Double chocolate muffins
Double chocolate muffins are made for chocolate lovers: a deep brown, moist and tender cocoa crumb packed with plenty of melty chocolate chips. Baking at two temperatures gives them tall, bakery-style domes while keeping them moist inside.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 22 min
- Rising or chilling
- 15 min
- Total time
- 52 min
- Method
- Oven-baked
Ingredients
For the batter
For the chocolate chip topping
Instructions
Step 1
Heat the oven to 210°C and line a twelve-cup muffin tin with paper liners. The high starting temperature makes the batter shoot up and form rounded domes. The oven is ready when the heating light turns off and an oven thermometer shows the right temperature.
Step 2
Sift 50 g cocoa powder with 220 g all-purpose flour, 4 g baking soda, 6 g baking powder and a pinch salt into a large bowl. Cocoa powder clumps easily, so sift it well to keep bitter dry specks out of the muffins. The dry mix is ready when it's fine and airy, evenly brown and free of any small lumps.
Step 3
In another bowl, whisk 100 g eggs with 100 g granulated sugar and 80 g brown sugar, then add 220 g buttermilk, 110 g vegetable oil and 5 g vanilla extract. The acidity of buttermilk activates the baking soda and makes the crumb soft and fluffy. The mixture is ready when the sugar has dissolved and the liquid is smooth.
Step 4
Pour the wet mixture into the cocoa bowl and fold until only a little dry flour remains, then add 140 g chocolate chips and fold a few more turns. Adding the chocolate last keeps you from overmixing the batter. The batter is ready when it's thick, glossy and dark brown with the chips evenly scattered through it.
Step 5
Spoon the batter into the liners right up to the rim, then sprinkle 30 g chocolate chips over the tops. Full cups combined with high heat create big, beautiful rounded domes. You've got it right when every cup is full and the tops are dotted with chocolate.
Step 6
Place the tin on the middle rack and bake at 210°C for exactly the first 5 minutes. This blast of heat makes the batter puff up quickly before the crust has a chance to set. You'll see the tops start to rise noticeably after five minutes.
Step 7
Without opening the oven door, lower the heat to 180°C and bake for another 14 to 17 minutes. The lower temperature cooks the centers through without burning the tops. The muffins are done when the domes crack slightly, spring back when pressed and a skewer comes out with only melted chocolate on it and no raw batter.
Step 8
Leave the muffins in the tin for ten minutes, then move them to a rack to cool for five minutes more. The chocolate chips inside need time to set a little so the muffins don't fall apart when you bite in. They're ready when the bottoms are no longer soft and sticking to the paper.
Equipment
- Oven
- Muffin tin
- Whisk
- Spatula
- Sieve
- Kitchen scale
- Mixing bowl
- Wire cooling rack
Tips
- Replacing half of the buttermilk with cooled brewed coffee makes the chocolate flavor deeper and richer.
- You can mix dark and milk chocolate chips for more layers of flavor.
- Because the muffins are so dark, rely on a skewer and how springy they feel rather than the color of the tops to judge doneness.
Storage
The muffins keep for three days at room temperature in an airtight container. To enjoy them like they're fresh from the oven, warm them in the microwave for about fifteen seconds so the chocolate inside turns soft and melty again.
Common problems and how to fix them
- The muffins are dry and taste harshly bitter.
- They baked too long or there was too much cocoa powder. Weigh the flour and cocoa accurately and start checking the muffins two minutes earlier.
- The chocolate chips all sank to the bottom.
- The batter was too thin to hold them up. Toss the chocolate chips with a tablespoon of the dry mix before adding them and avoid increasing the amount of buttermilk.
This recipe is based on the common ratios for this bake and is written entirely in our own words.
