This Vegan Toffee Mug Cake is incredibly delicious and truly tastes like toffee! Made in just 5 minutes, it is also gluten-free, oil-free and topped with a delicious toffee frosting!
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5 MINUTE VEGAN TOFFEE MUG CAKE
I am officially in love with a mug cake. Not just any mug cake though, a toffee cake. It is a toffee-lovers dream. I have seen a bazillion mug cakes online and they are all chocolate! I figured, why not create one that is more unique and unlikely a flavor that most have tried. Enter the Vegan Gluten-Free Toffee Mug Cake.
Thank you to everybody who voted for this Toffee Mug Cake yesterday on this Facebook post! An overwhelming response and this cake was the clear winner by about 20 votes over the blueberry cream cheese….although that cream cheese got a lot of votes too, so it is coming this week as well, no worries!
I have tried a few mug cakes (chocolate) before and in fact, the very first mug cake I ever tried was a few years ago and I mentioned it on this blog post. It was incredible, moist, rich and chocolatey. Then that recipe was nowhere to be found again, so I tried others and they were TERRIBLE.
So, I figured I better come up with my own mug cake, but not do the norm of chocolate, instead I chose toffee! Why a toffee mug cake? Well, because my favorite fudge recipe on my blog and that I’ve ever tried is my Vegan Toffee Sweet Potato Fudge. It is so good and I decided that would be the flavor I would do.
HOW TO CREATE A VEGAN TOFFEE CAKE
Since I’m not using butter or refined sugar like classic toffee, I had to put on my thinking cap. Coconut sugar is very toffee and caramel-like in flavor, so I started there. But, do you know what else lends to a wonderful toffee flavor?
Cashew butter. I swapped out the sweet potato for cashew butter and the combo of coconut sugar, cashew butter and coconut milk was just about dangerously dreamy. Cashew butter is extremely creamy and buttery and slightly sweet, so it is the perfect ingredient to enhance that toffee flavor. Toffee is in fact traditionally made with dairy butter, so hello, cashew butter works amazing!! The last time I did a cashew icing was on my Vanilla Pecan Dream Bars, so I knew I could make a toffee frosting out of it.
I can’t wait to hear what you think of this 5 Minute Toffee Mug Cake! Let me know by dropping me feedback below after you make it and don’t forget to star rate it! I’ll be dying to hear. You can also tag me on Instagram @thevegan8 and don’t forget my hashtag in your caption#thevegan8 so it’s saved to my page and I don’t miss it. Enjoy!
OTHER VEGAN GLUTEN-FREE CAKE RECIPES TO TRY
- Vanilla White Wedding Cake
- Cinnamon Caramel Bundt Cake
- Chocolate Peppermint Cake
- Gluten-free Vanilla Cake
- Vanilla Chocolate Chip Cake
- Gluten-free Vegan Cranberry Bundt Cake
- Cinnamon Cream Cheese Bundt Cakes
- Vegan Funfetti Birthday Cake
5 Minute Toffee Mug Cake (Vegan and Gluten-Free)
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (28g) finely ground almond meal
- 1 tablespoon (8g) tapioca starch
- 1 tablespoon (8g) oat flour
- 2 1/2 tablespoons (23g) coconut sugar (this is key to the toffee flavor, so do not sub!)
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3 tablespoons (45g) canned lite coconut milk, shaken first
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 heaping teaspoon raw cashew butter (or sunbutter or almond butter, but it will have less of a toffee flavor)
TOFFEE FROSTING
- 1 1/2 tablespoons (23g) canned lite coconut milk, shaken first
- 1/2 tablespoon (5g) coconut sugar
- 1/2 tablespoon (8g) cashew butter
- 1/8 teaspoon vanilla
- pinch salt
NOTE
- Always use a scale for accuracy when baking, following MY gram weights listed. You never need cups, just the scale and bowl.
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- First, decide if you want to use a regular standard size coffee mug or a ramekin. I used a 7 oz ramekin because I wanted it to have the shape of a mini cake (as pictured). You do not need to spray the mug/ramekin, this cake is so moist, it removes easily, should you choose to do so. You just need to loosen around the edges with a knife and then it should come out easily. If baking in the oven, turn to 350 degrees and see below for the cooking time.
- If using a coffee mug, you will mix all the ingredients in the mug! If using a ramekin, mix everything in a small bowl as follows. Add the almond meal, tapioca starch, oat flour, coconut sugar, baking powder and salt and mix really well with a fork.
