This protein powder mug cake is a good, protein-filled strategy to take pleasure in an prompt cake when you will have late-night cravings or it’s too sizzling to bake. It may be made historically with common or complete wheat flour and sugar or gluten-free, vegan and dairy-free.
I’ve by no means been large on mug muffins. You spend the identical period of time getting out the substances, placing them away, and virtually the identical period of time doing the dishes. So I’ve all the time thought you may as properly make a full cake.
However with this heatwave, I see the purpose. Yay for mug muffins!
I’ve talked about it earlier than, however we now have this Ninja 8-in-1 Oven and Air Fryer out on our balcony through the summer season. It’s lined and secure from the rain, sunshine, little people and so forth, and we deliver it in at night time.
Nevertheless it’s been so sizzling recently that we don’t even wish to open the balcony door. Generally you simply want cake, so right here’s a mug cake that received’t warmth up your kitchen or require you to prepare dinner on the balcony. 🙂
One more reason why I usually don’t like mug muffins is due to their texture. I’ve tried a number of unhealthy ones. Dense and rubbery are the phrases that come to thoughts.
This one has an amazing texture! A minimum of proper out of the microwave. This isn’t meant to be cooked after which loved hours later. It’s meant for fast consumption.
Should you wait till it’s cooled, it’s denser. Nonetheless yummy, however not almost pretty much as good as recent from the microwave.
Should you’re after dense, this Vegan Mug Brownie recipe is what you wish to make! It has the proper gooey texture of a correct brownie.
Components
Simply regular cake substances right here. However not like common cake, you don’t want an egg or egg sub for this.
- Protein powder – I am going into element about this under. There’s no sub for it, and you may’t simply use extra flour or cocoa powder.
- Sugar – you need to use granulated sugar, uncooked sugar or coconut sugar. Liquid sweeteners don’t work as they’d throw off the proportions.
- Cocoa powder – I used Dutch-process on this mug cake and haven’t tried it with pure cocoa powder (like Hershey’s). However I’m assuming it’d work.
- Flour – you need to use common all-purpose flour, complete wheat flour, or white complete wheat flour. Should you can’t have gluten, you need to use a gluten-free baking mix that’s meant as a direct sub for all-purpose flour. I speak about which manufacturers I’ve examined this recipe with under. Oat flour additionally works! Be certain that it’s labeled as gluten-free.
- Oil – you need to use no matter neutral-tasting oil you’d like. If utilizing extra-virgin olive oil, there’s a slight olive style. I really like utilizing olive oil in my chocolate recipes, however you’ll be able to normally style the olive oil till it’s cooled. Since it is a mug cake that ought to be loved very heat, you’ll be capable of style it. However some folks like that! If that’s you, make sure you take a look at my Olive Oil Brownies.
If utilizing coconut oil, make sure you use refined coconut oil until you need some coconut taste. It additionally must be melted.
- Water – you can use milk, for those who desire. Any sort will work, besides canned coconut milk, which is simply too thick.
- Chocolate, optionally available – you need to use chopped chocolate or chocolate chips.
- Vanilla extract, baking powder and salt
Key to success
Please use a scale! The quantities are so small that it’s actually very important to make use of the precise quantity of grams as I did.
I’ve learn that when folks measure dry substances like flour and cocoa powder, the quantity measured varies from individual to individual by as much as about 30%. So one particular person may measure 1 cup of one thing and get 100 grams whereas one other particular person will get 130 grams.
1 cup of all-purpose flour is 125 grams. 125 grams ÷ 16 tablespoons per cup = 7.8 grams of flour per tablespoon. However I’ve written 1 tablespoon (11 grams) flour within the recipe.
That’s as a result of no person makes use of the news and stage technique of measuring flour once they’re solely utilizing 1 tablespoon. They scoop the flour out of the bag with the tablespoon.
And that’s how I arrived at 11 grams. I’ve made this cake over a dozen of occasions the previous few months and all the time get round 10.5 to 11.5 grams per tablespoon.
Mug measurement
The recipe under is for the standard mug or ramekin, so about 1 cup (240 ml).
I additionally examined out a double recipe in a 1 1/2-cup and a 2-cup mug, and the prepare dinner time was two minutes in every.
Can I bake it in an oven?
Sure, at 350 °F (175 °C) for about 14-20 minutes. The precise time you want will depend upon the scale, form and materials your mug or ramekin is made from.
Texture
When it comes out of the microwave, it’s good and fluffy.
I panicked after I bought the photographs from the photographer, however I feel the difficulty is that it begins to get dense rapidly. And it takes a very long time to take photographs.
So right here’s a photograph I took with my cellphone about 2 minutes after it got here out of the microwave. Tremendous fluffy!
Nevertheless it’s exhausting to seize in a photograph. Particularly with a cellphone digital camera.
Protein powders examined
I feel a number of protein powders have some fairly nasty substances. Those under aren’t good, however I feel they’re comparatively good in comparison with most others.
Dr. Murray’s
This recipe was developed with Dr. Murray’s 3-Seed Vanilla Protein Powder. It’s each vegan and gluten-free.
The substances are:
Vegan protein mix (pumpkin protein, flax protein, sunflower protein), pure flavors, MCT powder (MCT oil, soluble tapioca fiber), gum mix (natural guar gum, natural acacia gum, xanthan gum), monk fruit extract, lactobacillus paracasei.
That is the protein powder I all the time use. I really like the style in sweets, and I take advantage of it fairly mucch day-after-day in my Matcha Protein Shake.
It’s additionally what was used within the photographs.
Orgain
I additionally tried this mug cake with Orgain Chocolate Ketogenic Collagen Protein Powder with MCT Oil.
