Caramel Apple Mug Cake (Easy Microwave Dessert)

Craving a sweet treat but don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen? Use pantry ingredients and this easy microwave dessert recipe to make a perfect portion of caramel apple mug cake.

It may be old news in the Pinterest world, but in my house, microwave mug cakes have been all the rage recently.

In short, they involve a few pantry ingredients, stirred together in a microwave-safe mug (if your mug isn’t already filled with caramel coffee), and then cooked for a few minutes or less.

These easy microwave desserts are perfect for when you want something sweet in the evening, but you THINK you don’t have any dessert on hand. They’re also great for when one family member wants dessert and the rest don’t.

Or if you’re single or home alone. It’s really the perfect way to make cake for one person, two people OR four people.

There are a ton of varieties of chocolate, vanilla and sprinkle mug cake recipes available on Pinterest, and I’ve tried my share of them.

With fall already here (or as I like to call it, Halloween snack and Halloween jello shot season), I wanted to make an apple mug cake with caramel (a flavor combination I also love in cocktails, like caramel apple mules).

This easy microwave dessert recipe makes two servings, but is easily cut in half for a single serving, too!

Now, the caramel apple mug cake recipe below actually makes two mug cakes, only because I wanted to use a whole Gala apple, and I couldn’t fit an entire apple in one mug.

But, if you just want one cake, you can use half the apple in your one caramel mug cake, and munch on the other half while your cake is microwaving, perhaps (or use it to garnish an apple cider old fashioned or a butter board).

Or, if one person in your house is watching calories and the other wants cake, well then, one person gets the half of an apple on it’s own and the other person gets their half in their applesauce mug cake. Win-win!

If you’re only making ONE of these easy microwave desserts, I’ve done the half batch math for you here. If making just one cake, reduce cook time to 1 minute, 30 seconds.

• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons applesauce
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 lunchbox-sized Gala apple, cored and finely chopped

This apple mug cake recipe is so simple, you’ll probably be able to memorize it!

My favorite thing about this applesauce mug cake is once you’ve made the recipe once or twice, you can practically make it in your sleep. You’ll also only need a few measuring spoons, like your tablespoon and 1/2 teaspoon.

Since about half of the ingredients for this apple mug cake (applesauce, sugar and milk) are called for in the same amount, it makes it even easier to memorize.

I kid you not, I memorized this easy microwave dessert recipe after just a few times making it, so now, I can jump up during a commercial break, get two mug cakes into the microwave, and be back just as my show is continuing (remember the days before DVRs where you HAD to get back before the commercial ended?).

Tips for making the best mug cake:

• The most important thing when it comes to an apple mug cake is proper stirring, since you are stirring the ingredients together in the mug. Sometimes, with boxier or more geometric mugs, pockets of flour can get trapped in the bottom “corners” of the mugs. I find it best to use a small rubber spatula to stir up the batter in the mug, so that the spatula can get all the flour out of those corners, and incorporated into the batter.

• For extra intense apple flavor in this easy microwave dessert, use instant pot apple butter or homemade applesauce in place of jarred applesauce in this applesauce mug cake. Apple butter is also a great choice for a Thanksgiving charcuterie board.

• While microwaving, watch to make sure cakes don’t spill over sides of mugs. As long as your mug is at least 12 ounces, you should be fine, but cakes may temporarily puff up slightly higher than the tops of the mugs. It should go back down without spilling over.

• Feel free to add a pinch of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice to the batter if you’d like! Pumpkin pie spice is also perfect in my Thanksgiving Rice Krispies treats.

• Optional, but definitely encouraged: top the mug cakes with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream (or both!) and microwave caramel sauce.

Psst – if you’re a caramel lover like me, you won’t want to miss my homemade caramel syrup for coffee, caramel iced coffee and salted caramel cream cold brew.