These double chocolate muffins are soft and tender, loaded with chocolate chips and chocolate chunks, and have a chocolate ganache core.
These are ultra-moist, stay fresh for up to 4 days, and have a rich, decadent chocolate ganache core right in the center. They are inspired by the viral Olympic village chocolate muffins that took over the internet.
They are loaded with Dutch cocoa powder, chocolate chips, and chocolate chunks, making them way better than anything you'll find at a bakery.
Thanks to a splash of Greek yogurt, they have the most incredible plush, melt-in-your-mouth texture.
Once they are baked, core them and fill them with a smooth, glossy chocolate ganache that takes them completely over the top.
For more chocolate desserts, check out my fudgy brownies, chocolate cupcakes, and double chocolate banana bread!
Jump to:
Why this recipe works
- Olympic-Style Ganache Core: Filling the center of these muffins with a rich, silky chocolate ganache creates that viral, molten chocolate center.
- Extra Moist Texture: Thanks to the combination of vegetable oil and Greek yogurt, these muffins stay incredibly soft and moist for up to 4 days.
- Triple the Chocolate: Using Dutch cocoa, chocolate chips, and chopped chocolate chunks gives you the perfect balance of textures, finished off with a molten core for the ultimate chocolate flavor.
- Quick and Simple: No fancy equipment or electric mixers are required. The muffin base comes together easily in just one bowl and uses simple ingredients.
Ingredients
Before you start making these double chocolate muffins, measure and prepare your ingredients so the baking process goes smoothly. Full measurements can be found in the recipe card below.
For the Muffins
All-Purpose Flour: Provides the perfect structural base for these fluffy muffins. Cake flour works beautifully as a swap too!
Baking Powder and Baking Soda: Our leavening agents that give the muffins a gorgeous, high bakery-style dome rise.
Dutch Cocoa Powder: I highly recommend Dutch-process cocoa powder for its deep, rich flavor and beautiful dark color, though natural cocoa powder will work in a pinch.
Granulated Sugar: Sweetens the cocoa base and locks in moisture. Caster sugar is an excellent swap.
Vegetable Oil: Keeps the muffins incredibly soft and moist for days. Canola oil works great too!
Buttermilk: Adds wonderful moisture and activates the baking soda. You can easily make your own by mixing whole milk with a tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar and letting it sit for 10 minutes.
Greek Yogurt: Bring your Greek yogurt to room temperature before starting. Any fat percentage works perfectly to create a tender crumb. You can swap it for sour cream.
Eggs: Large eggs at room temperature so they incorporate smoothly into the wet batter.
Vanilla Extract: Enhances and deepens the rich chocolate flavors.
Kosher Salt: Just a half teaspoon to balance the sweetness and bring out the cocoa notes.
Dark Chocolate Chunks & Chocolate Chips: Folded into the batter to create gorgeous, melty pockets and crunch throughout the muffin.
For the Chocolate Ganache Filling
Semisweet or Dark Chocolate: Use high-quality chopped chocolate or chocolate chips for a rich, bakery-style flavor.
Heavy Cream: Heated up to melt the chocolate down into a glossy, silky-smooth filling.
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F) and line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, buttermilk, salt, sugar, sifted cocoa powder, and room-temperature Greek yogurt until smooth and well combined.
Sift the flour, baking powder, and baking soda directly into the wet mixture. Whisk or stir with a wooden spoon just until the flour mostly disappears. Do not overmix!
Add the chocolate chips and chocolate chunks. Use a rubber spatula to gently fold them into the batter until just combined.
Scoop the batter evenly into your muffin liners using a large ice cream scoop.
Top with a few extra chocolate chips and bake for 18–20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let them cool in the pan for 15 minutes.
Place the chopped chocolate in a small bowl. Heat the heavy cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until it just begins to simmer, then pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for 2 minutes, then whisk until smooth and glossy.
Core and Fill: Use an apple corer, a small knife, or the back of a large piping tip to cut a small hole about halfway down into the center of each cooled muffin.
Pipe or spoon the warm ganache directly into the centers until full. Let them set slightly and enjoy!
Expert tips
- Don’t Core Too Deeply: When cutting out the center of the muffins, only go about halfway down. If you core all the way to the bottom, the liquid ganache will tear through the base and leak out of the paper liners.
- Fill While the Ganache is Warm: Pipe or spoon the ganache while it is still warm and pourable. If it cools down too much and thickens, simply microwave it for 5–10 seconds to loosen it back up.
- Use Room-Temperature Ingredients: Ensure your eggs, buttermilk, and Greek yogurt are at room temperature before mixing. Cold ingredients will cause the batter to seize, resulting in a dense muffin that doesn't rise well.
- Avoid Overmixing: Stop mixing the exact moment the dry flour disappears. Over-whisking develops the gluten in the flour, which makes the muffins tough and rubbery instead of light and fluffy.
- Measure Flour with a Spoon: Never scoop flour straight from the bag with your measuring cup. Fluff it with a spoon, gently spoon it into the cup, and level it off with the back of a knife to prevent adding too much dry flour.
Troubleshooting
Why did my muffins sink or stay flat? This is usually caused by expired leavening agents. Check the dates on your baking powder and baking soda to ensure they are fresh and active so you get that high, bakery-style dome.
Why did my ganache seep into the muffin and disappear? If you fill the muffins while they are steaming hot right out of the oven, the crumb is too fragile and will absorb the liquid ganache. Let the muffins cool for at least 15 minutes before coring and filling.
