An easy and healthy Protein Chocolate Lava Cake for One made with protein powder and cocoa powder. This protein lava cake is sugar free and has the molten chocolate center with no butter needed – a perfect indulgent dessert!
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I just realized I’m posting a chocolate lava cake for one on Valentine’s Day, so you might want to double up and make this for two instead!
Sharing really isn’t an option here because this cake is so good you’re not going to want to part with any if it; Not even to your significant other.
In fact you might just end up trying to eat off their plate too!
I would definitely not judge, because that would be me.
Ingredients for Protein Chocolate Lava Cake for One
This protein chocolate lava cake uses cocoa powder and has no butter or melted chocolate like most others, making it quite a low calorie skinny recipe.
Here’s everything you need for this sugar free healthy chocolate lava cake; Be sure to use twice the amount and 2 ramekins if you’re looking for a recipe for two:
- Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
- Chocolate Protein Powder I use the one from quest nutrition for this protein mug cake. Vanilla protein powder would work as well.
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder or Cacao Powder
- A bit of Greek Yogurt to add moisture since there’s no butter or oil in here.
- Unsweetened Almond Milk but regular milk is okay too.
- An Egg
- Vanilla Extract
- Baking Powder
- Chocolate Chips for that molten lava filling. I would recommend Lakanto since it’s sweetened with monk fruit and makes this healthy chocolate lava cake sugar free too. The code HAYLSKITCHEN gets you a discount too.
How to make Chocolate Lava Cake with Protein Powder:
This chocolate protein cake recipe is really easy to make – just 5 minutes of effort and then bake!
Start with preheating your oven to at 350°F.
Make your Chocolate Protein Mug Cake Batter:
- Mix all the dry ingredients – flour, protein powder, cocoa powder and baking powder in a bowl.
- Whisk the wet ingredients in another bowl – egg, milk, Greek yogurt and vanilla
- Add dry mix to wet and stir to form the batter. It will be smooth, but thick. Don’t over-mix the batter.
Assemble the Chocolate Lava Cake for One
- Grease a ramekin with coconut oil or cooking spray.
- Pour ⅔ batter into the ramekin
- Top with chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
- Pour remaining ⅓ batter
And now Bake & Serve!
For the perfect molten chocolate protein mug cake, bake for 20 minutes at 350°F. The top of the cake should be just slightly cooked, but will be quite jiggly when you move it around.
Let cool for about 5 minutes.
Run a knife along the sides and a bit under to loosen the cake.
Now place a plate on top of the ramekin and flip it over so the cake comes off.
Is Lava Cake raw in the middle?
While the molten center of the lava cake is still runny, it is not completely raw in the middle. This is because the high oven temperature cooks the raw egg, making it completely safe to eat.
The center of this molten lava protein cake also uses chocolate chips, and you don’t want to miss on that goodness!
Tips for the perfect Easy Protein Lava Cake Recipe
- Use Whole Wheat Pastry Flour not Whole Wheat; The latter would make the cooked part of the lava cake too dense. Another alternative would be all purpose or 1:1 Gluten Free flour.
- Don’t over-mix the batter; The protein power or gluten from the whole grain flour will make the chocolate protein cake dense and gummy.
- Grease the inside of the ramekin so the lava cake to come out easily when cooked
- Don’t over-bake the cake. The top will should be just cooked. It might look soft, but will harden when it cools a bit.
- Wait for the cake to cool!
- Run a knife along the side of the ramekin to loosen it so it comes off smoothly when you flip it on a plate.
Substitutions for Protein Molten Lava Cake
You can replace the whole wheat pastry flour with all-purpose flour or 1:1 Gluten free flour.
Another option is to use vanilla protein powder instead of chocolate.
