10 Tasty Types Of Cake You Can Make In A Mug

We all have moments when we just need to sit down, decompress, and enjoy some kind of small, comforting pleasure. It doesn't have to be much. It might be a favorite song, or an opportunity to literally touch grass, or — for a lot of us — some kind of comfort food or sweet treat.

Take cake, for example. That's both a sweet treat and a comfort food, especially when it's fresh out of the oven. The downside is that it takes time to make and bake, and then when it's done, you have a whole cake to deal with. The obvious answer, here, is to make a mug cake when you need "a little something" to help you cope. It's a single serving, it's warm and comforting, and it comes together just about as quickly as you can stir.

I'm not a professional baker, as such (I trained as a chef), but I have baked commercially and acted as my own pastry chef when I had my restaurants. I've also been a prolific home baker since my teens, which is (cough, cough) years/decades, now. I've baked many kinds of cakes over the years, and a surprising number of them work well in a mug. Here are 10 types of cake to try, with a few "pro tips" thrown in along the way.

Let's get the easy one out of the way first. Yes, food manufacturers have caught onto the mug cake trend; you can buy mixes that are portioned and sold specifically to make a cake in a mug. Those are fine, but they're not nearly as economical as a regular ol' boxed cake mix.

So your better option, if you want to stretch your grocery budget (and who doesn't, these days), is using regular-sized box mixes to make mug cakes. There's a lot of upside here: It's cheaper, you don't need separate regular and mug-sized versions of your favorite cake, and unlike scratch-made cakes, you'll never need to worry about getting halfway through your recipe and discovering that you're out of a key ingredient. Totally not what you need when you're craving instant gratification!

So use any boxed cake mix you happen to like, and have on hand (this also works with specialty mixes like gluten-free, vegan, etc). Just scoop a few tablespoons of mix and a bit of water or milk into your mug, and give it a good stir, then microwave it on high for 1 minute. Reseal the rest of the mix in its bag or an airtight container for next time, and label it so you know what it is. Oh, and be sure to use a big mug, 10 or 12 ounces, minimum, so your mug cake doesn't overflow and there's lots of room for toppings. We're aiming for self-indulgence, after all.

At first glance, the idea of making a cake from cookies seems ... odd, but I promise you it's not. If you think about it for a moment, the same things that go into cookies (flour, sugar, fat, flavorings, etc) also go into cakes. So "upcycling" a handful of cookies into a mug cake isn't weird, it's brilliant.

The best-known mug cake made from cookies is the always-popular Oreo mug cake that keeps popping up on your social media feeds (it's not surprising, I guess, that "America's favorite cookie" is also a favorite cookie-based mug cake). It's only slightly more work than using a box mix: you crumble the cookies with a food processor or rolling pin, stir in some milk, and microwave it. That's it! Just a couple of minutes to warm, chocolate-y, cake goodness.

Now, classic Oreos aren't your only option for a cookie-derived mug cake. To start with, there are a whole bunch of Oreo variations, each of which makes a slightly different cake. You can make a cake exactly the same way with other sandwich cookies, too. It doesn't even need to be a sandwich-style cookie; anything crisp enough to easily turn to crumbs (I'm partial to gingersnaps, myself) will work. The filling in sandwich cookies adds a bit of richness, so if you're using cookies without filling, substitute a splash of half-and-half or heavy cream for half of the milk.

I've started this list with a couple of quick-and-dirty ways to get your mug cake fix, because they're very much about quick gratification. I mean, let's face it, even the most skilled scratch bakers will have moments when they just want a no-fuss treat, right?

But that doesn't mean mug cakes have to be a cheat; you can make them from scratch just as easily if that's how you normally roll. If you're a baker, you'll already have the basic pantry ingredients on hand (flour, baking powder/soda, sugar, etc), so cranking out a mug cake just boils down to picking a recipe and going for it. Personally, I'm fond of fruit-based cakes, so that's my first impulse.

