Homemade individual peanut butter chocolate molten lava cakes are mini bites of heavenly goodness. These rich and gooey gluten-free cakes are a dark chocolate and peanut butter lovers dream come true. The perfect dessert for a special occasion or a date night.
Get ready for your new favorite dessert.
Love chocolate? Try my FAVORITE Brownie Recipe (Dark Chocolate, Tahini, Espresso, YUM!) and the #1 recipe on Abra's Kitchen – Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies!
WHY YOU WILL LOVE THIS RECIPE
- Intensely delicious and super ooey gooey in the center… you may shed a tear of joy.
- Real food ingredients, real-life deliciousness. This recipe makes one serving, but you can easily double, triple, or quadruple because this is bound to become a crowd favorite that will be savored to the last bite.
- Made with almond flour and other wholesome ingredients for your gluten-free pleasure.
- Super easy to make – like seriously easy- just a few basic ingredients.
- Perfect for an intimate dinner for two, Valentine's Day, a solo night when you have a hankering for something special, or a small dinner party
- Peanut Butter AND Chocolate…C'mon!
Let's Get Cooking!
INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO MAKE THIS RECIPE
Detailed measurements and ingredients can be found within the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Chocolate – Dark chocolate is my preference, I've tested this recipe with both chocolate chips (super dark) and dark chocolate bars (85% cacao), and both work. Please don't skimp on the quality of the chocolate, it will make a huge difference.
- Peanut Butter – Most recipes for peanut butter chocolate lava cakes will tell you that you MUST use non-natural peanut butter, like Jiff or Skippy (these are poor quality peanut like products and not brands that I recommend) I am here to tell you this is false. I have tested this recipe with 4 different kinds of natural peanut butter and they all work! Creamy peanut butter is the best, see below for my peanut butter tip.
- Egg – I haven't tested it but I am confident that for a vegan version or egg-free version you can substitute a flax egg or a chia egg.
- Coconut Oil – This helps the lava cake have that decadent center
- Maple Syrup and Coconut Palm Sugar – The maple syrup is used in the peanut butter melty bomb portion of the recipe, the coconut palm sugar is for the cake. You can substitute honey for maple syrup or regular sugar or brown sugar for coconut palm sugar.
- Almond Flour – My favorite wholesome baking ingredient! I've tested the recipe using a more traditional white flour mixture and I am here to report that it works BUT the almond flour version is tastier. I'm finding that almond flour is quickly becoming my preferred baking flour.
- Salt – A little bit is necessary in all baked goods.
- Vanilla Extract – I add vanilla extract to just about every chocolate baked good.
TOOLS YOU WILL USE
- Microwave safe bowl
- Mixing bowls
- 4-ounce Ramekins
- Spatula
TIPS FOR MAKING INDIVIDUAL CHOCOLATE LAVA CAKES
This decadent dessert recipe is seriously so easy! In the recipe card below you will find the recipe for ONE four-ounce ramekin lava cake. You can double, triple, or quadruple the recipe.
- Use GREAT chocolate. Great Chocolate = Great molten cake flavor. If you use a chocolate bar, chop it into small bits so it is easier to melt. Chocolate chips also work and are a bit easier to work with.
- The darker the chocolate the better, IMHO, but I am not a milk chocolate fan. I find chocolate with a cacao content of 55 percent and up makes the best rich chocolate cake flavor for this indulgent dessert.
- Do not overbake – For best results, I found that 20-25 minutes was the perfect cook time. At the 20-minute mark, the lava cake is super melty and moist, with a puffy crisp top.
- Finish the top of the cake with powdered confectioners’ sugar, chopped dark chocolate (which then melts for a bonus drizzly chocolate on top), and/or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
TIPS FOR A PERFECT MELTY PEANUT BUTTER CENTER
- Natural peanut butter WILL work, but creamy peanut butter makes the best peanut butter centers.
