Name: Carrot Cake Mug Cake
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 0.25 Cup All Purpose Flour (45g) (see note 1 below for substitutions); 0.5 Teaspoon Baking Powder; 0.5 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon; A Pinch Ginger Powder (1/16 to 1/8 Teaspoon), optional; A Pinch of Nutmeg (1/16 to 1/8 Teaspoon), optional; A Pinch Salt (1/16 to 1/8 Teaspoon); 0.25 Cup Grated Carrots (see note 2 below); 2 Tablespoons Soy Milk (or any non-dairy milk); 2-3 Tablespoons Maple Syrup (see note 3 below); 0.25 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

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This Carrot Cake Mug Cake has all the flavor of classic carrot cake without any of the hassle. Just grate up some carrot, mix your ingredients in a mug, and microwave it for a little over a minute. You'll have a delicious snack in just 5 minutes. We also have a quick frosting you can make that tastes just like cream cheese frosting!

Hey Internet, want a homemade carrot cake but don't want to make a whole cake? Then we've got good news for you; a small microwave version can be made easily! With this easy recipe, you'll have a moist carrot cake in a mug with barely any work.

Mug cakes are just so awesome; treats can't get any faster! Our go to is this Vegan Mug Brownie, but we also like this Vanilla Mug Cake as well! We've also got this Cinnamon Mug Cake that's also great in a pinch. And who can forget our other seasonally appropriate options like this Peach Mug Cake, Strawberry Mug Cake, and Apple Mug Cake!

Today we're making an easy carrot mug cake recipe that's delicious and gets you a bit of nutrients! This single serve recipe features grated carrots. It may still be cake, but with a few tweaks we can make a fresher, lighter, but still sweet, mug recipe.

And this carrot mug cake tastes great! With warm spices like ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg, it's an incredible dessert or snack in the springtime or whenever. We wouldn't blame you if you wanted to have it for breakfast too!

You may not know but we have a healthy Carrot Cake recipe on our site from a long time ago! It may be a little unattractive but it is truly a delicious carrot cake.

But today we're making a mug carrot cake so you can have all the flavor in just a short amount of time. So let's get to mixing our ingredients!

Why You'll Love Microwave Mug Cake

Wholesome Ingredients: Our single serving mug carrot cake recipe features no oil, no butter, no eggs, and no refined sugar in the cake itself. (There is a pinch of powdered sugar in the optional frosting, but you can substitute that for maple syrup, powdered stevia, or whatever you prefer.)
One Serving: This single-serve carrot mug cake is the perfect solution for portion control. You can eat the entire cake!
Super Fast: With easy ingredients and only about 5 minutes of work, this is the perfect dessert for satisfying those sweet tooth cravings after a long day.
Easy Homemade Frosting: Whether you make our Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting, our quick frosting included in the recipe below, or just have the cake itself, you'll be sure to have an amazing quick treat.

Ingredients

Pick up these simple ingredients the next time you're at a grocery store to make this delicious microwave carrot cake. 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!

0.25 Cup All Purpose Flour (45g)
0.5 Teaspoon Baking Powder
0.5 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon: We like Ceylon cinnamon the best, but whatever you have will work.
A Pinch of Ginger Powder (⅛ Teaspoon), optional
A Pinch of Nutmeg (1/16 to ⅛ Teaspoon), optional
A Pinch Salt (1/16 to ⅛ Teaspoon)
0.25 Cup Grated Carrots: Fresh carrots are the best for this recipe. But if you want to save a little more time, you can buy pre-grated carrots from most grocery stores, though note that these are much crunchier than hand-grated carrots. When grating, a small carrot will work to get you a ¼ cup of shreds.
2 Tablespoons Soy Milk
2-3 Tablespoons Maple Syrup: The liquid sweetener serves two purposes—sweeten the recipe without adding any refined sugar, and it's an easy way to ensure a moist cake.
0.25 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Additionally, you can make a quick vegan cream cheese frosting for with the follow ingredients:

1 Tablespoon Vegan Yogurt or Vegan Cream Cheese (if you choose this, you may need a splash of non-dairy milk): The yogurt really mimics the cream cheese well in our opinion, especially if you just want to make a super quick frosting. Vegan Greek yogurt will work as well.
2 Heaping Teaspoons Powdered Sugar: Make sure to buy organic as in some countries (such as the U.S.), conventional powdered sugar can potentially be not vegan.

Substitutions

All Purpose Flour: There are plenty of gluten free options to replace the regular flour, or you're welcome to use whole wheat flour! Almond flour and oat flour work great. You may need to adjust the amount of wet ingredients. I have not tested any other flours, though mug cakes are quite a forgiving type of baking recipe that require less time to prep, less cooking time, less effort, and are less stressful.
Soy Milk: Almond milk, oat milk and rice milk can all be used instead. You could try coconut milk too.
Maple Syrup: Agave makes for a great replacement. You could also use about a tablespoon of cane sugar instead if that's your preferred type of sweetener. Alternatively, stevia and other zero calorie sweeteners will work well in this single-serve dessert.

How to Make This Carrot Cake Mug Cake Recipe

Grate Carrots: Grab a box grater and place it in a bowl to better catch the carrot shreds. When grating the carrots, use the side with small, but not super small, graters. This will get your shreds to be the right size for the bake.
Mix the Wet Ingredients: Grab a microwave-safe mug and add the milk, maple syrup, and vanilla extract to it. Mix will with a whisk until fully combined.
Mix the Dry Ingredients: Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt to the mug. Mix them together with a small spatula, making sure to scrape down the sides of the mug at the same time. This will help prevent over-mixing and get the best results for a nice fluffy crumb.
Fold in the Carrots: Add the carrot shreds and gentle fold them into the mug cake batter with the spatula.
Microwave: Add the mug to a microwave and cook it for 1:15 on high. Different microwaves may have different cook times, so depending on the power of your microwave you may need more or less time. Your mug cake is done when the carrot cake batter is no longer wet and has pulled away from the sides of the mug.
Make the Quick Yogurt Based Topping, Optional: In a small bowl, add the vegan yogurt and powdered sugar and whisk them together. Alternatively, you can make a batch of our Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting.
Serve: Add the topping if you made some and then enjoy!

Frequently Asked Questions

Any other toppings I could pair with this recipe?

Brown sugar could be great! It works well in our Cinnamon Mug Cake recipe, getting all melty. You could also just add a scoop of vegan vanilla ice cream. Our Caramelized Apples would also be delicious since it has that warm flavor vibe going on with the cinnamon.

Could I make this in a regular oven?

Sure! First, make sure you have an oven safe mug or ramekin. Pre heat your oven to 350 F (177 degrees C). Then bake for about 10 to 16 minutes. Use the toothpick method of poking the cake to test if it's ready. The toothpick will come out clean from the cake when ready. Let cool before serving.

What size mug should i use to make this cake?

We used a 12 oz microwave-safe mug for this recipe. Any smaller and the contents of the mug will overflow during the cake's rise. Avoid a mess and make sure your mug is big enough!

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