Healthy Mug Brownie Recipe (Paleo & Vegan)
Posted Jan 19, 2017, Updated Jul 13, 2024
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This healthy mug brownie recipe is ready in under 5 minutes! Irresistibly chocolatey, insanely fudgy, and made with nutritious ingredients! This microwave brownie is paleo, gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan & refined sugar free!
This single-serve healthy Mug Brownie is a recipe that took me a year to perfect. It’s not a mug cake – it is a gooey, fudgy paleo brownie that is ready in under 5 minutes and totally healthy!
Now when the chocolate craving hits and you don’t have time to bake brownies, you can make this healthy mug brownie, top it with your favorite paleo vanilla ice cream and have a delicious dessert in no time.
A slightly underbaked gooey ramekin of chocolate brownie can be yours whenever you want it. Plus, this mug brownie is vegan, paleo, gluten-free, dairy-free and refined sugar free!
Paleo Mug Brownie: Ingredients & Substitutions
As always I recommend that you make the recipe exactly as written. I went through so many trials and errors to get this healthy mug brownie just right…that I know it’s best when the recipe is followed to a T. However, I know y’all will want to know what you can substitute, so here we go:
- Almond butter: you can use any nut/seed butter. I have had the best results with almond butter, cashew butter and peanut butter (not paleo).
- Coconut oil: Grass-fed butter or ghee can be used in place of coconut oil.
- Almond Milk: Any dairy or non-dairy milk, cream or even creamer will work as a substitution for almond milk.
- Coconut sugar: Any granulated sugar can be used without affecting the results. Honey or maple syrup are also a possible substitution, however I find that it makes this even more gooey and it tastes less like an actual brownie and more like brownie pudding if you use a liquid sweetener.
- Almond flour: The only substitutions that could potentially work here are: another nut flour, a gluten-free flour blend, or oat flour. Do not use coconut flour, it is not a 1:1 substitute for almond flour (or any flour).
Paleo Chocolate Chips & Bars
Sometimes it’s hard to figure out which chocolate chips are Paleo, so I’ll discuss some of my favorite healthier chocolate options!
- Hu Kitchen Chocolate Gems. This is my favorite paleo chocolate. These gems are delicious and easy to toss into cookies (no bar chopping required).
- Hu Kitchen Dark Chocolate Bars. You can also buy dark chocolate bars and chop them up to toss into these paleo chocolate chip cookies.
- Lily’s Dark Chocolate. They make chips and bars that are stevia sweetened, low carb, keto, etc.
- Enjoy Life Foods Dark Chocolate Chips are a good option that are vegan, dairy-free but not fully paleo.
How to Make a Healthy Mug Brownie
Let’s walk through this recipe step-by-step, and don’t forget to watch the video.
To begin, melt together the coconut oil and almond butter.
Next, add the rest of the wet ingredients and whisk to combine. Then add the try ingredients.
Stir until the mixture is smooth and there are no lumps. Then, add chocolate chips and put the mixture into a greased ramekin or mug.
Microwave the mug brownie for 1 minute, then remove it and let sit until slightly cooled (it really needs to cool or you will destroy your mouth).
Note: If you look at the picture below, you will see that this little healthy treat is not the prettiest. Since it’s not a cake I had to sacrifice the perfect, puffy top in order to make it irresistibly fudgy and gooey (so worth it). Top it with ice cream and you won’t be able to tell!
Serve
I suggest serving this healthy mug brownie with a scoop of ice cream or a dollop of almond butter. Here are some of my favorite ice cream recipes:
- The best paleo vanilla ice cream – you’ll love it.
- Paleo chocolate ice cream with sea salt is so good.
- Want something different? Try this matcha ice cream (paleo).
- This paleo cookie dough ice cream is so yummy!
- My favorite dairy free ice cream is this dairy-free chocolate peanut butter ice cream.
Healthy Mug Brownie Recipe FAQs
No! A mug works great, but as you can see I used a small ramekin (5.5 oz capacity, 3.5″ diameter, 2″ tall).
Use a small mug that can hold about 6 oz.
If you make and love my recipes, it would mean so much to me if you would leave a comment and rating! And don’t forget to follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, TikTok and Youtube – be sure to tag @joyfoodsunshine and use the hashtag #joyfoodsunshine so I can see your creations!
