Table of Contents

• Bakery-Style vs Regular Muffins
• Muffins: 101
• Making the Streusel Topping
  • Ingredients
  • Method
• Making the Pumpkin & Coffee Muffins
  • Ingredients
  • Method
• Making the Maple Glaze
  • Ingredients
  • Method
• Recipe

Bakery-Style vs Regular Muffins

If you missed my last muffin post, I did a deep dive into how to make the perfect, bakery-style muffins. Bakery-style muffins are big– they have super domed muffin-tops and that perfect, fresh-from-an-artisanal-bakery look. When I bake bakery-style muffins, I like to use tulip muffin cases, because a) they’re bigger, so there’s more room for all of the extra batter and b) they look fancy. You can make bakery-style muffins from any muffin recipe, including this one!

However, I realise that, sometimes, home-bakers would rather just make standard-sized muffins. Not only does baking regular-sized muffins help with portion control (who is she? I definitely don’t know her), but it also means that you can bake more muffins at once- when baking bakery-style muffins, you can only bake 6 muffins at a time (instead of 12), because bigger muffins need extra space to grow and puff up! So, with that in mind, I’ve written this post with instructions for both muffin styles!

For this recipe then, here’s a rundown of the two muffin types:

I found that the bake time was pretty much the same for both muffin styles. While you might expect the bakery-style muffins to take longer, you’ll always be baking fewer at a time, so the heat can circulate more easily, which evens out the times.

All of this to say that, with a few little changes here and there, you can make these muffins in whichever way you want!

Muffins: 101

Whether you are making bakery-style or standard muffins, there are some rules in the muffin-verse that you should always follow:

• Don’t over-mix the muffin batter.

Over-mixed muffin batters produce tough, dense muffins. Don’t worry if you’ve got a few lumps/streaks of flour left in your batter- just go with it!

• Use the fan setting on your oven to bake the muffins.

Muffins are best baked quickly and at a high heat (at least, to begin with- more on that in a sec!), so the fan setting is your friend.

• Bake the muffins at a higher temperature for the first 5 minutes.

Bake the muffins at a high temperature (200°C fan, in this recipe) for 5 minutes. Then, turn the oven down (to 150°C fan, in this recipe) for the remaining time, to finish off the baking process. The initial high temperature helps to activate the raising agent in the muffins, which helps them to rise up and become big and fluffy, then the lower temperature helps to ensure that the muffins are fully and evenly cooked through.

Making the Streusel Topping

This cinnamon & pecan streusel topping is super quick and easy to make, but adds great texture and flavour to the finished muffins. If you just want plain muffins, you can absolutely leave it off, but I think it’s a really great addition (plus, it makes these muffins feel even more autumnal, which is a definite plus in my book!). The topping isn’t overly sweet, but, when paired with the super-sweet maple glaze, the flavours balance out perfectly.

Ingredients

To make the streusel topping, you’ll need the following ingredients:

• Plain flour

Don’t use self-raising flour, or your streusel won’t be crisp and crunchy.

• Granulated sugar

I usually use caster sugar in my baked goods, but granulated sugar is preferable here for its crunchier texture.

• Light brown soft sugar

Brown sugar adds a caramel-y depth of flavour to the streusel.

• Ground cinnamon

A small amount of ground cinnamon gives the streusel a warm, autumnal flavour, which compliments the spices in the muffins perfectly.

• Salt

Just a little pinch of salt is added to the streusel to balance the flavours and make it extra tasty.

• Unsalted butter

I prefer to use unsalted butter, so that I can be in control of how much salt goes into my baked goods, but if you only have salted butter, you can just omit the salt.

• Toasted pecans

Chopped pecans are tossed through the streusel topping to add even more crunch and nutty flavour. To get the most flavour out of the nuts, toast (or roast) them first and allow them to cool before mixing into the streusel. I do this in the airfryer (about 5 minutes at 180°C should be perfect), but you could also do it in a dry pan on the stove, or in the oven.

Method

To make the streusel, start by whisking together the flour, both sugars, the cinnamon and the salt, just until everything is nicely combined.

Next, melt the butter and add it to the dry ingredients.

Use a fork to mix everything together. The mixture should form little clumps and crumbles.

Finally, tip in the chopped, toasted pecans and mix until the nuts are evenly distributed throughout the streusel.

