This Carrot Cake Mug Cake is the easiest carrot cake recipe ready in 90 seconds in your microwave!
Bonus, this mug cake is also egg-free, dairy-free, and oil-free for a healthy snack at any time of the day.
If you crave carrot cake but don’t feel like baking a whole cake, try this carrot cake mug cake. It’s a single-serve cake recipe that delivers all the flavor of your classic carrot cake.
What Are Mug Cakes?
Mug Cakes are easy cakes baked in the microwave in a mug, as the name implies. They are very quick snacks or desserts that can bring all the texture and taste of complicated recipes in 5 minutes.
This Carrot Cake Mug Cake recipe has a moist cake texture filled with delicious shredded carrots, crunchy nuts, sweet raisins, and delicate notes of cinnamon.
How To Make Carrot Cake Mug Cake
Ingredients
All you need to make this easy single serve carrot cake in a mug are:
- All-purpose flour or gluten-free all-purpose flour, or homemade oat flour for a healthy twist. Keep in mind that gluten-free flour blends make the cake dense, and it won’t raise as much.
- Baking powder
- Sugar or coconut sugar for a healthy twist. You can also use sugar-free sweeteners if you like.
- Cinnamon or nutmeg
- Dried raisins – or sultanas
- Chopped walnuts or pecans
- Vanilla extract
- Apple sauce or mashed banana
- Almond milk or any milk you like.
Making The Mug Cake Batter
First, in a small bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients together: flour, baking powder, sugar, and cinnamon.
Then, stir in the liquid ingredients almond milk, apple sauce, and when the batter is smooth, fold in the chopped nuts, shredded carrots, and raisins.
Microwaving Cake
Select a tall 12-once coffee mug or ramekin. It is perfect for this recipe as it fits the amount of batter, and your cake shouldn’t overflow when it rises in the microwave.
Place the batter in the slightly oiled mug.
Microwave for 90 seconds on the 900W setting of your oven. If your microwave oven has a lower power setting, you may have to increase the baking time by adding an extra 10-second burst.
The mug cake is ready when it rises above the mug, and the top center is dry, not wet or soft.
Cool the mug cake down for a few minutes before adding any toppings.
Carrot Cake Toppings
This carrot mug cake gets all its carrot cake flavor when you serve it with some of the below:
- a dollop of cream cheese
- whipped cream
- yogurt
- chopped nuts
- drizzle of maple syrup
- pinch of cinnamon
- extra grated carrots
Storage
Mug cakes don’t store very well. While you can make the batter the day before and store it in the fridge, you can’t precook the cake in the microwave more than 15 minutes before serving.
Mug cake crumbs dry very fast, so they must be eaten immediately.
Allergy Swaps
- Sugar-free option – you can swap the apple sauce and mashed banana with the same amount of melted coconut oil or melted butter. Then, sweeten with sugar-free erythritol or xylitol. Finally, swap dried cranberries for extra nuts or coconut.
- Gluten-free – try an all-purpose gluten-free flour containing added gum.
- Nut-free – you can swap nuts for more dried raisins or shredded coconut.
More Mug Cake Recipes
Below I listed some more easy mug cake recipes for you to try
Carrot Cake Mug Cake
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons All-Purpose Flour (note 1)
- ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
- 2 tablespoons Sugar
- 2 tablespoons Unsweetened Almond Milk
- 2 tablespoons Unsweetened Apple Sauce
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 2 tablespoons Grated Carrots
- ½ teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon Chopped Walnuts or pecans
- 1 teaspoon Dried Raisins
Serving
- 1 tablespoon Yogurt
Instructions
- Select a 12-ounce microwave-safe tall coffee mug to make sure the batter won't overflow when baking.
- In the microwave-safe mug, whisk the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, and cinnamon.
- Stir in liquid ingredients: almond milk, apple sauce, and vanilla extract. Combine until light and runny with no lumps.
- Fold in shredded carrots, chopped nuts, and dried raisins. Stir to combine.
- Microwave at 900W for 90 seconds in the center of the microwave. If you are not sure what the power of your microwave is, start with 60 seconds and repeat microwaving in 10-second bursts until most and set in the center.
- Cool it down for a few seconds, then serves it with a dollop of yogurt and extra chopped nuts or carrots on the top.
