Mass-produced food, especially for giant events like the Olympics, never has much of a stellar reputation. Many Olympic athletes have been posting about the food offerings in Paris, but none have become viral in quite the way Henrik Christiansen has. This Norwegian swimmer has become obsessed with one thing (when he’s not swimming): chocolate muffins. He has posted several chocolate muffin-centric videos, and has been thoroughly dedicated to making these muffins part of his Olympic legacy.
Although I haven’t tasted this muffin from my seat here in Brooklyn, I have seen them, and, as creepy as typing this is, I’ve seen Henrik eat them—and I gotta say, I get it. They look damn delightful. They’ve been identified by Eater’s Kelin Carolyn Zhang as Maxi Muffin Chocolat Intense from Coup de Pates. You can see that they are chocolate, they are muffins, and there is a gooey chocolate center.
You never like to see cheating at the Olympics, but these are desperate times. That gooey dining hall chocolate muffin at this year’s games seems to be winning over everyone’s heart, and I can’t be bothered with making it from scratch, so I did what any hard worker clawing her way to victory does: I cheated. And you can too. Here’s how you can have those TikTok-famous Olympic muffins tonight, just in time to switch on the games.
How to make an Olympic chocolate muffin
You don’t need much to replicate the look of this chocolate muffin. The defining factors are a chocolate muffin with chocolate chunks on top and a chocolate ganache center. Easy. Grab a bag of Nestle Toll House chunks, a box or bag of store-bought chocolate muffin mix, and some heavy cream.
1. Make the muffin batter
Line a muffin pan with paper liners and preheat your oven according to the package’s directions. Store-bought muffin mix yields a soft and consistent product, and it’s pretty hard to screw up. Make the muffins as directed by the package. Scoop them into the muffin liners.
Note that if your store only has chocolate chip muffins, you can easily make them chocolate by adding two tablespoons of cocoa powder to the dry mixture for every seven ounces of mix.
2. Top them with chocolate chunks
Tap three to five chocolate chunks onto the top of each muffin. Aim to be off-center because we’ll be cutting into it later to fill it with chocolate ganache. Bake the muffins according to the directions on the box.
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann
3. Make ganache
When the muffins are out of the oven and cooling, make the ganache. Ganache is equal parts heavy cream and chocolate, but you can “tip the scales” by adding slightly more chocolate or cream to make it thicker or thinner depending on your preference. For five or six muffins, you don’t need much. I used two ounces of cream and 2.5 ounces of chocolate chunks. Microwave a quarter-cup of heavy cream for 20 to 30 seconds, or until steaming. Pour in a third-cup of the Toll House chocolate chunks and let it sit for two minutes to soften. Whisk until smooth.
4. Fill the muffins
Once the muffins are cool and the ganache has cooled to a spoonable consistency, use a paring knife to cut out a small space in the center of the muffin. I cut an inverted cone shape out of mine, and you can scrape around a bit to make more room for ganache. Put a spoonful of ganache into the cavity. You can put the top back on if you want to, or just leave it open if you don’t want to surprise anyone.
That’s it. The boxed mix will never fail at delivering a tender muffin. The added chocolate ganache center is silky, rich, and all you need to really push this over the finish line. They’re simple to make and perfect for your next Olympics watch party. Pretending to be an Olympian has never been easier. I just want to say thank you to everyone who has supported me so I could get this far. I owe it all to my village. Thank you so much. Enjoy the muffins.
Cheater-cheater Olympic Chocolate Muffin Recipe
Ingredients:
1 small box (or 7-ounce bag) of chocolate muffin mix
Chocolate chunks for topping
For the ganache filling:
A heaping ⅓ cup of chocolate chunks
¼ cup heavy cream
1. Preheat the oven according to the directions on the muffin mix. Line a muffin pan with paper liners.
2. Mix the muffin mix as directed on the package. Place the batter in the muffin cups and place three to five chocolate chunks on top of each muffin. Bake as directed.
3. Once the muffins are baked and cooling, you can make the chocolate ganache. Heat up the heavy cream in a microwave-safe measuring cup. This only takes about 30 seconds to begin steam. Pour in the chocolate chunks and let it sit as-is for two minutes. Whisk until smooth. Pop it into the fridge to firm up for about 20 minutes.
4. When the muffins are cool, cut a small hole out of the center with a paring knife. Fill it with a spoonful of ganache. You can place a bit of the cut-out back on top to “seal” the muffin if you like. Enjoy these muffins while watching your next big competition.