That’s it! Now your streusel is ready, you can set it aside while you make the muffin batter.

Making the Pumpkin & Coffee Muffins

This muffin batter is super easy to whip up- you don’t even need a mixer!

Ingredients

To make the pumpkin & coffee muffin batter, you will need the following ingredients:

• Plain flour

Make sure to use plain flour, not self-raising, otherwise the raising agent ratios will be off!

• Baking powder

One of the two raising agents in the muffin batter, this helps the muffins to puff up and be extra fluffy.

• Baking soda

The second raising agent in the muffin batter, baking soda is used alongside baking powder because of the acidic ingredients in the batter.

• Salt

A small pinch of salt helps to balance all of the flavours in the muffins.

• Spices

I’ve used a traditional combination of ‘pumpkin pie’ spices in these muffins: ground cinnamon, ginger, cloves and freshly grated nutmeg. These spices give the muffins a lovely, warming flavour.

• Caster sugar

Back to caster sugar for the batter- I prefer baking with caster sugar because it is finer and so dissolves more easily into batters than granulated sugar.

• Light brown soft sugar

Brown sugar adds depth of flavour and extra moisture to the muffins.

• Sunflower oil

Oil is used instead of butter in this batter to make the muffins extra moist.

• Pumpkin purée

You can buy pumpkin purée in cans in most supermarkets, or you can use homemade purée, if you prefer. If you use the canned stuff (like I did), just make sure it is 100% pumpkin (and no other flavourings/ingredients)!

• Eggs

I always use large eggs.

• Greek yoghurt

Greek yoghurt adds extra moisture to the muffins. If you don’t have greek yoghurt, you can use sour cream instead.

• Vanilla extract

Just a small amount of vanilla extract helps to bring all of the other flavours together.

• Instant coffee granules

Instant coffee granules are used to make these muffins into Pumpkin Spice Latte Muffins! Dissolve the granules in hot water before mixing into the rest of the wet ingredients, to ensure the coffee flavour is evenly distributed throughout the muffin batter.

Method

Start by preheating the oven to 200°C fan. Line your muffin tin(s) with cases and set aside. Remember- if you’re baking regular-sized muffins, you can go ahead and line every cavity in the tin with a muffin case, giving you a total of 12 muffins. If you’re planning to make bigger, bakery-style muffins, you’ll need to space 8 muffin cases out over 2 x 12-hole muffin tins, to give them plenty of room to puff up! You’ll have to bake the trays one at a time, but the muffins will be extra big and fluffy for it.

To make the muffin batter, start by placing all of the dry ingredients (the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices) into a bowl.

Whisk the dry ingredients together to combine them, then set aside.

Place the remaining ingredients (the ‘wet’ ingredients) into another, large bowl.

Whisk well until a smooth mixture has formed.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, then fold together, being careful not to over-mix the batter (it’s okay if there are a few streaks/lumps of flour left!).

And that’s it! The batter is now ready to be baked.

Divide the batter between the muffin cases. The muffin cases will be pretty full- for regular-sized muffins, I fill each case with 1 heaped, regular-sized ice cream scoop’s worth of batter. For bakery-style muffins, I fill each case with 2 level regular-sized ice cream scoop’s worth of batter!

Crumble a generous layer of the streusel topping over each muffin, making sure to get some pecan pieces on each muffin. It will seem like a lot of streusel topping, but the muffins will expand a lot, so it will look a little more sparse on the finished bakes!

Place the muffins into the preheated oven and bake for 5 minutes at that initial, high temperature, then turn the temperature down to 150°C fan and bake for a further 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the muffins comes out clean, or with only a few moist crumbs.

If you’re making bakery-style muffins, remember to turn the temperature back up to 200°C fan and wait until the oven has heated back up after baking the first tray of muffins! Then you just need to bake the second tray in exactly the same way.

I like to remove the muffins from the baking tin as soon as they come out of the oven, to prevent the bottoms of the cases from becoming greasy. The tulip cases make this super easy to do, because you can hold onto the papers and not have to worry about burning yourself on the hot muffins! Transfer the muffins to a wire rack to cool completely before icing.

Making the Maple Glaze

This maple glaze is only 3 ingredients and is so quick to make! It adds an extra hit of autumnal sweetness to these cupcakes and helps to balance the flavour of the streusel topping.

