5 Reasons I Love Mug Cakes

~ Chocolaterunsjudy

mugcakes

I eat mug cakes for breakfast. I eat mug cakes for desserts. I eat mug cakes for snacks. I even eat mug cakes for lunch sometimes!

Mug cakes had been around the Interwebs for a long, long time before I finally decided to try them (same with overnight oats in a finished nut butter jar, mason jar salads, and zoodles).

Cynthia from You Signed Up for What?, Courtney from Eat Pray Run DC, and Mar from Mar on the Run gave us food & drinks for the subject for  this week’s  Friday Five . You know I’m all over that!

I fell for mug cakes and I fell hard. And here’s why:

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Breakfast cookie in a mason jar
Potential one bowl meal
When I brought a breakfast cookie to my folks this weekend, the dry ingredients were in a mason jar. All I had to do was add the wet ingredients, mix, and microwave. Granted, that was a cookie, not a mug cake, but you could do the same with a larger mason jar.

Just don’t forget to spray your container with a little cooking spray first!

Versatility
There are sweet mug cakes; the majority of recipes are for sweet ones.

There are healthier sweet mug cakes — a cake, by definition, isn’t exactly healthy, but they can be healthier.

There are protein mug cakes, perfect for a post run snack to help your muscles recover.

There are savory mug cakes, too. Scrambled eggs. Mac n cheese. Risotto! Paleo. Gluten free. Sugar free. I sweat it seems the list is endless.

They can be cooked in a microwave and often you can cook them in toaster oven, too.

Just a couple of minutes and you’ve got cake — mug cake, that is!

Get in my belly fast!
Most mug cakes take maybe 5 minutes to mix up and are done in about 5 minutes, too (many only take 1-2 minutes to cook!)

So when that craving hits, you know you can satisfy it quickly.

Portion Control
This may be my number one reason I love mug cakes! My healthy living means I can eat anything, but I can’t eat everything I want all the time.

So when I want a cookie or a cupcake, it’s a lot easier to make a single serving mug cake version than an entire batch of cookies or cupcakes or muffins (or even brownies or lava cake!).

That way I don’t feel deprived but I’m not polishing off an entire batch of cookies, either.

Mug cakes are fun to watch rise to the occasion

Rising to the occasion
Well, they’re fun. Watching a cake rise from just a few ingredients is entertaining every time.

Until you get the hang of it, though, it’s a good idea to put a plate underneath your mug. Just in case your mug cake rises a bit too much to the occasion. I have quite a few tried and true recipes that I make again and again, but sometimes I experiment with a new one (damn you, Pinterest!) and they’re just a disaster.

Here are a few of my favorite mug cakes:

You can also check out my Pinterest mug cake board for more ideas. They’re mostly sweet, mostly healthy, but there are a few savory and not-so-healthy ones, too.

 Have you tried mug cakes yet? Got a favorite mug cake to share?

31 thoughts on “5 Reasons I Love Mug Cakes”

  2. Ooh, I need to check out some of those recipes. I’ve been struggling lately with wanting a quick sweet at the end of the day, but having nothing in the house. I may have to whip up one of these tonight.

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    1. Every time I’m like years behind on a trend, and then I try it out, and I’m like, why did it take me so long?

      I’m planning an oatmeal pizza for lunch today, which is not quite a mug cake, but close (I didn’t link to it since I haven’t tried it yet).

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  4. I have not tried mug cakes, but I do like portion control. I think that’s why I like a cupcake or smaller cake for my birthday. I can eat half now, eat half later. I don’t need something big to tempt me.

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  7. I tried mug cakes in college, but haven’t since then, & I have no excuse as to why. I love that you posted your favorite links. Sometimes, when there are so many options of recipes I just get overwhelmed. There is no way to know which ones are the best. & I never thought of making them savory!

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  10. I’ve never had a mug cake! I’m going to check out your board and see what inspires me! Always good to try something new 🙂

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  11. Never heard of it or tried it but that ism’t strange since I rarely cook or bake and when I do, it’s the same old same old.

    These do sound easy and convenient.

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    1. I make at least one every week, I’m pretty sure. Most weeks probably more than one! It’s often for breakfast (in fact, I think I’m gonna have one tomorrow for breakfast, now that I think about it).

      🙂

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  15. Thanks for sharing ! I didn’t even know you could do savory mug cakes… or I hadn’t thought about it. All of your recipes look great, and I fully agree with you about the single serving size.

    I have tried a couple recipes but they often come out really dry. Definitely going to try out your suggestions. LOVE IT !

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