Super Easy Apple Mug Cake

Name: Super Easy Apple Mug Cake
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 Medium Apple, Peeled; 1/2 Cup Diced + 1 Teaspoon Cane Sugar + 1/4 Teaspoon Cinnamon, 1 Tablespoon Shredded (see Note 1); 1 Tablespoon Coconut Oil, Melted; 2 Tablespoons Cane Sugar; 3 Tablespoons Soy Milk; 0.25 Teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract; 0.25 Cups All Purpose Flour; 0.5 Teaspoons Baking Powder; 0.5 Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon or Apple Pie Spice; Pinch of Salt; Toppings, Optional

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This Apple Mug Cake is a nice sweet treat with warm fall spices and flavors. Just grab a microwave-safe mug and a little dish and you too can have this cozy dessert with tender apple chunks. Add it to your list of easy desserts ready in just minutes!

Hey Internet, we've got another great plant-based dessert for you today. Apple season is drawing to a close. While you can get them almost any time of year, they're really best during the fall when you can get fresh apples. We can get ours at a local orchard, freshly picked from the tree which is one of our favorite fall activities.

We wanted to fit in at least one more apple recipe before it's over. We wanted to try new ways to use apples, like our Apple Protein Shake, to really get that apple taste in there. So instead of just having apple chunks, we tested grating the apple and pre-microwaving some slices. The result was a much more elevated and delicious apple mug cake.

We've made so many microwave cake recipes over the years! From our Strawberry Mug Cake, to Our Vegan Mug Brownie, Peach Mug Cake, and so many more! We've got one for anytime! We'll have an article soon covering all of them.

For now, let's focus on this apple cake.

Why You'll Love This Vegan Apple Mug Cake

Apples, Apples Everywhere: This apple mug cake recipe transforms an apple in many ways and works with all different types of apples. It's incorporated into the batter in shreds. It has chunks of cinnamon apples in it. We even have a caramelized apple topping for you to put on it!
Super Easy to Make: It take just five to ten minutes to make this single serving dessert. And it doesn't make many dirty dishes!
Fall Flavor: With a touch of cinnamon or apple pie spice, this fluffy cake tastes almost like an apple pie.

Ingredients

Pick up these simple ingredients the next time you're at a grocery store. See the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full ingredients, instructions, and accurate nutrition information (to the best of my ability; please consult your physician or healthcare professional if you have specific dietary needs or need to meet a certain daily value of any nutrient). I give substitutions for the ingredients in the section below this one, so most people can still make this recipe!

1 Medium Apple, Peeled; ½ Cup Diced + 1 Teaspoon Cane Sugar + ¼ Teaspoon Cinnamon, 1 Tablespoon Shredded: I know this sounds complicated but it's really not. Trust me on this. Oh and use the kind of apple you love! Peel the apple and then slice off one side of it. Dice this side. Then using a box grater, shred some of the other side. Also, prep this ingredient last to prevent browning of the apple.
1 Tablespoon Coconut Oil, Melted
2 Tablespoons Cane Sugar
3 Tablespoons Soy Milk
0.25 Teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract: The vanilla extract is the key to making this taste like an apple pie mug cake!
0.25 Cups All Purpose Flour
0.5 Teaspoons Baking Powder: This helps our cake rise!
0.5 Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon or Apple Pie Spice
Pinch of Salt
Toppings, Optional: To make this the perfect recipe, consider making a batch of our Caramelized Apples to go on top of the cake. You could also add a scoop of ice cream with some vegan coconut ice cream.

Substitutions

Coconut Oil: You can use other oils in place of the coconut oil, such as avocado oil, olive oil, or grapeseed oil.
Cane Sugar: You could sub brown sugar for an even more apple flavor. You could also sub the white sugar with a table spoon of maple syrup.
Soy Milk: Most other plant milks will work in the soy milk's place. Oat milk and almond milk are great choices.
All Purpose Flour: If you want to make this recipe gluten-free, a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend will yield the best results. We love King Arthur Baking Company Measure for Measure Gluten-Free Flour and Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour. You can definitely try using oat flour (we even have an oat flour mug cake) or almond flour, it may take some tweaking.

How to Make This Apple Cinnamon Mug Cake

Peel the Apple: Using an apple peeler, peel the apple so that almost all the skin is removed. You do not need to get every last bit on the top.
Dice Part of the Apple and Microwave: Slice one half with a knife and then dice it. Place diced apple in a small bowl and cover with cinnamon and sugar. Stir them together and then microwave for 60 to 90 seconds.
Shred the Other Part of the Apple: Using a box grater or hand grater, grate a tablespoon of apple.
Add the Wet Ingredients: In a large mug, add the coconut oil, cane sugar, soy milk, vanilla extract and the shredded apple. Mix together with a mini whisk.
Add the Dry Ingredients: Add the all purpose flour, baking powder, and cinnamon/apple pie spice, and salt. Gently fold the ingredients together with a spatula make sure to scrape the bottom of the mug.
Add the Diced Apples: Add the microwave apples to the cake batter and lightly stir them in.
Microwave: Add the mug cake to a microwave and cook in on high for about 1:15 to 1:30 minutes depending on the strength of your microwave. If the top still looks wet, microwave in 5-10 second increments. The perfect apple mug cake will rise and pull away from the sides of the mug when done.
Serve: Let cool for 1 minute and then add your favorite toppings to the top of the mug cake. Topping ideas include vegan caramel sauce, melted peanut butter or almond butter, dairy-free vanilla ice cream, or our caramelized apples.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will the type of apple affect the flavor?

Yes! We've found that the type and quality of the apple will result in different tasting mug cakes. We really liked honey crisp apples and cosmic crisp apples, however tart apples like granny smith apples also work! Others like a gala apple or other sweet apples will work great. Try not to use a mealy apple.

Do I have to microwave the apple slices?

No, we've tested this recipe without microwaving the apples and coating them in a cinnamon sugar mix. They're still a little crisp in the finished mug cake but it's still a good recipe.

Do I have to peel the apple?

No, your diced apple can have the skin on it and the recipe can still work. As for the shredded apple, you'll just have to shred some of the apple and not use the bits that had skin mixed in it. Just grate the skin away and then throw that grated bit away. We want it incorporate into the liquid well and the skin bits may interfere with that.

What if I don't have an apple?

If you have sweetened or unsweetened applesauce, you can use that to replace the tablespoon of shredded apple. You can do the recipe without the apple chunks then.

Do I have to use a mug?

If you happen to have some large ramekins or medium microwavable bowls, you can use those instead! It may change the cook time, though, so pay attention to your microwave.

What other apple recipes do you have?

We have tons because we really love apples. Try our Apple Pie Baked Oatmeal, Apple Cider Slushie, Vegan Apple Cake, Apple Pie Chia Pudding, Apple Protein Shake, Instant Pot Apple Butter, Apple Butter Thumbprint Cookies, Caramelized Apples, or even our Roasted Apple Brussels Sprouts! And if you can't get enough apples, check out our compilation of the best vegan apple recipes.

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