- In a small bowl combine peanut butter, coconut oil, and maple syrup. Warm slightly either in a microwave (15-25 seconds) or in a double boiler.
- The coconut oil should be completely melted and well incorporated with the peanut butter and maple syrup.
- At this stage place the peanut butter mixture in the freezer while you prepare the other ingredients. You can either pour onto wax paper and freeze, or freeze directly in the bowl.
- Once you are ready to bake remove from the freezer: *If you placed on wax paper, remove and do your best to roll into a ball. *If you froze the peanut butter in a bowl use a scooper to scoop out a ball of peanut butter.
- Pour half of the chocolate batter into ramekins, place the peanut butter ball in the center and top with the remaining chocolate batter.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Over mixing is. the culprit. Over mixing can cause the air pockets into the batter to become too large, thus unable to support the weight of the cake. Also, if the oven temperature it too high it can cause the cake to rise too quickly and then fall.
Most cite chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten as having accidentally discovered the recipe when he mistakenly pulled a sponge cake out of the oven too early, to find a delicious runny molten center. Jacques Torres is also credited with the recipe's origin.
As with all molten cakes, it is best enjoyed fresh out of the oven. Don't waste your time trying to save this for later. Savor the deliciousness in the moment of its optimal hot molten freshness.
DIETARY MODIFICATIONS FOR THIS RECIPE
This recipe is dairy-free and gluten-free
- Vegan – Replace the egg with a flax or chia egg
- Low Fodmap – This depends on how well you tolerate chocolate, almond flour at 1/4 cup is low fodmap, and the portion of coconut palm sugar is also low fodmap.
- Paleo – Peanut butter is technically not paleo-friendly, if you follow those “rules” you can substitute the peanut butter for almond butter.
- Keto – I haven't tested a keto-friendly version of this recipe. You can try and let me know how it turns out. For keto lava cake, reduce or replace the coconut palm sugar and use a very dark low sugar or no sugar chocolate.
- Nut-Free – I tested the recipe with white flour and it works perfectly fine, you can replace the peanut butter with sunflower seed butter.
I can’t wait for you to try this Molten Chocolate Peanut Butter Lava Cake! When you make it, snap a photo and tag me on Instagram @abrapappa or use the hashtag #abraskitchen so I can feature your photo!
If you’ve tried this recipe, don’t forget to rate and leave a comment below. I love to hear from people who’ve made my recipes!
Peanut Butter Chocolate Lava Cake – Gluten Free
Ingredients
Peanut Butter Filling
- 1 tbsp creamy peanut butter
- 1 tsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp maple syrup
Almond Flour Chocolate Cake
- 2 tbsp dark chocolate chips
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup coconut palm sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup almond flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°
- In a small bowl combine peanut butter, coconut oil, and maple syrup. Microwave for 15 seconds until melted and then place in the freezer while you prepare the other ingredients.
- In a small bowl combine chocolate chips and coconut oil, and microwave for 30 seconds. Remove from microwave and stir continuously until all of the chocolate has melted. If needed place back in the microwave for 10-second increments until the chocolate has completely melted. Allow to cool slightly at room temperature.
- In another bowl whisk together egg and coconut palm sugar. Whisk well until creamy and well combined. Stir in vanilla extract, cooled chocolate mixture, and salt, stir until well combined. Add almond flour and stir until just combined.
- Remove peanut butter from the freezer and scoop into a ball.
- Using a 4 ounce ramekin, spray with non-stick spray (I used coconut oil). Pour 1/2 of the batter into the prepared ramekins, top with the frozen peanut butter ball, pour the remaining batter into the ramekin. Top with a sprinkling of chocolate chips.
- Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes or until the cake has puffed up and the edges are crisp. A toothpick inserted into the center of the cake will not come out clean.
- Serve with chocolate sauce, whipped cream, powdered sugar, or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Notes
Nutrition
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Dana Suss says
I made the paleo version since I only had almond butter handy at my house. It was beyond delicious!