Ingredients

All you need to make this sweet, maple glaze is:

• Icing sugar

You need to use icing sugar, or powdered sugar, for this- caster sugar isn’t fine enough!

• Maple syrup

Maple syrup adds a lovely flavour and texture to the icing.

• Water

Water is used to thin out the icing slightly, so it can be drizzled onto the muffins. You could use milk instead, if you prefer.

Method

To make the glaze, start by sifting the icing sugar into a small bowl.

Add the maple syrup, along with a splash of water, and stir to combine.

Check the consistency of the icing- you’re looking for a thin(ish) glaze that you can drizzle over the muffins, but that won’t all run off immediately! To make the glaze thinner, add a little more water. To make it thicker, add more sifted icing sugar.

Once the glaze is ready, you can drizzle it over the cooled muffins. The muffins can be enjoyed at room temperature, but they’re extra lovely if you warm them slightly in the microwave, before serving!

As with all muffins, these are best enjoyed the day you make them, but leftovers can be stored in an airtight container for a day or so at room temperature.

Recipe

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Pumpkin Spice Latte Muffins

Spiced pumpkin and coffee muffins, topped with a cinnamon & pecan streusel and drizzled with a maple glaze. The perfect autumnal treat!

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Keyword Cinnamon, Cloves, Ginger, Maple Syrup, Muffin, Nutmeg, Pecans, Pumpkin, Streusel

Prep Time 45 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Servings 12 muffins (or 8 bigger bakery-style muffins)

Ingredients

For the cinnamon & pecan streusel topping:

• 90 tbsp plain flour
• 2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp light brown soft sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch salt
• 60 g unsalted butter, melted.
• 40 g pecans, toasted and roughly chopped.

For the pumpkin & coffee muffin batter:

• 190 g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg, freshly grated.
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 135 g caster sugar
• 135 g light brown soft sugar
• 120 ml sunflower oil
• 340 g pumpkin purée (see Note 1).
• 2 eggs
• 60 g Greek yoghurt
• 1 splash vanilla extract
• 4 tsp instant coffee granules, dissolved in 2 tbsp hot water and cooled.

For the maple glaze:

• 60 g icing sugar, sifted.
• 2 tsp maple syrup

Instructions

Make the streusel topping:

• In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, both sugars, cinnamon and salt. Add the melted butter and stir together until the mixture forms crumbles. Stir in the chopped, toasted pecans and set aside for later.

Make the muffins:

• Preheat the oven to 200°C fan. Line muffin tin(s) with muffin cases (12 cases in 1 x 12-hole tin for regular-sized muffins, or 8 spaced out over 2 tins for bigger, bakery-style muffins) and set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves until well combined.
• In a separate, larger bowl, whisk both sugars together with the oil, pumpkin purée, eggs, yoghurt, vanilla extract and the dissolved instant coffee granules, until you have a smooth mixture.
• Fold the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture, being careful not to over-mix the batter.
• Divide the batter between the prepared muffin cases (about 1 heaped regular-sized ice cream scoop's worth for regular-sized muffins, or 2 level scoops for bakery-style). Sprinkle each muffin with a generous layer of the streusel topping, then bake one tray of muffins at a time in the preheated oven for 5 minutes, before turning the temperature down to 150°C fan and baking for a further 23-27 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the muffins comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs.
• Once the muffins are baked, remove them from the tins and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before icing.

Make the maple glaze:

• In a small bowl, mix the sifted icing sugar and the maple syrup, along with 1 tbsp of water until a smooth icing has formed. The icing should be thin enough to drizzle over the muffins, but not so thin that it runs off immediately. If the icing is too thin, add a little more sifted icing sugar. If the icing is too thick, add a little more water.
• Drizzle the icing over the cooled muffins, then serve. The muffins are best eaten the same day that they are baked, but leftovers will keep for a day or two, if stored in an airtight container at room temperature.

Notes

1. You can buy ready-made pumpkin purée in cans from the supermarket- just make sure you get one that is 100% pumpkin (i.e. not pumpkin pie filling).

