Made with rich hot chocolate powder, this 3-ingredient chocolate banana mug cake is a household favorite. With such simple ingredients, it's easy to make, kid-friendly, and ready in under 5 minutes from start to finish! Dan and I have eaten this mug cake no less than 10 times in the last month.
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Why We Love This Recipe
There is nothing better than warm drinks during the long winter months. Drinks like Protein Hot Chocolate, Christmas Morning Chai Recipe, and Gingerbread Latte heat your hands and soul up. This chocolate peppermint tea latte has all those cozy vibes plus all the flavors of the holiday season that are a perfect way to warm up on a cold day.
- Caffeine-free if needed: Depending on the peppermint tea bag you pick out, this drink can be caffeinated or not.
- 3 Ingredients: Nothing says easy like 3 ingredients! This is also great for hustling out the door to look at Christmas lights or when you need a hot drink quickly after playing in the snow!
- Kid-friendly: Because you can pick out caffeine-free peppermint tea and it only takes 3 ingredients, this drink is a great way for the kiddos to get in on the peppermint latte excitement from your local coffee shop!
Happy eating!
Ingredients
4 Helpful Tips For The Best Mug Cake
- Grease your mugs with vegetable oil, butter, or coconut oil. This makes it easier for the cake to rise and easier for you to clean the coffee mug.
- Mix everything in a bowl first and then transfer to the mugs.
- Use wide mugs and not something that barely fits the cake batter. This gives the cake room to grow. Depending on the size of your mugs, you might need to adjust the baking time.
- Use a ripe banana for optimal sweetness. The banana should be speckled with brown spots all over. If your banana isn’t that ripe, you may want to add 2 tablespoon of maple syrup or mix in chocolate chips. Overripe bananas will work too and will make the microwave mug cake even sweeter!
Step by Step of How to Make This 3-Ingredient Mug Cake (with video!)
Step one: grease your microwave-safe mugs along the bottom, edges, and up the side walls.
Step two: mash the banana in a small bowl and then mix in the rest of the ingredients.
Step three: separate into 2 mugs and microwave separately until the center of the cake is just set
Prefer to watch how to make this?
Recipe Testing Notes
I am not joking when I say I tested this recipe 7 times. I needed it to be perfect because I’ve had so many not-good mug cakes. So, here’s what I’ve learned.
- Baking powder doesn’t work: Using baking powder with cocoa powder and banana just resulted in a gummy and dense mug cake that lacked sweetness.
- Cleaning the mugs: If you don’t grease your mugs, leaning them is a nightmare, so grease them, well.
- Trying cocoa powder: I tried cocoa powder in place of hot chocolate mix and it worked but it wasn’t nearly as good. If you do make it with cocoa powder, you will need to also mix in 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar.
Variations
4 Ingredient banana mug cake: If you’re feeling a little wild, try mixing in chocolate chips or chocolate chunks for a 4 ingredient chocolate cake. Honest, this is the best part of this single-serving cake is the ability to add in other things like more chocolate if you've got an extra chocolate craving.
3-Ingredient Dairy-Free Mug Cake: This cake is dairy-free depending on what hot chocolate mix you use. Both Trader Joe’s sipping chocolate and Starbucks’s hot cocoa mix are dairy-free.
Recipe
3-Ingredient Chocolate Banana Mug Cake (a 5 minute recipe)
Equipment
- 1 bowl
- 2 wide mugs
Ingredients
- 1 ripe banana speckeled with brown spots
- 6 tablespoon hot cocoa mix see notes for using cocoa powder and to make this dairy free
- 1 egg medium
Optional
- ¼ cup chocolate chips
- 1 scoop collagen peptides for protein
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mash the banana. Mix in the other two ingredients until combined.
- Grease two mugs (see notes for using 1 mug) using butter, vegetable oil, or coconut oil. Be sure to grease the bottom, the coners, and the side walls.
- Seperate the batter evenly into each mug. Cook int he microwave for 75 seconds for each mug. Let cool 2-3 miutes before eating.See notes for cooking in the oven.
Video
Notes
- Grease your mugs with oil or butter. This makes it easier for the cake to rise and easier for you to clean the mug.
- Mix everything in a bowl first and then transfer to the mugs.
- Use wide mugs and not something that barely fits the cake batter. This gives the cake room to grow.
- Use a ripe banana for optimal sweetness. The banana should be speckled with brown spots all over. If your banana isn’t that ripe, you may want to add 2 tablespoon of maple syrup or mix in chocolate chips.
Nutrition
Common Questions
Yes, this easy recipe can be made high protein by adding in 1 scoop of collagen peptides or topping it with Greek yogurt or peanut butter. You could also try replacing the hot chocolate with chocolate protein powder but the texture may be a bit gummy.
Yes, you can mix in chocolate chips, nuts, Nutella, vanilla extract, or espresso powder to name a few. But really, the skies the limit
Yes, you can make this mini cake in the oven as long as you use small pans like an oven-safe ramekin. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes.
We love to top ours with dairy-free whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, or cashew butter! It’s also delicious with fresh berries.
I’m so glad you asked! We love 3-ingredient recipes around here. Some of my other favorites is this 3-Ingredient Chocolate Peppermint Tea Latte, 3-Ingredient Pumpkin Pancakes, and 3-Ingredient Greek Yogurt Pancakes.
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