Olympic-Style Double Chocolate Chip Muffins Recipe

If you’re like me, then you’re sick of not being able to enjoy these gooey chocolate chip muffins at the 2024 Paris Olympics and want to make them at home.

Most recipes online for chocolate chip muffins are either for just basic muffins (vanilla cake batter, chips), or are double choc but focus on moistness rather than a gooey centre.

I want that gooey centre, and I’m sure you do too. So I synthesized a few recipes to get the perfect one. This is triple choc.

The core elements that make this recipe different are:

A frozen ganache that melts in the middle for the fondant core
Use sour cream rather than buttermilk
Use vegetable oil rather than butter
Coffee (you can use instant coffee, or reduce some of the milk and add a shot of espresso)
A generous amount of chips

That’s it!

This recipe yields 12 double chocolate chip muffins.

Note: I didn’t go to the Olympics. So these aren’t guaranteed to be authentic! But they’ll scratch the itch.

Also, I’m not a food blogger. Look at the rest of this blog! It’s just a random collection of stuff. So, sorry if the photos aren’t super cute etc.

Ingredients

I’ve listed some imperial measurements for the sake of American readers. I usually weigh things, though, as it’s more repeatable (you can pack flour down, for example).

Dry ingredients
- 240g (~2 cups) plain flour (I measured my flour and 1 cup is 130 g)
- 75g (2.5 oz) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 200g (~1 cup) granulated sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp instant coffee powder (optional)
- 200g (~1 heaped cup, ~7 oz) dark chocolate chips (3/4 of it for batter, 1/4 for sprinkling)
Wet ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- 185 g (2/3 cup) full-fat sour cream
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) whole milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Ganache (fondant)
- 150g (5 oz) dark chocolate chips
- 90ml (just over 1/3 cup) heavy cream

In addition to those things, you’ll need a 12-count muffin tray and cupcake liners.

Instructions

Prepare the ganache ahead of time if you get a chance. The more frozen, the better.

I bold-face ingredients so they’re easy to find.

Prepare ganache: Melt chocolate in a bain marie (or microwave) and mix with heavy cream. Freeze it. You’ll need to have frozen it for around 30 minutes before baking.
Preheat oven to 220°C (non fan-forced). Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
Mise-en-place: Bring out all ingredients. Bring the refrigerated ones to room temperature — pop the eggs in a glass of water, and zap the sour cream and milk in the microwave. (This helps prevent over-mixing, which ensures a soft crumb, not a chewy texture like you get with some muffins)
Combine dry ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and instant coffee powder (if using). (Coffee enriches the chocolatey taste — an old trick for chocolate cake).
- Reserve 1/4 of the chocolate chips, and stir the remaining 3/4 of the chocolate chips into the dry mixture.
Combine wet ingredients: In another bowl, whisk together eggs, sour cream, vegetable oil, milk, and vanilla extract until well combined.
Fold: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Fold together with a spatula until just combined. Don’t overmix it; the batter should be thick and slightly lumpy.
Make cupcakes with frozen ganache.
- Fill half of each cupcake
- Then place frozen ganache spoonfuls
- Then place remainder of cupcake batter on top.
Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 chocolate chips over the muffins, gently pressing them into the batter.
Bake at 220°C for 5 minutes only, then reduce the oven temperature to 180°C without opening the oven door. (The extra heat at the beginning helps the muffins set quickly, while causing the inside to rise, giving it the domed look)
Continue baking for another 15 minutes. The centre can still be moist — these are supposed to have a gooey centre!
Cool muffins in their tray for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.