When the Fall season is here, and if you don’t feel like baking a batch of pumpkin muffins, try this healthy pumpkin mug cake if you don’t have time for a full-fledge Vegan Pumpkin Pie or Vegan Pumpkin Brownies.
Ingredients and Substitutions
All you need to make this easy pumpkin spice mug cake are:
All-Purpose Flour – You can also use oat flour or white spelt flour. If you use oat flour, the mug cake is more fragile, and dense, and less fluffy. Pumpkin Puree – I use pure canned pumpkin puree. Don’t confuse it for pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin puree is made with just one ingredient: pumpkin. It has no added sugar or added oil. Coconut Sugar – or any other non-refined sugar. Light Olive Oil – You can also use melted coconut oil, melted vegan butter, or any oil you like to bake with. Vanilla Extract – for the taste. Pumpkin Pie Spice – You can either buy a pumpkin spice mix or make it yourslef! Baking Powder – To give the cake a bit of a rise. Cinnamon – for flavor. Pinch of Salt – optional if you want to decrease sodium, skip the salt.
How To Make Vegan Pumpkin Mug Cake
A pumpkin mug cake has essentially all the same ingredients as a cake or muffin, but it’s easy to whip up in a coffee mug and bake in under 2 minutes in the microwave.
Preparation
You have two options for this recipe: you can prepare the mug cake in a small bowl or in the coffee mug itself. I do like a small shallow bowl as it makes it easier to stir the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients.
Baking In The Microwave
Transfer the mug cake batter to a microwave-safe mug. Bake it in the microwave at 900W for 90 seconds or until the mug cake rises above the mug and stays high for about 20 seconds. You know a mug cake is cooked when the top is set and dry to the touch. If it is too wet in the middle, return it to the microwave and microwave it for an extra 10 seconds.
Flavor Options
You can play with flavors and serve the mug cake with:
Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Mug Cake – Stir a tablespoon of dark chocolate chips or vegan white chocolate chips in the pumpkin batter before baking in the mug cake. Banana Pumpkin Mug Cake – Swap the oil for a tablespoon of mashed banana. Peanut Butter Pumpkin Mug Cake – Replace the oil with a tablespoon of pure peanut butter or almond butter.
Serving
This single-serving dessert is even better topped with:
A scoop of vanilla ice cream. A drizzle of my vegan royal icing. It’s basically a tablespoon of icing sugar with a few drops of almond milk that I drizzle on top of the warm mug cake. A pinch of pumpkin pie spices to boost the fall flavors. Chopped pecans, walnuts, or hazelnuts. A dollop of Vegan Whipped Cream.
Allergy Swaps
This pumpkin mug cake is naturally dairy-free and egg-free. However, below are some ingredient swap ideas for you to try.
Gluten-Free – You can replace the all-purpose flour with gluten-free oat flour. A regular all-purpose flour gluten-free flour might work too, but it often leaves the mug cake dense. Coconut Sugar – You can use any sweetener instead, like sugar or maple syrup. Oil-Free – You can swap oil for almond milk, soy milk, or unsweetened apple sauce.
Here are my answers to your most frequent questions.
