Chocolate Peanut Butter Mug Cake is a moist chocolate cake with a molten peanut butter center that bakes up in a mug in the microwave in just one minute!
If you're a fan of chocolate + peanut butter treats, you'll also love Peanut Butter Brownies, Slow Cooker Chocolate Peanut Butter Fondue, and Homemade Peanut Butter Cups!
Today I'm sharing the perfect treat for those days when you're craving a little something sweet but there's nary a cookie or cupcake or piece of candy in the house...Chocolate Peanut Butter Mug Cake!
Ingredients
Did you know that at any given moment, you are just a few short minutes away from straight-up, legitimate CAKE?! It's true.
As long as you're stocked with a few pantry basics, like...
- Flour.
- Cocoa powder.
- Sugar.
- Baking powder.
- Vanilla.
- Chocolate chips.
...and as long as you can rustle up a few items in the fridge...
- Milk.
- Butter.
- Peanut butter.
...then you can whip up a fresh, decadent, piping-hot Chocolate Peanut Butter Mug Cake for one (or more!) in about the same amount of time it would take to scoop a bowl of ice cream!
(And, pssst...no egg required!)
How to Make a Mug Cake
Have you made a microwave mug cake before? They're kind of magical.
For this Chocolate Peanut Butter Mug Cake, you simply:
- Stir up your simple ingredients.
- Pour your batter into a mug.
- Dollop in a swirl of peanut butter and mini chocolate chips.
- And set the microwave for a minute!
Before your very eyes, the liquid batter rises up and bakes into a rich, gooey, chocolate cake with a molten peanut butter center.
And yes, it's every bit as good as it sounds.
Making Multiple Mug Cakes
If anyone else in the house shares your sweet tooth, you can easily double, triple, or quadruple this recipe.
Simply divide the batter between the corresponding number of mugs and microwave them one at a time.
With each cake only taking one minute to bake, you'll still have dessert ready in a matter of minutes.
Ways to Enjoy It
And it's up to you how you prefer to enjoy these little babies.
You can eat your dessert straight out of the mug (which is what I typically do).
Or if you're feeling fancy and don't mind dirtying one more dish, you can spray your mug with cooking spray before adding the batter and then overturn your cake onto a plate once baked for a quick take on a molten lava cake.
Well, hello there, lovely. Don't mind if I do.
Regardless of how you choose to serve them, any fan of chocolate and peanut butter won't want to miss these to-die-for mug cakes!
After all, it's hard to beat fresh, hot, chocolate cake goodness, but if anything can, it would be a peanut buttery center.
And the fact that a Chocolate Peanut Butter Mug Cake can be ready -- from start to finish -- in under five minutes?
Well, that sounds like a pretty perfect way to satisfy a rogue sugar craving to me. 😉
More Mug Cakes
Chocolate Peanut Butter Mug Cake
Ingredients
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ cup milk, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
- ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, and baking powder until thoroughly, completely combined with no streaks of flour or cocoa powder remaining. Blend in milk, butter, and vanilla until batter is smooth. Pour batter into a 14-ounce (or larger) microwave-safe mug with straight sides.
- Combine peanut butter and chocolate chips and dollop into the center of the mug, gently pressing down until even with the top of the batter. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes before serving.
Notes
- A tall, cylindrical mug with straight (not angled) sides will ensure that the cake bakes evenly. I found a 14-ounce mug to be the perfect size to allow the cake to rise up while baking without overflowing. (I filled my mug to the top with water and then transferred the water to a measuring cup to determine its capacity.) If you use a smaller mug, you may want to bake the cake on top of a plate or paper towel to catch any possible overflow.
- The strength of individual microwaves can vary. The first time you make this recipe, be prepared to experiment a bit to make sure that 1 minute is the perfect length of baking time. The nice thing about this cake is that even if it is undercooked, you don't have to worry about raw eggs!
- The mini chocolate chips are optional. So is the peanut butter, for that matter. But I don't recommend skipping either. 😉
- As an alternative to serving straight out of the mug, you may instead spray the mug with non-stick cooking spray before adding the batter, and then carefully overturn the cake onto a plate once baked.
Betty
Samantha...first time switching out sugar for pure stevia powder..
And....it was amazing! I was resolved to eat a third, and 1/2 is gone!!
Ty it’s a few more steps then the 3 ingredient ones but so much more like a cake!
I made it in a large crepe burley ceramic so made a little bigger hole with a tiny bit mor PB & milk choc chips for a little sugar...but could easily gone without!
Great job tytyty! I’ll be trying more...got to go finish my couple of bites hehe??
Betty V
Janalen
WORKS WITH GLUTEN FREE FLOUR TOO! Thanks so much it was a great quick emergency recipe!
Bashira
Very yummy at late night hunger....loved it so much
Beth
Perfect in a pinch and too good to be true! Never had a mug cake work for me, thank you!!
chrysa
yup, this was awesome!
Thank you!!!!
rubix
I made this using Hershey special dark cocoa powder and snickers peanut butter (about two tablespoons cut up) and drizzled Carmel on top after I cooked it, it was AMAZING! The dark cocoa kept it from being too sweet!
Samantha at Five Heart Home
That sounds amazing...thanks for sharing! 🙂
Leslie Foster
Hands down the best mug cake recipe I've found online! Thanks so much... sort of. 🙂
Samantha at Five Heart Home
Ha, Leslie...I hear you. I recently made this mug cake after not having it in a long time and I was like, now why did I do that?! 😉 So happy you like it so much!