If you keep lemons on hand, for example (we often do at my house), you could try this lemon mug cake recipe. It's still a treat, but with a light and fresh flavor. It would also work with limes or oranges, if that's what you've got. It's a real, scratch-made cake sized for your mug, but it still comes together with just 5 minutes' preparation and 1 minute in the microwave. Alternatively, you could use that recipe for your batter, but stir in blueberries, diced strawberries, or other fruit (diced peaches, etc) that's soft to the tooth without cooking — because a minute in the microwave isn't enough for hard fruits like apples.

Here's a confession: Although I like high-end, fine-textured cakes well enough, and respect the effort that goes into them, my favorites are usually less refined. I'm a big fan of quick cakes and coffee cakes, which are tasty and quick to make when company's coming or kids and grandkids are clamoring for a snack.

Unsurprisingly, these low-fuss coffee cakes are easily adapted to mug-sized portions. Not gonna lie, the idea amuses me. What could be a more appropriate companion for your mug of coffee than coffee cake in another coffee mug? An 8-inch square pan (pretty common for quick coffee cakes) holds about 8 cups of batter, so any recipe sized for that pan will make 8 mug cakes. Think of this as making your own cake mix for a coffee cake you already like.

First, mix up your recipe's dry ingredients in a bag and label it. Then melt 1 tablespoon of butter in your mug (a stick of butter is 8 tablespoons, so if your recipe calls for 1 stick, that's the right amount), spoon in ⅛ of the dry mix, and enough liquid to make the batter come together. Give it 1 minute in the microwave, then check to see if your mug cake is ready to eat. If not, give it a few more seconds.

It's not exactly a secret that chocolate is the go-to for a lot of us when we're looking for a little bit of comfort. So yeah, chocolate mug cakes are the obvious choice if your cake cravings and chocolate cravings overlap.

If that's you, you have options. One is to take a chocolate cake recipe you already like, scale it down, and keep a bag of the mixed dry ingredients in your fridge or freezer (basically the same procedure I've already described for adapting coffee cake recipes). Then, when you feel the need, you can measure out a few spoonfuls, add water or milk, and oil or melted butter, and you're good to go.

Of course, not every chocolate cake recipe lends itself equally well to mug-sized portions. I don't know about you, but I can't see myself melting a tiny portion of baking chocolate or whipping a fraction of an egg white and folding it in. So if your favorite chocolate cake recipes don't lend themselves well to mixing at ⅛ scale, your other option is to look for something like this chocolate mug cake recipe that's already the right size. You can still upgrade it and make it your own, if you wish, by your choice of add-ins and toppings.

If you're the kind of baker who likes to bring a little something extra to every recipe you learn, you can apply that same thinking to your mug cakes. Whether you're working from scratch or from a mix, a few modest tweaks can make your quick, comforting indulgence noticeably more indulgent.

Your upgrade of choice will depend on the kind of cake you're making, though my first recommendation is always to dial up the signature flavor in your cake. That might mean adding grated dark chocolate or espresso powder to chocolate cake, fresh spices to boxed spice-cake mix, or a small amount of finely-grated fresh carrot to a carrot cake recipe. It's a pretty easy rule to follow, no matter what kind of cake you make.

The most universal upgrade is good vanilla. A splash of quality natural vanilla extract will elevate any cake, even an off-brand boxed mix. Vanilla is one of the most complex flavorings that occurs in nature, with literally hundreds of flavor and aroma molecules (artificial vanilla flavoring has ... one). If you really want to go all-out, infusing a real vanilla bean into heavy cream and using it in a vanilla mug cake is the ultimate upgrade. If you've never used real vanilla, you'll be blown away (and you'll never use the phrase "plain vanilla" ever again). Pro tip: Rinse and save the vanilla bean, and use it to make homemade vanilla sugar.

Even if you've been living under a rock for the past few years, you've probably noticed that everybody's obsessed with boosting their protein intake. If you've been working on that, a nut butter-based mug cake might be the treat that has your name on it.

You can use pretty much any nut butter or seed butter as the base for a mug cake: Peanut butter, almond butter, sunflower butter, and colorful pumpkinseed butter will all work (even tahini, for that matter). They'll all bring protein, richness, and healthy fat to your cake, so you'll usually be able to leave out ingredients like oil and butter.

