A note to men everywhere: no matter what a girl says she wants in life, chocolate is always on the list.
And it’s usually up there pretty high, especially if it’s gooey, melted chocolate.
Ladies, maybe it’s been one of those days for you…or maybe it’s that time of month (girls, you know we get legit cravings)…or maybe it’s just a Thursday evening. Whatever the occasion or reason behind your chocolate cravings, this little gem of a recipe is not to be missed.
The outside of these cakes are dense and brownie-like and the centers are rich and spoonably gooey. It’s everything we love about molten lava cake, but with a bit healthier ingredients swapped in for things like white flour and white sugar. I want to mention, I prefer the mellower flavor of almond butter over peanut butter here, but peanut butter will also work (actually, any unsweetened creamy nut butter should be ok, so feel free to go as crazy as you like).
For as decadent and impressive as this dessert is, it is so easy to make. Give me 15 minutes and I’ll give you insanely yummy grain-free, gluten-free Molten Chocolate Lava Cake…and the perfect way to satiate your most indulgent chocolate cravings.
Now, even though this recipe is more nutritious and uses less processed ingredients than your average lava cake, it is a bit higher in fat and calories than many other recipes on this site…so I recommend saving this one for special occasions. It’s worth the splurge once in a while though. ;)

Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes for Two
- Total Time: 15 mins
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
Description
The outside of these cakes are dense and brownie-like and the centers are rich and spoonably gooey.
Ingredients
- 3 oz (85 g; about ⅔ cup chopped) bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I use between 65-72% cacao; note that the flavor will be a bit more bitter/intense the darker you use)
- 2 tablespoons grass-fed butter (or ghee or coconut oil), plus a little more for greasing the dishes
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened creamy almond butter
- 4 tablespoons coconut sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon instant espresso powder
- 1 pinch fine salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F; grease 2 (6 oz) ramekins with butter.
- Melt the chocolate in the microwave or double boiler. Stir in the butter until melted, and then stir in the almond butter until combined. Whisk in the coconut sugar, egg, vanilla, espresso powder, and salt.
- Pour the batter into the 2 prepared ramekins and bake until the cakes are set along the outside, but are still a little wobbly in the center, about 9 to 11 minutes.
- Cool a couple minutes and then serve while still warm so they’re gooey in the center. (Note that these cakes tend to sink in the center after cooling for a couple minutes; this is normal because the center is molten!)
Notes
The Next Day: You can serve these the next day, but they’re a bit different. If kept at room temperature, they’re more ganache-like in the center rather than melty/gooey, and if kept in the fridge, they’re more fudgy in the center.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cake
- Calories: 518
- Sugar: 30
- Sodium: 108
- Fat: 43
- Saturated Fat: 21
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 41
- Fiber: 5
- Protein: 9
- Cholesterol: 148
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