Best Chocolate Muffin Bake Off

Searching for the best Olympic chocolate muffin recipe? We tested 9 popular double chocolate muffin recipes in search of the best!

Ever since the Olympic chocolate muffins started blowing up on TikTok, I’ve been dreaming about a gooey chocolate muffin. Testing double chocolate muffin recipes has been on my bake off to-do list for years, but we have Henrik to thank for pushing this topic to the forefront of relevancy.

For a true Olympic chocolate muffin, it technically needs to be a chocolate chunk-studded muffin filled with a chocolate ganache. However, in this bake off, I focused on comparing 9 basic chocolate muffin recipes to find the best chocolate muffin base. And now that we have those results in hand, my next task is to test some of the optional ganache cores to find the ultimate Olympic chocolate muffin recipe (stay tuned)!

So let’s get into the results!

METHODOLOGY // RESULTS // FACTORS // ANALYSIS // RECOMMENDATIONS

Methodology

• 57 total tasters
• All ingredients were measured by weight according to King Arthur (unless the recipe specified weights)
• All recipes were baked the day of tasting
• Recipes were baked in nonstick muffin pans (I occasionally used muffin wrappers for insurance against sticking)
• Each taster ranked each muffin on a scale from 0-10 for flavor, texture and overall as a whole.
• I omitted any ganache/optional chocolate fillings. Although this bake off was inspired by the ganache-filled Olympic chocolate muffins, I figured we should start with the basics. First, we figure out the best chocolate muffin base. Then we fill with ganache!

Ingredients

• Gold Medal bleached all-purpose flour
• King Arthur unbleached cake flour
• Trader Joe’s unsalted butter
• Daisy sour cream
• Droste Dutch-process cocoa
• Hershey’s cocoa (natural)
• Kirkland vanilla extract
• Diamond Crystal kosher salt
• Imperial granulated and brown sugar

Results of the chocolate muffin bake off

After analyzing the data from 57 tasters, results of the crowd rankings are below! I thought this was a particularly hard bake off to judge because they all tasted DELICIOUS.

This bake off really raised the question: what’s the difference between muffins and cake? I’ve concluded there’s basically no difference besides shape and the lack of frosting on a muffin. Technically, muffins should have a lower percentage of fat and sugar for a slightly less tender/breadier texture. But in most cases, these muffins were extremely tender and tasted like chocolate cake in muffin form.

As always, I recommend reading through the entire blog post to decide which sounds best to you. I truly believe all of these recipes are delicious and would be someone’s ideal muffin. My overall recommendations are outlined at the bottom of the post!

The main takeaway in the ratings was a clear correlation between muffins with a drier texture and lower ratings. While this could of course be due to baker’s error, I expand more on why muffins turned out drier/more moist in the Factors section!

For an idea on the general ingredient percentage breakdown per recipe, see below:

Factors

Fat: oil is king for moisture

In this bake off, we only dealt with three permutations of fat: butter only, oil only, butter and oil. While the 2 butter and oil recipes interestingly ended up in both first and last place, the general trend showed butter recipes tending towards lower ratings. This makes sense as butter is made up of both fat and water (vs. oil with 100% fat) and thus leads to a slightly drier texture when used 1:1.

The exception to this trend was NYT, which I think compensated with a higher ratio of liquid for a more moist texture.

Conclusion: in a muffin where the flavor of butter is somewhat overpowered by the cocoa, oil may be a better option since it’ll yield a more moist texture.

Dairy: a helpful tenderizer, but not entirely necessary

The grand majority of recipes used either milk, buttermilk, sour cream, yogurt or some type of combination. NYT was the only recipe that omitted a dairy liquid altogether (in the above ingredient composition chart, its dairy percentage is actually composed of hot coffee).

I was actually shocked that I preferred NYT’s texture over most others. Typically, I think of added dairy as a tenderizing ingredient, especially given the added fat content. But it turns out you don’t *need* a liquid dairy for a tender muffin. So long as there is sufficient fat and sugar (which NYT had in spades), you’ll still end up with a soft texture.

However, it’s worth noting that the top 3 recipes all called for a cup of sour cream (the highest fat of all the dairy options). So for the most rich and decadent muffin, sour cream is the way to go!

Cocoa actually…doesn’t matter that much?

