Peanut Butter Mug Cake
It’s been a rough couple of weeks at work, with no end in sight. As a result, not much baking has been happening.
Deadlines and a ton of work, while unpleasant, I can still handle. What I can’t stand is the yelling. Lots of yelling and unfair blame for anything and everything that goes wrong during the stressful period. The Boss yells. Because he can I guess. He yells for things out of our control, for things we should have anticipated even though he didn’t, for mistakes made on things we were never taught, etc. All the yelling has led to a really really tense environment.
When I’m in these stressful moments, I crave sweets like crazy. Chocolate, brownies, cookies, cake, anything. So even though I’ve been too exhausted for baking, I’ve been able to make these simple mug cakes to de-stress when I come home. A few minutes of mixing, and 2 minutes of microwave cooking and these are ready to be eaten.
After successfully making biscoff mug cake, I realized that I could apply the same recipe to a peanut butter mug cake. I have to say, even though peanut butter may not be my favorite flavor, the texture of this case came out so perfect, one of the best ones in my mug cake series. Moist, fluffy, I couldn’t stop eating this.
This one baked up a bit higher than previous versions because the mugs I was using were too small. You definitely need either an oversized mug, or divide the batter into two regular sized mugs or else it will overflow. The smell of peanut butter while these cooked was quite nice too.
For an updated, lower calories and eggless version of this peanut butter mug cake, click here.
You can view my entire mug cake recipe collection here.
Update: If you enjoy this recipe, I just finished writing an entire book on mug cakes, featuring nearly 100 recipes.
To order the book, check out the list of online retailers.
More Mug Cake Recipes
Peanut butter Mug Cake
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp all purpose flour
- 4 tbsp white granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1 egg
- 3 tbsp peanut butter
- 3 tbsp milk
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in an oversized coffee mug. Whisk well with a small whisk until smooth.
- Microwave on high for 1 1/2 minutes and then take it out to check to see if it is done. If not, continue to microwave in thirty-second intervals. Mine was done at 2 minutes. You don’t want to overcook it or it will become rubbery.
- You can also make this into two smaller-sized mugs. You can mix the batter all in one mug and then pour half into another mug. Make sure you cook each one individually.
It’s really yummy and moist!!
I’m glad you liked it!
Woooooooowwwww this recipe was amazing???
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
I made this with natural peanut butter and it was pretty bland. I recommend that you use the kind with sugar and salt in it!
I made this with regular Skippy’s, as you can see the jar in the background. Definitely, if you plan on using natural pb with no salt or sugar you may need to adjust and add some in the recipe.
This recipe always works for me, turns out delicious and good looking mug cake~ thanks 🙂
so happy to hear that!
This did not work for me… I followed the instructions and everything im just really unsure what i did wrong
Can you please provide a little more explanation when you say it didn’t work? Then I might be able to help pinpoint the problem. Did it not cook? not rise? too dry? too hard? etc
Just made this and it’s awesome, thank you tbh fam, you are the best mugcakiërstein on the internet
aww, thank you!
hi Kirbie. I am a fan of your blog and I have to say you inspire me a lot on your mug cake recipes. I have tried this recipe and it was really good. Thank you so much. you can see my mug cakes here on my blog http://www.lemonandsprinkles.blogspot.com 🙂
I’m happy to have inspired you!
I’m so glad I found this recipe. I love it! And it’s all mine when I make it because my husband doesn’t like pb.
(I’m sharing your link on my blog so others can have this wonderful recipe too.)
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
so I made this mug cake and I honestly did not like it at all… I do however love your peanut butter and jelly mug cake!
the pb &j is an updated version of this one. I think this one is still fine, it’s quite rich though, which is why I created a newer one
My 11 yr old found and made this tonight (with help) and is in heaven.. Fyi his hamater snuck some bites too lol
lol! I think this is the funniest thing I’ve heard in awhile. I totally have this image in my mind of this adorable hamster. I wish you had a video!
Hi,
Just made this and it’s delicious although the cup I used was too small! Just to say that I made it with self-raising flour and used coconut oil and it worked perfectly although I did give it 2 mins in the microwave just for it to really be cooked through.
