Keto Chocolate Mug Cake
This keto chocolate mug cake is one of the best keto friendly desserts you will eat. We are trying a lot of keto desserts and promise to save you time and money by only posting the keto diet recipes that have passed our taste test!
Dean started the low carb lifestyle over 6 years ago and hasn’t regretted it a bit. He loved, and I mean, LOVED, his pasta! We had pasta almost every night. Bowtie, fettuccine, penne or strozzapreti. It didn’t matter what shape it was or how it was prepared. If we didn’t cook it we ordered it at just about every restaurant we went out to.
Just as much as he loved his pasta, I loved me some bread! Thick garlic Texas toast, Panera Bread’s French loaf and Asiago bagels and of course biscuits with my favorite sausage gravy.
I applauded him for his commitment but I just wasn’t ready to join the low carb tribe quite yet. As a matter of fact, it took me 6 years to get on board. When we decide we are going to do something, we usually go all in. I took the low carb diet up a notch and joined the ketogenic diet lifestyle.
Low Carb vs. Keto
What’s the difference between low carb vs. keto? Let me sum it up with a basic explanation. Low carb basically is when one simply eats less carbs. The average person consumes around 300 grams of carbs per day so when someone is going low carb they are cutting out pastas, breads, cereals, pizza and sugars.
A simple explanation for ketogenic or ‘keto’ means that you are doing the low carb diet but you are restricting your carbs to around 20-50 grams (or less) per day. Along with your proteins and vegetables, you are eating high fat, the healthy fats like avocados, almonds and olive oil. Sometimes you will see the reference to ‘LCHF’ (low carb-high fat). Some fruits are allowed, mostly berries, but it is not recommended to eat a lot because of their natural sugars which can raise your blood sugar.
We chose to follow the ketogenic diet to lose weight and maintain the weight we loss. Dean currently weighs the same as he did in college and I have lost 10 pounds rather quickly (and manage to keep it off.) It makes sense that when you want to lose weight, your body has to burn all the carbs you consumed to get to the fat. If you eat healthy high fats (that provides energy as well) and less carbs, naturally your body has less to burn to get to the fat.
I love finding new keto-friendly and low carb recipes to experiment with. A lot of times when we go out to eat we try to re-create the same recipe at home but with less carbs. It’s easier than you think. One of our favorites is the keto pizza and the blooming cauliflower.
I’ve been testing out some keto-friendly desserts lately and fell in love with how easy this keto-friendly chocolate mug cake was to make. It even passed the taste test with Dean (who doesn’t have a sweet tooth at all.) We hope you enjoy it as much as we do.
Keto Chocolate Mug Cake
Ingredients:
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Directions:
The two ingredients you may not be as familiar with, if you are new to low carb or keto diet recipes, are the natural sweeteners. Two popular sweeteners are erythritol and Swerve. They are sugar replacements that have zero calories without that bitter aftertaste.
Raw Cacoa powder is from the cacoa bean and can be used in baking and to make chocolate drinks. It doesn’t have all that sugar that some ‘cocoa’ powders have on the grocery store shelves. Check your labels!
I know we are calling this a keto friendly chocolate mug cake, and this is a photo of 4 ounce ball jars, but work with me here. You can actually use a mug for this recipe but make sure you use one of your smaller 6-8 ounce coffee or tea mugs or else your individual mug cake will look like a dollop at the bottom of your mug. I didn’t have any mugs that small so I improvised with small 4 ounce ball jars that worked perfectly.
Step 1
- Melt 2 Tbsp. butter in a microwaveable bowl or measuring cup. This will usually take 30-60 seconds.
- Let cool before adding the egg or else the egg will cook slightly in the hot butter.
Step 2
- Add 1 egg and beat together with butter.
Step 3
- Add 2 Tbsp. natural sweetener (erythritol or swerve) and mix well.
Step 4
- Add 2 Tbsp. raw cacoa and mix well.
Step 5
- Add 1 Tbsp. half and half or heavy cream and mix well.
Step 6
- Add 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract and mix well.
Step 7
- Add a pinch of salt and mix well.
Step 8
- Pour the mixture into one four ounce ball or mason jar. Repeat the directions for each individual serving.
Microwave*:
- Place jar(s) on a paper plate.
- Microwave (make sure your mugs are microwavable) for approximately 45 seconds. Every microwave is different so you may need to microwave another 15 seconds. It should be spongy to touch.
*Oven directions are preferred for best overall taste
Oven:
- Preheat oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit
- Place all ball jars or coffee mugs (make sure they are oven safe) on a cookie sheet
- Bake for 13-15 minutes
The top of the cake should be firm to touch. You will know if they aren’t cooked long enough if the top of the individual cakes look too liquid. It’s okay if the batter runs over a bit onto the cookie sheet. The cakes will shrink a little in size allowing plenty of room to top of with Cool Whip.
Step 9
- Top with Cool Whip. You can do this while the individual keto chocolate cakes are still warm or when they have cooled down a bit. Having the Cool Whip slightly thawed makes applying easier.
Step 10
- Finish by making your keto chocolate mug cakes look as appetizing as possible by topping off with Lilly’s dark chocolate no sugar added chips.
Add your favorite berries for color, taste and presentation.
The anticipation of tasting your first keto chocolate cake dessert is killing you, isn’t it? Can it possibly taste as good as it looks? We’re here to say, yes!
We can’t wait for you to try this keto chocolate mug cake and let us know how you like it!
Please stop by our blog for more keto recipes and DIY projects like this.
Looking for other summery healthy desserts? You’ll love these Red, White & Blueberry popsicles!