Which direction you take your mug cake is entirely up to you. If you're a Reese's lover, for example, you might lean toward a chocolate-peanut butter mug cake combo. Think in terms of peanut butter and chocolate, for example, if Reese's are your thing. If you lean more to hazelnuts than peanuts, a Nutella mug cake is just as delicious. Feel free to make up your own combinations. The template for this kind of cake is a dollop of your favorite nut butter, an egg, and either a few tablespoons of boxed cake mix or dry pantry ingredients like flour, sugar, and baking powder.

Circling back to the idea of mug cakes from a mix, you may recall seeing so-called "3-2-1" mug cakes bubbling up regularly on your social feeds. These are a variation on the idea of making mug cakes from a boxed mix, but they're interesting enough that I gave them a separate category in their own right.

Here's the thing. Most mug cake recipes leave out eggs because they really complicate scaling down a recipe. There are workarounds, like egg replacers in a carton (and I raise quail, so I have tiny quail eggs for those occasions), but it's simplest just to skip them. But many of the lightest, fluffiest, most appealing cakes rely on eggs for a lot of their rise. So how can you get that same effect, while still preserving the ease and convenience you want in a mug cake?

That's where these 3-2-1 cakes shine. The "secret" ingredient, here, is an angel food cake mix. Angel food cakes get their lift from egg whites, but (in this case) in dried form. So if you take an angel food mix and dump it in a bag or mixing bowl with your favorite box mix, you're effectively adding eggs. Whisk the mixture together thoroughly, then (here's the number part) measure 3 tablespoons of cake mix and 2 tablespoons of water or milk into your mug, mix it, and microwave it for 1 minute. This isn't a recipe as such, more of a mug cake method, but the inarguable result is one light, fluffy, and delightful portion of cake.

One of the great things about cake is that there's a different kind for almost any taste. The standard handful of white, yellow, and chocolate cakes is suitable for most uses, but the world would be a poorer place if we stopped there. I'm fond of pound cakes and spice cakes, for example, and while pound cakes aren't well-suited to mug preparation, spice cakes certainly can be.

Again, you have a lot of options here, depending on how you define "spice cake." Coffee cakes with a cinnamon-y streusel topping would certainly fit the bill, and so does this cinnamon-forward snickerdoodle mug cake (it's a real scratch cake, not made from snickerdoodle cookies). I'd put cake-style gingerbread in this category as well, having grown up on the East Coast, where molasses-based desserts are much-loved cold-weather treats.

You could even make a case for carrot cake as a member of the broad spice-cake category, with its use of warm spices. Recipes that call for a whole can of pineapple would be problematic, but there are plenty of carrot cake recipes that could be adapted to the "make up a dry mix and add liquids when needed" method. Just measure a splash of oil into your mug (oil is better than butter in a carrot cake), stir in the dry ingredients and some finely-shredded carrot, and you're good to go. Pro tip: Pureed-carrot baby food is a pantry-friendly alternative to shredded fresh carrot.

Cakes are often a celebratory dessert. We make them for birthdays and baby showers, weddings, and retirements. We also very often make cakes to celebrate the changing seasons or specific holidays throughout the year. Mug cakes aren't practical for group events, but they are an appealing way to celebrate all on your own or with just one special person.

At Valentine's, for example, you might stir a few cinnamon hearts into the cake batter, or just decorate it with heart-shaped sprinkles. At Easter, adding small chocolate eggs into your cake doesn't just make it seasonal; it also gives you a bit of a "lava cake" effect when your spoon gets to the melted spot. In autumn, when sweater-weather rolls around, you could go for a "pumpkin spice latte" mug cake, or something Halloween-themed.

Then, at the holiday season, you can even make a fruitcake-style mug cake for That One Person in your circle who loves the divisive dessert (especially if it's you), which beats having a whole fruitcake go to waste. And hey, taking a lighter, cake-ier approach to fruit cake is the kind of thing that can change minds: no less an authority than "The Great British Bakeoff's" Prue Leith says this is a great way to reach fruitcake haters.