When considering types of cocoa to use, I always feel drawn to Dutch-process cocoa. Dutch cocoa use cocoa solids that have been alkalized to reduce the natural acidity, giving it a less bitter taste and darker color. Per Serious Eats, natural cocoa typically bakes up with a lighter color and airier texture. Who doesn’t want a deeper, more intense color to their chocolate muffin?

The only recipe I ended up testing that called for natural cocoa was Spun Sugar Run. And in the end, it actually ended up with an almost identical color to the other Dutch-process muffins. And I actually thought it had one of the best chocolate flavors despite using Hershey’s regular old cocoa (up against the relatively pricey and fancy Droste cocoa).

Conclusion: while I’m sure cocoa matters more in other applications, it didn’t actually matter that much in this bake off?!* Perhaps all the added chocolate chips provided a flavor crutch. But in terms of the pure cake flavor, the natural Hershey’s cocoa seemed to be pretty on par with muffins made with Droste.

*This is not to say that you should try subbing natural cocoa for Dutch-process in a given recipe or vice versa. (Most recipes are written specifically to pair the leavener with the type of cocoa.) My point is that recipes written with Dutch-process cocoa are not necessarily always superior to those written with natural cocoa.

Is the ultimate flavor enhancer coffee? Or salt?

How much does coffee actually enhance the flavor of cocoa? Of course it’s hard to tell given all the confounding factors. The recipes that used instant coffee/espresso included: Jordan the Stallion, Recipe Tin Eats, I Bake Mistakes and New York Times. All of these recipes had varying scores for flavor, but I did think I Bake Mistakes had the best overall chocolate flavor.

However, I think the strength of I Bake Mistakes’ chocolate flavor is due in large part to the high salt ratio. Where most recipes used 1/2-3/4 tsp salt per ~2 cups flour, I Bake Mistakes uses 2 full teaspoons. The salty contrast really brought out the bittersweetness of the chocolate with an unparalleled intensity.

Conclusion: Yes, adding coffee probably helps enhance chocolate flavor to some extent. But the real place to pay attention (blood pressure allowing) is the amount of salt.

Analysis of the best chocolate muffin recipes

Jordan the Stallion: a fluffy, lightly chocolate-y muffin on the drier side

This highly anticipated recipe hails from the viral TikTok star @jordan_the_stallion. Via phone calls, he reportedly found the official Coup to Pates Maxi Muffins Intense recipe that was served in the Olympic Village. This butter and oil-based recipe uses a combination of dark and white brown sugar, instant coffee, milk and water. The approach is just slightly more cumbersome to me as it calls for combining the wet ingredients + cocoa/instant coffe on the stovetop. (I’d almost always rather use the microwave for ease.)

I’m so curious if this is actually the official recipe because just at first glance, these didn’t look dark enough (in person or from the original video) to match the Olympic muffins. Aesthetically, these were the lightest colored muffins in the bake off and also had the lightest chocolate flavor to match. As this recipe had one of the lower ratios of cocoa, this makes total sense.

These muffins were also noticeably drier than others. This could be baker’s error, but I think it’s more likely due to having one of the highest ratios of flour (24.5%) and a relatively low ratio of dairy/liquid. When fresh, these had a decently fluffy texture (though they did stale into a more crumbly texture the following day). Ultimately, it felt like a middle-of-the-road muffin that was still pleasing to eat, but not particularly memorable.

Taster comments:

• This one was the driest one. Still not the extreme end of dry that muffins can reach, but compared to the others, this didn’t have any lushness from texture, only from the fact that chocolate itself is a rich flavor.
• Missed the chocolate chunks; looked really dry, but wasn’t as bad as i thought
• Dry, very small crumbs, and crumbly texture. Less chocolate flavor – seemed sweeter than the other ones. crumbles easier as well. Top is the prettiest though
• Crumbly. More cakey than fudgey. Dissolved on the tongue quickly and hard to cut.
• Fell apart in a bite and pretty dry. Hard to swallow and very mild in chocolate taste, feels like powder cocoa vs melting chips like the others appear to be.
• Weak chocolate flavor, bland, not enough chips

King Arthur: a straightforward chocolate muffin with great flavor that erred on the dry side

King Arthur’s butter-based recipe follows a pretty standard muffin formula (similar to Milk & Cardamom, Laura in the Kitchen, and Sweetest Menu among others). I was curious to contrast this melted butter-based recipe against Smitten Kitchen’s recipe (which had less sugar but more dairy and cocoa).