- Next, pour the coconut milk over the dry ingredients, then the cashew butter and vanilla. Mix everything well with the fork again until a really smooth cake batter forms. Pour in the ramekin if using and microwave on high (my power level was at 10) for 2 minutes in a ramekin and 2 1/2 minutes in a coffee mug. It cooked faster in the ramekin since it was more shallow than the mug. If you still want yours more cooked, add 15-30 more seconds. 2 1/2 minutes was perfect for the coffee mug for me. Your microwave power level may vary cooking time. To remove, you just need to loosen around the edges with a knife and then it should come out easily.
For the oven, you will use 2 muffin liners and fill them each up half way with the batter. Or you can use a 7 oz ramekin. I would suggest spraying it or lining it, so the cake won't stick. Bake for 20 minutes. They should have risen and have a nice golden brown top and very lightly spring back when pressed. Let them cool 10-15 minutes, to finish cooking. To remove, loosen around the edges with a knife.
For the frosting, just combine all the "toffee frosting" ingredients in a small cup (except the vanilla) and mix with a fork until smooth. Microwave on high for 30 seconds. This is how it will thicken up like frosting. Add the vanilla and mix again until smooth, thick and creamy. If you are not using a microwave, then just use half or even less of the milk so it's not too runny, or heat it up over the stove to thicken it. If you want it more like a glaze, add a tiny bit more milk. It will thicken some as it sits. If you want to remove the cake to frost it, slide a knife along the inside edges of the mug and loosen it and flip over to pop out. I made several of these and they all came out really easily. Smooth the frosting on top or drizzle the glaze. Eat immediately. Mug cakes need to be eaten immediately, or they will harden as they sit. As if you needed any convincing anyways.
I can’t wait to try this recipe. I also want to thank you for your notes within your recipe of what a certain ingredient does- very helpfull!
Awesome LauraJay! Please come back and let me know what you think! And you are very welcome, I try to be as helpful as possible because I know people will have questions, so I try to have them answered already within the recipe 🙂
Brandi, you hit a home run with this one! Now I know why you had it for your anniversary. The batter alone tastes amazing. I am writing this as I wait for my second toffee mug cake this week to cool…. We just had it two days ago and my husband asked if I was going to make it again tonight. He is always willing to try my recipes aka your recipes but when he asks for MORE I know it was a hit! I feel so proud when I can recreate your recipes for others to enjoy. I actually think I am going to turn this recipe into my daughters birthday cake or cupcakes but baked in the oven. I am going to pair it with your maple cashew frosting. Have you tried that???
Oh wow, thank you so much for the kind words Steph! I’m so very happy you loved this so much! That is a great idea to pair it with the maple cashew frosting! I have not tried it yet, it’s been a really long time since I’ve had that frosting. You could try that or just make a much larger batch of the toffee frosting above since it’s so delicious! Thanks again for the feedback!
Wooohoo! You did the mug cake!! Told you they could be amazing!!! Love the toffee and I was hoping this one won the facebook post 😉
Yes! I have only tried one ever that was amazing and the rest I have tried were rather disappointing. If I want cake, I want it to be rich, whether it’s in a mug or a full cake pan, lol! And I figured we all needed something other than chocolate…enough chocolate mug cakes around already! 🙂
Hooray! Gluten free, vegan and you didn’t use rice flour (rice allergy) Fabulous! Thank you thank you thank you!
Oh good! So glad this one is perfect for you, please let me know after you make it!! Yeah, I love rice flour, but I prefer it in more dense baked goods like cookies or brownies, otherwise I have found the brown rice flour leaves a sandy/gritty texture which I can’t stand.
I’m not even going to calculate the calories in this luscious pudding! I love that it’s made from healthy ingredients – I wonder if it would steam since I threw out my microwave a year or so ago?
Haha, yeah it is NOT low-fat! I don’t like low-fat desserts and that’s been the issue of the previous mug cakes I’ve tried, so low-fat that they taste awful. I am in the middle of calculating the nutrition right now. It is a single dessert though and plenty rich to satisfy and it’s more portion control than having a whole cake looking at you 🙂
I have no idea about steaming, so I would just bake it instead. In fact, I’m going to do a trial run in the oven today to see how it works. I’m guessing 15 mins at 350?? Maybe up to 20. You would want it to be puffy and golden on the top. I’ll come back and add it to the recipe after I test a baked version. I can imagine if it’s this yummy out of the microwave, then it’s even better out of an oven!
glad you will test this recipe in a standard oven, and report to those of us who don’t use/don’t have a microwave oven. Thanks, Brandi!