Switch out the yogurt for pure pumpkin puree, mashed banana, applesauce or coconut yogurt for a dairy free option
Some more Protein Powder Desserts to try:
- Fail Proof Simple Vanilla Protein Cake with Oat Streusel
- Protein Apple Cupcakes with Protein Peanut Butter Frosting
- High Protein Keto Tahini Fudge (No Bake and 3 Ingredient)
- Healthy High Protein Gingerbread Cake (Oil Free, Sugar Free)
More Healthy Mug Cake Recipes
- Light & Healthy Whole Wheat Chocolate Mug Cake
- Microwave Banana Bread in a Mug (Paleo-friendly)
- Chocolate Chip Pancake Mug Cake
Protein Chocolate Lava Cake for One – Easy and Healthy
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoon Whole Wheat Pastry Flour, or regular Flour, 22g
- 2 tablespoon Unsweetened Cocoa Powder, 10g
- 2 tablespoon Chocolate Protein Powder, 11g, or Vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 Egg, room temperature
- ¼ cup Almond Milk, Unsweetened (room temperature)
- 1 tablespoon Greek Yogurt
- ¼ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 2 teaspoon Chocolate Chips, 10g
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F, and lightly grease a 1 cup (8 oz) ramekin or mug.
- In a bowl, mix flour, cocoa, chocolate protein powder and baking powder.
- In an a bigger bowl whisk egg, milk, yogurt and vanilla extract.
- Add in dry mix and stir to form a smooth batter. Do not over-mix, or the cake will be too dense.Taste the batter for sweetness; Add a pinch of stevia or a bit of sugar or honey/maple syrup if you’d like!
- Transfer ⅔ of the batter into the mug/ramekin.Sprinkle on chocolate chips.Pour remaining batter on top.
- Bake for 20 minutes; Top should be mostly set, but still soft and wobbly. It will harden when cool.
- Let cool a few minutes, invert onto a plate and dig in!
Notes
- Nutrition information is calculated using products recommended below.
- Quest Nutrition Chocolate Milkshake Protein Powder
- Lakanto Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
- Use code HAYLSKITCHEN for 15% off your order
- Servings: 1 cup Mug Cake | Serving size: 1
- Calories: 276kcal
- Fat: 10.7g | Saturated fat: 4.6g
- Carbohydrates: 31g | Fiber: 7.5g | Sugar: 0.9g
- Protein: 20.6g
susu says
Pretty good! I cooked it exactly and it came out very lava-y. I doubled the recipe for 2 people. I omitted the chocolate chips. I would make it again but I would add a teaspoon of honey next time since the cocoa powder is bitter and the yogurt is sour, so there is nothing to balance out for sweetness.
Susu says
Just realized it says sugar-free on the top of the page.. I do not know how I missed it sorry! For a sugar-free dessert, this is great. Maybe add fruit on top then 🙂
Haylee Jane Monteiro says
Haha no worries at all! I love the idea of adding some fruit on top. Berries would really go well with the chocolate lava here!
Haylee Jane Monteiro says
Hi!
So happy you liked it!
The recipe here relies on protein powder for sweetness, so if the protein powder itself is less sweet, you would need some extra sweetener like honey or maple or stevia.
I’m gonna update the blog post to mention this 🙂
Eleana says
Tastes amazing! Quick question, is it possible to make in advance and refrigerate?
Haylee Jane Monteiro says
Omigosh I’m so glad you agree Eleana!
I haven’t tried it out myself, but for a make ahead option, I recommend mixing the batter, pouring it into the greased ramekin and covering it with plastic wrap; Then place in the fridge overnight and bake the next day(with an extra 30-60 seconds).
If you refrigerate the baked version, microwaving to reheat might overcook the center.
I’d love to know if you try it out though so I can add a note!
Eleana says
I tried it out! It was really good – just baked it and refrigerated and ate it cold instead of warming it up. The baked/warm version is worth it but definitely very good as well eaten cold the next day.
Haylee Jane Monteiro says
Thank you so much for trying it out and getting back Eleana, and I’m even more happy that it actually worked out! I can definitely picture a much richer and fudgier cake cold the next day. I think you’ve just inspired a new recipe here!