However I do have one question. I’m on a low sugar diet so I’m wondering if this would work with a pourable artifical sweetener instead of the sugar? Is the sugar purely there for sweetness or is it doing something to the mix during the cooking that the artifical sweetener wouldn’t? I’d probably use less of it as I don’t mind a slightly less sweet taste.
Also same question about the eggless version which I think would be even better again for my regieme.
The sugar is there just for sweetness, though if you are going to substitute, I wouldn’t use a liquid one because then you will have too much liquid in your batter and it likely won’t cook right. PS, the updated recipe also has less sugar too.
Is this mug cake a single serving? Because it’s over 700 calories. It looks great and easy, but I’m not sure I can justify 700 calories on “slice” of a mug cake.
This makes a pretty big mug cake, which can easily be divided into 2. This is also an older recipe. If youre looking to cut calories, I suggest this updated version of my peanut butter mug cake: https://kirbiecravings.com/2014/04/peanut-butter-mug-cake-eggless.html
Hi ! I just tried this but it turned out VERY dry !!! Idk why :(((
this recipe should not be dry at all. did you follow it exactly? did you use regular pb and not natural pb? natural pb usually is chunkier and drier and might not work
OMG! This is the best mug cake recipe iv’e tried, so delicious! and it looked really cute in my over-sized tea cup! will definitely be making this cake again thanks for the recipe! 🙂
i’m so glad you like it so much!
Very yummy! Thank you! I did not use all purpose flour. I used 2 tablespoons of coconut flour and 2 tbsp of almond flour (to make it gluten free) and it was fabulous. Very light and fluffy! Oh..and I added a small handful of mini chocolate chips. Thanks for the recipe!!
im glad you made it and enjoyed it!
amazinnggg! i tried this and i took a taste right from the microwave and i ended up eatin half of it right from the micro!
awesome! =)
Absolutely delicious! I put a paper towel under the mug for the spillover. Amazing dessert 😀
glad you like it!
It’s simply amazing how such simple ingredients were used to create something so delicious, and that too in just a few minutes! Tasted perfect! Great job.
glad you enjoyed it!
Love this recipe!! I’ve been using it for almost 2 years and still not tired of it! First time commenting on it though… lol
awesome! You should try some of the other mug cake recipes if you haven’t already!
Definitely share this with a friend, it overfilled my 12 ounce cappuccino mug! I didn’t have one, so I *had* to eat it all myself, darn the luck. lol It was a little crumbly and I would’ve liked just a bit more peanut butter flavour (that’s me, I’m a PB freak), but I’ll definitely make it again. Maybe next time I’ll whip up some peanut butter frosting for it. There will be a next time.
I have this eggless pb one that i made more recently which I think may have a more pronounced PB flavor and should fit easily in a 12 oz https://kirbiecravings.com/2013/05/peanut-butter-and-jelly-mug-cake.html
Sorry yours overflowed. I usually recommend 14-16oz mug. 12 oz works for most, but it’s sort of the minimum oversized mug you need, so for certain recipes, it will overflow.
hi Kirbie! I was wondering if we can replace vegetable oil with something else. Will olive oil work? please reply ang give suggestions, thanks!
You can probably use canola oil. I don’t know about olive oil though. I’ve tried making some other mug cakes with olive oil and it came out wrong. Also, this is an older recipe. While it does taste good, I’ve made another version that doesn’t use additional oil or eggs. So you can try this one https://kirbiecravings.com/2013/05/peanut-butter-and-jelly-mug-cake.html (and you can leave out the jam if you just want plain peanut butter mug cake)
I know this is like six years later, but I used olive oil and yes it does work.
I feel like there is too much egg in the cake? Would it be OK if I just added half of an egg? Thanks. Sorry about the work by the way.
I think half an egg would work but you might have to tinker with the other ingredients. sorry i dont know without testing it out. i also have an eggless version: https://kirbiecravings.com/2013/05/peanut-butter-and-jelly-mug-cake.html
in the microwave as we speak! Cannot wait!
hope you love it!
