A mug muffin for any dietary needs

You’ve probably heard of mug cookies, cakes and muffins. It’s sort of a lifesaver for a college student. Baked goods that you can microwave? Ingenious. But the method of baking food in a mug is not only for sweet treats — there are healthy alternatives to the baked goods you crave that are just as simple to make! Today I’m going to show you the mug muffin recipe that my family uses. It originated from one of Cassey Ho’s recipes.

For those of you who don’t know, Cassey Ho is an online Pilates instructor who got her start on YouTube and has her own website with multitudes of free exercise videos. She also has healthy recipes that are great for anyone looking to clean up their diet! If you want to see the original mug muffin recipe — along with many others — you can check it out at www.blogilates.com.

To make a mug muffin, all you need is a mug, a bowl or anything microwavable, really. Please note that the version of the recipe that my family uses is gluten- and dairy-free but not nut-free. Modifications are very easy to make depending on your needs.

This recipe is super simple and really flexible. Feel free to make any modifications that you want. Add some cocoa powder for a change or use almond extract instead of vanilla. If you don’t have an issue with gluten, you can try using wheat flour. You can play around with all different kinds of flours if you want. Add some chocolate chips for a sweeter dessert alternative (dairy-free dark chocolate or semisweet chips are my go-to). There’s no single correct way to go about this. Enjoy!

Mug Muffins

Ingredients:

Half a mashed banana or a mashed, cooked sweet potato

One egg

Vanilla extract (be careful — some vanilla extracts have gluten in them!)

Protein powder (we use pea protein but whey protein will work too)

Almond flour, coconut flour or any combination of the two

Cinnamon

Salt (optional)

Crushed nuts (optional)

You can add coconut or almond milk if necessary (or dairy milk if you wish)

Directions:

You’ll want to mix the wet ingredients (including the mashed banana or sweet potato) first. Then add the dry ingredients and mix well. We usually don’t measure the dry ingredients. The more you make this recipe, the more you get a feel for how much flour or cinnamon you prefer. Sometimes you’ll feel like leaving out the protein powder. Sometimes you’ll want to leave out the flour. It all depends.

After everything’s all mixed, put your creation in the microwave for about three minutes. Take it out, let it cool and enjoy straight out of the mug. (Or you can take it out of the mug after it’s cooled.) If you make it in a bowl or some other container that allows it to be somewhat flat then you can even put it in a toaster. It goes well with a little coconut oil on top.