The closing ceremony for the 2024 Paris Olympics is on Sunday, August 11. The gold medal-winning performances aren’t the only thing going viral this Olympic season. Olympic swimmer from Norway, Henrik Christiansen, has been taking the dining hall and TikTok by storm with his chocolate muffin obsession. To say we’re also obsessed is an understatement. The decadent double chocolate muffins he struts around Paris with are being duped by creators looking to get their fix of the ooey, gooey goodness. TikTok sleuths believe they have correctly identified the Olympic muffins as being from the French supplier, Coup de Pâtes, but if you cannot get your hands on one of their treats, don’t worry, you’re in luck. Here is a list of double chocolate muffin recipes to satisfy your craving and make you feel like an Olympian.
A recipe that’s gold medal-worthy.
We are starting off strong with @bromabakery (Sarah Fennel) who makes almost identical-looking double chocolate muffins. Fennel gives a variety of interesting pointers to her viewers to make these muffins accurate dupes. The first tip Fennel starts us off with is to use brown sugar as opposed to white sugar. She explains this idea will make the muffins more moist and rich. Another tip is changing oven temperatures to make sure the muffins bake to perfection. The best part about this recipe Fennel points out is that the ingredients for this treat you likely already have in your fridge or cabinet.
Fennel clearly does not take details lightly. Not only did she make muffins that look exactly like the originals, she even used the same color and style of muffin liners. Fennel’s muffins could be argued as the most accurate representation of the Olympic Village muffins because of the looks and the recipe, but what seals the deal is Fennel indulging in a big bite just for her to end up with chocolate on her nose. It seems every time Christiansen shovels down a muffin he ends up with his nose covered in chocolate. I do not know if this was intentional by Fennel, but I am going to assume it was and praise her attention to detail.
Ever thought of adding chocolate pudding?
Next up is another accurate representation of the muffins by creator @chefdaniellesepsy. Similar to Fennel, Chef Danielle Sepsy is committed to the details. She uses the same muffin liners and takes the recipe a step further to include chocolate chunks rather than chips. Sepsy takes an interesting step in her recipe by adding a Jello brand chocolate pudding packet to her mix as well as the cacao powder. Additionally, Sepsy uses condensed milk for her ganache rather than heavy cream.
While Sepsy does not end up with chocolate on her nose after taking a bite, the resemblance between her muffin and the Olympic Village ones is uncanny. While the brown color does not seem to be dark enough, the chocolate chunks, the ganache, and the muffin liners earn this muffin a gold medal for accuracy.
Sometimes, 12th time’s a charm.
Creator @ibakemistakes (Kassie Mendieta) earns the hardest worker award when it comes to perfecting the Olympic double chocolate muffins. In her video, she explains she has tried 12 different recipes and currently has 80 muffins sitting around her house. Talk about dedication! After four days of trial and error, she cites time spent in the freezer as being the key to an exact dupe. Mendieta explains that after thawing the muffins, the texture becomes perfect. In addition, milk powder “for an extra plush texture” and dark Dutch-processed cocoa powder make these muffins perfect.
It seems that all creators are committed to using the proper muffin liners, and Kassie is no exception. Looks wise, this muffin might be the perfect replica (I would hope so for Kassie’s sake after 12 tries). The deep brown color that comes from the Dutch-processed cocoa powder is the most accurate when compared to Christiansen’s videos. While both Sepsy and Kassie used chocolate chunks, the ones on the Olympic Village muffins are more square like the ones Kassie uses, unlike the more rectangular ones Sepsy opted for. I was disappointed to see there was no large bite taken out of the muffin to match the spirit of Christiansen, but overall this is 10/10 for accuracy.
Add instant coffee instead of cocoa powder.
Creator @tanminhhuynh1 (Frank Huynh) followed the muffin recipe created by the Washington Post, and boy did he have some critiques. When looking through the recipe there are not many standouts for ingredients. There is an addition of instant coffee or espresso powder which is an interesting touch as well as the preferable Dutch-processed and natural cocoa powder. Apparently, the Washington Post is not as detail-oriented when it comes to baking muffins as this recipe did not specify the dark brown muffin liners as many others had. The muffins were sprinkled with cubed chocolate chunks and looked very accurate. Huynh claimed that the muffins were good, yet very dry. He explained that the recipe needed more oil or another ingredient to keep them more moist.
Use not one, but two types of cocoa powder.
Creator @milkandcardamom (Hetal Vasavada) had a fairly similar recipe to many other creators with a few differences, specifically in the techniques she used. Vasavada was the first creator I noticed who chopped her chocolate before melting and mixing it and she powdered her chocolate chips in flour before folding them into the batter. Rather than just using one cocoa powder, Vasavada used black and regular powder and followed that up by sifting her ingredients to ensure there were no clumps.
In terms of looks, Vasavada’s details were not as exact as other creators. She used chocolate chips instead of chunks and used tan muffin liners rather than dark brown. Her chocolate chips also were much lighter in color than the ones on the Olympic Village muffins. While the muffins may not have looked identical, the techniques Vasavada used deserve a round of applause.