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Made with simple ingredients with minimum amount of sugar and no oil, this Vegan Banana Bread Mug Cake is my go-to dessert when I want something quick, yet still delicious and healthy!
- Story behind this Banana Bread Mug Cake
- What’s special about this Banana Bread Mug Cake ?
- What do we need for this Banana Bread Mug Cake
- How to Make Vegan Banana Bread Mug Cake
- How to Store Vegan Banana Bread Mug Cake
- Extra Tips for Success
- Questions You Might Have
- Final words
- Vegan Banana Bread Mug Cake (Gluten-free)
Story behind this Banana Bread Mug Cake
If you know me, you know that I might be a monkey in my previous life (?) because I eat bananas every single day and would feel weird if I didn’t. (Yes, it happened before).
And one thing I like to make is banana bread, especially my beloved, simple, gluten-free Vegan Banana Bread. But sometimes I don’t have time to bake, so this is the moment to introduce Banana Bread Mug Cake.
The idea of the mug cake is simple, easy, and quick, which is one of the best things in this delicious Vegan Banana Bread Mug Cake.
What’s special about this Banana Bread Mug Cake ?
- Super quick and easy, can be done in 5 minutes!
- Vegan, no eggs, no dairy, no animal products
- Gluten-free, using oat flour instead
- Less sugar, healthier, compared to common cakes
What do we need for this Banana Bread Mug Cake
- Bananas: This is the hero ingredient, of course real banana!
- Soy milk: unsweetened or sweetened are both fine.
- Peanut butter: natural, without added sugar or oil. You can also use another nut butter, like almond butter or cashew butter.
- Coconut sugar: I personally love coconut sugar so much that I use it in almost every thing. But you can also use soft brown sugar or organic cane sugar.
- Vanilla extract: just a little bit to make this mug cake extraordinary!
- Oat flour: Give this mug cake a very fluffy texture. You can use store bought oat flour or make your own by grinding some instant oats (quick oats) in a blender. Just make sure it’s super fine.
- Baking powder: a leavening agent here to make the cake fluffy.
- Ground cinnamon: adds another sweet undertone.
- Crushed pecans (or walnuts) & Dark chocolate: as stir-ins and toppings to make this mug cake richer in texture and flavour.
- Salt (optional): as usual, I like to add a bit of salt to my dessert to create balance and to bring out more flavour.
How to Make Vegan Banana Bread Mug Cake
- First, mash the banana: Mash the bananas with a fork in a bowl until it’s like a paste (or purée).
- Then add wet ingredients: Add soy milk, peanut butter (or another nut butter), and coconut sugar to the mashed bananas. Mix to combine.
- After that, add other ingredients: vanilla extract, oat flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Mix to combine everything together until no flour can be seen.
- Add stir-ins: Time to add pecans and chocolate! Add about 2/3 of each and use a spatula to stir them into the cake batter. Pour the cake batter into a mug. Then add the rest of chocolate chunks and pecans on top.
- Cook in the microwave: Microwave the cake on medium-high heat (my microwave is 800W) for about 2 minutes, until the mug cake looks fluffy and dry to the touch.
- Cool down & serve: Let the mug cake sit for another minute to set before scooping in. Enjoy on its own, or optionally serve with vegan vanilla ice cream (my favourite) or vegan whipped cream (like this Coconut Whipped Cream).
How to Store Vegan Banana Bread Mug Cake
Let the mug cake cool down completely. Then cover it with plastic wrap (cling film) and store in the fridge. It should last for 3–5 days. For reheating, sprinkle some water on top.
Extra Tips for Success
- Use a very ripe banana: What’s a ripe banana? Look for spotted skins and fragrant ones, and their skins should be thinner and unripe ones. I have to mention this because I didn’t realize until I came to the UK that many people, especially in the wester world, don’t really know how to tell the ripeness of fruits. (I am from Taiwan, a cornucopia of fruits)
- Weight your ingredients. Even though we are not doing any “baking” this time, it’s still very crucial to get the overall ratio right by using a kitchen scale instead of measuring cups or eyeballing.
- Mix everything evenly, no flour granule seen: This is a look-no-so-serious details, but sometimes the devil is really in the details. Make sure to use a spatula to scoop up the bowl when mixing to make sure everything is evenly incorporated.
Questions You Might Have
I don’t have oat flour. Can I use any other flour instead?
I haven’t tried this yet, but I think plain flour (all-purpose flour) can produce similar texture as well.
What kind of nut butter can I use?
My go-to is peanut butter because I love it, and it’s very common and budget-friendly. But if you somehow don’t want to use it, you can also use almond butter, cashew butter etc. (See How to Make Nut Butter)
Keep in mind that the nut butter might have slight influence on the final flavour of the mug cake.
Can I use other sugar to replace coconut sugar?
Yes, you can use soft brown sugar, golden castor sugar, or organic cane sugar as well.
Got more questions? Let me know by commenting down below!
Final words
This banana bread mug cake is seriously one of my favourite go-to desserts/snacks. It’s just so quick and easy to put together, yet the outcome is soooo delicious! I have this quite often when I don’t have the access to the oven or don’t want to turn the oven on (you know, in summer).
I hope you can give it a try and let me know if you like them as much as I do! Happy eating! — Nora
You might be interested in these easy, simple cake recipes too:
Vegan Banana Bread Mug Cake (Gluten-free)
Ingredients
- 60 g ripe bananas, ~1 small banana*
- 1 Tbsp soy milk, unsweetened or sweetened both work
- 30 g natural peanut butter, without added sugar or oil (2 Tbsp)**
- 1 Tbsp coconut sugar
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- 35 g oat flour, use gluten-free oat flour if necessary (~6 Tbsp)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 hint ground cinnamon
- 1/16 tsp salt
Topping
- 1 Tbsp crushed pecans, or crushed walnuts
- 1 Tbsp dark chocolate, 70% cacao content, chopped
Instructions
- Mash banana: In a bowl, mash the bananas with a fork until it’s like a paste.
- Add wet ingredients: To the same bowl, add soy milk, peanut butter, and coconut sugar. Mix to combine.
- Add the rest ingredients: After the wet ingredients have incorporated, add vanilla extract, oat flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Mix to combine all evenly.
- Add stir-ins: Add about 2/3 of the pecans (or walnuts) and dark chocolate. Pour the cake batter into a medium-small mug. Then add the rest of the chocolate and crushed pecans on top.
- Cook in the microwave: Microwave the cake on high heat (my microwave is 800W) for about 2 minutes, until the cake looks fluffy and cooked.
- Cool down & serve: Let it sit for another minute before digging in. Enjoy on its own, or optionally serve with vegan vanilla ice cream or vegan whipped cream (like Coconut Whipped Cream).
Video
Notes
- *Banana: The amount shown is weighed without the peel.
- **Peanut Butter: pure, without added sugar or oil. See How to Make Peanut Butter. You can use another nut butter or tahini as well.
- Storage: Let the cake cool down, then cover it with plastic wrap (cling film) and store in the fridge. It should last for 3–5 days.
- For reheating: Sprinkle some water on top and reheat it in the microwave again for 15–25 seconds.