Do you know what the calorie content is?
I dont know exactly but I know it’s a lot. There are a lot of calorie counters online where you can enter the recipe and get them to calculate it for you. Please note it does serve 2. Also since the original recipe, I’ve come up with 3 others that significantly lighten the original one: https://kirbiecravings.com/2012/02/peanut-butter-mug-cake-low-fat-version.html, https://kirbiecravings.com/2012/03/flourless-peanut-butter-mug-cake.html, https://kirbiecravings.com/2012/07/healthier-pb-mug-cake.html
hey kirbie , can I leave out the baking powder or no? i need this question answerd ASAP!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you leave out the baking powder the cake wont be able to rise.
It’s the first time my mug cake was successful- because I baked it in a large bowl instead! I substituted the vegetable oil with olive oil and used crunchy peanut butter. The bottom was still uncooked after 1 minute and 30 seconds, so I turned over the cake and popped it back into the microwave for another minute. Turned out great!
Oh, cake in a bowl. Interesting. Glad it turned out well!
I just made this with the addition of a pinch of salt and a dash of vanilla, and it was delicious! Only microwave cake I’ve made (I love cake, so I’ve made a lot. Mmm, cake.)that actually has great texture. Thanks for the recipe!
Glad you like it!
I made this and I have to say this is the best mug cake I’ve ever made!! All the other ones had a crumble texture and not overflowed like the pictures they showed. I like it when it’s over filled and this is the first one that did! It SO good! It’s moist and fluffy and I didn’t have to run to the store to get any if the stuff cuz it’s just laying in the kitchen! It’s so.. Well it’s just amazing!! I can’t put it down!! I’m sorry to hear about all the trouble hope it gets better
This is one of my favorites. Peanut butter makes a really good mug cake. Glad you enjoyed it.
Thanks for those awesome recipes. I made the pure Nutella one last night. Just perfect for hubby and me, hubby loved it. Tonight it’ll be the peanutbutter one. Thank you so very much
I’m so glad you enjoyed the Nutella one and I think you’ll like this pb one too. Thanks for taking the time to leave a nice comment. =)
OMG!!!! I just whipped this up in less than 10 mins. I can’t believe it was that easy. I had some white chocolate buttercreme frosting on hand and lets just say the combo is a match made in heaven.
I’ve found my new true love!!!!!!
Thank you, thank you so much!!!
Haha. You’re welcome!
I made this peanut butter one. It was a bit bland. After it was cooked, I topped it with some strawberry jelly and it tasted just like a warm PB&J. Yum!
Nice topping choice!
I used a really big mug and it still over-rose and dribbled down the sides. After I cleaned up my microwave mess it tasted great… haha!
I’m glad it still tasted great. Sorry yours dribbled over though.
I was out of milk, so I used vanilla greek yogurt instead. With a little extra cooking time, it’s definitely still incredible. Thanks for putting together such an easily adaptable recipe!
Nice to know it still worked with the greek yogurt!
Just made this, put a touch of chocolate syrup on top, delicious! 😀
This is the first mug cake I’ve ever tried and omg, so easy and delicious! I used crunchy PB, since that’s all I had, and I loved all the little crunchy bit of peanuts. Also, I was lazy and just used a glass measuring cup instead of a mug, but it worked! Thanks for the recipe, I’ll have to try the other flavors you have!
So glad you liked! The PB is one of my favs, along with the nutella, flourless nutella, and brownie ones.
Replaced the required amount of sugar and oil with Splenda and Apple Sauce, respectively. Turned out very well! Thanks for the recipe.
Interesting. Glad to hear it worked with apple sauce!
Its 1am and I just made this. I feel like I should be phoning my mother and asking WHY I’ve gone my whole life up until this point with no mug cake! It was so quick and easy. The bottom of mine was a little gooey but I liked it like that. Next time I might cut 10-20 seconds off the microwave time. Awesome late night (drunk) food!
