About Me: I have more than 20 years of cooking experience & share my favorite recipes on this blog.
Have a question? Please post a comment, I’m happy to help. 🙂
This fluffy Nutella Mug cake is so easy to make and the perfect single serving dessert! Top with whipped cream or ice cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce for the perfect treat.
You may have noticed that we have a thing for mug cakes. I mean, what’s not to love about a single serving cake that you can make in under 5 minutes?
It all started with our vanilla mug cake, which can also be made into a snickerdoodle mug cake. Then we created this chocolate mug cake.
Now, I bring you our favorite way to dress up a chocolate mug cake: by turning it into a Nutella Mug Cake!
Why You’ll Love This Nutella Mug Cake
- Easy. Just mix everything together in a large mug, microwave, then add your favorite toppings. Mug cakes are literally the easiest cakes you can make.
- Quick. In 5 minutes you can go from no cake to a warm Nutella mug cake that’s ready to eat. Perfect for spur of the moment dessert cravings!
- Satisfying. Even though this cake is made in the microwave, the end result is a moist and fluffy cake full of Nutella flavor. It’s just like eating a slice of regular Nutella cake, except easier.
After a plain chocolate mug cake, I’d say this Nutella version is the one we make most. It’s hard to beat the combination of Nutella + chocolate… especially when it’s topped with whipped cream and caramel sauce. If you’re feeling really decadent you can add vanilla ice cream to the mix too. Why not?
What You’ll Need
Here’s a quick look at what you’ll need to make this Nutella mug cake. Be sure to scroll down to the recipe card for specific amounts.
- Egg yolk – Don’t leave this out! It adds texture and structure to your cake. Without it your cake won’t be fluffy.
- Milk – You can use regular cows milk or plant based milk. Oat milk, almond milk and soy milk all work.
- Oil – I usually use olive oil, but you can also use vegetable oil.
- Vanilla extract
- Sugar – Regular white sugar.
- Cocoa powder
- All purpose flour
- Baking powder – Do not sub this for baking soda, it’s not the same thing.
- Nutella
How to Make a Nutella Mug Cake
Are you ready to get to it? Here’s how to make this Nutella mug cake recipe:
- Combine the wet ingredients. Add the egg yolk, milk, oil, vanilla and sugar to a mug. Mix well.
- Add the dry ingredients. Add the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder. Mix briefly.
- Add the Nutella and give it a real good mix. About 15 seconds, so that the Nutella gets worked into the batter.
- Microwave the cake. Place in the microwave and cook for 2 minutes 30 seconds to 3 minutes, depending on the strength of your microwave. I usually cook mine for 2 min 30 seconds.
- Cool and serve. Give it a bit to cool, it will be hot! Then add your favorite toppings and dig in.
What Makes this Nutella Mug Cake Different?
The process for making mug cakes is pretty much the same for every flavor we make. Our vanilla, snickerdoodle and chocolate mug cakes all start by combining the egg yolk, milk, vanilla and sugar in a large mug. Then you add the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and cocoa if its chocolate). Mix it all up and pop it in the microwave.
The only difference between our other mug cakes and this one is the fact that we add three tablespoons of Nutella and have adjusted the other ingredients accordingly. This mug cake recipe has slightly less sugar because the Nutella adds sweetness of its own. But if you have a sweet tooth, you could use up to a total of 3 tablespoons of sugar.
Tips for Success
Mug cakes are one of the easiest desserts you can make, so I don’t have a ton of tips. But there are three things I always recommend:
- Use a microwave safe mug. I can’t stress this enough. You want to use a microwave safe mug so that it doesn’t crack or explode in the microwave.
- Use a large mug. This Nutella mug cake needs room to rise! If you use a regular 11-oz mug the cake will definitely expand beyond the top of your mug. Now, this may or may not be a good thing. My kiddo loves to use a smaller mug because he gets a kick out of seeing cake rising out of the cup. He just scoops the cake into a bowl when it’s done cooking and adds his toppings to the bowl. For me, I prefer a larger, wide mug like the one you see here. A regular 15-oz mug would be great too.
- Mix well. Bits of the dry ingredients can sneak into the corners of the mug, so get your spoon in there and mix them in. The Nutella also needs some good mixing when you add it to the batter.
- But don’t over mix! You basically want to mix your cake batter just until there are no dry bits left. If you keep mixing beyond that then gluten will start to form in the batter (like with bread dough), which will make your mug cake chewy.
And that’s really it! This Nutella mug cake is fluffy, moist and perfect for toppings like whipped cream, ice cream and caramel or chocolate sauce. Happy mug cake making!
Nutella Mug Cake
Ingredients
- 1 egg yolk
- 4 tablespoons milk, cow or plant based
- 1 tablespoon oil, olive or canola
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoons cocoa powder
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 3 tablespoons Nutella
Instructions
- Combine the wet ingredients. Add the egg yolk, milk, oil, vanilla and sugar to a mug. Mix well.
- Add the dry ingredients. Add the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder. Mix briefly.
- Add the Nutella and give it a real good mix. About 15 seconds, so that the Nutella gets worked into the batter.
- Microwave the cake. Place in the microwave and cook for 2 minutes 30 seconds to 3 minutes, depending on the strength of your microwave. I usually cook mine for 2 min 30 seconds.
- Cool and serve. Give it a few minutes to cool, it will be hot! Then add your favorite toppings and dig in.
5 stars! This mug cake was really good!