Banging Banana Mug Cake: In less than 7 minutes!
- Updated on Sep 20, 2022
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With a heavenly mix of banana and maple syrup, this delicious banana mug cake has to be one of my favorite mug cake recipes.
Such an easy recipe, that even the kids can have a go, it’ll be ready in just 6 minutes!
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Ingredients
Bananas
Ok, this wasn’t a surprise I take it? Banana mug cake recipes kind of need bananas. But guess what, they don’t need to be fresh.
This is a great recipe to use up those overripe bananas that have been hanging around in the fruit bowl all week. In fact, they’re the best ones to use as they will give a lovely sweet banana flavor.
Flour
I used plain flour for this recipe and added baking powder to give it a little lift as it cooked. As you know plain flour gives it more of a “sweet treat” feel. But healthier flours work too!
Dairy
Now that I’ve discussed the dry ingredients let’s have a look at the rest. Firstly, butter, then milk (any kind will do), and then an egg is needed (bonus protein points there!).
They all combine nicely to make a lovely cake batter.
Sweetness
I opted for maple syrup rather than the more refined sugar. Mostly because I enjoy that caramelly, woodsy flavor over the simple sugar.
There might be some minor health benefits to maple syrup, but in the end, it’s sugar, haha.
No maple syrup at hand? Just use sugar :thumbsup:
I used 1 teaspoon maple syrup, but you can increase this if you have a bit of a sweet tooth (just remember it will alter the nutritional information).
Toppings
There are literally loads of things you could pop on the top of your banana microwave mug cake.
Some ideas could be, raisins, Nutella (naughty), peanut butter, hazelnuts, almonds, coconut shavings, and grated dark chocolate. Whatever you fancy really – it’s also great on its own!
How many calories are in this fluffy banana mug cake?
Well it’s a single-serve dessert so you get to keep all 359 calories and 10 grams of protein to yourself wink wink
Here’s a quick overview of 1 serving:
Health Benefits
Bananas are the main ingredient of this sweet dessert of course and they have numerous health benefits, including being highly nutritious and filling.
They are packed with antioxidants and may aid lots of ailments such as kidney and heart health. They’re cheap to buy and could aid weight loss too!
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The egg will give you 6 grams of protein, it may not seem much but when trying to heal or gain new muscle, every bit of protein helps, and to gain a bit from a delicious mug cake at that is awesome!
And after all maple syrup contains a third of your daily intake of Manganese which is essential to healthy bones. If not much, it’s slightly “better” than plain sugar.
We should be aiming to keep our sugar intake low (6 teaspoons a day for women, 9 for men), and if this banana mug cake helps us do it, then all the better.
How to make the best banana mug cake?
With simple ingredients, that’s how – and it will be ready in just 6 minutes just follow these simple steps…
- Prep work – Using a microwave-safe bowl or large microwave-safe mug, melt the butter in the microwave for about 20 seconds. Then add the egg, sliced banana, flour, maple syrup, milk, and baking powder.
- Give it a good whisk with a fork, hand blender, or by using a food processor. Make sure the banana gets mashed.
- Cook work – Pop the mug or bowl into the microwave for 1 minute 30 seconds. Take it out, turn it around and give it another 1-minute blast. Use none, some, or all of the toppings, and enjoy!
For any more tips take a look at the recipe card below.
Easy Mug Cake FAQs
How many calories are in a banana?
There are 89 calories in 100 grams of banana.
How to store and reheat a banana mug cake?
You can’t really store a mug cake, it’s best to eat after being cooked.
If you try and reheat a mug cake, you might find it dries it out so I would suggest eating it there and then before it needs reheating.
What to serve with banana mug cake?
A lovely spoonful of yogurt or scoop of ice cream would go really well on top of this delicious mug cake.
Can you make a mug cake ahead of time?
It’s probably best to make your mug cake when it’s ready to be eaten so it’s nice and fresh and warm.
Can you cook a mug cake in the oven?
Yes, actually if you don’t have a microwave, you can use an oven. I recommend preheating to 180 C / 360 F and baking for 20 minutes.
Is glass safe in the microwave?
Yes, glass is safe in the microwave as long as it is marked as ‘microwave-safe’, and the same goes for any ceramic mugs you use as well.
Why are mug cakes chewy?
There could be a couple of reasons why your cake is a bit rubbery or chewy, including overmixing the batter and overcooking the cake.
Luckily it takes minimal ingredients to make this mug recipe, so perhaps if you don’t get your first mug cake quite right, you can easily try again.
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Recipe Variations
There are several different options for changing up this recipe,
- Different flours – One reader has tried this with spelt flour, and I think this is a great idea. Another option could be oat flour or almond flour.
- Different fillings – if you thought a banana mug cake sounded good, a banana chocolate mug cake sounds even better! Mixing in chocolate chips would really push up that sweetness level. Why not add extra fruit, like blueberries?
More Recipes Like This
If you love healthy snack recipes as much as I do I know you’ll be dying to try these as well,
Top Tips!
- Use a very large mug and don’t overfill
- If the cake is leaning to one side, stop cooking, turn and continue cooking
- It’s easiest to mix all the ingredients in a separate bowl
- Cook shorter times rather than overcooking – an overcooked cake isn’t what you want – you can always give it another ten seconds when needed
- You may need to adjust your cook time depending on your microwave. I based this on my 1000w microwave, however, the best way to check is to do the toothpick test into the center of the cake, if it comes out clean it’s ready.
Thanks a ton for passing us this recipe, Cris! We’ll be asking you for many more, that’s for sure 😉
Ingredients
For the regular version
- 1 ripe banana
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp butter
- 4 tbsp flour
- 1 tsp maple syrup (or honey or sugar)
- 2 tbsp milk (any kind works!)
- ½ tsp baking powder
- Salt to taste
Topping ideas (optional)
- 1 tbsp raisins (whatever you fancy really – it’s also great on its own! Some ideas: nutella (naughty), peanut butter, walnuts, almonds, coconut shavings, grated dark chocolate.)
Instructions
For the regular version
- Slice the banana.1 ripe banana
- Using a bowl or large mug, melt the butter in the microwave for about 20 seconds. Then add the egg, sliced banana, flour, maple syrup, milk, baking powder and salt to taste. Give it a good whisk with a fork, hand blender or by using a food processor. Make sure the banana gets crushed.1 egg, 1 tbsp butter, 4 tbsp flour, 1 tsp maple syrup, 2 tbsp milk, ½ tsp baking powder, Salt to taste
- Pop the mug or bowl into the microwave for 1 minute 30 seconds, using a 1000w microwave (adjust as appropriate for your microwave). Take it out, turn it round and give it another 1 minute blast. Use none, some or all of the toppings and enjoy!
NOTES
- Use a very large mug and don’t overfill
- It’s easiest to mix all the ingredients in a separate bowl
- If the cake is leaning to one side, stop cooking, turn and continue cooking
- Cook shorter times rather than overcooking – an overcooked cake isn’t what you want – you can always give it another ten seconds when needed
Nutrition
Whether you love it as a late-night dessert or afternoon snack, this easy banana bread mug cake is such a simple dessert and it’s sure to also become a favorite!
If you’d like to make it extra fancy, why not pop a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top? And if you’d love a vegan version, keep an eye on the website as this is on its way shortly.
The only question left now is which coffee mug are you going to choose!
Dave
I’m not a foodie, although I do love eating. I believe food should serve us and our goals, not hinder. Taking control and responsibility for what I eat is important to me.
Comments
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57 comments
Oh yum! Thank you for more banana deliciousness!! I love that there is a vegan and non vegan version of the recipe, perfect for our family! You bet this will be tried asap 🙂
Yees, Cristina is great! She’s got some cool recipes up her sleeves.
I hope the mug cake turns out tasty, fingers crossed 😉
What if you don’t own a microwave
The cake turned out to be hard and rubber like. ☹️ The sweet was insufficient as well. Recommend making eggless cakes.
HUGE FLOP!!
Oh dear oh dear! Let’s try and work out why. First, which version did you make? Were any ingredients subbed?
Is it possible to cook this mug cake in the oven? I don’t have a microwave. (I know,… I know)
Yep, it’s absolutely possible! Preheat the oven to 180°C/360°F and bake for 20 minutes. Done 🙂
Will add it to the recipe – thanks for the heads up, Maryellen!
Thank you 🙂
It turned out awful and tasted horrible, I think it’s because I didn’t have baking powder so I substitute it with 1/4 tsp of baking soda but other than that I did everything the recipe said.
Oh dear! Well these normally rock (in our humble opinion) so it sounds like soda had an unwanted effect!
Oh great! I almost thought I had to buy a microwave (I would’ve, just for this banana cake).
hahaha, that would’ve been too much I think 😉
Wanted to use over-ripe bananas, too hot to use the oven- excellent, moist cake- Leary of microwave cake-love this recipe!
I’d love to make these but clips there any repercussion for not using hazelnuts in the vegan version?
Not at all, Zita! It’ll still taste great 🙂
Thanks Dave!