Stacy
I followed this recipe exactly as it is stated and my cake turned out to be a perfect lava cake! Making another for my friend's birthday, thank you for this heavenly recipe! 🙂
Samantha at Five Heart Home
So happy to hear it, Stacy! Happy birthday to your friend, and I hope s/he enjoyed this mug cake just as much. 🙂
Cookilicious
love this idea..love mug cakes..have made a couple of them..will give this a try as well.. 🙂
Samantha at Five Heart Home
Aren't mug cakes great? Hope you enjoy this one, Cookilicious! 🙂
Mere
I just made this tonight after dinner and it was delicious! I have Celiac disease so I used gluten free flour and it turned out wonderful. I put mine on about 30-35 seconds and it was perfect - fudgy and gooey! A minute would have been way, way too long for my personal taste. It was great with Earth Balance coconut peanut butter but next time I will probably try cashew butter! I can't wait to make this again!
Samantha at Five Heart Home
I'm so happy to hear that you enjoyed this mug cake, Mere! And thanks for sharing all of your tips to make it gluten-free...I'm sure your comment will help someone else who wants to do the same. 🙂
Sally
I was wondering about almond flour or coconut flour as I'm low carbs?
maeisa
I recreated this and it's amazingly delicious! love it!
Samantha at Five Heart Home
Thanks for sharing that this was a hit, Maeisa...happy to hear it! 🙂
Ea
I was after something quick and easy with peanut butter, and I found it here!
I only had chunky peanut butter because that's my favorite type and it worked out great!
I'll definetly make this next time mye brother begs me to bake something chocolate and I don't feel like baking. Super quick and easy and I only used 2 bowls, a whisk and a table spoon!
Samantha at Five Heart Home
Yay, Ea...so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe! 🙂
Nidhi
Hi Samantha...stopped by ur site and specially to the mug cake recipes!! They r Devine!!:-) I did try my hands on the chocolate lava cake considering my first try on the mug cakes... I was impressed that the taste was yum bt cake was all crumbly also I dipped 4 dark choc pieces but there wasn't any lava!!! I am really excited to try it again..my microwave is 800 watts and it Baked in less than a min say 50 secs .Pls help me in what should I improvise on.Would appreciate.lots love and luck
Samantha at Five Heart Home
Hi Nidhi! I'm so happy you're trying out the mug cakes on my site! This particular recipe isn't for a traditional molten lava mug cake...rather, the peanut butter in the center melts and acts as the "lava." 🙂 So did you add the peanut butter? If not, you could use Nutella for the same effect. As far as microwaves, they do vary in strength so you are smart to adjust the cooking time accordingly. Hope this helps and have fun experimenting! 🙂
Nidhi
Samantha...I did not add pb since I am not a fan of it:-o...I can rather try next time with nutella:-)...I just have to add it on the mixture top right?
Samantha at Five Heart Home
Just follow the directions for peanut butter, substituting Nutella instead...dollop it on top and gently push it down into the batter. Good luck! 🙂
Escudilla
How about using hot fudge sauce instead of peanut butter? How about cream cheese?
Samantha at Five Heart Home
Hi Escudilla! I haven't personally tried those variations, but I think you could experiment with this recipe to your heart's content. 🙂 I'm not sure how the texture of cream cheese would hold up in the microwave, but hot fudge sauce would probably be pretty tasty. Enjoy!
Kat
I tossed a few chocolate chips into the batter and mixed them in, and also a tiny pinch of salt. I then mixed together about a tablespoon of room temp CREAM CHEESE with a tablespoon of CARAMEL sauce and put that into the center of the batter. I nuked that mixture for about two minutes before it was finally done (I live at high altitude). Pretty good! If I make it again, I'll drizzle some caramel sauce over the finished mug cake.
Chanyong
Hello Samantha! Hope you are having a most glorious summer! I am ready to DIVE RIGHT IN to this ooey gooey treat - except, I don't have any cocoa powder or chocolate chips!! I do have all the other ingredients... plus some chocolate syrup. What to do?! Do you have any suggestions for tweaking the recipe to work with my wonky pantry?
Samantha at Five Heart Home
Hi Chanyong! I'm glad that you're excited to try this recipe, but I'm honestly not sure how it would turn out with chocolate syrup instead of cocoa powder. So sorry! I hope it worked if you ended up trying it, and if not, I hope you enjoy it when you have the correct ingredients on hand. 🙂
Eline
And suddenly, PSM wasn't all that bad... I think the bf was glad I gave him an excuse to escape the house when I declared that "this must happen and I cannot do it without milk!!"... Poor sod, guess I'll chuck some extra chocolate in his 😉 Thank you!
Samantha at Five Heart Home
Ha, Eline...your comment made me laugh. 🙂 I'm glad this mug cake was such a hit! Sounds like your boyfriend earned the extra chocolate in his... 😉
Dani
I just came across this post today and I only have one problem - I'm at work and can't make this recipe right this VERY SECOND! 😀 Looks SO good - I'm also a huge fan of peanut butter and chocolate 🙂
Samantha at Five Heart Home
Ha ha, Dani...I hope you were able to remedy that problem to moment you got home (and if so, that you thoroughly enjoyed the mug cake)! 😉
Kara
I'll admit I was a little skeptical about mug cakes...but this turned out beautifully! Anything with chocolate + PB is heaven in my book. Delicious!
Samantha at Five Heart Home
Yay, Kara...so happy to hear that! It sounds crazy that a mug cake would work, but this one definitely does! Glad you thought so, too... 😉