Lynn is baking again! That's always trouble. But here is the deal: if you live and breathe, you have heard about the viral Olympic Chocolate Muffins. When the Norwegian swimmer Henrik Christiansen posted about them from Paris, the world went nuts. Muffins, which the French don't do at all, are a complete misnomer here. They are actually deeply chocolate baby-cakes. However, with the muffin moniker, you can then justify eating chocolate cake for breakfast.
- 200 grams all-purpose flour
- 70 grams Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon instant espresso or (or instant coffee powder)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 275 grams light brown sugar
- 100 grams whole milk
- 150 grams (5 oz) vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 225 grams sour cream
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 113 grams semisweet or dark chocolate chunks (plus EXTRA for the tops)
- 113 grams ( milk chocolate chips or chunks (plus EXTRA for the tops)
- (MY NOTE: I used one 205 gram dark semi-sweet chocolate bar instead, which I cut into chunks).
Preparation
For the muffins:
- In a large bowl, add dry ingredients; whisk to combine.
- In a separate bowl, add wet ingredients; whisk to combine.
- Add the wet ingredients into the center of the dry ingredients; stir with a wooden spoon until no dry pockets remain — you do not want to overmix the batter.
- Gently fold in the chocolate chunks with a rubber spatula.
- Set the batter aside for 30 minutes to an hour to rest before baking, and go do your morning triathlon.
- Or while the batter rests, prep the (optional) filling.
- Preheat the oven to 420 F
To bake the muffins:
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- Once the batter is done resting, place the muffin liners in every other cavity of the muffin pan.
- Scoop the batter in to the liners. For jumbo muffins, each cup should be filled a little over 3/4 of the way full.
- Bake for six minutes. When the timer beeps, do not open the oven! Drop the temp to 350 F and bake for an additional 15 to 18 minutes. Muffins are done baking when the center is set and a tooth pick inserted into the center comes out with a few crumbs stuck to it, or when the internal temp is 200-205 F.
- Remove from baking pan and allow to cool completely. Add the ganache if desired. To serve: They are so much better if you run them through the microwave briefly, not to make them hot but to soften the chocolate chunks.
- NOTE:To make regular sized muffins you’ll need to adjust your bake times. For regular muffins 420F for 6 minutes 355F for 13-15 minutes. Fully set in the center is what you’re going for, and an overall the internal temp of a muffin should be 200-205F when checked with a thermometer.
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- 130 grams water
- 95 grams granulated sugar
- 35 grams Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 20 grams corn syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 80 grams heavy cream
- 140 grams dark chocolate chips
- In a saucepot, combine the water, granulated sugar, cocoa powder, salt and corn syrup.
- Bring this mixture to a boil over medium-heat, stirring often to avoid burning the cocoa powder.
- Once the mixture reaches a boil, drop the heat to medium-low, cook it while stirring frequently until it reduces by approximately 1/3 of its original volume, 5 to 8 minutes.
- Add the heavy cream and allow to boil for another 2 minutes.
- Pour the mixture over the dark chocolate chips. Allow the mixture to sit for a few moments to heat up the chips before whisking to combine. Optionally you can use an immersion blender to really get things nice and smooth.
- Set aside to cool until it’s time to fill the muffins.