Yes, just updated the directions in the recipe! 🙂
Just updated the recipe with the baking directions, just made it in the oven. Delicious!!
Thank you so much, Brandi. I cannot ever get enough of toffee flavour. I will get the ramekins. I cannot wait to taste this. I am especially happy because I am not a chocolate person but a toffee one.
Awesome Lucille! I can’t wait to hear what you think!
I LOVE mug cakes, even the classic chocolate ones! But this beats them all because of the unique flavor, but mostly because it is covered in gooey toffee frosting!!! I think frosting is what most mug cakes are missing, but there is no lack of that here! I just recently discovered how much I love toffee favored desserts, and your cashew butter version sounds amazing! Plus coconut sugar was pretty much made for toffee things 🙂
The only chocolate one I’ve loved is the one I talked about in my post link above…it was rich, dark, moist and made with blackstrap molasses. It was amazing and it was my first time ever trying a mug cake (years ago) and all the ones I tried since then basically were pretty bad. I decided the web didn’t need another chocolate mug cake, so that is why I came up with this one and oh boy, was it a big hit around here!
And I agree girl, all mug cakes I’ve seen don’t have frosting! Um, it’s cake, it needs frosting….leave that to me, I got it covered, LOL! SO good!
This cake looks absolutely stunning! I love everything about this from the cashew butter to the coconut milk. I can only imagine how wonderful this cake must taste. Definitely want to give this a try so I’m in love with the toffee flavors. Beautiful presentation as always, Brandi!
Thank you so much Florian! You are sooo sweet! The cashew butter and coconut milk and coconut sugar really do give an incredibly, rich, creamy toffee flavor….it’s just amazing!!
Toffee is one of my favorite things ever! I love cashew butter and coconut sugar and I’m pretty darn sure I will love this cake!! I have all of these ingredients and will be trying soon!
Thanks so much Jenn!! The flavor combo is incredible!! Hope you enjoy it 🙂
I love the “solo” factor of mug cakes. You know, something you can whip up for yourself with no fuss – and be eating dessert FAST! But you’re right, so often they’re dry hockey pucks. This looks ridiculously moist!
Haha, yes Annie….that has been my experience…dry hockey pucks! Yuck! Thanks girl…it definitely is moist!
This is the best darn looking microwave cake I’ve ever seen girl!!!!!!!!! HOLY! And that icing on top! This screams YUMM!!! And you know how much I love your oat, almond and tapioca flour combo – it’s the BEST!! Adding this to the long and growing list of recipes to try from your blog!! 🙂
Awww that is such a wonderful compliment Ceara, thank you so much!! The frosting really helps give it a real cake look because they are just ugly inside a mug or when you remove them. It tasted so delicious and rich and sweet, just like cake should, right?! Thanks friend!
This looks amazing. I AM going to make it. Thank you.
Thank you so much Angela, I can’t wait to hear what you think!!
Hi, this looks AMAZING!!!!! I was wondering what kind of flour I could use if I don’t have oat flour? Thank you, can’t wait to try this!!!!
Hi Jessica! I would try either subbing with sorghum flour, or you can sub with all-purpose white flour and just use 1/2 tablespoon instead, since it is much more fine than oat flour, it will absorb a bit more. I think that should work fine. Let me know how it turns out! If you need another suggestion, let me know!
You know how much I love this!!! I made it right when you gave me the preview directions and both me and the hubby devoured it!! I have never had a mug cake before this because I was always worried about the texture, but this turned out great! I cooked it a tad longer, because I’m texture freaky, and I literally licked the bowl clean! And have the pic to prove it. Hahahaha! Great recipe!
Thank you so much Sophia! Your pic was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen! Thanks so much for being a friend and testing it out for me…it was rough I know, lol! 😉
Wow, this looks amazing, I love toffee anything! I’ve only made mug cake once from a popular vegan blog and it just didn’t do it for me (of course it was chocolate though!). I don’t have a microwave anymore so thanks for including the oven directions, will give this a try!