This was a rare recipe that didn’t call for an acidic dairy like yogurt/sour cream/buttermilk. Instead, it calls for a mix of milk + vinegar (which is an easy sub if you don’t have an acidic dairy on hand). Note: I omitted the optional espresso powder and pearl sugar.

Texturally, this was probably the second driest of all the muffins. Compared to Jordan the Stallion, this texture felt slightly more coarse and airy yet was still a notch more moist. It had a lovely deeply chocolatey flavor, but the lack of chips on top of the muffin probably didn’t help the score. This muffin had the lowest percentage of dairy (~18%) and the highest percentage of flour (~25%) which likely accounts for the relatively dry texture.

Overall, this was an easy muffin to make, but I think a few tweaks could make it more desirable and moist.

Taster comments:

• Tasted very cakey in a good way, not as muffiny. The crumb tasted dry and loose at first but then was incredibly moist (I know that sounds confusing)
• This muffin had a deep, semi-sweet chocolate flavor. My only gripe was that it was a little on the dry side for me, and again could have had more chocolate chips throughout the muffin.
• Average, somewhat bittersweet but still rich, slightly dry
• I don’t think this is actually dry, but it’s also got a comparatively less moist cake. I hope this isn’t chocolate burnout already setting in, but I didn’t feel like I got a whole lot of flavor out of this guy. Wish it had more chocolate chips
• Just above average! wouldn’t be disappointed if I bought from a bakery but also wouldn’t write home about it
• Dry and crumbly but seems like an Asian chocolate muffin I grew up with. Not overly sweet like the Asians would like it. However, no chocolate chips inside which doesn’t make it a quality chocolate muffin. This would be bland for an average chocolate muffin eater but perfect for an Asian mom lol

Smitten Kitchen: a glossy, cocoa-forward muffin with medium moisture

In contrast to King Arthur, Smitten Kitchen doubles the amount of dairy (a mix of yogurt and milk) with just a smidge more cocoa and less flour. These muffins are incredibly easy to make with a streamlined process that only calls for one bowl! Deb says you can use any type of cocoa powder; I used Dutch-process. While Deb says you can use butter or oil in these muffins, I tested these with butter for a comparison against the oil-based others.

These muffins were notably more moist than King Arthur’s with a light, fine crumb that’s plush and not at all crumbly. Flavor-wise, I think both cakes have a similarly deep cocoa flavor, though Deb’s had so many chocolate chips that it was a bit harder to distinguish the cake itself. Given Deb’s more streamlined process and the moisture improvement, this would probably be my go-to recipe between the two.

Taster comments:

• Loved that it’s packed with chocolate chips, but that’s where most of the chocolate flavor comes from rather than also from the batter. Really nice moist crumb and the top has a nice crust
• Yes! A moist and bouncy cake. Best texture so far but I was a little let down by the lack of chocolate flavor. The chips really brought it for me here.
• Great complex chocolate flavor, not too sugary, good moisture level
• I enjoyed this one, there was a clear distinction between the muffin bottom and the fudgy top. No dryness and the chocolate had some bitterness so possibly milk chocolate or a blend between milk and dark. Compared to [Recipe Tin Eats], it didn’t have the sticky top which I liked and felt it was an overall even sweetness that isn’t too overpowering
• So many chocolate chips, to a point where it’s overwhelming and makes the texture too fudgy. Most of the chocolate flavor seemed to come from the chocolate chips rather than the cake.

Butternut Bakery: airy, lightly sweet chocolate muffins with a faint floral aftertaste

As the winner of the chocolate chip muffin bake off, Jenna has a reputation for delivering unparalleled muffins. Her oil-based chocolate muffin uses a mix of buttermilk and sour cream, Dutch-process cocoa, a mix of baking powder and soda for a high rise, and a mix of regular and mini chocolate chips. The key ingredient? Just a little bit of maple syrup to keep the muffins moist for days.

These muffins have a fluffy, airy texture that one taster noted as having a more “muffin-esque crumb.” I’d agree that while some muffins erred more on the cakey side, this texture was more decidedly muffin–partly due to the tight yet coarser crumb structure, partly due to the medium level of tenderness (vs. extreme squishiness).

