This peanut butter keto mug cake takes only minutes to make! It’s tender and lightly sweetened, and makes a wonderful easy breakfast or dessert.
Sometimes I create recipes with a specific outcome in mind. And sometimes I throw together some ingredients on a whim and hope for the best. This keto mug cake recipe falls into the latter category!
But while it was rather slapdash in its creation, it quickly became a fan favorite recipe. And a family favorite too! I often whip these little keto cakes up when we need a quick treat.
You know that I take peanut butter and chocolate very seriously. And many of my recipes are quick and easy, like Keto Peanut Butter Bars and easy Peanut Butter Protein Balls. So you can rest assured that these easy mug cakes are good stuff!
Why you will love this recipe
Mug cakes have appeal because they are so easy to make. But they can also have a bit of an odd texture from the fast cooking method. They tend to end up a bit spongy.
These keto peanut butter mug cakes differ in that regard. There is something about the addition of peanut butter that gives them a proper cake texture. And yet they take only about 5 minutes to make.
They really are super family friendly and since this recipe makes six, you can feed the littles and yourself. You can also scale the recipe back and make only three servings, which is more appropriate for those who live alone or are doing keto alone.
And these easy cakes store quite nicely. I do recommend cooking them all at once, as the batter thickens if it sits too long. But you can store the finished keto mug cakes in fridge and re-warm them easily when you want another serving.
Reader Reviews
“These are the Creme de la Creme of mug cakes….my all time favorite (and I am beginning to be way too familiar with mug cakes). But the peanut butter adds some density so that these are not just fluff on a spoon. There is just the right amount of substance….and the flavor is FABULOUS. Caroline, you are amazing. You obviously put a lot of testing into your recipes because they are the gold standard in my opinion. thank you for putting food worth eating on our low carb table.” — Deborah
“I was skeptical to try this because I am in South Africa and we have limited choice of ingredients. Well, they cam out perfectly and I am so happy I made the effort, thank you! It was so easy to make and I will definitely make it again!”– Linda
“Wow! Easy and delicious ! I’m addicted! I don’t usually like the texture of mug cakes, but these are wonderful. Thanks again for another winner!”– Joan
Ingredients needed
- Peanut butter: I recommend a good natural peanut butter like Santa Cruz. But you can use any nut butter here if you are allergic to peanuts.
- Butter: I like to use salted butter because the salt brings out a little flavor. You can also use coconut oil if you want to be dairy-free.
- Almond flour: As always, the finer your almond flour, the better the texture of your cakes. I have been using Blue Diamond lately and find it works quite well.
- Sweetener: Use your favorite granular sweetener. I really like the flavor that Swerve Brown adds here, but you can also use allulose or BochaSweet.
- Dark chocolate chips: Both ChocZero or Lily’s work nicely in this mug cake recipe. You can also skip the chips to save on a few carbs, if you like.
- Kitchen staples: Eggs, baking powder, and vanilla extract.
Step-by-step directions
1. In a microwave safe bowl, melt the peanut butter and butter together in short bursts, stirring until smooth.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, and baking powder.
3. Stir in the eggs, vanilla extract, peanut butter mixture, and water until well combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
4. Divide among 6 ramekins or mugs and microwave each for about 1 minute, until puffed and set. Serve warm.
Expert tips
Peanut butter tends to thicken cake batters the longer it sits, so you need to work relatively quickly on this one. Try to get it into the mugs as soon as it’s all mixed together and then cook them straight away.
Several readers have asked if they can prepare the batter and then refrigerate the cakes until they are ready to make them. This doesn’t work well because the batter can thicken and the cakes won’t rise properly. You are better off cooking all of the cakes and then re-warming it when you are ready to eat.
We like to eat them right out of the mugs but if you want to remove them, be sure to grease your mugs or ramekins very well.
Oven Baked Method: If you prefer to make these in your oven, try baking them at 350ºF for 12 to 15 minutes.
Nut-Free Version: You can make these with sunflower butter and sunflower seed flour. But you will want to replace 1 tbsp of the water with some lemon juice to offset the green reaction that occurs between sunflower seeds and baking powder.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cover extra mug cakes tightly and store at room temperature for 1 day. You can also store them in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. To reheat, place it in the microwave for 15-20 seconds until just warm.
You can also freeze extra mug cakes. Wrap them tightly in plastic wrap or foil and freeze for 3-6 months. If freezing, it is best to remove them from the mug first, then wrap and freeze.
This keto mug cake recipe has 6.7g of carbs and 3g of fiber per serving. That comes to 3.7g net carbs per mug cake.
More keto mug cake recipes
Peanut Butter Keto Mug Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup (86 g) peanut butter
- 1/4 cup (56.75 g) butter
- 2/3 cup (157.73 g) almond flour
- 1/3 cup (60.67 g) Swerve Sweetener
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup water
- 3 tbsp (45.65 g) dark chocolate chips, sugar-free
Instructions
- In a microwave safe bowl, melt the peanut butter and butter together in short bursts, stirring until smooth.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, and baking powder.
- Stir in the eggs, vanilla extract, peanut butter mixture, and water until well combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Divide among 6 ramekins or mugs and microwave each for about 1 minute, until puffed and set. Serve warm.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
Free Bonus: Secrets to Keto Baking!
Sign up for your favorite recipes delivered straight to your inbox plus get our FREE bonus: Secrets to Keto Baking!
I also baked this in an 8×8 pan, it was great!
I hadn’t yet found a mug cake recipe I liked, but your recipes have never steered me wrong, so I gave it a shot. Despite realizing that a minute is a little too long for my microwave (the first cake was a bit dry), the flavor was an instant hit and I loved it! I finally settled on 50 seconds (even better I don’t have to wait as long!) and I learned this even tastes good cold leftover from the fridge. Thanks for making a mug cake believer out of me!
So glad to hear it!
Fantastic recipe!! I ended up baking it in an 8×8 pan. Just wonderful!
This looks AMAZING but I am deathly allergic to almonds. Can I substitute the almond flour for something else?
Try sunflower seed flour.
These are the Creme de la Creme of mug cakes….my all time favorite (and I am beginning to be way too familiar with mug cakes). But the peanut butter adds some density so that these are not just fluff on a spoon. There is just the right amount of substance….and the flavor is FABULOUS.
Caroline, you are amazing. You obviously put a lot of testing into your recipes because they are the gold standard in my opinion.
thank you for putting food worth eating on our low carb table.
This is one of the best, if not THE BEST, low-carb dessert recipe I’ve come across. Fluffy, delicious, and easy to customize. Thanks!
Delicious! Since there are two of us, and to prevent us from having three each at one go, I wrapped two (uncooked) in plastic, refrigerated, and just microwaved them now…yes, we did have two each after dinner…. These were just as good as the ones were last night, and probably better tasting than they would have been cooked yesterday and eaten cold today. Now I am wondering how far ahead I can prepare the batter and just bake as needed?
This looks like a great recipe for a dinner we’re hosting next weekend for another couple who are on a low carb diet. Had a question about the peanut butter: would crunchy peanut butter made with just peanuts work? That’s the type our family eats as regular peanut butter contains sugars and hydrogenated oils.
Yes, that should be great.
Hey Caroline, think i could sub out coconut oil for the butter? on a yeast cleanse right now and no butter for 1st 2 weeks.
thanks and we love all your recipes!
You bet, that would be just fine.
I definitely agree. As you get older your brain fills up more and one year is a smaller fraction of your life the longer you life, therefore seeming shorter and shorter. Not cool! But I’ll forget about that once a mug of this appears in front of me.
I just tried these and they are delicious! I have one question – what is the gritty taste? I’m thinking it’s the almond flour because of the texture. Thanks.
Mine are not gritty at all so I wonder what kind of almond flour you are using. Or what kind of sweetener?
Are you sure you didn’t use almond meal/flour instead of finely ground?
Thank you for another fantastic recipe! Yummy! Your email is the first I open,
Your recipes have kept our lives low carb. Thanks again.
So glad to hear it!
This looks delicious! Would it work with coconut flour?
Not as it is. For coconut flour, you need about 1/3 to 1/2 cup, and you need to up the eggs to about 4.
I just have to say . . . YUM! Thanks for sharing this. I made these with 1/3 cup xylitol and a dash of pure stevia extract powder. I tried swerve when we first cut sugar out in July 2013 and no one in my family could handle the minty/cooling effect of erythritol. I also realized I was out of vanilla extract so I used butterscotch extract. There are 5 of us so I divided the batter evenly between 5 coffee cups. 1 minute was perfect. It was so moist and tender. Thanks again.
So glad you liked them, Kristi!
I must make this soon….I was just wondering what size mug are you using?…we have 8oz, 10oz, 12oz, 16 oz. The picture in the white mug looks beautiful.
It’s a smallish mug, probably 8 ounces. The ramekins are 1/2 cup or so.
Thanks for the recipe 🙂 however for those of us who do not have a microwave or just simply prefer to cook them in the oven, do you have a conversion time and temperature possibly…TIA
I am guessing that 325 for 10 to 15 minutes would work. Keep an eye on them to see how they are doing.
Thanks!