90-Second Pancake In a Mug

Pancake In a Mug is a fun and quick breakfast hack for busy mornings. With just 2 ingredients and 90 seconds, you can make a microwave pancake that's actually light and fluffy.

This easy breakfast is perfect for busy mornings, lazy weekend mornings, and late night cravings. Add your favorite stir-ins and toppings to concoct your own pancake creations.

These mug pancakes are perfect on their own, or alongside Egg & Sausage Biscuit Muffins, Crock Pot Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal, or a Strawberry Smoothie Bowl.

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Easy recipe... or breakfast hack. Ok, let’s just call a spade a spade here. This mug cake recipe is really more of a breakfast food hack to show you how to make fluffy pancakes in the microwave in 90 seconds. Because, let's face it, the "recipe" is just mixing together pancake mix and milk.

Pancakes for one or two. If you have a small household like I do, sometimes you just need one or two pancakes. Well, here you go. This mug pancake recipe is perfect for whipping up a quick breakfast for one or two without hauling out the griddle. 

Light and fluffy pancake. If you like your pancakes thick, but still light and fluffy, a pancake in a mug delivers on all fronts. Because you make the pancake in a microwave-safe mug, it puffs up super high until it’s almost like a muffin, but still light and fluffy like a pancake. 

Choose your toppings and stir-ins. When you make pancakes in a mug, it is completely doable to make plain pancakes, blueberry pancakes, chocolate chip pancakes, AND banana pancakes in about 10 minutes. Just mix up the batter, spoon pancake mix between the mugs and add your stir-ins. So easy and fun! 

Ingredients

There are just two ingredients in this super-cinchy recipe. But the options for stir-ins and toppings are endless. 

Pancake mix. I have used both Bisquick (I always get the Heart Smart one) and Kodiak Cakes mix and both work equally well. If you use Kodiak Cakes mix, add 2 more tablespoons of milk and about 30 seconds more cooking time.

Milk or almond milk. Almond milk is all we keep in the house, so it’s what I always use, but you can use regular milk. 

Optional stir-ins. Blueberries, chocolate chips, bananas, nuts, lemon zest, a dash of cinnamon — whatever you would normally put in your pancakes, you can absolutely put into a mug pancake recipe. 

Toppings. Top your breakfast mug cake with butter, maple syrup, fruit, nuts, a handful of chocolate chips, a dusting of powdered sugar, whipped cream… 

Instructions

Ready for this easy breakfast hack? It’s so simple. 

Step 1

Mix ⅓ cup pancake mix and 3 tablespoons milk in a microwave-safe mug. Stir. 

Step 2

Microwave at 50% power for 90 seconds. 

Note: these times may vary depending on the wattage of your microwave. For reference, mine is 1000 watts. 

Step 3

Top with butter, maple syrup, fruit, nuts -- whatever you love. And that's it!

3 Easy Variations

Whether you're craving blueberry pancakes, chocolate chip pancakes, banana pancakes, or something else, you can absolutely stir it up in a coffee mug. Here's how to make a few basic variations... just to get you started thinking about how you can mix up your own flavors!

Blueberry Pancake

Kind of like a blueberry muffin!

Stir together ⅓ cup pancake mix and 3 tablespoons milk.

Gently fold in 1 tablespoon of blueberries to the pancake batter. If using frozen, quickly rinse them under cold water.

Microwave at 50% power for 90 seconds. 

Top with more blueberries and maple syrup. 

Chocolate Chip Pancake

Stir together ⅓ cup pancake mix and 3 tablespoons milk.

Add ½ tablespoon mini chocolate chips. 

Heat at 50% power for 90 seconds. 

Top with butter, a handful of chocolate chips, and maple syrup. 

Banana Bread Pancake (my favorite!!)

Combine ⅓ cup pancake mix and 3 tablespoons milk.

Stir in:

3-4 slices of mashed banana, fresh or frozen and thawed (I keep a bag of sliced bananas in my freezer — they’re perfect for making smoothies, dairy-free nice cream, and these mug pancakes!)

½ tablespoon walnuts

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

Heat at 50% power for 90 seconds. 

Top with butter, maple syrup, and more walnuts

Expert Tips

Cooking time may vary, depending on your microwave. This recipe was tested in a 1000 watt microwave.

Add your favorite stir-ins to the batter before microwaving.

Frozen blueberries work great! Give them a quick rinse in cold water before adding them to the batter.

Make double chocolate chip pancakes by mixing the pancake batter with chocolate milk!

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