Yeah my bottom is usually gooey too. I think it’s hard to avoid with mug cakes. But oh so good. I’m so happy I discovered it. Though it makes dessert a little too accessible now.
For the frosting you can just put any type of chocolate chips on top of it and it is great i put peanut butter chips on it and it was very peanut buttery but GOOD
Great idea!
I just made this with white chocolate chips stirred in! It’s really good! :3
I’m glad you liked it!
This is my second mug cake to make. My first one (a recipe from another blog) was horrid, so I was afraid maybe all mug cakes would be horrid. This one wasn’t. 🙂 I did wish I had a bit of frosting for it though, but it’s good without it too. I’m going to try your strawberry one soon too. Thanks!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this one! I’m actually not much into frosting so these mug cakes are perfect for me. But I can see why you would miss the frosting. Maybe you can put some on top?
Seriously – you are brilliant! The kids and hubby are in bed and I wanted a sweet snack. I made this Gluten Free with GF flour and viola – easy, single serve dessert! THANK YOU!
I’m so glad that it works with GF flour!
I just made it with GF cup for cup flour + chocolate chips. I split betweem twups…cooked 1 min 30 secs each in a 1000 watt microwave! wesome!
yay!! so happy it worked with the gluten free flour
Oh, I have to make this…I have a mug exactly like that one. 🙂
Oh that’s great! I hope you like it!
Replying to your comment above! ^ Yes! MCAT’s are over for me! Thanks so much for asking 🙂 Tomorrow I’m heading off to Ghana for a mission trip, so I may miss a lot of the fun happening on your blog for the next 3 months! Very bummed about that, but I will try to pop in as often as possible! Internet access is pretty expensive there.
I hope you have a fun and safe mission trip! I’ll definitely miss your comments on my blog.
hi kirbie – the cake came out pretty good last night. he ended up doing the mixing (and measuring), haha. So he pretty much made it himself.
The cake was nice and fluffy and we used the crunchy pb, not the smooth. i want to do this again, but combined with chocolate!
I’m intrigued by the idea of using crunchy peanut butter. I’ll have to try it out. If you have any more of the chocolate dreams peanut butter you can substitute with that for a chocolate peanut butter flavor. Or add cocoa powder.
Hey Kirbie, I have tried you chocolate and peanut butter mug cake and loved it. But I was wondering what it would taste like if you made a peanut butter and jelly mug cake? I’m not sure it would work?
Hmm, you mean mix the jelly directly into the batter? I think what might work is if you made the peanut butter mug cake, and then drop dollops of jelly in the middle (unmixed) and cook it. Though the jelly will end up being warm, but I think that might work better.
Sorry to hear about the tough times at work. We all need less stress in our lives, don’t we? The PB mug cake is something my husband would definitely enjoy. Plus it’s super easy to make. I may just whip one up tonight for him.
Hi CC, You know I was actually thinking of you when I made this. I thought it might be something you could make for your husband that he might enjoy. Let me know if you try it! I really liked it. The peanut butter seem to have just the right amount of oil/fat to create this perfectly fluffy and moist mug cake.
Hi Kirbie, would it be ok to substitute almond/soy milk in this recipe?
I haven’t tried it, but I think it should work.
Oh dear, works sounds so tough to deal with; I’m very sorry 🙁 I hope all of that is over and done with quickly, or at least that you get to eat a lot of these mug cakes and that you feel better!
Aw thanks. I didn’t mean to whine about my work, but I was trying to explain a little of what is going on in my life and why I haven’t written as much or baked as many complicated recipes. Your MCATs are over now right? So time to enjoy and have some fun?
I hope work gets better too! I actually sort of like the overflow look of this mug cake :o)
I do too! At first I thought it looked lopsided and bleh, but then I really started to like it and didn’t want to break into it. I was eating this mini one I made with the leftover batter first.
I made this and love it!!
I’m glad you enjoyed!
They look like souffles in a mug! 😉 Sorry to hear about the stressful time you’re having. 🙁 I hope things get better soon. x
I liked how it looks too! Even though it did overflow a little. You’re right, it does look like a souffle. Thanks for the nice wishes.