The Paris Olympics had some stand out moments––Celine Dion at the opening ceremony, Simone Biles winning gold, breakdancing. But one of the most viral moments was the now-famous chocolate muffins. Olympians from every country were fueling their training sessions and post-competition celebrations with these Parisian treats.
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While we can’t guarantee that these muffins will have you freestyle swimming like Katie Ledecky, we do think they could be in contention for a gold medal if baking was in the Olympics. Simple, chocolatey, and just the right side of decadent, these are a winner of a treat.
Famous Paris Olympic Muffins
Servings: Makes 12
Time: 55 minutes (including cooling)
Ingredients
Muffins:
- ¾ cup whole or reduced-fat milk
- ¼ cup water
- 2 teaspoons instant coffee or espresso powder
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ cup and ⅓ cup of semisweet chocolate chunks, divided, plus more for topping
- ⅓ cup chopped milk chocolate or milk chocolate chips, plus more for topping
- ½ stick unsalted butter
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- ½ cup packed dark brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup vegetable or canola oil
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Ganache:
- ⅓ cup chopped milk chocolate or milk chocolate chips, plus more for topping for the ganache
- ⅔ cup bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chunks
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ⅛ teaspoon fine salt
Directions
Step 1 Preheat your oven to 375°F. Line a regular size muffin pan with tulip baking cups. (Note: cupcake liners will work if you don’t have these, but they won’t rise as high.)
Step 2 Add your milk, water, and instant coffee into a small saucepan on a medium heat, and bring to a simmer. Whisk occasionally. Then add your cocoa powder, and stir to combine. Decrease heat to low and add ½ cup of your semisweet chocolate chunks and butter. Whisk everything together. When fully combined, transfer it to a large bowl and let it cool.
Step 2 In a separate bowl, add your dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine.
Step 3 Once your chocolate mixture is cooled, add your eggs, brown sugar, granulated sugar, oil, and vanilla. Stir well!
Step 4 Add about ⅓ of your dry flour mixture to your chocolate mixture, and fold in gently with a spatula. Now, add the rest of the dry flour mixture and gently fold in. Don’t overmix but don’t have any white spots! Now fold in the remaining ⅓ of semisweet chocolate chunks and milk chocolate chunks. Again, be careful not to over mix.
Step 5 Divide your batter into your muffin pans (about ¼ cup per muffin) and sprinkle some additional chocolate chip chunks on top. Bake for about 20 to 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean of batter. Okay if you hit melted chocolate!
Step 7 Now it’s time to make your ganache. Add the chocolate chunks, heavy cream, and salt to a small saucepan on a medium-low heat, stirring until melted. Take off the heat and let cool completely–about 30 to 40 minutes.
Step 8 When your muffins are baked, let them cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then use a butter knife to cut a ¾-inch wide hole in the center of each muffin. Let the muffins cool completely, about 30 minutes. (Bonus: you’ll have small little muffin treats for any kitchen guests while you wait!)
Step 9 Once the muffins and ganache are completely cool, spoon or pipe the ganache into the center of each muffin, filling up the hole just until it starts to overflow.
Step 10 Enjoy this decadent treat or share with friends!
These muffins will last for 3 days in an airtight container, and leftover ganache can be stored for 5 days in an airtight container.