Healthy Mug Brownie (Paleo & Vegan)
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon creamy almond butter
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
- 1 TBS almond milk
- ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 Tablespoon coconut sugar
- ½ Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 ½ Tablespoon almond flour
- ¹⁄₁₆ teaspoon sea salt
- ⅛ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 Tablespoon mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Grease a small ramekin (5.5 oz capacity) or mug, set aside.
- In a small glass measuring cup, melt together the almond butter and coconut oil, stir until smooth.
- Add almond milk and vanilla extract and stir until combined.
- Add coconut sugar, cocoa powder, almond flour, sea salt and baking powder, stir until completely combined and there are no lumps.
- Mix in the mini chocolate chips.
- Pour batter into prepared ramekin or mug. Place in microwave and cook for 1 minute.
- Remove and let sit until slightly cooled.
- Serve with paleo ice cream, and extra dollop of almond butter, or eat it plain!
Video
Notes
- Almond butter: you can use any nut/seed butter. I have had the best results with almond butter, cashew butter and peanut butter (not paleo).
- Coconut oil: Grass-fed butter or ghee can be used in place of coconut oil.
- Almond Milk: Any dairy or non-dairy milk, cream or even creamer will work as a substitution for almond milk.
- Coconut sugar: Any granulated sugar can be used without affecting the results. Honey or maple syrup are also a possible substitution, however I find that it makes this even more gooey and it tastes less like an actual brownie and more like brownie pudding if you use a liquid sweetener.
- Almond flour: The only substitutions that could potentially work here are: another nut flour, a gluten-free flour blend, or oat flour. Do not use coconut flour, it is not a 1:1 substitute for almond flour (or any flour).
- Hu Kitchen Chocolate Gems. This is my favorite paleo chocolate. These gems are delicious and easy to toss into cookies (no bar chopping required).
- Hu Kitchen Dark Chocolate Bars. You can also buy dark chocolate bars and chop them up to toss into these paleo chocolate chip cookies.
- Lily’s Dark Chocolate. They make chips and bars that are stevia sweetened, low carb, keto, etc.
- Enjoy Life Foods Dark Chocolate Chips are a good option that are vegan, dairy-free but not fully paleo.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These are SOOOO fenomenal 🙌 Don’t even have to bake… for a gooey, delicious, brownie batter. So yummy!
I loved it! I ran out of baking powered and chocolate chips and the recipe still turned out delicious. I tried one with coconut oil and one with better and as expected the last one was better taste wise. To make it more moist I poured some milk on top of the brownie after microwaved and it was perfect! The lack of chocolate chips probably didn’t help. Definitely making it my go-to healthy brownie recipe!
Thank you Mariana!
Amazing recipe, works every time. Thank you for sharing this with us!
Super delicious! Used oat flour and it worked very well 🙂 Thank you for the recipe, my new afternoon treat ^^
My daughter loves it , it is a new family favorite! thank you
THANK YOU LAURA! You are a clever clever lady. I don’t want to sound cliche after reading some of the above posts, but I literally have never written a review/reply on a recipe before in my life. I couldn’t not for this brownie.
Wow it is so so delicoius. I only had natural crunchy peanut butter so used that instead of smooth almond butter. The crunchy bits were great texture. And subbed Rice Malt Syrup for the coconut sugar, and arrghhh…. and I turned my microwave down to 30% power and cooked for just 2 minutes. I can’t rave enough. It is SO SCRUMMY 🙂 🙂 🙂
Love it. It is going to be my treat. I have an addiction to gooey melty brownies, and this is so fast and easy it’s probably actually bad that I found your recipe?
haha…
WOO HOO! I worked hard on this brownie so I’m SO glad you love it!!!
Every paleo mug cake I’ve made has tasted horribly like microwaved eggs. This one was vegan and the closest to an actual brownie that I’ve ever made! Thank you so much for this recipe, I’m so glad I can eat brownies again! Would love to see more mug cake flavors that don’t require eggs 🙂
I never leave comments on recipes but I’ve tried ALOT of paleo mug cakes and this one takes the (mug) cake. It’s divine and tastes the closest to a brownie I’ve found. I cut the time in half because my microwave cooks fast and I like it extra gooey! I’ll definitely be making it I. The future and may need to add some paleo ice cream 🙂
Thank you Jordan! I worked super hard on this particular recipe! I have *needed* a healthy brownie at a moments notice on many occasions! LOL!
OMG I’m never one to leave comments or reviews, in fact this is my first comment on a blog ever despite the fact that I am always cooking and looking up recipes, but this is the best paleo/vegan dessert I’ve ever had. I will definitely be making this every night lol. Thank you!