Soft fluffy dough, warm gooey apple inside, a caramel drizzle on top–this healthy Caramel Apple Cinnamon Roll Mug Cake is one cozy quick microwave treat you need to try this fall! Vegan, gluten-free, oil-free.
A single serve recipe?? How un-Thanksgiving of me considering it is Thanksgiving tomorrow. Instead of attempting some sort of savory stuffing or sweet potato something or traditional Thanksgiving thing, I decided to take advantage of this last feels-like-fall week before the Christmas craze hits to focus on one of my favorite fruits: apples!
If you are currently operating in Thanksgiving brain, then maybe hop over to this post instead and just ignore the little number at the top that reads 2015. A Thanksgiving feast Buddha bowl style would still be a perfect last minute meal. I honestly haven’t decided yet what I will be doing, all I know for sure is that there will be pumpkin pie. (Read: I’m probably just going to skip the meal and eat an obscene amount of pumpkin pie instead. Don’t judge, it’s my tradition.)
So no last minute side dish ideas here. However, if you are still searching for that perfect pumpkin dessert that I can help with…
-There is my favorite Date-Sweetened Pumpkin Pie.
-Or there are the mini Pumpkin Pie Cups, party of 4 (Or 8 or 12, just multiply that recipe as needed!)
-The pudding form: Pumpkin Pie Parfait
-The frozen form: Pumpkin Pie Nice Cream
-And I think that is…no wait! Pumpkin Creme Brûlée–can’t forget that fancier form.
But enough pumpkin talk, the Caramel Apple Cinnamon Roll Mug Cake is starting to get jealous…
But Thanksgiving really isn’t supposed to be just about the food anyways, so I am thankful for ramekins for being the perfect vessel for baking up single serve desserts. I am thankful for microwaves, the perfect power source for the hungry and impatient. I am thankful to whomever it was that first thought to make cake in the microwave–a true genius.
I am thankful for tapioca starch for making the spongy gluten-like cinnamon roll texture possible without gluten. I am thankful for 5-Minute Caramel Apple Butter for being a super fast and fantastically fruity filling for this rolled up ramekin recipe. I am thankful for baking powder and lemon juice because together they are an unstoppable fluffiness-creating force.
And you thought this wasn’t going to be a Thanksgiving themed post! Actually I was thinking the same thing at the beginning there, but once I got to writing I realized just how many little things there are to be grateful for in something as simple as a mug cake roll. And in every recipe or snack or bite of food for that matter. I’m sure I could expand this into some sort of cinnamon roll = life metaphor right about now, but I will refrain and just get to the recipe.
The caramel apple butter is really the star of this recipe, acting as both the sweetener in the dough and as the filling. Oh, and the sauce drizzled on top actually, just thinned out a bit.
So I know there are some of you out there who are tired of me using tapioca starch in so many of my recipes, but I don’t do it without good reason. It’s amazing stuff! And very much necessary to keep this cinnamon roll in a mug from turning into cinnamon crumbles in a mug. Tapioca starch simultaneous acts as the egg replacer and gluten-substitute in this recipe, binding the dough to make it easier to roll and also giving it a very gluten-like texture after baking.
I tested it with both ground chia and flax in place of the tapioca flour and the texture was nowhere near as good. Cornstarch would be the next best thing, but I highly suggest you invest in a bag of tapioca starch. Most oat flour based baked goods are better with it I have found. It’s relatively inexpensive, and one bag will last you a while since most recipes only use a quarter cup or so.
Soft fluffy cinnamon dough, warm gooey caramel apple insides, drizzle of extra apple flavor on top–diving into this irresistible warm-from-the-microwave mug is quite the cozy treat!
Caramel Apple Cinnamon Roll Mug Cake
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 minutes
- Total Time: 7 minutes
- Yield: 1 serving 1x
Description
Soft fluffy dough, warm gooey apple inside, a caramel drizzle on top–this healthy Caramel Apple Cinnamon Roll Mug Cake is one cozy microwave treat you need to try this fall! Vegan, gluten-free, oil-free.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup oat flour
- 1/4 cup tapioca starch
- 1/4 cup Caramel Apple Butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- More Caramel Apple Butter for filling and topping and chopped pecans (optional)
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients for the dough. Mix to form a sticky ball of dough.
- Lightly spray a sheet of wax paper with coconut oil.
- Press out the dough into a long thin strip about 1-2 inches wide and 10-12 inches long (see video for example).
- Dollop a line of apple butter down the center of the dough. Roll up the dough, using the wax paper to help it along. Transfer to a ramekin.
- Microwave for 1.5-2 minutes on high (see notes for oven option).
- Let it cool slightly before topping with more apple butter (I thinned it out with maple syrup to a drizzle-able consistency) and a sprinkling of chopped pecans. Enjoy!
Notes
If you prefer not to use the microwave, you can bake it in the oven for 15-17 minutes at 350F.
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Natalie i loveeee your recipes. I’m celiac so this help me with my sweet tooth. Unfortunely i can’t eat oats (and i can’t find gf oats). How can i replace in your recipes? Rice flour or brown rice can work? I need your help!!
Natalie i loveeee your recipes. I’m celiac so this help me with my sweet tooth. Unfortunely i can’t eat oats (and i can’t find gf oats). How can i replace in your recipes? Rice flour or brown rice can work? I need your help!!!
Natalie i loveeee your recipes. I’m celiac so this help me with my sweet tooth. Unfortunely i can’t eat oats (and i can’t find gf oats). How can i replace in your recipes? Rice flour or brown rice can work?
Hi Anne! There is no one straight substitute for oats/oat flour, it will vary recipe to recipe. In many cases buckwheat or quinoa flour could work (in this recipe for instance). Brown rice flour alone will not usually work, but in combination with a starch like tapioca starch it could work. A gluten-free pre-mixed flour blend will often work, it just depends. Always feel free to ask me though and I can offer suggestions based on the recipe 🙂
Lots to be thankful for ? I love it! And I love that you threw in an apple recipe to change it up – don’t get me wrong, I love pumpkin, but I haven’t seen enough apple recipes this season! You’re becoming the mug cake queen!! This looks amazing with that caramel apple butter and pecans are a perfect addition!
Happy Thanksgiving, friend! ❤️
Yes pumpkin certainly has been stealing the show hasn’t it. I can’t even count how many hundreds of pumpkin recipes I’ve seen and pinned these past few months, way way more than apple ones. Ha what can I say, I love how easy they are! Thanks for stopping by and wishing you a very very happy Thanksgiving too <333
I love your skip to the pie tradition — no judgement there at all 😀 In fact, I feel like I often skip to the dessert, no excuse other than something yummy needed ? This mug cake though! 😮 It looks so, so good with the caramel (my weakness!). I actually made something similarly caramel topped 2 days ago as well, which is perhaps why I’m so excited about your cake 😀 The sight of caramel and you’ve got my attention… But what’s wrong with tapioca??
Too obscure to find I guess, plus you know how people get about having to use more than one flour in a recipe? Idk, I personally love the stuff and can’t bake without it! Hehe I ended up having cake too…not complaining 🙂
Oh no way!! It’s just 2 types of flours here — your recipes are so easy like that. I’m looking at some of my older recipes (thousand gf flours) wondering who on earth had the energy to go search for all those ? so 2 flours sounds easy, peasy in comparison ?
I HAVE EVERYTHING!!!! I know what I’m making for a snack this weekend! YUM-O.
Woohoo!! You’r kitchen must be equally as fall stocked as mine then 🙂 Hope you like!!
Ok, my sweet friend Mandy took the words out of my mouth, you are officially the mugcake QUEEN! This is just so pretty Natalie and that drizzle on top just completes it! I’m catching up on your posts and can’t wait to check out that apple butter! I have about 6 apples right now in my fridge waiting to be used in recipes, although we eat them for snacks as well. Both Olivia and I are HUGE apple lovers. You know how I feel about tapioca, so no complaints here, I use it a ton, too! It’s amazing stuff and it is SO MUCH better than arrowroot. I have tried arrowroot many times in baked goods and every single time I cannot stand the off taste and the texture. Tapioca and potato starch are my go-tos. Cornstarch (unless small amounts) leaves a very powdery texture, yuck. Amazing cake! I’ll take 4 please!
I have so many different bags of apples and pears in my fridge right now I can’t even remember which I bought for snacking and which I bought for recipes lol. I didn’t get around to making as many apple recipes this fall as I had hoped, pumpkin distractions, but they are a year round flavor/fruit for me! Arrowroot is strange stuff…too gummy I find. And yes the starchy mouthfeel that cornstarch gives–not yummy. Tapioca is the perfect starch, there’s just no way around it 🙂 And I very much prefer it to using things like chia/flax to bind too! I need to experiment with potato starch more so I can answer substitution questions better. Ha thank you, I am loving mug-baking of late 😀
My boss is a celiac and is allergic to tapioca. Fairly devastating, I know!!! My own daughter is GF for medical reasons, so I have things like Ener-G egg replacer. Would this recipe work with the Ener-G egg replacer, rather than the tapioca starch? Looking for the perfect “non-gift” for my boss for Christmas.
Hi Kristy! If I’m not mistaken, Ener-G egg replacer contains tapioca does it not? So it probably won’t work for your boss. Corn starch will work here though, or possibly even potato starch. Hope that helps!
Looks amazing! Is there a could I just use all oat flour ? I am struggling to find tapioca starch!!!
Hi Tamzin! If you use all oat flour the texture will be really dry and crumbly, I tried it. Sorry! The tapioca works as both a flour and an egg replacer/binder here. You can try using a couple of flax or chia eggs or sub cornstarch for the tapioca. Hope that helps!
Hi!! Looks so yummy!! i really want to try this asap!!! Whats the equivalent of oat flour to gluten free flour as I cannot have oat flour 🙁
I can only have coconut flour, rice flour or gluten free flour..
thanks!!
Hmmm I can’t guarantee swapping out the flour will work the same, but if you want to give it a shot then I would start with 1/3 cup and just add slowly as needed to get a dough that is still as sticky as possible but can be pressed out and rolled. Good luck!
Thanks Natalie! Question where do you buy gluten free oat flour as I cant find any in NZ? 🙂
★★★★★
Hi Venice! I personally am not celiac so I do not worry about buying GF oats all the time, but if you do want certified GF ones you can order them on Amazon or find them at most health food stores in my experience. The Bob’s Red Mill is the easiest to find around here, but it may be different where you are. Good luck!
Where do you find caramel apple butter?
Right here! https://www.feastingonfruit.com/5-minute-caramel-apple-butter/ Sorry that link must’ve broken when I switched recipe plugins. Enjoy 🙂
Where do you find caramel apple butter?