3-Minute Applesauce Coffee Cake (Microwave For One)
Craving something sweet and comforting? Stir a few simple ingredients in a mug or ramekin, microwave for one minute, and voilà – a warm applesauce coffee cake for one. Keep it light or make it decadent. Either way, craving solved.
What to expect
This is a simple single-serving dessert to satisfy your sweet tooth – fast, easy and customizable. Keep it lighter (half the calories) or go decadent. Nutrition info for both versions are in the recipe notes. Best of all? Just a few minutes to make and one mug to clean when you’re done. By the way, there are no eggs in this recipe.
After lots of testing, this simplied version turned out moist, tender, sweet, and just cakey enough – with a hint of indulgence.
Here’s what didn’t work quite as well:
- no oil, extra applesauce and partial almond flour: too dense
- streusel topping (butter, sugar, flour): too sweet and not worth the extra effort in my opinion – a scoop of ice cream or vanilla yogurt does the trick instead.
Feel free to experiment and find what works for you. That’s what I did – my husband thanks me 🙂
Ingredients – tailored to your taste
- Batter: Flour, brown sugar, baking powder, applesauce, milk, sour cream (or any kind of plain or vanilla yogurt), cinnamon, and chocolate chips (or nuts)
- Streusel topping (optional): butter or oil, flour, sugar, pinch of cinnamon.
Substitutions and Variations
- Flour: Replace 1 of the tablespoons with whole wheat or almond flour, but note that the cake will be a little bit denser.
- Brown sugar: Use white sugar instead.
- Apple sauce: Replace with mashed banana or pumpkin purée (taste will change a little)
- Cinnamon: Try pumpkin spice, allspice, apple pie spice or cardamon instead.
- Chocolate chips: Use chopped toasted nuts (pecans, walnuts), dried cranberries, raisins, shredded coconut, or white chocolate chips.
Step by step instructions
Serving Tips
The beauty of a coffee mug cake is being able to cook and eat it in the same dish – no extra plates needed. Enjoy your applesauce coffee cake plain, or top it with ice cream, whipped cream or yogurt. Or with a handful of fresh berries. You can also dust it with powdered sugar or drizzle it with a little maple syrup.
Shortcuts
Skip the streusel topping and just top with ice cream or vanilla yogurt. That’s what I do.
Recipe FAQs
I tried the mug cake without oil or butter and it came out a too dense and flat. I recommend using at least half the oil in the recipe.
Yes. Bake it in an oven-safe ramekin or cup at 350°F (177°C) for about 12–13 minutes.
Over-mixing the batter, microwaving too long, using too much applesauce or other purées, not adding enough fat, or swapping in certain flours (like whole wheat or nut flours) without adjusting moisture can all lead to a dense, dry, or rubbery texture.
Use a mug or ramekin that holds at least 10–12 ounces to prevent overflow. Without adding a streusel topping, I found an 8 ounce mug worked fine.
Yes, mug size can make a difference in microwave times. Taller, narrower mugs may need a few extra seconds, while wider, shallower ramekins may cook faster. The cake is done when the top looks set and springs back lightly to the touch – check a few seconds early to avoid overcooking.
More quick and easy desserts
- microwave brownies (8 minutes)
- cottage cheese chocolate mousse (3 minutes)
- 3-minute fudge
- peanut butter rice crispies
- white chocolate bark
Or check out our collection of easy sweet snacks (with quick prep).
Please leave a 5 star rating ***** with a comment in the recipe card below if you like the recipe, Thanks so much!
3-Min Applesauce Coffee Cake For One
Equipment
- microwave
Ingredients
Batter
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon sweetened or unsweetened apple sauce
- 1 tablespoon yogurt or sour cream
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons chocolate chips or crushed nuts (pecan or walnuts)
- pinch of salt and ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
Streusel Topping (OPTIONAL) – Note 1
- 1 teaspoon butter
- 2 teaspoons flour
- 2 teaspoons brown or white sugar
- pinch of cinnamon
Instructions
- PREPARE BATTER: Spray 10-12 ounce microwave-safe mug or ramekin with oil (you only need to do this if you want to take cake out of mug after cooking – I don't bother). Add all batter dry ingredients and wet ingredients to the mug. Stir just until combined. Don't overmix.If making optional streusel topping, combine streusel ingredients with a fork in a small bowl. Sprinkle on top of batter.
- MICROWAVE AND SERVE: Microwave cake for 1 minute. Taller, narrower mugs may need a few extra seconds cooking time, while wider, shallower ramekins may have a shorter cook time. Check if it's ready. It should be soft and springy on top of the cake, and toothpick comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. If not quite done, add another 10 seconds at a time until done.
- SERVE: I eat it right out of the mug with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, whipped cream or Greek yogurt. If you want to remove the cake from the mug, slide a knife around the sides and scoop it out with a spoon.
Recipe Notes
- Streusel topping options: I don’t add the streusel topping because I find the coffee cake with chocolate chips and a scoop of ice cream is rich enough. To alter the streusel topping, you can omit the butter or use a teaspoon of oil instead. You can also just sprinkle crushed nuts on top of the batter with a pinch of cinnamon and a pinch of sugar.
- Nutrition info for two versions
- Decadent version (includes Greek yogurt, chocolate chips, 1 Tbsp oil, and streusel topping): 275 calories, 4 g protein, 49 g carbs, 4.0 g sat fat.
- Lighter version (no yogurt, no chocolate chips, ½ Tbsp oil, no streusel): 136 calories, 2 g protein, 31 g carbs, 0.03 g sat fat.
- Substitutions and Variations
- Flour: Use 1 tablespoon whole wheat or almond flour, but note that the cake will be a little bit denser.
- Brown sugar: Use white sugar instead.
- Applesauce: Replace with mashed banana or pumpkin purée (taste will change a little)
- Cinnamon: Try pumpkin spice, allspice, apple pie spice or cardamon instead.
- Chocolate chips: Use chopped toasted nuts (pecans, walnuts), dried cranberries, raisins, shredded coconut, or white chocolate chips.
- To make 2 single serve coffee cakes at the same time: Increase the microwave time. Start with 90 seconds, then add if necessary, 10-15 seconds extra in bursts.
- To bake instead of microwave: Bake in oven-safe ramekin or cup at 350°F (177°C) for about 12–13 minutes.
- Make ahead: This dessert is best made fresh. Luckily, it only takes a few minutes.