Flavor-wise, these were perhaps second lightest in chocolate flavor after Jordan the Stallion. The mix of mini and regular chocolate chips led to fewer pockets of melty chocolate. A few tasters noticed a slightly floral aftertaste (probably from the maple syrup) that I doubt you would really notice without tasting them alongside 8 other muffins. After tasting the muffins after a few days, I don’t think the maple syrup kept these significantly more moist than others. But this is a nice fluffy, lightly sweet pick!

Taster comments:

• Well balanced with a nice chocolate flavor and slightly fluffy texture
• Good chocolate flavor that was not too sweet. Texture was almost like a cakey brownie in the middle
• Nice light, buttery chocolate flavor with kind of a floral aftertaste. I was thinking maybe honey was in it. Texture is cakey and a bit dry
• First muffin with complexity of flavor, tasted like there was coffee or other flavor enhancer in the batter, noticeably different to the previous ones. The first muffin where if you omitted the chips, the flavor wouldn’t suffer too much.
• This one felt like it was edging closer to muffin-esque crumb. What that means to me is that ineffable point on the gradient between “cake” (softer, more plush, sometimes looser) and “bread” (a bit more “knitted together,” more robust). That’s the spot that muffins occupy in my personal scaling, and this was the most muffin-like to me.
• Loved the mini chips but if you had a bite without (specially the bottom) it was kind of lacking in flavor. Also found this muffin to crumble every time I tried to take a bite

Recipe Tin Eats: moist and fudgy muffins with full, bittersweet chocolate notes

There were two elements of this oil-based recipe that stood out to me. First, it had a lower ratio of egg (similar to this Fifteen Spatulas recipe that I was eyeing but ultimately cut), which I thought might lead to a more tender crumb. Second, it blooms cocoa in hot milk rather than the more typical coffee or water. This is a similar recipe to Sugar Spun Run but with the following differences: brown instead of white sugar, one less egg, milk instead of water, and Dutch-process instead of natural cocoa.

Baking soda is the sole leavener, an unusual combination since the neutral Dutch-process cocoa (pH of 7) typically doesn’t react with alkaline leaveners. But Nagi says this helps bring out the cocoa flavor (and I think the acidity in the sour cream helped with the rise).

Sure enough, I felt like muffins had a bit of an edge in the bittersweet chocolate flavor profile. Most tasters agreed that these had a richer, almost edging on bitter chocolate note (perhaps due to the blooming + baking soda??). Texturally, these felt similar to New York Times to me but a notch less tender and cake-like. However, these still fall closer to the cakey end of the spectrum rather than bready. A great choice for anyone wanting a rich, not-too-sweet deep chocolate flavor.

Taster comments:

• Super soft, moist texture, a lot more rich and deep chocolate flavor
• It has the bouncy texture I want from a muffin, top is slightly sticky to the touch and the flavor is quite full
• More sponge cake-like than moist cake crumb, and has a slight red velvet cake aftertaste.
• This is giving bitter and not as sweet. The texture is more plushy spongy. Don’t like the chocolate flavor, almost a little burnt. I like the flavor of chocolate chips in this though
• *Comparatively* drier (though not driest). In reality, I actually don’t think any of the samples are dry. They’re all pretty moist as far as muffins go. But compared to the others, this one is just the absolute slightest bit more crumbly. Its chocolate note also tastes almost like it’s toasted, which is intriguing to me, but I can’t put my finger on exactly what it reminds me of. Maybe a bit like that flavor that the Maillard reaction brings out on the edges of any cake that’s in contact with the pan — except I get it throughout the muffin, not just on the tin edges.
• Immediately strong chocolate flavor, weird texture in between dry and squishy, not a memorable muffin, but not a bad bite either. Would buy in a shop because it looked good, but after eating would not buy again.

New York Times: ultra-tender and squishy muffins with a rich chocolate flavor

With butter, a mix of brown and white sugar and Dutch-process cocoa, the New York Times recipe didn’t immediately stand out as unique to me. However, this turned out to be the only recipe I found that used no liquid dairy (milk/sour cream/buttermilk/yogurt), instead moistening the batter with just hot coffee. This also ended up having the lowest ratio of flour (~16%) and highest ratio of sugar (~32%).

