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Banana Mug Cake tastes like a slice of banana bread and cooks in just 2 minutes! It’s the perfect single-serve dessert to use up a ripe banana you have on hand.
This banana bread mug cake makes a delicious breakfast, afternoon snack, or late-night dessert. You can mix it directly in a microwave-safe mug to save on dishes.
Because this recipe calls for a whole ripe banana and a whole egg, it will fill two coffee mugs that are 10 ounces in size or one large mug that is 16 ounces or larger.
If you want to make a large single serving, use an oversized mug to avoid overflow as it cooks in your microwave. (There are oven directions below, too!)
Ingredients You’ll Need
This healthy mug cake recipe calls for oat flour, which you can buy at the store or make at home using your blender. (Just process rolled oats or oatmeal in a blender until it has a fine texture.)
Use certified gluten-free oats if you need a gluten-free option.
Ingredient Swap
If you need to use a different sweetener, you can replace the maple syrup with coconut sugar or honey. Or simply leave it out for a less-sweet mug cake recipe.
This recipe uses peanut butter instead of vegetable oil, but you can use any other nut or seed butter you like with similar results. You can also add vanilla extract or a pinch of salt to enhance the flavor even more.
For added texture, add a handful of walnuts, or make it more of a dessert with a few dark chocolate chips sprinkled on top. It’s easy to customize with the perfect amount of banana flavor.
How to Make Banana Mug Cake
1. Mash the banana.
To make one large serving, add the peeled banana to a 16-ounce mug and use a fork to mash until it looks relatively smooth.
2. Mix the batter.
Add the peanut butter, egg, maple syrup, oat flour, baking powder, and ground cinnamon, then stir well.
There’s no need to mix the wet ingredients before adding the dry ingredients in this case. The mixture should have a similar consistency to cake batter, but it will be slightly more lumpy because of the mashed banana.
3. Cook.
Add any toppings you like, such as chocolate chips or walnuts, then place the mug in the microwave and cook at high power for 2 minutes. The center should feel firm to the touch when the cake is done cooking.
Depending on the wattage of your microwave, your mug cake might need an additional 30 seconds of cooking. Test the cake with a toothpick if you want to make sure the center is no longer wet.
Let the mug cake cool for 5 minutes. (The mug will be very hot!)
After that, it’s ready to eat.
Before digging in, add any extra toppings you like, such as sliced banana or an extra peanut butter drizzle.
Make 2 servings
If you have two smaller coffee mugs, mix the batter in a small bowl first, then divide the batter between the two mugs for a snack-size portion. They still cook in 2 minutes!
Looking for more healthy sweets? Try 5-Minute Freezer Fudge, Banana Ice Cream, or Banana Snack Cake for more options.
Ingredients
- 1 large banana
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- ⅓ cup oat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Place the peeled banana in a large microwave-safe mug (16-ounce or larger) and use a fork to mash until smooth.
- Add in the egg, peanut butter, maple syrup, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. Stir well until the mixture looks like a lumpy cake batter. Sprinkle a few chocolate chips or walnuts on top, if you'd like extra texture.
- Place the mug in the microwave and cook on high power for 2 minutes. The cake will rise above the top of the mug as it cooks, but it shouldn't spill over as long as you use a 16-ounce or larger size mug. The cake should feel firm to the touch in the center when it's done cooking; add another 30 seconds of cook time if you need to.
- Carefully remove the mug from the microwave (it will be hot!) and let it cool for 5 minutes before digging in.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
If you try this banana mug cake recipe, please leave a comment and star rating below letting me know how you like it.
So good!
I love this recipe! Thanks so much. I use it for breakfast or sometimes for a treat. I’ve been making it in a bowl for a few minutes in the microwave,instead of the mug because it cooks faster and more evenly. Looks like a pancake and tastes great!
Absolutely loved it! Easiest recipe that I have come across and yet tastes delicious! Thanks for the recipe.
Do you put the coffee mug in the oven ?
Yes! Definitely make sure your mugs are oven safe, too. (I used Fiestaware brand.)
Delicious! I didn’t have really ripe bananas on hand so i added a little maple syrup and raisin. I also added a little butter in my mug before pouring in the “batter” and the bottom did stick to the mug. I’ll have to either spray the inside or add a little more butter next time. Definitely will have this again. Thank you!
Love this, I’m really loving this as a new go to breakfast treat! I like that there are no nut flours in it, love nut flours and the mug cakes I’ve tried out with them but this is tasty without the texture you get with the flours. I used cashew butter to be more paleo. I microwaved mine as I couldn’t wait and it took a good couple minutes. It was light and fluffy. I didn’t mind it was a little gooey on top… reminded me of my cake making days and the raw mixture … another life … mixed a little coconut cream and honey together (another new fav) a little dollop on top and it was delish! I will defiantly try the oven version for an afternoon treat!
Thank you ?
Hello Detoxinista! Thank you for the inspiring recipe. In keeping with my usual nature, I allowed it to serve as a platform upon which to build, and the resulting batter is baking in the toaster oven as I type. It smells divine! I substituted a “flax egg” for the egg, added a tablespoon of oats and a half a tablespoon of coconut flour (for a more cake-like texture), a drizzle of maple syrup, vanilla extract, a touch of sea salt, and dark chocolate chips. I also melted a pat of butter in my small Pyrex dish before adding the cake batter. It tasted delicious straight off the mixing spatula, and I am quite certain that it will turn out very nicely! 🙂
I used PB2 peanut butter powder, 2 Tbsp with 1 Tbsp water, with 1/4 tsp olive oil and microwaved for 80 seconds. Turned out well!
DELICIOUS! I followed the recipe as written (except being a chocolate lover, I couldn’t resist throwing in a few milk chocolate chips that I had on hand). I wanted to try the fastest option so I used the microwave for a little less than 2 minutes then let it set for 5 minutes. It tasted great! Hard to believe I was eating fruit and protein with no added sugar, but tasted like I was eating a dessert. It did remind me more of bread pudding texture than a muffin but I liked that texture. GREAT use for that one last banana that always seems to get overripe before I can eat it. Thank You!
I tried it with a mix of peanut butter and almond butter, and with speculaas spices… that’s a Dutch mix that is popular around December time. I put it in the micro for 1,5 minutes, in a slightly bigger bowl, which was a good thing, because it grew a lot! It was absolutely scrummy. 🙂 Next time, in order to be Paleo, I will use almond butter, and add more of the speculaas spices for flavour. Thanks so much for the idea!