These ridiculously easy molten vegan lava cakes use just 7 pantry staple ingredients and no eggs nor dairy for just two deliciously rich chocolate cakes with warm, gooey chocolate centers!

molten lava cake on a plate

What are molten lava cakes?

Molten lava cakes are the ultimate decadent chocolate dessert, and these vegan lava cakes taste just like the classic. A lava cake is almost like an undercooked cake- but with the best result. It’s a balance between cake and soufflé, and filled with chocolate so that when you break into the middle of your lava cake, out pours a rush of molten chocolate.

These vegan lava cakes are undetectably eggless, dairy free, and gluten free. Traditionally, lava cakes are made with eggs, regular butter, and flour. You can still make these vegan lava cakes with regular flour, but to make these lava cakes super allergy friendly, we’re making a few ingredient swaps while still maintaining that classic lava cake taste AND texture.

What’s more, making vegan lava cakes is actually easier than making traditional lava cakes. These chocolate molten lava cakes are quick and easy to make, which means they’re the perfect dessert for dinner parties, Valentine’s Day, or a fun date night in!

sliced molten lava cake on a plate

Ingredients:

As we mentioned above, we’re using super simple ingredients that happen to be not only vegan and gluten free, but naturally nut free and soy free as well. Here’s what you need:

  • Flour
  • Oil: I use a neutral oil like sunflower or olive oil. You can also use vegan butter, like Miyoko’s vegan butter, here. However, for nut-free, I recommend Flora Plant Butter. Earth Balance is also a good option.
  • Chocolate: I recommend using a high quality dark chocolate. Valrhona has amazing vegan chocolates, as well as Pascha Chocolate (my all time favorite chocolate company). For less sugar, I recommend Pascha Organics’ stevia sweetened chocolate. All of their chocolate is always vegan so rest assured, you’re choosing a great Fair Trade high quality chocolate!
  • Sugar: I have used both coconut sugar and granulated sugar in this recipe, and either work. For a vegan granulated sugar, ensure that your sugar is organic. Organic granulated sugar is vegan. I recommend Florida Crystals if it’s available to you.
  • Cocoa powder
  • Dairy free milk & baking powder: This combination replaces the eggs found in traditional molten chocolate lava cakes!
bitten into vegan lava cake on a plate

Do I need any special equipment for this recipe?

For these vegan lava cakes, you really don’t need much. A medium microwave safe bowl and a hand whisk or a hand mixer will do.

In terms of baking the cakes, molten lava cakes are traditionally baked in ramekins. However, you can also use a large 6-cup muffin tin, like I did. This recipe makes 3 vegan lava cakes, so you’ll use 3 ramekins.

How to make vegan lava cakes (overview)

For the full written instructions and ingredient measurements, see the bottom of this post in the recipe card. You can also hit the “jump to recipe” button at the top of this post! Here, we’ll go over a brief overview of the steps, along with providing visuals for a better understanding of the recipe.

Can I prepare this vegan lava cake recipe ahead of time?

Molten lava cakes, vegan and traditional, are best prepared right before serving, much like a chocolate soufflé. So unfortunately, I do not recommend prepping these cakes ahead of time. You’ll want the middles to be very warm and molten (hence the name!).

vegan lava cake on a plate

How to serve vegan lava cakes

I recommend serving these amazing vegan molten lava cakes topped with vegan vanilla ice cream. You can also use store bought or homemade vegan coconut whipped cream, and top with fresh berries or shaved chocolate!

Want to save this recipe for later? Add it to your favorite recipe board on Pinterest!

If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!

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molten lava cake on a plate

One Bowl 7 Ingredient Vegan Lava Cakes for Two

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 3 reviews
  • Author: Britt Berlin
  • Prep Time: 5
  • Cook Time: 15
  • Total Time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 2 1x
  • Category: Cake
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Vegan

Description

These ridiculously easy molten vegan lava cakes use just 7 pantry staple ingredients and no eggs nor dairy for just two deliciously rich chocolate cakes with warm, gooey chocolate centers!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 tbsp (35 g) neutral oil
  • 3 ounces (85 g) vegan chocolate
  • 3 tbsp (36 g) sugar
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/8 tsp sea salt
  • 1 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup (56 g) all purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup (60 mL) dairy free milk
  • 24 large squares of chocolate, for the centers 

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375F and prepare your ramekins with oil and a dusting of cocoa powder..
  2. In a medium microwave safe bowl, heat the vegan chocolate in 30-second intervals until melted, stirring between each interval. Add in the oil and stir until combined. Add in the sugar, baking powder, sea salt, and cocoa powder, and whisk together vigorously.
  3. Add in the flour and dairy free milk, and mix until there are no more clumps.
  4. Fill the ramekins 3/4 of the way full with batter. Add 1 heaping tbsp of chocolate squares into the middle of each bowl.
  5. Add the remaining batter on top, and place the ramekins onto a baking sheet and into the oven to bake for 14-16minutes, or until the middle just begins to set.
  6. Remove from the oven and let cool and set for 10 minutes.
  7. Use a knife to run along the edges of the cake (use oven mitts if the ramekins are hot) and flip over gently onto serving plates.
  8. Top with vegan coconut whipped cream or vegan vanilla ice cream (I used Forager Project here). Enjoy!

Notes

Flour: If you’re not strictly gluten free, you can swap in all purpose flour. If you’re gluten free, please ensure that your oat flour is certified gluten free.

Lower sugar: Swap out regular vegan chocolate chips for stevia sweetened or 100% cocoa vegan chocolate chips.

Nut Free: If using a vegan butter, make sure that the vegan butter you use does not contain any nuts. Make sure to also use a nut-free dairy free milk.