The substances are:
Collagen peptides, coconut medium chain triglycerides, natural alkalized cocoa, acacia, sea salt, natural reb A (stevia extract).
This one is gluten-free however clearly not vegan, however they do promote a keto and plant-based model, in case you’re . It’s all the time bought out when on sale, so I suppose it’s fairly good.
This one didn’t lead to a cake, however a brownie. It wasn’t rubbery or bizarre, however it was certainly a brownie.
NaturesPlus
I additionally tried this with NaturesPlus Unflavored Paleo Protein Powder, which can be vegan. Observe that the product web page says unsweetened, however it’s really sweetened with stevia!
The batter was virtually like clay. I believed I’d as properly prepare dinner it to see what occurs. It was so terrible I needed to spit it out.
It labored nice in my Paleo Protein Bars, however these aren’t baked. And that’s the distinction.
Once you use protein powder in a baked recipe, you really want to make use of a model that’s been examined efficiently. In any other case, you may find yourself with disgusting outcomes.
Can I take advantage of a special protein powder?
Protein powders range SO broadly in style and texture. Should you do that recipe with a protein powder that I haven’t examined it with and suppose that the style or texture is funky, then please strive once more with one of many two (profitable) protein powders talked about above.
Can I make this forward of time?
I haven’t tried it, however I’m hesitant to say it’d work. There’s baking powder in there, and that reacts to liquid after which warmth.
A minimum of double-acting baking powder does, and for those who dwell within the US, that’s what you’re utilizing – even when it doesn’t say so on the packaging.
When baking powder will get moist, it begins reacting and producing carbon dioxide. The second, extra highly effective response occurs within the oven, however you usually don’t wish to let batter with baking powder sit round.
What you can do is combine all the pieces collectively, excluding the baking powder, refrigerate till able to prepare dinner, after which stir within the baking powder proper earlier than cooking.
You may want just a few extra seconds to get it cooked by way of. And don’t use an oil that’s stable when refrigerated, or else it’ll agency up in your refrigerated batter.
Should you use coconut oil, then additionally exclude that and add melted coconut oil together with the baking powder.
Can I cut back the sweetener / oil?
Nope. It’d have the fallacious texture. Should you’re effective with it being rubbery and peculiar, you’ll be able to go forward and take a look at.
Can I take advantage of a special sweetener?
You may doubtless use no matter granulated sugar you’d like that works properly rather than granulated sugar. Maple syrup and honey received’t work as they’d add an excessive amount of liquid to the recipe and throw off the proportions.
You can then cut back the quantity of water, however I’ve by no means had luck with that. It normally takes just a few tries to get the precise quantity proper.
Vegan model
Simply be sure that your chocolate and protein powder is vegan! These are the one substances you need to take note of.
Gluten-free model
I examined this recipe with oat flour, King Arthur Gluten-free Measure For Measure Flour and Bob’s Pink Mill Gluten-free 1-to-1 Baking Flour. The latter two are meant as direct subs for all-purpose flour.
For this recipe, I don’t advocate utilizing another sort of flour that’s not meant as a 1-to-1 sub for all-purpose flour.
Oat flour positively isn’t a 1:1 sub for AP flour, however it works right here.
You may doubtless use one other model of gluten-free 1:1 flour, however with out making an attempt it, I can’t say for certain how properly it’d work out.
It’s like with the protein powder. Should you do that recipe and suppose the style or texture is odd, then please strive one of many flours I’ve examined.
The cake is lighter and fluffier with the King Arthur possibility. Oat flour yielded a barely denser cake. Bob’s yielded a dense cake. However nonetheless scrumptious!
Paleo or keto variations?
Not this time, sorry. I might advocate discovering an already paleo or keto recipe.
Don’t wanna activate the oven? Attempt these!
I hope you’ll take pleasure in this protein powder mug cake! Should you strive it, please let me know within the feedback. Thanks! 🙂
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- Prep Time:
- Prepare dinner Time:
- Prepared in:
- Yield: 1
It is actually finest to make use of a scale!
Components
- 2 tablespoons (17 grams) Dr. Murray’s Vanilla Protein Powder
- 2 tablespoons (27 grams) granulated sugar or coconut sugar
- 1.5 tablespoons (11 grams) Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon (11 grams) all-purpose flour, complete wheat flour or for gluten-free, use King Arthur Flour Gluten-free Measure for Measure Flour or 11 grams gluten-free oat flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 3 tablespoons water
- 2 teaspoons neutral-tasting oil like vegetable, canola, or melted refined coconut oil
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-2 tablespoons chopped chocolate
Topping:
Instructions
- To a microwave-safe 1-cup mug or ramekin, combine collectively the dry substances (protein powder by way of salt).
- Stir within the moist substances.
- Use a silicone spatula to push the batter on the perimeters of the cup all the way down to the remainder of the batter.
- High with the chocolate.
- Place within the microwave and prepare dinner. My microwave is 800 watts and I wanted 50 seconds. The highest should not be moist, however it may look shiny. The precise time you want will rely in your microwave and the scale, form and materials your mug is made out of. You may want as much as 75 seconds.
- Let cool for just some minutes in order that you do not burn your self and serve. That is finest loved whereas nonetheless heat. It will get dense as soon as cool.
Notes
- Should you’re gluten-free/vegan, be certain to make use of a protein powder that is gluten-free/vegan. The one I used and checklist within the recipe is each.
- I additionally examined this with Bob’s Pink Mill Gluten-free 1:1 Flour and the cake was denser than with KAF. With oat flour, the cake is extra dense than with KAF, however much less dense than with BRM. Additionally word that 11 grams of oat flour is rather less than a tablespoon. It is actually finest to make use of a scale!
