Paleo Banana Bread Mug Cake is a single-serve grain-free, refined sugar-free dessert (or breakfast) in a mug! This recipe post includes an option using almond flour and an option using coconut flour.
I originally posted this recipe on April 16, 2015 and it has been made thousands of times since! I still make it when I’m craving something comforting and banana bread-like but don’t want to bake a full loaf of banana bread.
Cake for one?! With zero guilt or regrets? What more could we need in life??
I mean, the thing literally takes 5 minutes to make! And there’s no cleanup involved. No leftovers to tempt you at 2am.
Plus, this Paleo Banana Bread Mug Cake is legitimately healthy!
Grain-free, refined sugar-free, dairy-free, and you’d never even know it! This banana mug cake is ultra fluffy, moist and sweet!
So what it boils down to, is you’ve got yourself a crazy convenient breakfast or dessert that is 200% nutritious and simply sensational.
I have included two versions in this post – an almond flour version and a coconut flour version. It seems as though most people have a preference of one over the other, so I figured I would share both methods.
THIS JUST IN: Mug cake is the lowest maintenance thing you will ever do in your entire life. Other than eating an apple. Or sleeping. Or…just trust me on this one.
What if I told you I ate this for breakfast and dessert every day for two solid weeks? I had to exercise my will power and remind myself that diets rich in mug cake, while delicious, are not well-balanced.
Take it from me, once you go mug cake, you never go back.
Healthy Banana Mug Cake Ingredient:
This easy single-serve breakfast recipe involves six simple ingredients. Five, if you don’t like cinnamon.
Ripe banana, coconut flour or almond flour, egg, pure maple syrup or honey, ground cinnamon, sea salt, and baking powder. Simple!
How to Make Banana Mug Cake:
Because haven’t you heard? This thing’s a cinch.
Choose a microwave-safe mug that is fairly large, as the batter will rise substantially.
Start by mashing the banana in the mug until it’s nice and creamy. Add the rest of the ingredients (egg, almond flour or coconut flour, cinnamon, pure maple syrup or honey, sea salt and baking powder) and stir everything together until the batter is thick and well combined.
Or you can be rebellious and stir everything together in no particular order.
Microwave on high for 2 to 3 minutes until the cake is set up in the center.
I often perform this step in a measuring cup and then I transfer the batter to a mug because it turns out looking cleaner for photos. If you aren’t concerned about the way it looks, simply stir it all up in a mug!
Because I took it upon myself to test this recipe 17,000 times with my face, I can give you a little insight as to how to make it two delicious ways with either coconut flour or almond flour.
The recipe is pretty much the same, you just use slightly different quantities of flour.
The Coconut Flour Version:
Banana bread mug cake made with coconut flour turns out light and fluffy, with a texture very similar to regular cake.
Plus: delicious. And: full of fiber. Ladies? You want.
In order to make the recipe using coconut flour, follow the recipe card below, using 2 tablespoons coconut flour (instead of 1/4 cup almond flour).
Simply stir everything vigorously in a mug and microwave on high for 3 to 3.5 minutes, or until the cake has risen quite a bit, is fluffy, and cooked through.
The Almond Flour Version:
Almond flour mug cake comes out light and spongy, and almost custard-y. The texture isn’t an exact replica of regular cake, but it’s still super delish, full of protein, and is rich in banana flavor.
In order to make the mug cake with almond flour, you’ll follow the recipe in the recipe card below and use 1/4 cup of almond flour. I’ve found the almond flour version doesn’t need the coconut milk or almond milk, so omit it unless the batter seems too thick or dry.
Simply mix it all up thoroughly in a mug, microwave for 2 to 3 minutes (this will depend entirely on your microwave), until the cake has risen substantially and has set up in the center.
I will report, the almond flour version is my personal favorite. Let me know which one you like best!
How to Make Mug Cake in the Oven:
I know, I know, I’m not a fan of microwaving things either…you can also bake the mug cake in the oven at 350 degrees F for about 30 minutes (or until the cake tests clean).
My take on that is you may as well bake a full cake if you’re going to go through the trouble of pre-heating and such. We trade microwaves for convenience in this life of compromise.
Recipe Adaptations:
- Substitute almond milk for coconut milk.
- Use pure honey instead of pure maple syrup, or omit the sweetener altogether (the mug cake will be plenty sweet without it!).
- Add more cinnamon or no cinnamon at all.
- Eliminate the pecans.
- You can pretty much do anything you dang-well please. How about we add chocolate chips? Okay, twist my arm.
Of course, if you have a hankering for a full loaf of banana bread, you can always make my Paleo Banana Bread using almond flour, or my Coconut Flour Banana Bread.
More Desserts in Mugs:
- Gluten-Free Mug Brownie
- Keto Mug Cake
- Single-Serve Vegan Oatmeal Cookie in a Mug
- Matcha Mug Cake
- Paleo Chocolate Mug Cake
My cookbook, Paleo Power Bowls, is now available! CLICK HERE to check it out. Thank you for your all your support!
If you make this recipe, feel free to snap a photo of it and share it on Instagram, tagging @The.Roasted.Root!
Paleo Banana Bread Mug Cake for all them meals!
Paleo Banana Bread Mug Cake
Ingredients
- 1 large ripe banana mashed
- 1 large egg lightly beaten
- 2 tablespoons full-fat coconut milk or almond milk (see note*)
- 1 tsp pure maple syrup or honey**
- 2 Tbsp coconut flour or 4 tablespoons almond flour
- 1 tablespoon raw pecans or walnuts, chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon optional
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- Pinch sea salt
Instructions
- Mash the banana in a microwave-safe mug until it's nice and creamy.
- Add the rest of the ingredients to the mug and mash/stir together until well-combined.
- Microwave on high for 2 to 3 minutes, or until cake has set up and tests clean.
- Allow cake to cool slightly before diving in!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Maybe this mug cake will have more flavor tomorrow after the spices have kicked in. Please put the note about no coconut milk if you use almond flour, up into the body of the recipe. I didn’t see the note about not adding coconut milk and had already done so. I then had to guess how much coconut flour to add to make batter firmer. I had to microwave 3.5 minutes to get the cake to “set”. This recipe is not a keeper for me, but was easy and I got rid of an overripe banana. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Hi Ruby! My apologies for the confusion regarding the flours. The note about the coconut milk/almond milk already appears in the recipe card in the notes section. It also appears in body of the post as well, under the title “The Almond Flour Version”. I even call out right next to the milk ingredient in the recipe card to see the note, with an asterisk * I get that people find reading all of the information to be inconvenient but we food bloggers put it there for a reason.
In terms of flavor – Was your banana ripe enough? Did you add the salt? You can add more sweetener if you feel the cake doesn’t have enough flavor, which I had mentioned both in the body of the post and the recipe. In addition, salt enhances flavor so if you left the salt out or didn’t use very much I could see why it would lack flavor.
This recipe was soooo good!!❤️❤️I used almond flour and used chocolate chips in place of the pecans! As suggested, I did not use coconut milk because the batter was pretty thin already.😋😋😋will definitely make again!
Sounds amazing, Mary! Thank you for sharing! xo