Thank you so much Nicole! Yeah, I know what you mean, trust me. The first time I tried mug cake, I was a bit taken back by the texture, but the flavor was so good that I quickly got over it. They are kind of like those Duncan Hines microwaveable pudding cake things that take a minute to cook. I used to eat those a long time ago and that’s what mug cakes remind me of. Different texture, but still delicious. Cooking mine in the ramekin and then topping with frosting definitely gave it a different feel than the traditional mug cake. I can’t wait to hear what you think of the baked version…since you loved the coffee chocolate chip muffins so much, I think you will enjoy this too…super moist just like those! 🙂
This looks AMAZING. And I love how easy and healthy it is to make.
Thank you so much Thalia!! Super easy to make!
This looks fantastic! And vegan and gluten free?! I love mug cakes too and this is definitely one I’m going to try 🙂
Wonderful Kathleen, let me know when you do and thank you!!
Brandi it’s amazing that gorgeous cake came out of a mug and took only minutes to make. It looks incredibly delicious.
Thank you so much Suzanne! The frosting really dresses it up, because let’s face it, mug cakes are pretty ugly on their own, lol!
Oh my goodness Brandi, this recipe speaks to my soul! It looks amazing! Sticky toffee pudding was my favourite pudding growing up, and this recipe has just reminded me of how much I love it! I definitely have to make this asap – I love the look of the sauce too, and that it’s a single serving!!! Heavenly!
The photos are beautiful, but this is way more than 8 ingredients!
Hi Alina! Actually, no it’s not. The entire recipe only uses 8 ingredients, as the same ingredients used in the cake are also used in the frosting (not additional ingredients), so you only need to purchase 8 ingredients to make it. All of my recipes are 8 ingredients or less, not necessarily including salt & water, which is my blog concept, which this one only has salt in addition to the 8. Hope that helps 🙂
Oh my… be still my heart… VEGAN TOFFEE. I want to make this tonight but I don’t have any cashew butter… could you sub almond butter?
Hi sweet Sarah!! Yes, you could totally do almond butter. It will be a bit different tasting in the frosting and less creamy toffee, but still delicious! Sorry, I probably responded too late for you to make it tonight! Was a busy evening. Hope you try it soon and let me know 🙂
This looks FANTASTIC!!! I’m totally drooling over that frosting…holy smokes. I’ve never had a mug cake before, but I like the idea of a smaller portion dessert – I have no control when it comes to sweets. Thank you so much for including directions for using the oven, I can’t wait to try this!
Haha thanks friend! I know, me neither! That’s why this one is good, small, simple and fast! I think we are both toffee loving freaks, lol! I need to try your tahini sauce!!! I want to drink it, it looks so good!
This cake. Oh my god, this cake. Oh my god.
I just made this and in less than the time it’s taking me to type this comment, it was mixed, cooked, frosted and I burnt my mouth several times being too impatient to wait for it to cool.
Never had a mug cake before, but this is perfect. I used almond pulp leftover from making milk ( it was still damp but the cake came together beautifully anyway). The texture was surprising at first but not unpleasant and reminded me of an English pudding. The toffee flavor was incredible and the frosting knocked out any textural reservations I may have had. Maybe not the healthiest dessert around town, thank goodness it is single serve or I’d definitely eat the whole cake!
5 stars!
Oh I’m so happy to hear that you loved this so much Stephanie!! Such wonderful feedback, but I’m sorry you burned your tongue, haha! I did the same thing though the first time I made it because it was so good! Yes, like I mentioned above, mug cakes are definitely different in texture but like you said, delicious in their own right and after the first bite I’m totally over the unique texture!
Thanks again for leaving awesome feedback!!
I love toffee and I love mug cakes, and this one here looks so gorgeous and inviting! Drooling over this droolicious frosting! 🙂
Thank you so much Anu for the compliment!
Ooooh you are KILLING ME, BRANDI!!! I think I’m literally going to make this right now, I have every ingredient. You so get me <3 Beautiful as always.
Thank you so much Alison!! Did you ever make it??
Girl! You. Wow. Yum! Your daughter has the best life ever! ha ha ah ah!
Awww thanks Gigi, she certainly enjoyed this mug cake so much!! 🙂
Brandy! I’m in love with mug cakes! In fact I’ve been making a chocolate one every night the past 3 nights…so you can say i may have a problem ha! This looks delicious! Must try next!