So I made it this morning and it was BOMB! I subbed in spelt flour, added in some chocolate chips to this mix with blueberries as a topping and it was soooo good! I did need to give it an additional minute in the microwave but kept it in the small glass bowl I’d used to mix in so maybe that’s why. Anyhow, thanks a million – a delicious, easy breakfast/ snack staple has been added to my diet. 🙂
Woohoo! Hahaha yeah, it rocks, right?? The spelt flour is a great idea (I love the stuff!) and I bet the topping was lush. Yes, funny, it definitely needs different times in different microwaves. Cheers Zita!
Thanks for the recipe (I can barely boil an egg). I’m having trouble nailing the microwave time down. What wattage of microwave do you use? Or any tips for knowing when it’s done?
Hi Amanda! Good question, and I’ll update it in the recipe, too. I use a 1000w microwave and the times are based off that. For telling when it’s done, just use a knife to poke down the middle – as long as it’s not still liquidy in the middle then you’re good to go 🙂
A fairly good recipe. As I made 2 serving I doubled the recipe, which made 2 very large servings – a single serve would have been sufficient. There is also a lack of sweetness. I think I will double the maple syrup next time.
Hi Simon, and thanks for the feedback. I normally stick to the maple syrup in the recipe and get a little sweetness from the toppings, but you’re right – add another spoonful if you like it sweet! Regarding the serving size – out of interest, did you make the regular or vegan version?
I made the regular version. It was good but next time I will mix the dry ingredients first because it had a slight baking powder taste. Thanks for the easy recipe!
That sounds like a good idea, Rom. Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
I followed your standard recipe to the letter but the cake came out like sludge; no cake texture. Thoughts?
Hi, strange indeed! My first thought is that the heat wasn’t enough in the microwave – that could be why it didn’t rise. What settings did you use and for how long?
Is baking powder really necessary? I dont often bake so when it comes to flour or anything similar Id prefer to just go for one for the sake of space and avoiding the waste of money…
So I was wondering if I could just use flour? Or is there an alternative thats good in place of a combination of flour and baking powder? Thanks!
Hi Abby! Sorry for the slow reply, we’ve pretty much been locked in the kitchen for the last few days, experimenting with new recipes :D. So, in the regular version, I think you could probably get away with no baking powder. It contains egg which already helps things to rise. It might not be quite as fluffly usual, but I’m sure it would still be more than edible. In the vegan version I think it needs something to help it rise. You could use baking powder or soda, maybe one is cheaper than the other where you live? Also baking powder usually comes in tiny packets so it shouldn’t take up tooo much space. I hope that helps and when I make my next mug cake (the kids always ask for them) I’ll let you know my findings!
I made the batter for the peanut butter and chocolate mug cakes and took them on a camping trip. We put them in mugs and straight into our campfire for a delicious breakfast! It was so fun to do. I seem to be going backwards in my cooking methods
Ha, that sounds awesome! I’d argue it’s an evolution though, those are some next-level mug cakes. And if you can get them to work on a campfire I bet you can get them to work anywhere!
Was looking for a mid afternoon snack & found a bag of left over cream cheese icing I had in the freezer. Thought it would go great with banana cake but didn’t want to wait for a real one ahahah. This was great with walnuts and cream cheese frosting!
I have never used the microwave to bake before and found the way the muffins cooked was weird- One of the muffins started spilling out over the top of the jar- but when I checked it the bottom was still raw. It was hard to tell when they were done and they were often unevenly cooked. I think a lot of it depended on our lousy microwave. The flavor was good- I added chia seeds and vanilla. I will definitely try the oven version next time. Also, I quadrupled the recipe so there would be enough for my kids as well (and made the adult ones with protein powder).
Oh dear! Sorry to hear they didn’t come out perfectly, Elise. It definitely could be something to do with the microwave, especially of they’re cooking unevenly. I would recommend a couple of things (as well as trying the oven). First, reduce the heat to 80% or even 60% in the microwave, and cook for longer. Secondly, stop the cooking after a minute or so, and give it all a good stir. Then let it continue cooking. That helped when I made one in a friend’s microwave. Hope it helps you too!
My kids loves these! I had to extend microwave time but came out delicous! Thanks for the recipe.
You’re very welcome, and I’m glad the kids enjoyed them so much. The microwave really does seem to make a massive difference! Thanks for the heads up 🙂
Hi! I tried the vegan version and it tastes great. I doubled the maple syrup and also added dates instead of nuts.. Tastes great! However, the mug cake has become a bit hard when cooled. Please let me know how I can correct it next time.. Thank you..
Hi Poornima! Glad you enjoyed! I’ll make it again and see what I can offer in terms of keeping it soft. In the meantime I’d suggest just a drop more almond milk, either when cooking or poured over at the end. Also the softer the banana, the better! Leave it with me 🙂
Wow! I just made this Banana Mug Cake & it came out Super-Dee-lish! (: Along with the original ingredients, I experimented & used 1 T. regular, organic sugar (instead of maple syrup) & I also added 1/8 t. cinnamon & 1/4 t. vanilla & some chopped walnuts into the batter. I nuked it in a heavy duty microwave safe, ceramic soup bowl & for my microwave, I cooked it for 2 mins 20 secs & it came out great! (: I’m going to be making this often & for guests! Thanks so much! (:
Made the vegan version and it was just sticky sludge 🙁
Are you able to clarify if it’s baking powder or baking soda? I used bicarbonate of soda as that’s meant to be the English name for the latter but then I’ve seen people say they used baking powder instead.
Hi Heidi! Oh dear, well a sticky sludge doesn’t sound ideal. Yes, I use baking soda for this one – but if it’s sludgy in the middle it sounds like it just needs a bit longer. I’ve found that results can vary wildly depending on microwave/oven – and even the size of the mug or bowl!
the best mug cake i’ve ever had, it tastes nice great with ginger too, it’s like a ginger cake
Cool addition, Megan!! Will deffo give it a go with ginger as well 🙂
Glad you liked that mug cake!
Could you use self-raising flour instead of separate plain flour and baking powder? If so, do you need more – or less – s-r flour than the recipe says, or the same amount?
Hi, I haven’t tried it with self-raising, but I absolutely don’t see why not 🙂 – that should be fine – and to use the same amount!
Mine came out spongy and eggy. Was definitely a simple recipe though!
Hi everyone – a quick update. I made this again yesterday to check the cooking times and from my side, they were spot on. Using a less than 1000w microwave means they’ll need a bit longer than the stated time. If it tasted eggy I’d imagine it was one of two things – the egg was very large in comparison to the banana, or, simply that the egg wasn’t mixed in well enough. The banana really needs to get crushed up with the egg so it’s nearly smooth. It should cook well then 🙂
Hello, I just tried your banana mug cake recipe. It didn’t seem to want to cook for me. Twice I added an additional 25 seconds. I let it sit for 5 minutes and tasted it. It was still quite wet, almost doughy and reminded me more of bread pudding than cake. With that in mind I poured some cream over it and ate it like that. It was delicious! The next time I make it, I’ll add some raisins.
Hi Debra! Thanks for writing and I’m glad you enjoyed the cake in the end! I’m going to remake it myself over the next couple of days to check the cooking times and power and then report back here 🙂
Made this with coconut flour, coconut oil instead of butter or olive oil, coconut milk (extra to balance out the coconut flour dryness), an extra banana, shredded coconut, heaps of cinnamon and vanilla extract. Didn’t have any eggs or maple syrup on hand. and may have added too much baking powder (has an awesome bubbly texture almost like a crumpet! ) but it still turned out really well. Thank you
Awesome, Jin! I like the changes, bet it was delicious. I’m glad it turned out well for you, thanks for writing!
Hello. Thank you for this recipe, I’ve made it several times now (standard version) & have altered it in various ways depending on its texture when all the ingredients are in. I make it in a glass measuring jug (it’s spacious & I can tell how cooked the cake is) & have found that my favourite version is banana, pear, oats & raisins (basically, I’ll add anything that will soak up excess moisture from over-ripe fruit!).
I’ll try adding nuts in the future, there’s some good suggestions here.
Hi Ellie! Your version sounds delicious too . And I fully agree about the more spacious jug, it really helps. Glad you like the recipe, and thanks for sharing your ideas!
Made the regular version but with canola oil instead of butter and it was good but too salty for my taste. Next time will decrease the salt a lot. Thanks for the recipe!
Good point! We’ve changed the amount of salt in the recipe. Thanks for the feedback!!
Followed recipe for banana mug cake but substituted almond flour for regular flour. The consistency was more like baked oatmeal rather than cake. I’m not sure if you can substitute one for the other at the same amount. Would appreciate your comment. thank you
Hi Tess! I’ve never actually made it with almond flour, but I do like the idea. I’ll test it myself in the next couple of weeks and give feedback 🙂
years ago you wrote…
And if you’d love a vegan version, keep an eye on the website as this is on its way shortly.
I have yet to see this. I can’t rate this recipe til I can make it. Looking for tips on how to make this fab idea vegan please and thanks!!
Hi Meg! And well remembered! We did actually have a vegan version up and running, but it had a few problems. That reminds me to get back on it. In the meantime, you could give this vegan banana bread a look: https://hurrythefoodup.com/banana-bread-recipe/
Maybe it’ll scratch that itch! Obviously I’m biased, but I loooove this bread. It’s so easy to make, it’s a family fave here!