5 Minute Microwave Molten Brownie in a Mug

(Isn't "molten" an incredible word?! It gets my mouth watering before I have even started writing!)

In general, I am not one of those women who goes crazy and cross-eyed for chocolate. If I am going to have a mad hormonal female craving, it will typically go toward the salty and crunchy (ie: french fries!) before it goes toward the sweet and chocolatey. That said, I have my moments where something chocolate is just what is necessary and last night was just such a time. I have been house/puppy sitting for my parents this weekend and last night as I was settling in to watch a movie, I was attacked by a chocolate craving. I started to rummage through their kitchen and the only thing chocolate I could find was soy chocolate ice cream or chocolate chips. Neither were quite right...

Several years ago, I was included on an email chain for a 5-minute microwave chocolate cake. A bunch of my co-workers and I tried it one afternoon and I remember thinking that it was very fun to make, but didn't really taste all that good. I was remembering that concept last night and decided to hop online and see what other kinds of desserts can be microwaved in a coffee mug.

I was completely captured by the word "molten" and ended my search with this recipe. It did, in fact, take only about 5 minutes to whip this up. Now, I will warn you, this brownie is more for those who like a good messey, gooey brownie as opposed to those who like a dignified, pretty, cake-like brownie.

With that warning in place, here you go:

Microwave Molten Brownie in a Mug

4 T flour
4 T sugar
2 T unsweetened cocoa powder
2 T vegetable oil
2 T water
pinch of baking soda
pinch of salt
dash of vanilla
(Anything else that sounds exciting to you such as chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, nuts, almond extract, Bailey's, Kahlua, M&M's, etc. Personally, I went for the Kahlua and it was awesome!)

- Even though we are talking about small quantities, I found it easier to mix everything in a bowl and then plop it into the mug. But do whatever you want. Just mix the dry and wet ingredients separately and then add together. The dough will bit quite thick.
- Microwave your mug of brownie batter for 1 minute.
- Let stand/cool for another minute and enjoy!!!

This brownie is certainly not low in fat or calories and it isn't gluten free. Since I was "cheating" by eating it anyway, I was tempted to just dive in and make it really lethal and top it with the Cookies & Cream ice cream that was in my parent's freezer. But alas, some self-control kicked in and I skipped the ice cream. But for those of you who can eat ice cream without inflicting pain on yourself, I would definitely recommend this brownie with a nice dollop of ice cream on top!!

Happy Monday!