Amazing Chocolate Mug Cake Recipe

photo: www.parentpretty.com

In the late hours of the afternoon it always seems that the roaring sweet tooth lion inside of me starts to awaken, searching and longing for something to satisfy its desire for dessert.  And so the hunt begins.  After rummaging around my kitchen, opening every cabinet door and staring into the refrigerator for about 10 minutes; I came up empty handed and disenchanted.  I just wanted a little bit of something sweet.  Didn't want to bake a whole cake or a whole batch of brownies.  I didn't have any cookies laying around and I certainly wasn't about to make a run to the grocery this late just for something sweet.  I started to think back to my single days and how I would rant on and on about how nothing in the world is made for a single person.  If I just wanted a few slices of bread I had to buy a whole loaf.  A pint of milk wasn't enough and a half a gallon was a little too much.  This that and the other, so forth and so on...

So I went to Pinterest because somehow this is where all the brilliant ideas seem to land.  It wasn't hard to find a cake in a mug recipe.  There are dozens of them on the web.  Admittedly, the first recipe I tried was a little flat, gooey and dry.  It reminded me of something that would come out of an Easy-Bake Oven, like the one I had when I was a girl.  I was almost convinced that this single serve cake experiment was going to prove unfruitful.  But, the lion continued to roar and the hunt continued.  I went on to search for another recipe, and I'm glad, because this time I hit the jackpot.  This recipe not only satisfied that roaring lion inside of me, but it whipped it back into the den from wince it came where it promptly drifted off peacefully to sleep.  Yes, it's seriously that good!  

I made the recipe with caramel bits, but chocolate chips will do the same justice.  Even a few mini marshmallows, the possibilities are endless!  And the small salty crunch of the peanut butter had me melting on my sofa... Trust me you will LOVE it.

Chocolate Caramel Peanut Butter Mug Cake Recipe - Adapted from ParentPretty Blog

yield: 1 MUG CAKE prep time: 5 MINUTES cook time: 1 MINUTE, 20 SEC (on a 1000 watt microwave)

INGREDIENTS:

3 tablespoons all purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 pinch of salt

1 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon crunchy peanut butter
1 teaspoon caramel bits

DIRECTIONS:

1. Add flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt to a mug, mix well.
2. Add milk and vegetable oil, stir until smooth. Drop peanut butter on top of mixture and gently push into center leaving some exposed on the top.
3. Cook in microwave on high for approx. 1 minute, 20 seconds in 1000 watt microwave, add sprinkling of caramel bits immediately after cooking.
4. Cooking time varies depending on the power of your microwave.

all dry ingredients, mixed well

added wet ingredients, mix well

zapped in micro 80 seconds

I put the caramel bits inside the batter
the second time I made it. Much better.

Brownies - Dark Chocolate Fudge

Just a lil som som for the dessert foodies. Dark Chocolate Fudge brownies, complements of Mr. Pillsbury, complete with powdered sugar. Big hit at the company potluck today! =)