 

Muffin recipe adapted from https://www.brownedbutterblondie.com/pumpkin-muffins-recipe/

Streusel topping recipe adapted from https://celebratingsweets.com/pumpkin-crumb-muffins-with-cinnamon-icing/#recipe

I wanted to join in with the fun, so, today, I’m bringing you my chocolate muffin recipe, inspired by the ones from the Olympic Village. If you look closely at the muffins in the social media posts (and why wouldn’t you?), you’ll see that their stuffed with a soft, chocolate-y filling. Most of the recipes I’ve seen online opted to use chocolate ganache for this, but I wanted to do something a little different. For these muffins, I’ve created a chocolate fudge filling- the flavour is reminiscent of a traditional hot fudge sauce, but the texture is thicker and the filling doesn’t need to be served warm, making these muffins the perfect snacks for any time of day. These, then, are my Chocolate Fudge Muffins.

Table of Contents

• Making the Chocolate Fudge Filling
  • Ingredients
  • Method
• Making the Chocolate Muffins
  • Ingredients
  • Method
• Tips for Making Bakery-Style Muffins
• Filling the Muffins
• Recipe

Making the Chocolate Fudge Filling

This chocolate fudge filling is easy to make, but so delicious and really elevates these muffins- taking them from standard chocolate muffins to Olympic-standard Chocolate Fudge Muffins! However, you can absolutely make these muffins without the filling and they’ll still be delicious!

Ingredients

To make the chocolate fudge filling, you will need the following ingredients:

• Dark chocolate

This adds chocolate flavour (obviously) and helps the filling to firm up into the perfect, fudgy consistency.

• Cocoa powder

Cocoa powder adds extra chocolate flavour and gives the filling a deep, rich colour.

• Salt

A small pinch of salt is added to the filling, to bring out the chocolate flavour and temper the sweetness of the sugar.

• Evaporated milk

Evaporated milk is used to give a thick, creamy consistency. Because evaporated milk has a lower water content than regular milk, it helps to keep the filling thick and fudgy.

• Caster sugar

Caster sugar is used to bring sweetness to the fudge sauce.

• Golden syrup

Golden syrup is used in conjunction with regular sugar to bring sweetness, while also adding a lovely shine to the fudge filling. The syrup also helps to keep the filling soft and spreadable.

• Unsalted butter

Butter adds a creamy richness to the filling, while also helping it to firm up a little when cooled.

• Vanilla extract

Vanilla not only draws out the chocolate flavour, it also helps to give the filling its iconic, ‘hot fudge’ flavour.

Method

Start by chopping the dark chocolate. You want it to be finely chopped so that it melts easily in the heat of the milk mixture later.

Place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl, along with the sifted cocoa powder and the salt. Set aside for later.

Place the evaporated milk, caster sugar, golden syrup and butter into a saucepan.

Place over medium-low heat and stir frequently until the butter has melted, the sugar has completely dissolved and the mixture has come to just below a simmer. The mixture will be very hot at this stage, so be careful!

Immediately pour the milk mixture over the chopped chocolate and allow to sit undisturbed for 5 minutes. This will allow the chocolate to start melting in the heat of the milk.

After 5 minutes, you can start to stir the mixture. Mix until the chocolate has completely melted and the mixture is smooth and even.

If the mixture still has some lumps of chocolate at this point, you can gently heat the whole lot (either in the microwave or over a pan of barely simmering water), stirring frequently, until smooth.

Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature, then cover the surface directly with clingfilm and place in the fridge for at least 3 hours to firm up, before using to fill the muffins.

Making the Chocolate Muffins

These easy double chocolate muffins are flavoured with cocoa powder and studded with chocolate chunks. They’re quick to make (you don’t even need a mixer!) but super delicious.

Ingredients

• Milk

Whole milk is best, but semi-skimmed/skimmed will also work.

• Unsalted butter

I like to use unsalted butter, so that I am in control of how much salt I am adding to my bakes. If you only have salted butter, just omit the salt in the recipe.

• Instant coffee granules

Coffee helps to bring out the chocolate-y flavour of the cocoa, so I like to add a small amount of instant coffee granules, which we’ll dissolve in the milk/butter, to these muffins.

• Cocoa powder

This brings the chocolate-y flavour to the muffins. Cocoa powder is quite a drying ingredient, so other ingredients are added to the batter alongside the cocoa to increase the moisture content of the muffins.

• Plain flour

Also known as all-purpose flour in the US, this flour contains no raising agents.

• Caster sugar

I prefer to use caster sugar in my baking, because it incorporates into batters more easily.

• Bicarbonate of soda

This is the raising agent for the muffins, which makes them puff up and become nice and fluffy.

