Chocolate Baking Dessert

We've recreated the Olympic chocolate muffin – it's a winner

Name: Chocolate muffin recipe
Ingredients: 3 tsp instant coffee granules; 125.00 ml hot milk; 500.00 ml plain flour; 125.00 ml Dutch cocoa powder; 1¼ tsp bicarb soda; ¾ cup (170g) firmly packed dark brown sugar; 280g yoghurt; ½ cup (125ml) vegetable oil; 1 large egg, lightly beaten; 1 tsp vanilla bean paste; 100g dark (70%) chocolate, roughly chopped, plus 12 squares extra; 100g milk chocolate, roughly chopped

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by Lucy Nunes

Delicious Team

Aug 08, 2024

It's the chocolate treat that went viral at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Now you can eat like an athlete and create the TikTok sensation at home.

What makes these the best chocolate muffins?

Instant coffee

You can’t actually taste the coffee in these extra chocolatey muffins, but the small amount of coffee will bring out the richness of the chocolate flavour. It’s a trick many bakers use when baking chocolate cakes.

Plain flour and bicarb soda

Muffins often call for self-raising flour; we chose to go with plain flour and bicarb, as bicarb will give the baked goods a darker colour. You can substitute the plain flour and bicarb with self-raising, if you prefer.

Dutch cocoa powder

Dutch cocoa powder is darker in colour than baking cocoa powder, so will give your muffins a richer colour. But more importantly, it has a more intense chocolate flavour, which is key to this chocolate muffin extravaganza. You can find it in the baking section of supermarkets.

Dark brown sugar

You can use brown sugar, but we chose dark brown sugar, which has even more molasses for a deeper, richer flavour.

Thick Greek-style yoghurt

Yoghurt will give you a thick batter for a beautifully domed muffin in which the chocolate will not sink to the bottom.

Vegetable oil

While butter is most often used in baking, vegetable oil is great for muffins, as it gives a lighter and moister crumb and will help extend the shelf life of your muffins. Choose an oil such as canola or grapeseed.

Vanilla bean paste

There are many ways to impart a vanilla flavour. Vanilla bean paste is a great product and a great choice for quality and price: it’s cheaper than vanilla beans but still contains actual vanilla seeds. You can also use vanilla extract.

Chocolate

We didn’t skimp on the chocolate for this muffin. We went with chocolate bars rather than melts or chips, so you get big chunks of chocolate that will soften and start to melt but still keep their shape. We also used a mix of dark (70%) and milk chocolate so when you bite into the muffin, you get the contrast between mouthfuls of sweet and bitter. The trick is also to roughly chop the chocolate so you get nice chunks.

Make sure to choose a thick chocolate bar (this is also important for the 12 squares of chocolate that you add when the muffins come out of the oven). Keep the bigger bits to decorate on top and don’t waste the small crumbs of chocolate on your chopping board – be sure to add them to the batter.

How to store your chocolate muffins

For a full lava effect, these delicious muffins need to be eaten warm, or reheated in a microwave for 15-20 seconds. But they will keep, once cooled, stored in an airtight container in a cool place for up to 3 days. You can also freeze them, individually wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 1 month. Thaw on your benchtop.

Can't get enough chocolate? Wait until you see these easy chocolate dessert recipes:

There's nothing that chocolate can't fix. Whether you're getting over a broken heart, celebrating, indulging in some weekend baking, hosting a party or entertaining, there's a chocolate dessert recipe that will suit everyone in the family.

Try your hand at these easy recipes below:

3 tsp instant coffee granules
1/2 cup hot milk
2 cups plain flour
1/2 cup Dutch cocoa powder
1¼ tsp bicarb soda
¾ cup (170g) firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 cup (280g) thick Greek-style yoghurt
½ cup (125ml) vegetable oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
100g dark (70%) chocolate, roughly chopped, plus 12 squares extra
100g milk chocolate, roughly chopped

Method

1.

Preheat oven to 190°C/170°C fan-forced. Line a 12-hole, ⅓-cup capacity muffin pan with paper cases.
2.

Dissolve the instant coffee in a large jug with the hot milk. Sift the flour, cocoa, bicarb and a generous pinch of fine salt over a large bowl. Add the sugar and whisk until thoroughly combined. Add the yoghurt, oil, egg and vanilla to the coffee mixture and whisk until smooth and combined. Add to the flour mixture and stir until just combined.
3.

Reserve one-third of the chopped chocolate (reserve the larger chunks). Add remaining two-thirds chocolate to the batter and stir until just combined.
4.

Divide the batter between paper cases. Top with reserve chocolate chunks. Bake for 22 minutes or until a skewer inserted at centre comes out clean. Push a square of dark chocolate into the centre of each muffin and stand for 10 minutes.
5.

Serve warm for a soft chocolate centre, or at room temperature.