Why are my muffins dry or dense? A dry crumb means either too much flour was packed into the measuring cup, or the muffins were left in the oven for too long.
Check them at the 18-minute mark. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
Why is my ganache grainy or split? This happens if the heavy cream was boiled too vigorously or poured over the chocolate while scalding hot, which burns the chocolate fats.
Bring the cream to a gentle simmer, remove it from the heat, and let it sit over the chocolate for 2 minutes before whisking.
FAQS
An apple corer is the ultimate tool for this job because it cuts a perfect, clean circle. If you don't have one, the back of a large metal piping tip or a small paring knife works beautifully too.
While a piping bag makes filling the centers clean and easy, it is not required. You can easily spoon the warm ganache directly into the cored holes using a regular teaspoon.
Because the ganache contains heavy cream, it will firm up as it sits (especially in the fridge). Simply pop a muffin into the microwave for 10–15 seconds before serving to make the chocolate core beautifully warm and melty again!
These are viral, bakery-style double chocolate muffins inspired by the famous treats served in the athletes' village. They are known for being massive, ultra-moist, loaded with chocolate chunks, and filled with a rich chocolate ganache center.
Storing
Store these muffins in an airtight container for up to 2 days at room temperature. Then move them to the fridge for another two days.
Tip: Microwave for 10–15 seconds before eating to make the chocolate core warm and melty!
Freezing
Freeze the muffins in a freezer-friendly bag for up to 3 months. Thaw on the counter for a few hours, then microwave for 10–15 seconds to warm up the center.
Substitutions
Gluten-Free: To make this recipe gluten-free, simply swap out the all-purpose flour for a high-quality 1:1 gluten-free baking flour blend.
Dairy-Free: You can make these muffins dairy-free by replacing the buttermilk and Greek yogurt with plant-based alternatives and making your ganache using dairy-free chocolate chips and canned coconut cream.
Variations
Nutella Center: For a hazelnut twist, swap the chocolate ganache for warmed Nutella!
Cream Cheese Frosting: Turn these decadent breakfast muffins into a true dessert by piping a swirl of rich cream cheese frosting on top once they are filled.
White Chocolate Center: Swap out the dark chocolate ganache for a sweet white chocolate ganache core for a striking color contrast inside the dark muffin.
Equipment
- Mixing bowls
- Whisk
- Rubber spatula
- Cookie scoop or large spoon
- Piping bag
- Muffin liners
- Muffin pan
- Digital kitchen scale
More chocolate recipes
Chocolate cupcakes- An ultra-moist, fluffy cupcake loaded with rich chocolate flavor and topped with a silky chocolate buttercream.
Chocolate cake- The ultimate crowd-pleasing chocolate cake that comes together effortlessly without making a mess of your kitchen.
Fudgy brownies- Rich, dense, and packed from scratch with tons of chocolate chunks, ready in under an hour.
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📖 Recipe
Moist Double Chocolate Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups Flour
- 1 cup Sugar
- ½ cup Vegetable oil
- 2 Eggs
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- ½ cup Buttermilk
- ¾ cup Greek yogurt or sour cream
- 1 teaspoon Coffee powder
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 2 teaspoon Baking powder
- ½ teaspoon Baking soda
- ½ cup Dutch cocoa powder
- ¾ cup Chocolate chips
- ¾ cup Chocolate chunks
Chocolate ganache
- 3 oz Dark chocolate
- 3 oz Heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F) and line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, buttermilk, salt, sugar, sifted cocoa powder, and room-temperature Greek yogurt until smooth and well combined.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, and baking soda directly into the wet mixture. Whisk or stir with a wooden spoon just until the flour mostly disappears. Do not overmix!
- Add the chocolate chips and chocolate chunks. Use a rubber spatula to gently fold them into the batter until just combined.
- Scoop the batter evenly into your muffin liners using a large ice cream scoop.
- Top with a few extra chocolate chips and bake for 18–20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let them cool in the pan for 15 minutes.
- Place the chopped chocolate in a small bowl. Heat the heavy cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until it just begins to simmer, then pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for 2 minutes, then whisk until smooth and glossy.
- Core and Fill: Use an apple corer, a small knife, or the back of a large piping tip to cut a small hole about halfway down into the center of each cooled muffin.
- Pipe or spoon the warm ganache directly into the centers until full. Let them set slightly and enjoy!
Notes
- Don’t Core Too Deeply: When cutting out the center of the muffins, only go about halfway down. If you core all the way to the bottom, the liquid ganache will tear through the base and leak out of the paper liners.
- Fill While the Ganache is Warm: Pipe or spoon the ganache while it is still warm and pourable. If it cools down too much and thickens, simply microwave it for 5–10 seconds to loosen it back up.
- Use Room-Temperature Ingredients: Ensure your eggs, buttermilk, and Greek yogurt are at room temperature before mixing. Cold ingredients will cause the batter to seize, resulting in a dense muffin that doesn't rise well.
- Avoid Overmixing: Stop mixing the exact moment the dry flour disappears. Over-whisking develops the gluten in the flour, which makes the muffins tough and rubbery instead of light and fluffy.
- Measure Flour with a Spoon: Never scoop flour straight from the bag with your measuring cup. Fluff it with a spoon, gently spoon it into the cup, and level it off with the back of a knife to prevent adding too much dry flour.
lindsey says
recipe looks fab ! carnt wait to try , can i sub the greek yogurt for buttermilk ?
RichandDelish says
Thanks! You can substitute the Greek yogurt with sour cream.