Name: Gluten free Nutella mug cake (egg free, vegan option)
Prep time: 2 min
Cook time: 1 min
Ingredients: 20 g light brown sugar; 10 g Dutch processed cocoa powder; 10 g tapioca flour/starch; 15 g fine white rice flour; 1/4 teaspoon (2g) baking powder; Tiny pinch fine salt; 50 g Nutella spread or Vego spread (for the dairy free/vegan option); 40-60 g (2-3 tablespoons)* boiling water

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It has been a while between gluten free mug cakes but I am back today courtesy of at least 3 tubs of Nutella sitting in the back of my cupboard. I recently had success replacing the maple syrup with the dregs of raspberry jam jars in my chocolate mug cake recipe. With the idea of using a spread as a sweetener in mind, I made this gluten free Nutella mug cake.

The mug cake is gluten free and egg free. It can use traditional Nutella or the vegan alternative, Vego. This means that the recipe is easily dairy free and vegan in addition to being gluten free. Something for everyone!

Ingredient notes

As discussed, you can use Nutella spread or Vego spread. You may be able to use other chocolate spreads with a similar fat and sugar ratio to Nutella, but I haven’t tested it yet.
This recipe requires one starch based flour (I used tapioca flour) and one wholegrain flour (I used white rice flour). In my experience, gluten free mug cakes without a starch tend to lack any elasticity and often expand up and over the edges of the mug because nothing is holding them in.
I haven’t tested other flours because I ran out of Nutella. However, I daresay experimenting would work as it has in my chocolate mug cake recipe.
If you want to use a different starch and a different gluten free wholegrain flour, add the water to achieve a medium thickness batter consistency. Some flours absorb more liquid and some absorb less, so you may have to play around a little to find your ideal ratio.
It is HARD, but I recommend allowing the mug cake to cool for a minute or two before eating it. This allows the steam to evaporate which means the texture becomes less dense and more cakey. Shoving a spoon into a freshly cooked mug cake can compress the texture (but it still tastes incredible).

An aerial image of a gluten free Nutella mug cake topped with chocolate ice cream in a white ceramic mug atop a white marble table. A spoon sticks into the mug cake from the right side of the image.

Can I cook this mug cake in the oven?

Yes, you can. I have successfully tested baking it at 180C/356F for 10-15 minutes.

Prepare the recipe as per the recipe card.
Grease an 80-125ml (1/3 – 1/2 Australian cup) size oven safe baking dish. You can bake it in a silicone muffin tin or any vessel you have that is big enough but too so large that the batter spreads outwards. I used a panna cotta or flan mould.
Bake for 10-13 minutes or until nearly cooked through. I personally prefer to slightly underbake mug cakes because the liquid acts as a little sauce (and we’re not using eggs so this is food safe).

I find oven baked versions can be slightly more fragile and interestingly, can taste slightly less sweet. I recommend baking them in what you intend to serve them in so they don’t break. Of course, I also recommend serving them with ice cream. My Ninja Creami vanilla ice cream is my forever favourite, but my chocolate flavour goes down a treat too.

A dark and moody aerial close up image of a gluten free Nutella mug cake in a white speckled ceramic cup atop a black backdrop

More gluten free chocolate recipes