A year ago while still at my previous job, I drove home from work with intense stress-induced chocolate cravings at least one night each week. Those persistent desires demanded more than a kid-sized Starbucks hot chocolate or a small square of Hershey’s Special Dark. They required a thick slice of decadent chocolate cake, usually supplied by the Safeway bakery a quarter-mile away from our house.
Once inside, I sped straight to the back of the store, bypassing the front of their cake display filled with cupcakes and cheesecakes to scour the back. I skipped past their square two-layer pieces; those tasted too milky and had slightly runny frosting. Instead, I scrutinized every single triangular slice of their tall six-layer dark chocolate cake, always selecting the biggest one practically bursting out of the seams of its plastic package.
I slowly savored two layers each night, nibbling at mouse-sized bites to make my chocolate therapy last as long as possible. By the time I swallowed the final morsel on the third day, I felt the stress melt away like the fudgy frosting on my tongue, and it motivated me to tackle another round of papers at work.
But then…
Then came the night that Safeway sold the last slice before I could claim it. Another customer walked out with my consolation cake, and I arrived home almost in tears. I had been depending on eating it all day! At the distraught look on my face, my guy asked what was wrong, and after I sniffled out a sad answer, he slipped his car keys into his pocket while I snuggled into a fuzzy blanket on the couch to watch reruns of “Top Chef.”
Right as the episode ended 45 minutes later, he pulled open the front door. Without telling me, he had driven to the opposite side of town to search the other Safeway’s cake selection, and after finding no six-layer slices, he then bravely stopped by the newly opened Whole Foods downtown. He jockeyed his way through the indecisive college kids wandering the store, patiently standing in the bakery line to order two gourmet chocolate cupcakes.
After offering him a few bites of each, I finished both cupcakes that night. Two chocolate cupcakes = two layers of chocolate cake, right?
Once I left that job to blog full-time, fewer days demand a stress-relief slice of six-layer chocolate cake. On the rare occasion my chocolate cravings spiral out of control, I usually bake a pan of my favorite fudgy chocolate brownies instead. And yet… That’s almost just as dangerous. With no self-control around chocolate, I’m always tempted to eat all 16 by myself, especially the four fudgiest ones in the center!
Because those brownies also require lots of cooling time, I decided to create a quicker recipe—preferably ready in under 10 minutes—with only one serving, making it impossible for me to overeat. And after a weekend of experimenting and rounds of testing, I finally perfected the dessert.
This Healthy Single-Serving Microwave Brownie packs a huge chocolate punch, full of incredible fudginess and irresistible decadence. Its smooth texture simply melted in my mouth, completely satisfying my dark chocolate cravings. Despite its deeply rich flavor, it’s still a low-fat and low-calorie treat!
You only need 5 ingredients (plus water) to make this easy dessert, and I guarantee you store most of them in your pantry right now! Cocoa powder, whole wheat flour, yogurt, agave, and vanilla. Containing only these few wholesome healthy ingredients, this healthy brownie is clean-eating friendly and completely guilt-free.
Most single-serving microwave mug cake or mug brownie recipes call for at least a tablespoon of butter and an egg yolk. (That’s around 160 calories and 16 grams of fat alone, not including any other ingredients.) My recipe requires neither, but it’s still just as rich and fudgy because I added a lot more liquid ingredients than dry. More liquid ingredients = moister and fudgier brownies.
Just like my healthy classic fudgy cocoa brownies, this brownie solely depends on cocoa powder for its decadent chocolate flavor. Other recipes require melting chocolate bars or chips, but not this one! That demands too much time for a quick brownie fix, and it also creates another dish to wash—no thank you! But because I added more cocoa powder than flour in this healthy treat, the rich chocolate flavor really shines.
Similar to my other brownie recipes, you’ll mix the dry ingredients in one bowl, the wet ingredients in another, and combine them together before pouring into a ramekin. I do not advise mixing everything in the ramekin. Because this recipe contains very little fat, you’ll need to lightly mist the ramekin with nonstick cooking spray before adding in the batter to prevent the brownie from sticking.
To create extra fudgy brownies, I always bake them low and slow in the oven, so I applied a similar technique to the microwave. Cook the brownie batter at 40% power (low) for 2 minutes 15 seconds (slow-ish) to ensure it stays dense and moist. Do not microwave it on HIGH like with other mug recipes! The edges will overcook while the center stays raw.
If the center still looks slightly underdone after microwaving, that’s okay! It will continue to cook through as it cools, resulting in a perfectly fudgy brownie. (And even if it doesn’t, it’s still safe because it has no eggs, so you can’t get salmonella!)
Look at that gorgeous fudginess! After only 5 minutes of measuring, 2+ minutes of cooking, and 3 minutes of cooling, you can savor a decadent Healthy Single-Serving Microwave Brownie too. That’s just 10 minutes to make a sinfully rich, secretly skinny dessert!
Ready to make your own? And when you do, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! 🙂 ) I’d love to see your healthy single-serving brownie!
Healthy Single-Serving Microwave Brownie
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp (10g) unsweetened cocoa powder (measured like this)
- 1 ½ tbsp (11g) whole wheat flour or gluten free* flour (measured like this)
- 2 tbsp (30mL) water
- 1 tbsp (15g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 2 tsp agave
- ⅛ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Lightly coat a 1-cup ramekin with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the cocoa and flour. In a separate bowl, stir together the water, yogurt, agave, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients into the wet, stirring just until incorporated.
- Pour the batter into the prepared ramekin, gently shaking back and forth until the top is smooth. Microwave at 40% POWER for 2 minutes and 15 seconds (2:15). Let the brownie sit for at least 3 minutes before eating.
Notes
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ Healthy Single Serving Chocolate Mug Cake
♡ Healthy Single Serving Chocolate Chip Mug Cake
♡ Healthy Single Serving Snickerdoodle Mug Cake
♡ Healthy Single Serving Peanut Butter Mug Cake
♡ The Ultimate Healthy Flourless Chocolate Cake
♡ The Ultimate Healthy Chocolate Cupcakes
♡ Healthy One-Bowl Fudgy Chocolate Chip Brownies
♡ …and the rest of Amy’s healthy mug cake recipes and healthy brownie recipes!
Made this 2 weeks ago and liked it. (At the time I couldn’t figure out how to lower the power on my microwave, so it didn’t cook perfectly but it tasted good). However I figured out the microwave power setting and re-made it tonight. I really like banana and chocolate together so I added 1/2 of a mashed banana (mash well so that there aren’t chunks) and it turned out great!!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the brownie Nikki! I love your idea of adding mashed banana. That must’ve been heaven in a ramekin! 🙂
Hello! I’m reading this a year later, but I just had to come down here and comment. The entire reason I googled, “Clean Eating Mug Brownie” in the first place is because of my stress-induced chocolate cravings all caused by my job. Reading what you wrote was kind of comforting and it’s nice to know you got out of that and into something you love. Who knew a mug brownie recipe could be so deep?! I’ll definitely be back for more recipes! Thank you for sharing 🙂
I really hope you enjoyed the brownie, and thank you for taking the time to comment Alyssa! It’s really hard to cope with stressful jobs. I hope your work situation improves or you’re able to find something as fulfilling as I did — you deserve more happiness than just chocolate can provide! 🙂
Have you ever tried using stevia instead of agave?
No, but it should work Marie! You’ll probably need to add additional liquid to compensate. I hope you enjoy the brownie!
Hi there! Stumbled across this on Pinterest a few days ago and tried my hand at it…but we didn’t have any of your ingredients! Instead, I used Ghirardelli hot cocoa mix, Green yogurt cream cheese, regular honey, regular flour, and nixed the vanilla because the hot cocoa mix lists it as an ingredient. Comes out more like a cake depending on the container used, but still delish!!
*Greek yogurt cream cheese, whoops 🙂
I’m glad you enjoyed the brownie Jaclyn! 🙂
I surely look like I could do with one of this right now… looks absolutely delicious
Thanks Fareeha!
This recipe looks great! Can’t wait to try it! I’m going to try using chickpea flour instead of whole wheat which would make this gluten free as well!!
I really hope you enjoy the brownie Leah! 🙂
I am all about your single serve clean eating desserts! Wish I had found your website sooner! It seems there are very few blogs that define healthy or clean eating as low calorie (whether meals, sides, desserts,etc.), so I’ve spent a month searching / reading recipes I just wouldn’t make – or at least not for myself…
I can definitely have a 113 calorie dessert and be on a diet at the same time! I am TRYING to be sugar free, because sugar just makes me crave more sugar.
Can I replace agave/honey/maple syrup in most of your recipes with some version of stevia (probably baking stevia) and some almond milk? That also saves me a few more calories. 🙂 Thanks!
Thank you for your kind words about my blog Shawna! I really hope you enjoy the recipes that you try. 🙂 Almond milk will work in almost all of my recipes, but I don’t recommend using stevia as a substitute for everything. Stevia is very concentrated, so you need a lot less compared to sugar or liquid sweeteners. However, this reduction in volume affects the texture and will often yield dry baked goods. If you find a cup-for-cup stevia for sugar/liquid sweetener replacement, that should generally work though!
Thanks Any! I’ve made two of your recipes, and so far, I have followed the directions exactly. BTW, the Choc Chip Cookie Dough Protein Bites are really great sfraught from the freezer! I’m going to make the Pumpkin Energy Bites today!
I do have a Baking Stevia that is a cup for cup sugar substitute. I realize I might have to tinker with the sweetness level if replacing a liquid sweetener. Any suggestions on how to know the amount of almond (or cashew) milk to use if using those two ingredients to replace honey / agave / maple syrup? Thanks!
I’m so glad you’re enjoying my recipes Shawna! To convert a recipe from using a liquid sweetener to a solid one, it’s generally 1 cup of liquid sweetener (maple syrup, honey, or agave) equals 1 cup of solid sweetener plus ½ cup of milk (any milk will work). I hope that helps!
I’ve already made this twice since yestrerday, I’m obsessed!!! I have to add a little more sweetener but that’s just my personal taste 🙂
I’m so glad you’re enjoying the brownie Stephanie! 🙂
Hey, I was wondering if you have a suggestion for baking time and temp if I am using an oven?
I was hoping to try this recipe with preschool kids and possibly bake them in cupcake tins, do you think it’s possible?
I’d recommend baking at 300°F. I’m not sure how long the brownie would take to bake, but I’d recommend checking after about 10-12 minutes. The brownie will be done when the sides look firm yet the center still looks glossy. This recipe is meant to serve 1, and it may not scale up to serve more than about 3 very well. So if you’re making brownies with more children than that, I’d recommend using one of my other brownie recipes instead (I highly recommend this one!) and simply dividing that batter between the muffin tins. 🙂 I’d love to hear what you and the children think Miriam!
The texture of mine came out great! It looked great and cooked perfectly on 40% for 2:15. However, I tried sweetening mine with a tad bit of stevia and I believe that ruined the taste lol. I also used raw honey instead of agave. Will try again minus the stevia! ?
I’m glad the texture was perfect Phi, and I hope you enjoy the version without stevia even better! 🙂