With those ratios in mind, it’s not surprising that this turned out to have one of the squishiest and most tender crumbs. To me, this was a quintessential chocolate muffin. With a fine crumb that you might expect from store-bought, machine-manufactured muffins but a deeply rich and balanced chocolate-y flavor that underscores its homemade nature.

Several tasters commented that they would have liked more chocolate chips in the muffin instead of on top, which would be my only real critique. This could have easily taken top honors as my favorite muffin (and it was one of my favorite textures), but the best is yet to come! I think anyone would be thrilled with these muffins.

Taster comments:

• This was my second favorite overall. So hard to decide but in the end [I Bake Mistakes] was a little better. I loved how moist and slightly deeper the chocolate flavors were in this one. Great gooey touch too!! It was tough to put down, [I Bake Mistakes] just blew me away a liiiitle more.
• Very moist, deep chocolate flavor. could be slightly fluffier
• Really good texture, nice and moist. Good amount of chocolate chips on top, but could be more inside.
• A fine, very soft crumb that melts apart easily in the mouth. I feel like this is a very gentle cake, if that makes any sense lol. I don’t know if it’s just the portion I got, but the top had quite a few chips studded in it, but the inside ended up being sparse. I enjoyed it, but I kept wanting just a bit more chocolate.
• Texture soft, melt in your mouth. But SOLID chocolate flavor. Good balance of sweetness (not too sweet!)
• Texture was nice, I personally like a little bit moister but it wasn’t leaving anything to be desired. Very chocolately flavor, which is appreciated.

Sugar Spun Run: deeply chocolatey, tender and fluffy muffins

As mentioned previously, this recipe is an interesting contrast against Recipe Tin Eats as it’s also oil-based, but uses a different combination of moistening liquid, more egg and white sugar. This is also the ONLY recipe in the batch that specifies natural cocoa vs. Dutch-process. (If you’re a fan of Lily P Crumbs, this is the base she uses for her muffins!)

I accidentally made an entire batch of these muffins with the wrong cocoa (Dutch-process) and quickly scurried to bake off a new batch right before tasters showed up. To my surprise, the batches looked identical. In my mind, natural cocoa tends to bake up a lighter brown, but both were equally dark and rich.

Flavor-wise, these had a subtle but distinct edge over some others. I felt these were similarly rich and dark to Recipe Tin Eats, perhaps thanks to the bloomed cocoa and the new element of natural cocoa. Texturally, these were so soft and tender–a perfect cake-like muffin that’s slightly more structured than the New York Times but still quite moist. Another delightful hit that I think most anyone will love.

Taster comments:

• My favorite! Moist but not overly rich, had good bounciness and bite. Almost tastes like a really elevated Costco muffin.
• I think this is my favorite of the bunch. Great moist texture and solid chocolate flavor, without it being too too sweet like [I Bake Mistakes]. There is a slight other flavor in the mix (not sure if it’s coffee) that I don’t 100% love, but even with that, this is my favorite muffin. Slightly teetering towards cupcake territory, but not too too sweet.
• Very moist but still had good air/sponginess, great flavor, loved the chips incorporated inside
• Muffin top has a crust to it, not very sticky more shiny but nicely chewy. chocolate chips are a bit too sweet and evenly distributed throughout the muffin.
• This one was great and I loved that it was moist, but it was just a hair too sweet compared to my best overall [Danielle Sepsy]
• Reminiscent of red velvet cake subtle chocolate with a lot of chocolate chips. It has a nice crisp edge but is a little dry.

I Bake Mistakes: fudgy, moist chocolate muffins with a brilliant bittersweet chocolate flavor

I was thrilled to finally try Kassie’s viral Olympic chocolate muffin recipe! Her base uses oil, milk, sour cream, instant coffee, Dutch-process cocoa and a mix of dark and milk chocolate. The unique aspects of her recipe? She uses just a little bit of milk powder and such a high ratio of salt (2 teaspoons of Diamond Kosher salt per 1.5 cups flour) that I was almost scared to add the full amount.

But ultimately I’m glad I did! Even though Kassie’s recipe doesn’t require blooming the cocoa (a key flavor-enhancing step that others use), the high level of salt seemed to bring out the chocolate flavor more aggressively than any other recipe. The flavor feels perfectly balanced with a strong, complex bittersweet chocolate cake speckled with a mix of sweet milk chocolate and darker semisweet chips.

