Keto Vanilla Mug Cake with Almond Flour
By Carine Claudepierre
Published on 04/27/2020 - Last updated on 12/29/2023
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This keto vanilla mug cake is a moist, single-serve almond flour mug cake, gluten-free, dairy-free, and paleo-friendly.
It’s perfect to fix a vanilla birthday cake craving with only 4 grams of net carbs.
What’s A Vanilla Mug Cake?
A vanilla mug cake is a single-serve vanilla-flavored cake baked in a mug in a microwave.
It’s a delicious, simple recipe made with almond flour and ready to eat in under 10 minutes.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
I have a passion for keto mug cakes, there’s no secret about that!
Low-carb mug cakes are true lifesavers on a keto diet because they help you fix your cake cravings in only 2 minutes with just 4 grams of net carbs.
Plus they are very fulfilling as they contain a good amount of fat and fiber.
How To Make Almond Flour Mug Cake
Keto Vanilla Mug Cake Ingredients
Now that you have all the information you need to choose the best almond flour for this almond flour mug cake let’s have a look at the rest of the ingredients you need.
A keto vanilla mug cake needs 7 wholesome ingredients:
- Almond flour – read my note above for details on how to choose the best keto almond flour.
- Coconut oil – or melted butter. Both options work and provide different textures. Coconut oil makes the cake slightly chewier and spongy, while butter makes the cake more moist and soft. Try both and see which one is your favorite!
- Egg – at room temperature and pick a large one. I won’t stress this enough, cold eggs solidify coconut oil and make lumps in dairy-free keto baking, and don’t taste as good. Also, small eggs make mug cake dry, so make sure you are using a large-sized egg.
- Erythritol or any sugar-free crystal sweetener that can be used as a 1:1 sugar replacement. This includes xylitol, Monk fruit erythritol blend. If you are not eating sugar-free and you are simply after a tasty almond flour mug cake, any sugar can be used in the same amount. A healthy paleo option will be coconut sugar.
- Baking soda
- Vanilla extract or vanilla essence. If you can’t find some without sugar added, swap for vanilla stevia drops. Therefore, you will have to decrease erythritol to 1 tablespoon, or the mug cake would be too sweet.
Choosing The Right Flour
It’s easy to make mug cake with almond flour. The trick to making a moist, fluffy almond flour mug cake is to use ultra-fine blanched almond flour.
In fact, if you use ground almond or almond meal, the result will be gritty, dry, and even darker in color.
Ground almonds or almond meals are made of whole almonds, skin-on and their ground is coarse and dark.
While it can be used in keto cake recipes, it doesn’t provide a bakery-style result as you used to love in wheat-based recipes.
That’s why I always recommend using fine almond flour. This said some countries like New Zealand call almond flour almond meal!
This is very confusing so my tip is to look at the product itself.
A good keto almond flour is white/gold in color, it’s ultra-fine as regular flour and it doesn’t have dark spots from almond skin.
Mug Cake Baking Time
This is another tricky part! First, check your microwave power and use my recommendation below on baking time based on your microwave power.
Note that most microwave ovens operate between 600W, 800W, and 1000W.
Below are the baking time recommended for an almond flour mug cake recipe based on these 3 microwave power levels.
- 600W – this is low power, so you need to increase the baking time by another 20 seconds. The best texture will be achieved after about 100-110 seconds.
- 800W – that is what I am using in all my keto mug cake recipes, and I microwave for 80-90 seconds.
- 1000W – that is the max power of most microwave ovens which means less cooking time is required. Usually, 70-80 seconds will be perfect.
Next, I recommend always microwaving the mug cake based on the lowest time provided.
For example, at 800W, start with 80 seconds, check the cake, and add those extra 10 seconds if the center is not set.
Also, note that the mug cake keeps baking while cooling in the mug for 1 minute.
That is why you shouldn’t overbake mug cakes, or they tend to be overly dry.
Finally, if you don’t have a microwave oven, use your regular oven!
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F and bake the mug cake for 8-12 minutes on the center rack of the oven.
More Keto Almond Flour Mug Cake Recipes
I love making keto cakes in a mug, and I have plenty of other flavors for you to try!
Enjoy the simple cinnamon keto mug cake, and don’t forget to share a picture of your creation with me on Instagram.
Did You Like This Recipe?
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Keto Vanilla Mug Cake
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons Almond Flour
- ¼ teaspoon Baking Soda or 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 ½ tablespoon Granulated Sweetener
- 1 tablespoon Coconut Oil melted o melted butter
- 1 large Egg beaten, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract or 2 drops Vanilla liquid stevia (if using this option decrease erythritol to 1 tablespoon)
Instructions
- Grease a microwave-proof ramekin or mug with coconut oil, size 9 cm diameter (3.5 inches) and minimum 6 cm in height (2.3 inches). This will prevent the mug cake from overflowing when microwaving. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, stir almond flour with baking soda and erythritol.