This toffee cake is just brilliant, my friend! Ever since I tried Mandy’s toffee sauce I’ve been dreaming of toffee on everything 🙂 This is such an amazing alternative and I love the combo of cashew butter + coconut milk — soo simple, so delicious. The whole cake is just seriously dreamy!
Brandi. Brandiiii! I made this tonight and it was THE BEST mug cake I’ve ever had. Soft, fluffy, gooey, rich. You have worked yet another miracle! THANK YOU!
Wow Natalie! Thank you so much for such a wonderful compliment! I really appreciate it and sorry for the delay…I’m playing catchup on comments, thank you so much for the feedback!
just made this last night. It was so good!
I had doubled the recipe to make one for me and one for my daughter. I had her try mine before cooking the second. She didn’t like the texture which was fantastic news for me, lol. I refrigerated hers uncooked and then cooked it in the morning for breakfast. I decided it’s healthy enough for breakfast and if cake for breakfast is wrong, I don’t want to be right.
I am going to try one with peanut butter too. 🙂
Yes, I didn’t like the texture of mugcakes the first time I tried them either, but I think after a few bites, you get past it and it becomes addictive, haha! Especially when it is so easy!
I’m so happy to hear you loved it so much and you could always bake one for your daughter and it won’t have that microwaved texture! Thanks so much for the feedback!
You’ve probably already mentioned this somewhere in the recipe (and I missed it!), but when you say “coconut milk”, are you meaning the can (like Thai Kitchen), or the carton kind? Thanks!!
Hi Jules! I used “lite” canned coconut milk. You can use carton if you like. I just always use canned because it only has coconut milk and water in it, without all the other additives like the carton kind, but either will work. Let me know how it turns out!
I had to make a few substitutions to this recipe when I made this, based on what I had on hand. I used blanched almond flour, which is even more fine than the stuff from Trader Joes. I used arrowroot starch instead of tapioca, because it was the only starch I had. And I used full fat coconut milk, because it was the only milk I had available. It came out incredible! I couldn’t believe the toffee flavor! Wow! My husband and I both loved it. We don’t have dessert too often and this was a very special treat, so easy to make and so much better for you than most desserts out there! Thank you!
Hi April! I’m so happy to hear that the arrowroot worked well in place of the tapioca! Blanched almond flour works pretty much the same as almond meal, so that would definitely be an easy swap 🙂 Thanks so much for making it and providing the feedback…so glad you and your husband both loved it!
Yum! I didn’t make the frosting but the mug cake was perfect without it! So good! Thank you for sharing your recipe!!!
Oooh so wonderful to hear Monica! Thank you so very much for letting me know, love hearing the feedback! I love it without the frosting too 🙂
I had just finished making your INCREDIBLE Alfredo sauce (newest version) and had some raw cashew butter left, so I figured it was time to try this recipe my daughter and I had been eyeing for some time.
First of all, it was so darn easy to make I kept thinking there had to be more to it for it to taste good. Wrong. It was over-the-top scrumptious! I used one of those single serving white porcelain soup mugs. It was perfect because it’s very much like a ramekin.
I only got a little taste however, because my daughter scarfed almost the entire thing. She said it reminded her of the confetti cake she used to love as a little girl. Score another perfect 10 for one of your recipes, Brandi! Thanks, and keep them coming!
I don’t know how I missed this comment slip through Colleen, but YAY!! Thank you so much for the feedback, I am just thrilled both you and your daughter loved it so much! Thank you!
would corn starch work in place of tapioca starch?
Hi Shennae, I haven’t tried it, but I think it would be a decent sub, let me know how it turns out!
This is seriously the best mug cake I’ve ever tried! Its sweet & moist & just all round DELICIOUS!!! You’ve got to try this! Thanks Brandi for sharing your recipe’s, well done!
Yay Tania! That makes me so happy to hear it’s the best you’ve ever had, woohoo! Thank you so much for the awesome feedback!
I’d love to try this but am sensitive to almonds and oats…I can sub brown rice or sorghum possibly for the oat flour, but what about almond meal? Thanks!
This recipe is too good to only make one! So I multiplied the recipe by four and made six good sized muffins, and they worked amazingly!
So awesome to hear Phoebe! So glad you loved it!!
This is my go-to dessert recipe now after I make a recipe that doesn’t use up a whole can of the coconut milk. Yum!
That is such a great idea, thank you Nina!