With a low ratio of flour similar to New York Times and a relatively high ratio of sugar and dairy, it makes sense that Kassie’s muffin had a similarly squishy/tender texture. With a moist and fudgy crumb, this is definitely a muffin that lands on the cake side of the spectrum. Overall my favorite muffin as a whole!

Taster comments:

• My pick for the best one. I liked how it had a variety of chocolate flavors, slightly sweeter than my second favorite, [New York Times]. The goo center was a great touch. Was hard to pick between this and [New York Times], but ultimately I felt like this had “wow effect” / you couldn’t put it down.
• Amazing! Texture was ideal, rich chocolate flavor, really really delicious, dense and rich! A but crisp on the outside – in a good way!
• Best flavor profile. The chocolate is shining. Optimal balance between sweetness and bitterness. Cake is dense and moist enough. Thumbs up!
• Good melt in your mouth texture. Very moist. Chocolate forward without being too sweet. Almost fudgy
• Maybe a little less sweet than the others? So the chocolate came across as more rich and with depth and bitterness, maybe my favorite so far even if the texture wasn’t my favorite.
• This really makes me question, “What is the line between a cupcake and a muffin?” This is so effing delicious because I’m pretty sure it’s more like a cupcake. I say this because it’s super sweet, indulgent, moist. But is that really a muffin at that point? I think I can eat a whole muffin by myself, but I don’t think I could eat a whole one of these by myself if it were a breakfast for me – way too sweet. Seems like it’s a cupcake feigning as a muffin.
• This muffin reminds me of a brownie in both the crumb and chocolate chips packing the chocolate flavor. It’s pretty moist too, would definitely make this one.
• Was a little too chocolately. also was very very dense, would probably feel full after eating half

Danielle Sepsy: a light, airy and sweet boxed cake-esque muffin

I was most excited to try chef Danielle Sepsy’s recipe for a few reasons. Butter and oil-based cakes are typically moist and flavorful. This was also the only recipe of the bunch to use cake flour rather than all-purpose flour. And I was highly intrigued by the secret ingredient: instant chocolate pudding mix. Instant pudding mix is essentially cocoa, cornstarch and sugar, so I was curious to see how it would affect the final recipe.

Satisfyingly, this texture was VERY different from the rest. Imagine the light airiness of a boxed cake mix, and that was this muffin. While many of the other muffins do feel cake-adjacent in a muffin form, these truly feel unabashedly like CAKE. The crumb is unquestionably moist and squishy with chocolate chips melting into the middle.

The flavor does feel a bit sweeter and lighter on the cocoa compared to others with a slight artificial note (perhaps from the instant pudding mix). Personally, I preferred the flavor of I Bake Mistakes, but this is an incredible version of a chocolate muffin. I could easily see it reigning supreme at the Olympics!

Taster comments:

• Delightfully light and airy texture, perfect rich flavor, this had to have been the Olympic muffin recipe
• Very moist, bouncy, strong dark chocolate flavor, vanilla sweetness, just very well balanced! Literally perfect, ultimate muffin slay, gold medal
• Wowwwww!!!! Best texture!! Like cake. Perfectly soft and spongey but not oily and has a good chew. It was great.
• Texture is more cake like than muffin. Super light, moist and fluffy. It wasn’t a super hard chocolate flavor but I really liked it. It was still chocolaty enough for me.
• This one was moist without feeling too heavy. It had the right amount of sweetness and was my favorite of the bunch. Since my ideal chocolate muffin is the one from Costco, I think this was the closest.
• Tastes like if you mixed chocolate cake and chocolate frosting on your plate and then took a bite. Super soft and doesn’t keep its shape but has a nice and very rich chocolately flavor that is very satisfying for a chocolate muffin.
• Tastes a bit artificial in a good way? Like one of those cosmic brownies at a deli that’s wrapped in cellophane. More of a cake/brownie hybrid than a muffin. Very sweet
• The texture of this one is super light – almost like boxed choco cake texture. I don’t hate the lightness of it, but the flavor is just not there at all. The flavor brings the overall down for me significantly. Again, just tastes like bland boxed choco cake.