- Whisk in the beaten egg, melted coconut oil, and vanilla extract. Make sure the egg is not cold or it will solidify the coconut oil, forming lumps. For a moister cake, use melted butter. For a chewier cake, use melted coconut oil.
- Pour the batter into the prepared mug cake.
- Microwave on high (800W) for 80-90 seconds or until set in the center. Make sure you check the microwave power. If yours is higher (1000W), you may have to microwave the mug cake for only 60-70 seconds to get the same texture.
- Cool 60 seconds in the mug or flip over onto a plate.
- Serve with a dust of sugar-free powdered erythritol and a dollop of unsweetened whipped cream on top (use coconut cream for dairy-free paleo option).
Notes
Tools
Getting Started What Is Keto? Macro Calculator Sweetener Converter Intermittent Fasting Keto Fruits Keto Vegetables Keto Flours Fighting Keto Flu Healthy SweetenersWant My Kitchen Equipment?
Nutrition
About The Author
Hi, I'm Carine, the food blogger, author, recipe developer, published author of a cookbook, and founder of Sweet As Honey.
I have an Accredited Certificate in Nutrition and Wellness obtained in 2014 from Well College Global (formerly Cadence Health). I'm passionate about sharing all my easy and tasty recipes that are both delicious and healthy. My expertise in the field comes from my background in chemistry and years of following a keto low-carb diet. But I'm also well versed in vegetarian and vegan cooking since my husband is vegan.
I now eat a more balanced diet where I alternate between keto and a Mediterranean Diet
Cooking and Baking is my true passion. In fact, I only share a small portion of my recipes on Sweet As Honey. Most of them are eaten by my husband and my two kids before I have time to take any pictures!
All my recipes are at least triple tested to make sure they work and I take pride in keeping them as accurate as possible.
Browse all my recipes with my Recipe Index.
I hope that you too find the recipes you love on Sweet As Honey!
Disclaimer
The recipes, instructions, and articles on this website should not be taken or used as medical advice. You must consult with your doctor before starting on a keto or low-carb diet. The nutritional data provided on Sweetashoney is to be used as indicative only.
The nutrition data is calculated using WP Recipe Maker. Net Carbs is calculated by removing the fiber and some sweeteners from the total Carbohydrates. As an example, a recipe with 10 grams of Carbs per 100 grams that contains 3 grams of erythritol and 5 grams of fiber will have a net carbs content of 2 grams. Some sweeteners are excluded because they are not metabolized.
You should always calculate the nutritional data yourself instead of relying on Sweetashoney's data. Sweetashoney and its recipes and articles are not intended to cure, prevent, diagnose, or treat any disease. Sweetashoney cannot be liable for adverse reactions or any other outcome resulting from the use of recipes or advice found on the Website.
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So moist and delicious. I used monkfruit/erythritol. Loved this recipe, thank you!
I’m new to keto, made a few mug cakes so far but this is the BEST! I sweetened some cream cheese with Swerve for the “frosting” and then cut up on large strawberry on top and it was like strawberry shortcake–SO GOOOOOD!
Okay but hear me out…I added a spoonful of peanut butter in the middle of the batter before microwaving (still cooked perfectly) then melted some sugar free jelly and spooned it over the top. I finished it with some marshmallow whipped cream that I picked up from Target. It’s like a fluffernutter pb&j!!! So good! Im in dirty keto heaven.
I have been searching for a vanilla mug cake that I like and this is THE ONE. I did make a few adjustments like added a tad bit of xanthan gum, vinegar, and salt and used avacado oil, plus made sure my egg was room temp. My guests didn’t even know it was low carb. This cake is light, fluffy, and most importantly not eggy. I have used it for strawberry short cake and have frosted it with chocolate frosting, each one delicious and I have so many other ideas, I can’t wait to try them all. Thank you for a great base cake, I am so glad my search is over.
Just made this little slice of heaven, lovely! It really did the trick, thank you 😊
I just made my first keto cake
I took care of my sweet craving and was so easy to make
I will ve making this again
Thank God for the Internet – and thank God I found you! I totally enjoyed your Vanilla Mug Cake (added the dollops of whipped cream and powdered erythritol.) I am going to try making all of your mug cake recipes. I’m hooked! Thank you for these.
I didn’t have the vanilla extract so I used a little extra truvia and a bit of cinnamon … It’s okay with my cottage cheese and jam but it tastes very much like just… Egg.. wondering if that’s normal. Next time I’ll try with the vanilla. Good fluff/moisture though!
