Chocolate Lava Mug Cake

This low carb chocolate lava mug cake recipe takes less than 5 minutes to make because you make it in the microwave. This easy, low carb and sugar free dessert would be perfect for Valentine’s Day or really any time when you have a chocolate craving. The entire cake has only 3.2 grams net carbs and 11.4 grams of protein!

You might also like this microwave low carb pumpkin pie for one recipe.

I’m obsessed with microwave mug cakes. I’ve been trying to make a good one for so long and I’ve finally did it! This low carb chocolate lava mug cake recipe is for all of you chocolate lovers. It only takes about 5 minutes to make and tastes fantastic. The molten center is ooey and gooey and delicious!

What I also love about this keto recipe is that it’s a sugar free and gluten free mug cake too. It doesn’t use all purpose flour or any kind of flour actually. Not even almond flour or coconut flour. And though it has a gooey chocolate center you can skip that part and it will still taste great and cut a few calories and carbs.

Best of all, you can make this sugar free lava cake in the microwave and it’s only 3.2g net carbs. Surprisingly it’s high in protein with 11.4 grams of protein. I have to admit I’ve been making these a lot and now I’m moving on to a peanut butter one. I’ll keep you posted on that one.

Recipe ingredients I used and substitutions.

The simple ingredients I used for this molten chocolate cake were butter, egg, Swerve sweetener, cream cheese (or heavy cream), Divine cocoa powder, baking powder and dark chocolate. You can also add a pinch of salt to bring out the sweetness if you want.

Cream Cheese
Originally I used heavy cream for this recipe but today I used cream cheese instead and I like the texture better. You can use either if you want and if you are dairy free you can substitute with coconut milk or coconut cream. I tried half and half once but it made the batter too runny. I like cream cheese the best personally.

Swerve Confectioners Sweetener
I like powdered sweetener in this recipe and I use Swerve brand as they are my favorite sweetener. However you can use whatever brand you want and if you don’t have a confectioners sugar you can use a granulated sugar sweetener. Again if you don’t care about carbs you use can use regular powdered sugar or just granulated white sugar.

SweetLeaf Vanilla Cream Stevia Drops
I love to add this to make keto desserts because it increases the sweetness level significantly and it adds vanilla flavor. If you only have regular liquid stevia add a ½ teaspoon vanilla extract. Or if you don’t have any stevia you can add more of your sweetener. Try another tablespoon of Swerve if that is the case.

Divine Cocoa Powder
I use brand of unsweetened cocoa powder (Divine Cocoa) because it has no carbs and it’s rich and delicious. You could use regular cocoa powder too but if you do a lot of low carb cooking you might want to invest in a canister of it. It’s really delicious.

Aldi Moser Dark Chocolate
The secret ingredient to making this dessert so gooey in the middle is that I put a piece of dark chocolate in the middle. I used the chocolate bar below that I buy at Aldi. The package contains 5 smaller bars and each of those has 6g net carbs. In this recipe I only used ¼ of those small bars. As a matter of fact you don’t even need that if you don’t have any.

Other options are to use your favorite chocolate bar or even keto friendly chocolate chips. I love Lily’s milk chocolate chips as well as ChocZero. And if you don’t care about carbs or sugar, go ahead and add your favorite chocolate bar or chips.

Note for an easy low carb way to change up the flavor you can try flavor extracts like coffee, caramel, coconut, strawberry or almond extracts etc instead of the vanilla extract. Or try some instant espresso powder to add more depth of flavor. These add flavor but not calories or carbs. You can also try some creamy peanut butter in the middle or some other nut butter if you want.

How to make this keto chocolate lava mug cake recipe.

This should only take a few minutes to whip up and your sweet tooth will thank you!

Step 1: You need to use softened cream cheese. If yours is right out of the refrigerator I would suggest putting it into a very small microwave safe dish and microwave for just 15 seconds and it will be softened. Set that aside.

NOTE I used to use heavy cream but today I used cream cheese and like it better. You can use either but the cream cheese creates a thicker batter.

Step 2: Using a ramekin or microwave safe mug add the butter and microwave for 30 minutes. When the butter is melted swirl it around the sides so that it sort of greases it so the cake mixture won’t stick.

Step 3: Next add in the unsweetened cocoa powder, Swerve sweetener, stevia and softened cream cheese and whisk to combine. Then add in the egg yolk (not the egg white) and mix well.

Step 4: Take the candy bar and break into little pieces. Press down the pieces of chocolate into the center of the cake batter.

Step 5: Microwave for 30 seconds and then let cool for a few minutes before eating. It should look like the picture below. You want the texture to be a gooey center from the candy but firm on the top. Let the mug cake cool before eating.

And that is all there is to it. Grab a spoon and dig in. Please scroll down to view the printable recipe card.

You can also make this without the chocolate center.

One of the first batches I made I didn’t use the chocolate and you can see that pictured below on the left. It was still gooey in the center but not as much as the other one pictured on the right.

Now when I make this chocolate mug cake I usually make the one on the left to save a few carbs. You can decide which you prefer.  

I think these would be great for a Valentine’s Day dessert. You can always add a bit of homemade whipped cream or a few slices of strawberries, but it’s delicious as is. And if you don’t care about carbs, add a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the warm cake! Or for a whole cake try my friend Vicky’s keto flourless chocolate cake. 

More keto microwave desserts to try.

 If you are looking for more keto desserts that you make in the microwave these are a few of my favorites and they are very easy to make.

• sugar free microwave pumpkin pie treats
• keto blueberry muffin for 1
• keto microwave chocolate cupcake with peanut butter icing
• keto microwave vanilla cupcake for 1
• low carb microwave pumpkin mug cake

 Well I hope you enjoy this quick and easy sugar free chocolate lava mug cake recipe. It definitely is one of my favorite keto sweet treats especially when I’m craving a piece of cake. It’s the perfect dessert because of the size and helps you stick to a low carb diet, especially if you have a sweet tooth. Enjoy!

The nutritional information for 1 whole keto chocolate lava cake is:

with chocolate bar 524 cals / 46.6g fat / 16g carbs / 12.8g fiber / 11.4g protein = 3.2g net carbs

without 484 cals / 43.5g fat / 13.8g carbs / 12g fiber / 10.6g protein = 1.8g net carbs

If you would like to see some of my favorite baking products that I buy on Amazon, you can find them here along with other items I use for low carb cooking and baking. Note I receive a small commission on your purchases.