• Salt

A small amount of salt is added to the batter to enhance the chocolate flavour and balance the sweetness.

• Chocolate chunks

Chocolate chunks are both mixed directly into the batter and sprinkled on top of each muffin before baking, for maximum flavour and prettiness. I’ve used milk chocolate chunks for my muffins, but you could dark or white chocolate chunks, if you prefer.

• Eggs

I always use large eggs in my baking.

• Sour cream

Sour cream adds extra moisture to the muffins, which helps to counter any cocoa-induced dryness.

• Oil

I use a 50:50 combination of oil and butter for the fat in these muffins. This way, you get the added moisture provided by the oil, while still getting the nicer flavour of the butter. Make sure to use a flavourless oil, like sunflower oil.

• Vanilla extract

Much like with the fudge filling, a small amount of vanilla extract helps to bring out the chocolate flavour in these muffins.

Method

Line 2 muffin trays with 12 muffin cases, placing one case in every other cavity, as pictured (this gives the muffins plenty of space to puff up). Preheat the oven to 200°C fan.

Start by heating the butter and milk together until the butter has completely melted and the mixture is hot. You can either do this in the microwave or in a saucepan on the stove.

Add the instant coffee granules to the hot milk mixture and whisk until dissolved.

Add the cocoa powder and whisk until smooth. Set the mixture aside to cool to room temperature while you prepare the dry ingredients.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, caster sugar, baking soda and salt until combined.

Add 2/3 of the chocolate chunks to the dry ingredients and toss to combine, making sure the chunks are thoroughly coated in the flour mixture.

Add the eggs, sour cream, sunflower oil and vanilla extract to the cooled milk mixture.

Whisk the wet ingredients together until smooth.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and, using a spatula, mix briefly until just combined.

Divide the batter between the 12 cupcake cases. Each case will be pretty full- I used a regular-sized ice cream scoop for this and filled each case with two whole scoops of batter!

Sprinkle the muffins with the remaining chocolate chunks, then place into the preheated oven to bake for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, turn the oven temperature down to 150°C fan and continue baking the muffins for 15 minutes. When the muffins are ready, a skewer should come out mainly clean, with a few moist crumbs stuck to it. Be careful, though, because if you happen to pierce a chocolate chip you might end up overbaking the muffins!

Once the muffins are cooked, you can remove them from the oven. I like to remove the muffins from the baking tin immediately, so that the cases do not get too greasy, and transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely before filling with the fudge filling (if using).

Tips for Making Bakery-Style Muffins

Recently, there’s been a lot of content on social media surrounding the ‘bakery-style’ muffin: that is, a beautiful, fluffy muffin with a big, domed muffin-top. I thought it would be fun to try out some of the techniques I’ve seen that are supposed to help you achieve this effect with this recipe and the results were… magical. Here’s what I learned:

• Don’t over-mix the batter.

This is Muffin-Making 101, but you should never over-mix a muffin batter. Doing so can lead to your finished muffins being tough, dense and oddly shaped. Don’t worry if you have a few lumps of flour here and there after mixing in the dry ingredients- just go with it!

• Bake the muffins in every other cavity in the muffin tin.

This gives the muffins plenty of space to grow and form a lovely, domed top. If the muffins are overcrowded in the pan, they won’t cook as evenly and the muffin tops might merge together and become misshapen. This does mean that you’ll only be able to bake 6 muffins at a time, which is a bit of a drag, but it makes such a difference to the finished muffins.

• Fill the muffin cases right to the top.

Usually, when I make cupcakes/muffins, I use a regular-sized ice cream scoop to portion out the batter, filling each cavity with one scoop’s worth. For the biggest, best muffins though, with perfectly domed tops, you need to fill the cases extra full. For these muffins, I filled each case with two scoop’s worth of batter, which worked perfectly.

• Save some of the chocolate chunks to sprinkle on top of the muffins:

To make the muffins extra pretty, keep some of the chocolate chunks back when mixing them into the batter. That way, you can sprinkle each muffin with some chocolate chunks just before baking them, to mimic those pretty, bakery-style muffins.

• Bake the muffins using the fan setting on your oven.

Muffins are best baked quickly and at a high heat (at least, to begin with- more on that in a sec!), so the fan setting is your friend.