Well keot mug cake are small and contain one egg so it can have a light egg aftertaste if you are not used to it. Adding more vanilla or toppings helps
I’ve tried several mug cake recipes and yours is my favorite! Thanks so much!
can i bake this cake in my oven ? how long & temp ?
Sure, in a small oven proof ramekin but it won’t raise as much. Bake for 15-23 minutes at 180C (350F) until a pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
very tasty . I used orange zest instead of vanilla . only problem is that it gets very dry quickly . but if it is eaten warm, it taste great
I add different thing all the time. Peaches, Lilly’s dark chocolate chips, a few Maine blueberries, & whipped cream. Fabulous desert, my husband agrees.
Thank you so much,
Laura
Great recipe for a quick treat 👌
Very fluffy and moist.
I prefer a little less Monk fruit sweetner, works well with a berry coulis and some icecream 😋
Thankyou Carine.
The best mug cake!!! Delicioso!
I’m paleo so I needed something sweet, this did the trick! They would be really good as pancakes too with maple syrup 🥞 🤣 5 stars!
I made this mug cake last night. It was amazing! I macerated some strawberries to make a sauce to drizzle on it with whipped cream. It was so good!! I think I’m going to use this recipe to make my birthday cake this year.😍
Hi! I didn’t have all the ingredients on hand because I’m doing an oil-free plant-based diet, but I wanted to try this mug cake so I could eat something other than oatmeal every morning. So I switched out a few things/added some. I did: the almond flour, baking soda, powdered erythritol, 1 TB mashed banana instead of oil, Bob’s Red Mill egg replacer (even though you said not to, lol), 2 drops liquid vanilla Stevia, and 1/4 tsp cinnamon. Well, it tasted great! With my ingredients, it will come out like sponge cake (a banana sponge cake!), but I was okay with that. I didn’t need to grease the mug because of the banana, I guess–it fell right out! And then I topped it with pure maple syrup! Mmmm, what a delight, thanks!
Thanks for sharing! Banana is not keto but if you are simply following a plant-based diet this is a great substitute. Enjoy! XOXO Carine
Hi Carine,
Yes I know about bananas not being keto. I tried keto but I’m one of those people who got severe acid reflux from it. I wanted to do keto because I have diabetes, but it just didn’t work for me. So what I do now is: I use keto for my dessert or bread recipes because they are usually low in carbs; the rest I do plant-based, to keep fat levels down (which is what gives me the acid reflux). So your dessert/bread recipes really do help me! Thanks again!
That make sense, too much fat can create reflux and what’s important is to feel good and eating more greens can always be beneficial with diabetes. Take care,
I have been keto for about a year and it changed me!
This was an AWESOME mug cake! I did lemon extract instead of vanilla extract and i added blueberries and the results were amazing!!! Thanks so much!!!
This was a total fail for me. The cake was dense and kind of oozing liquid? I do have to use egg whites because I’m allergic to yolks, but I’ve had success with your English muffin mug recipe so I was surprised that this went so poorly…
You mentioned that you only used egg white which explain why the cake was so dense and didnt work. By removing the yolks to remove 2 tablespoon of liquid and fat from the recipe. While it may work for a mug bread recipe that intend to be dense and dry it wont work for a cake. You need to balance the removal of tolk but some fat. XOXO Carine
Do you have any suggestions for how to make a mug cake without egg yolk? I’m desperate for an easy cake recipe like this but can’t eat egg yolk. Using egg whites only has worked for every other recipe I’ve tried except for this one 🙁
Not really because microwave baking dry out cakes very fast, removing the egg yolk make then dry and taste more like bread. I am sorry I can’t help more, XOXO Carine
I love your website! Our favourite recipe is the peanut butter cookies. We tried this cake today but I think I messed something up. I used the best ingredients but The cake was dense and the bottom part had a blue colour to it. Do you have any idea why that would be? Furthermore I felt the cake had too much of an egg taste for me. Would decreasing the egg volume and using some milk for liquid work?
Coconut flour can turn blueish-green sometimes. I’ve had it happen to me when I make keto mug bread. It’s a little jarring but shouldn’t affect the flavor 🙂
Thanks so much for following my blog recipe! Unfortunately you can’t decrease the egg amount of the cake will be very dry and won’t hold together with more milk. You can mask egg flavor in keto cakes by adding more vanilla extract, a pinch of cinnamon and always use egg at room temperature! that helps too. I am not sure how the cake could turn blue tho, or maybe you microwave the cake in a blue mug and something wrong with the mug itself. But none of this ingredients should turn blue. Enjoy the recipe, XOXO Carine