutely the best mug cake ever!!!!!!! I use a tupper ware bowl for a mini cake, and eat the little slices.
Katrin says
What a great idea to use a tupperware container! Love it 🙂
Lucy says
It’s my birthday tomorrow and I’ve just restarted keto (didn’t want to fail at the first hurdle!)
This cake is delicious! Thank you for perfecting this!
Katrin says
Happy birthday Lucy! Have a wonderful day 🙂
Olivia says
Deliscious! I sprinkled some sukrin gold on top and torched it which gave it a delicious crunchy sugar topping.
Katrin says
That's an AMAZING idea!!!
Lauren Vavala | Delicious Little Bites says
I had been making a mug cake with almond flour that I really like but I ran out. So I found this one to use up some coconut flour. This one is more cake like whereas the other one is more brownie like. I added a big dollop of peanut butter to the top before cooking. It sunk inside and got all melt-y. Yum! Great recipe and cured my sweet craving!
karen says
Havent done this yet but LOVE mug cakes - just for me. at the risk of putting anyone's nose outta joint- are you aware of Gemma's Bigger Bolder Baking site. her site is just about baking/desserts and the 'basics" which are great. I love all of her mug cakes but cant eat them anynore because of the keto diet. She is trying to add in more keto baking and I think you two should collaborate. have yet to be disappointed by any of your recipes. keep it up. Gracias.
Katrin says
Hi Karen, of course I know Gemma's website, she is an accomplished baker! I'm glad my recipes are working out for you, and thank you for the thumbs up 🙂
Kristie says
Just made this but had no cacao powder or cocoa so I blended a heaping Tbs of cacao nibs in the Nutribullet. They didn’t blend to a fine powder but it worked & gave the cake a nutty texture. Also the color was nowhere near as dark as yours. For the sauce I used two ghiradelli 86% squares stirred into a TBS of melted butter with a dash of truvia and a splash of heavy cream. It tasted sweet & salty (maybe from the baking powder?) & delicious!
Katrin says
Great idea to blend the cacao nibs!