A rich and luxurious Air Fryer Chocolate Lava Cake with that gooey molten chocolate center! This healthy air fryer lava cake is made with cocoa powder and protein powder, and is a great dessert for one.

This molten chocolate cake in the air fryer took me 2 attempts to nail, but it was worth it.

That gooey melty chocolatey center was definitely worth it!

First one ended up being a cooked chocolate cake, but still had the rich flavor so I won’t complain about that.

Ingredients for Air Fryer Protein Lava Cake

This single serve air fryer protein lava cake is made with a few simple and healthy ingredients, and has no butter or oil and no sugar either!

Gluten Free (All Purpose) Baking Flour – or a regular all purpose flour
Chocolate Protein Powder needed for high protein lava cake and also replaces the ‘sugar’. I used half Chocolate Milkshake protein powder from Quest Nutrition, and half Protein World Whey for this recipe.
Code HAYLSKITCHEN gives a discount on ProteinWorld;
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder or Cacao Powder
A bit of Greek Yogurt to add moisture since there’s no butter or oil in here
Egg Whites for extra protein
Unsweetened Almond Milk
A bit of Vanilla Extract
Baking Powder

And then for some of the lava center

Chopped Chocolate or Chocolate Chips! I’d recommend the sugar free ones from La k anto. Use my code HAYLSKITCHEN for a 15% discount on all the Lakanto products on their website!

If you need to add more sweetness, Stevia Powder or Zero Calorie Sugar Substitute; I use Lakanto, to keep this raw protein brownie batter recipe sugar free; (code HAYLSKITCHEN for a discount here too)

Tips to make Air Fryer Lava Cake with Cocoa Powder and Protein Powder

This chocolate air fryer lava cake really is an easy one and made in a mug or ramekin, but make sure you do all of this stuff to get is perfect.

Grease the ramekin! You want the lava cake to come off easily.
Use an oven-safe mug if you need.

Don’t over-mix the batter!
Make sure you gently fold the dry mix into the wet to combine them.
If you over-mix it, the protein powder will make your protein lava cake tough, dense and gummy.

Taste the batter and see if you need some extra sweetener. I’d recommend using stevia powder to maintain the consistency of the batter.

Don’t overcook. The top will should be just cooked and crusty, but will slightly jiggle when moved.
It will continue to cook when out, and you want the proper gooey molten lava center.

Wait for the cake to cool a bit.

Run a knife along the side of the ramekin to loosen it so it comes off smoothly when you flip it on a plate.

Alternates for this Healthy Air Fryer Protein Powder Lava Cake

I recommend making this a healthy air fryer chocolate lava cake with the protein powder and other ingredients listed since it gives the best results.

If you need other options for the flours and such, here’s some alternatives for a healthy air fryer lava cake for one:

Chocolate Protein Powder: Use Vanilla
Egg Whites: 2 Tbsp aquafaba (chickpea liquid). I haven’t given this a try yet though.
Greek Yogurt: Coconut Yogurt, Pumpkin Puree, Mashed Banana
Almond Milk: Any other milk

A Vegan Air Fryer Molten Lava Cake

This air fryer molten lava cake recipe has no butter or milk and can easily be made Vegan too.

For the perfect Vegan protein lava cake in the air fryer, make sure you use a plant based protein powder, aquafaba and coconut yogurt.

ProteinWorld has a Vegan protein blend that would work well here (HAYLSKITCHEN for the discount here too).

More Chocolate Protein Powder Air Fryer Desserts: