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
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Hi! Recipe sounds great, however I am on keto and you said in the beginning that this was sugar free, however peanut butter has sugar in it…am I missing something? Thanks!
Hi Jessica… there are tons of natural peanut butters that are just PB and salt, sometimes with a little added oil. https://amzn.to/2ZwtSK4
I’m not seeing anything in the recipe or links for the frosting on top. What is the recipe for the frosting?
It’s not frosting, it’s just a little whipped cream.
Perfect, thank you
Love, love, love! Easy and so tasty.
Just too good!
HI. I was so excited to come across this recipe but because it’s a mug cake, I thought it would be one serving. I am only making it for myself. Besides trying to divide ingredients by six, do you have an already complete recipe for just one serving? Thanks!
I have several mug cakes that serve 2… but none that serve just 1. Mostly because the egg makes it best with two servings.
Omg these are soooooo good ty for this recipe!!!!
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!
Glad to hear it!
Can you use honey for the sweetener?
No idea, I don’t eat honey. It’s worth a try, I guess!
Aloha! I’ve been following your vlog recently. Thank you for your recipes. This one is a keeper for sure. My first try ever. My wife and daughter were pretty amazed at how moist and tasty it was. Love it!! Mahalo.
So glad you liked it!
I eliminated the chocolate chips and topped the warm cake with your avocado chocolate buttercream frosting instead (best frosting on the planet!). I filled my mug very full, and baked for 1 minute 30 seconds. It had perfect cakey texture. Made two for myself and saved the remaining batter for the next day. As you noted, it does thicken, but I added a tiny bit of whipping cream to thin it out, and the next day’s cakes turned out just as great!
I have recently discovered your site and am really loving it. In addition to creative and tasty recipes you offer solid info for adapting to the KETO lifestyle. Your lists of most popular products, and comparisons between them has been quite helpful. I’m wondering, actually hoping, you might do one more helpful thing as well. Could/would you include the standard measurements beside the metric ones? Most of us here in the states still dont get metric. In standard I can visualize volumes, weights and distances but with metric I am totally lost. Of course a visualization won’t do in cooking but it helps in understanding the recipe when reading it. For recipes one needs to measure, but to do that I’d first have to convert them. Yes, I know, to list them so would you. Please consider how much work for many of us you could save. Maybe there is a program that will automatically include both. At any rate, it would be so much appreciated if the standard measurement would also be given. At least for me, I think I would enjoy the recipes sooner if they were. And as good as they look and sound it’s a shame to delay even a bit. Well, that’s my plea. And let me say thank you once again for all you do.
Hi DJ, I am REALLY confused as to what you are talking about because this recipe is not in metric at all. It’s only in US cups and tablespoons.
Love your recipes! They never fail. I have a request to make. If you could kindly include metric measurements in your recipes I would be eternally grateful! Cups and tbsp never end up being precise and the results vary. Thank you so much! Appreciate all your hard work and great recipes.
That’s far easier said than done. I do try to have metric conversions on many recipes but my recipe system doesn’t always have it right. That said… almond flour is about 100g per cup and coconut flour is 110g per cup. Those are the two items that are the most likely to be mismeasured.
This is absolutely delishious but I did bake the entire recipe in the oven at 350 degrees for 20-25 mins. So
Moist and delicious. Made a pretty little cake.
I made this today and put in oven on 350 for about 20 min or so. I used silicone muffin wrappers and it made about 9 muffins. I also substituted erythritol for Swerve because that’s what I had and they were awesome! Thank you for the recipe! You’re such a blessing!
Glad you like it!
Carolyn, its funny, I’ve watched so many of your videos that I can tell its you by your hand movements.
I love all your recipes and I’m so happy to be able to watch a video as it makes it easier when I’m making it. Thanks for all your work in bringing us great recipes.
Thanks! Now that I have my kitchen back, I will be adding a lot more videos. Shooting one today!
This was really good. The best low carb “mug” cake I’ve tried, except I didn’t do it in the mugs. I mixed the dry ingredients in a small bowl (adding a pinch of salt) and added them to the wet ingriedients in a large microwave safe bowl and microwaved it for 6 min. Sliced it like a cake.
Thank you so much Carolyn! These are so good! It’s so important for me to be able to offer my 9 year old daughter a healthy treat on occasion. I’m surprising her with these tonight. She’s going to be over the moon. Thank you so much for helping me make the household LCHF lifestyle easier on her.
I have two of your books and can rely on them for fresh alternatives that always turn out great.
Heartfelt thank you.
Hope she loves them!
Is it possible to just make 1 instead of 6?
No. You can cut it in half, though.
Hi! I love your website but I live in the United Arab Emirates, here we do not have swerve sweetener, only erythritol.
Could you please tell me how to replace it?
Much Love
Lena
Well, I can’t tell you how to replace it unless you can tell me what sweeteners are actually available to you!
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!