Individual Chocolate Peanut Butter Lava Cakes, Gluten Free

Homemade individual peanut butter chocolate lava cakes are mini bites of heavenly goodness. Decadent dark chocolate cake (gluten-free made from almond flour), with a to-die-for melty peanut butter center. Real food ingredients, real-life deliciousness. This recipe makes one serving, but you can easily double, triple, or quadruple it. 

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!

Get ready for your new favorite dessert.

These molten chocolate peanut butter lava cakes are:

• Decadently delicious
• Made with almond flour and other wholesome ingredients
• Super easy to make – like seriously easy
• So ooey gooey in the center you may shed a tear of joy
• 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

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 peanut butter filled chocolate lava cake recipes 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 a 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 more traditional white flour and I am here to report that it works BUT the almond flour version is tastier.
• Salt – 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 recipe is seriously so easy! In the below recipe card you will find the recipe for ONE four-ounce ramekin lava cake. You can double, triple, or quadruple the recipe. 

• Use GREAT chocolate. 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.
• Do not overbake – I found that 20-25 minutes was the perfect bake time. At the 20 minute mark, the lava cake is super melty and moist, with a puffy crisp top. 
• Top with powdered sugar, chopped dark chocolate (which then melts for a bonus drizzly chocolate on top), and/or vanilla ice cream. 

TIPS FOR A PERFECT MELTY PEANUT BUTTER CENTER:

• Natural peanut butter WILL work, but creamy peanut butter works best.
• 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. 

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. 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.

 

MORE SWEET TREAT RECIPES YOU WILL LOVE:

Cinnamon Sweet Potato Bread

Tropical Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Grain-Free Tahini Espresso Brownies

The BEST Almond Flour Banana Bread

 

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!