• Use a higher oven temperature for the first 5 minutes of the baking time.

Bake the muffins at a high temperature (200°C fan, in this recipe) for 5 minutes. Then, turn the oven down to a more regular temperature (150°C fan) for a further 15 minutes, to finish off the baking process. The initial high temperature helps to activate the raising agent in the muffins, which helps them to rise up and become big and fluffy, then the lower temperature helps to ensure that the muffins are fully and evenly cooked through.

Filling the Muffins

Filling the muffins with the fudge filling is super easy- you just need a piping bag! I happen to have this fancy doughnut-filling piping tip, so I used that, but it’s not a necessity.

If you have a long piping tip like mine, you can pipe the filling directly into the muffins, inserting the piping tip into the centre of each muffin from above and applying gentle pressure. Once the muffin is nicely filled, lift the piping bag up and finish off the muffin by piping extra fudge filling on the surface of the muffin, to cover where you inserted the piping tip (and mimic the muffins from the Olympic Village!).

If you don’t have the fancy piping tip, you can still fill the muffins! You can either poke the centre of each muffin with the handle of a wooden spoon, or use an apple corer to remove a small amount of muffin. Then, fill the space with fudge filling and decorate the top in the same way as before. That’s it!

Recipe

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Chocolate Fudge Muffins

Inspired by the viral Chocolate Muffins from the 2024 Olympic Village, these double chocolate muffins are filled with a homemade chocolate fudge filling.

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Keyword Chocolate, Fudge, Muffin

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Chill Time 3 hours hours

Total Time 4 hours hours 7 minutes minutes

Servings 12 muffins

Ingredients

For the Chocolate Fudge Filling:

• 170 g dark chocolate, finely chopped.
• 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder, sifted.
• 1 pinch fine sea salt
• 190 g evaporated milk
• 60 g caster sugar
• 2 1/2 tbsp golden syrup
• 15 g unsalted butter
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

For the Double Chocolate Muffins:

• 180 ml milk
• 90 g unsalted butter
• 1/4 tsp instant coffee granules
• 60 g cocoa powder
• 375 g plain flour
• 300 g caster sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 pinch fine sea salt
• 450 g chocolate chunks (see Note 1).
• 3 eggs
• 285 g sour cream
• 90 ml sunflower oil
• 1/8 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Make the Chocolate Fudge Filling:

• Place the chopped dark chocolate, cocoa powder and salt in a medium, heatproof bowl.
• Place the evaporated milk, caster sugar, golden syrup and butter into a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir every now and then until the butter has melted, the sugar has dissolved and the mixture has come to just below a simmer.
• Pour the hot milk mixture over the chocolate and allow to sit for 5 minutes undisturbed. Then, stir vigorously until the chocolate has completely melted and the mixture is smooth.
• Allow the fudge filling to come to room temperature, then cover the surface directly with clingfilm and place into the fridge for at least 3 hours to firm up.

Make the Double Chocolate Muffins:

• Line 2 muffin trays with 12 muffin liners, placing one liner in every other cavity. Preheat the oven to 200°C fan.
• Heat the milk and butter together (in the microwave or in a saucepan on the stove) until the butter has melted and the mixture is hot. Whisk in the instant coffee granules until dissolved, then add the cocoa powder and whisk until smooth. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Add 2/3 of the chocolate chunks and mix until the chunks are nicely coated in the dry ingredients.
• Add the eggs, sour cream, sunflower oil and vanilla extract to the cooled milk mixture and whisk until combined.
• Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix briefly with a spatula until just combined.
• Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cases (I filled each case with 2 regular-sized ice cream scoop's worth of batter). Sprinkle the muffins with the remaining chocolate chunks, then place into the preheated oven and bake for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, turn the temperature down to 150°C fan and bake for a further 15 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean, or with just a few moist crumbs. Bake the two trays separately, one after the other, for best results.
• Immediately after the muffins have baked, remove them from the tin and transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely before filling.

Fill the muffins:

• Transfer the chilled fudge filling to a piping bag and fill each muffin with a generous amount of filling. Top each cupcake with extra filling, then serve. The muffins are best eaten on the day they are made, but will keep for a day or so at room temperature, as long as they are stored in an airtight container.

Notes

1. I used milk chocolate chunks, but you can use whatever type of chocolate you prefer.

Muffin recipe adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction.