This post may contain affiliate links. Click here for my affiliate disclosure. If you purchase items through my affiliate links, I receive a small commission but your price doesn't change.
The moist pumpkin cake part of this Pumpkin Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Mug Cake for One is not unlike the inside of a pumpkin pie, especially if left on the gooey side (which I prefer). The cake isn’t overwhelmingly spiced like some pumpkin desserts, and the molten cream cheese and chocolate chip center is the perfect complement – no need for frosting! Based off of the ever-popular Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Muffin (which is still my favorite mug muffin/cake of all time), this pumpkin version also uses glucomannan to create a moist, smooth-textured cake.
I’ve never been a fanatic pumpkin person, but I’ve discovered my favorite pumpkin flavor combo: pumpkin + chocolate. And the pumpkin can’t be too spiced. I like a little cinnamon and a touch of cloves, but I’m not a fan of nutmeg and ginger with my pumpkin so I steer clear of pumpkin pie spice. After many years I finally found out that it wasn’t pumpkin I disliked: just the spices that often went along with it! Don’t get me wrong – I love fresh ginger in curries and the like, but for some reason I just don’t enjoy it with pumpkin.
Note: Some people have said that this muffin was not as sweet as they were expecting. Please, please, please feel free to increase the sweetener. If you’ve followed my recipes for any length of time, you know that I prefer things less sweet than most people. 😉 They taste plenty sweet to me! (Taste buds vary a lot with alternative sweeteners.) I personally prefer to err on the lower side and not have an aftertaste. Please make it your own!
PS – Watch for a full size version of this pumpkin cake coming soon! CLICK HERE to sign up for my email newsletters if you want to be notified when it comes out.
You may also enjoy:
As always, check out the Notes section of the recipe for extra info. Check out the links in and below the recipe to see the products I use and recommend. Some of the links included in the recipe and blog post are affiliate links, which means that if you make purchases through these links, I make a small commission (but your price doesn’t change).
This recipe is based off of my Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Muffin recipe, which you can find by CLICKING HERE. Find a vanilla version in my new cookbook, Convenient Food!
Need suggestions for using leftover pumpkin? CLICK HERE to see all my pumpkin recipes in one handy picture index!
Do you have a copy of my new cookbook, Convenient Food, yet? It was just released the end of October and would make a terrific Christmas gift for yourself or someone you love! Both Necessary Food and Convenient Food contain about 400 low-glycemic recipes each, separated by carbs and fats and free of refined sugar and flour (like all the recipes here on my website). I grew up on my momma’s good cooking, and the recipes in these books are mostly just old family favorites made healthy! Now that I’m married, I’m gravitating even more toward quick and easy, and my newest cookbook definitely reflects that! CLICK HERE to check out my cookbooks in more detail and purchase.
Â
- ¼ cup canned pumpkin
- ¼ cup water
- 1 egg
- -
- 3 tablespoons Briana’s Baking Mix
- 1 tablespoon THM Super Sweet Blend (or more, to taste)
- ½ teaspoon glucomannan
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon each cinnamon, ground cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- -
- 2 tablespoons reduced-fat cream cheese
- Sugar-free chocolate chips
- Whisk the pumpkin, water, and egg together in a large mug or a small ceramic bowl.
- Add the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth.
- Drop the cream cheese into the center and top with a sprinkle of sugar-free chocolate chips.
- Microwave for 1 minute, 30 seconds, then check on it and continue microwaving in intervals until done. 2 minutes in the microwave was good for me. My microwave is a little on the weak side, but I do like the muffin on the gooey side.
- Enjoy warm because it will solidify as it cools thanks to the glucomannan. I like to take a bite of the cream cheese center with each bite!
- I recommend adding a little protein on the side if eating this as a meal or snack on its own.
-Different brands of glucomannan can vary in strength, so if you notice an odd texture in the cake, try decreasing the amount a bit.
-Please feel free to increase the sweetener. If you've followed my recipes for any length of time, you know that I prefer things less sweet than most people. 😉 They taste plenty sweet to me! (Taste buds vary a lot with alternative sweeteners.) I personally prefer to err on the lower side and not have an aftertaste. Please make it your own! The sweetness here was good for me since the cream cheese and chocolate chips balance things out. You can add more sweetener to the muffin and also mix some sweetener into the cream cheese before adding it, but I didn't feel like creating an extra step.
-Don't have a microwave? Try baking in the oven at 350* until almost done (I like it still a little gooey in the center).
Â
You can pin this recipe here:
Â
I did a Thanksgiving twist on this muffin this morning… I used 2-4 TB chopped cranberries tossed with gentle or super sweet instead of chocolate chips and added 1/8 tsp almond extract. I also subbed 1 wedge LLCC mixed with 1 TB vanilla yogurt for the cream cheese because we never have cream cheese here. Sprinkle with gentle sweet when done. So yummy!
I made this today and it was really delicious! I used THM baking blend so I decreased the water to 3T and it was a great texture. I didn’t want chocolate but more pumpkin pie so I used a full tsp of pumpkin pie spice instead of the the cinnamon and cloves. I cooked it for 1 min 40 seconds in the microwave and it was perfection! I left out the ingredients and afterward enjoying my treat, I went ahead and prepared the dry ingredients for a few more muffins to use up the rest of the can of pumpkin. Yum! Thank you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it and made it what you were hungry for, Carlyn!
Have you tried tripling or more the recipe and baking it like Pumpkin bread?
No I haven’t, but I have my doubts that it would work well in a larger quantity.
I think a Tablespoon of super sweet was WAY TOO MUCH.
I’m sorry! Taste buds vary A LOT when it comes to alternative sweeteners (most people use more sweetener than I do), so I definitely recommend tasting and adjusting to make things what YOU like. 🙂
Is it supposed to be gentle sweet?
And there is something wrong with the rating button, it only lets me give it three stars…weird!
No, I used Super Sweet, but you can definitely use Gentle Sweet to taste if you prefer.
Thanks for letting me know! I’ll ask my tech guy to check it out.
Do you have to use the glucomannan? I’ve not liked it in other things I’ve made, but haven’t used it for baking. Wondering if it would turn okay without it.
The glucomannan is an important part of this recipe so I don’t recommend omitting it. If you’re using a brand that runs on the strong side, try cutting the amount in half and see if the texture is better for you. 🙂
Briana question. If your making this an “S”, why use reduced fat cream cheese? Thanks!
Just to cut down on needless calories. 🙂 Feel free to use full-fat.
I’ve been needing a new THM friendly dessert to whip up in a pinch when I’m really craving a treat, and this is PERFECT. SO SO delicious and quick! Thank you!
Yay! I’m so glad you liked it, Cassandra!
I had this today for lunch. I think I would have personally preferred to add some sweetener to the cream cheese. It was creamy & filling, but I didn’t love it. Maybe that change would be enough though to love it. Thanks for the recipe!
Yes, you’re probably right – I prefer my stuff not as sweet as most people so some extra sweetener in the cake or the cream cheese or both would not be a bad idea!
Would this work in an oven?
Suggestions for left over pumpkin?
I’m sure you could bake it at 350* until done (but still a little gooey in the center). 🙂
Here’s an index of all my pumpkin recipes! https://www.briana-thomas.com/indexes/fuel-type-allergy-info-theme/pumpkin/