One is never enough Lindt ball muffins
During the usual run through of my Reader, I had a ping of inspiration when I read a blog post by a fellow blogger at Natural Euphoria. The post was about her love for Lindt Lindor balls, and the associated guilt of having too many. You should check out her post because she also runs through a few interesting facts about how good (not bad) eating chocolate really is. I also share this love for Lindt’s chocball-y treats (not the guilt though; you should NEVER feel guilty about eating chocolate), and I had a light-bulb moment. Why don’t I chuck some Lindt balls into muffins and combine some chocolately goodness with some muffiny goodness? *high five to self* When I pulled these beautiful muffins out of the oven, they looked rather naked so I dressed them up with some chocolate buttercream. You might be wondering why I chose to make muffins rather than cupcakes…well, I’m a bit of a guts and muffins are bigger than cupcakes. See what I’m getting at? This recipe makes 12 luscious muffins.
One is never enough Lindt ball muffins
60g butter, melted
1 cup self-raising flour
2 tbs cocoa
1 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
½ cup milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
12 Lindt Lindor balls (I used the milk chocolate ones)
Chocolate buttercream
125g butter, softened
1 cup icing sugar mixture, sifted
¼ cup cocoa, sifted
1½ tsp milk
Preheat oven to 180ºC. Line the muffin pan with patty pans. Sift together the flour, cocoa and caster sugar into a large mixing bowl. In a jug, whisk together the eggs, milk and vanilla essence. Add all wet ingredients, including the butter, to the dry ingredients and fold until combined.
Spoon the mixture into the muffin pan and place a Lindt ball in the middle of each muffin. Chuck the pan in the oven for about 10-15 minutes, or until a skewer inserted on an angle comes out clean. Don’t insert the skewer in the middle because you’ll hit the melted Lindt ball and it will make your skewer look gooey when you pull it out. Let the muffins cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before turning them out on to a wire rack to cool completely.
Whilst the muffins are cooling, start making the buttercream by beating the butter until it is pale and creamy. Add the icing sugar, cocoa and milk and beat until fluffy.
Spoon the buttercream into a piping bag with a star nozzle and pipe the buttercream onto the muffins when they have completely cooled. I have to say, I even surprised myself with how good these tasted. You definitely can’t stop at just one…..
Note: I have made slight amendments to the original recipes, so if you would like to see them, click here for the muffins and here for the buttercream.
thecookingchook 
WOW! I want to eat my screen:0) I must have some chocolate left somewhere in the pantry:0)
I was trying very hard not to eat all of the buttercream before I had the chance to pipe it all on the muffins! It’s very yummy…
:0)
They look delicious…I’m a big fan of Lindor balls (addictive) Entering into the Easter spirit and celebrating all things chocolate, I baked Cadbury’s mini creme eggs in the centre of a batch of brownies, works really well and will now give it a go with the lindor balls as I think the creme eggs disappear from the shelves now that Easter is over! Great blog..thank you.
Lindt chocolate in general is addictive! The chocolate balls are definitely a suitable replacement for Easter eggs. Thank you for stopping by and checking out my blog 🙂
I’ve made these a few times and replaced the buttercream with chantilly cream, also made mini cup cakes using the small lindor balls as I found the big ones too sickly – however my hubby eats 3 small ones at a time! Great recipe thanks I’m about to make 48 mini ones for a church fund raiser tomorrow night x
Hi Lisa! I’m glad to hear you like the recipe. Chantilly cream sounds wonderful, I’ll have to give that a try the next time I make these. These cupcakes are quite rich, especially with the chocolate buttercream, so a smaller cupcake would be nice.
OMG! It looks utterly scrumptious! Such a great idea. I saw Cupcake Wars on Foxtel the other day and the contestant put a biscuit inside the cupcake and the judges thought it was gimmicky but this Lindor idea is amazing! Well done and thank you so much for the credit! 🙂
I like to give credit where credit is due, so I thank you for the inspiration! My other light-bulb moment was Ferrero Rochers in muffins…. *drool*
Thanks. That sounds great too!
Dangerous!
Ya huh! It took 3 days to polish off 12 muffins…terrible!
Oh these looks divine! I don’t have a piping bag though, ideas for how to still make the buttercream look nice?
I use disposable piping bags and have 50 bijillion of them so I could give you some if you like? Just snip the bottom to make an opening about 1cm across and pipe your buttercream that way.
I didn’t even know they made disposable ones these days! I’ll have a look at the shops tomorrow, will let you know 🙂 Really want to try these for work on Monday 🙂
Try and find these at Woolies – they even have piping nozzles in them too: http://www2.woolworthsonline.com.au/#url=/Shop/ProductDetails%3FStockcode%3D264062%26name%3Dmultix-cake-decoration-piping-bags%26search%3Dpiping%2Bbag
I love this idea of the lindt ball inside!! And the end result is gorgeous!
Thank you! You should see the look on people’s faces when they bite into the muffin and discover the Lindt ball inside. Absolutely priceless!
Fabulous idea. I must try these.
Oh you should! The only problem is, you’ll end up eating the whole lot yourself 😉
Fab. Will try xxx
Great! If you get a chance, drop me a line and let me know if you like the muffins 🙂
Wow these look fantastic – definitely on my to-do list! Thanks for liking my new blog too 🙂
I love all things Frenchy and I definitely love sweet things so what’s not to like about your post?! Thanks for checking out mine 😀
And I’ve just read that you’re an Aussie too! We have a lot in common… I’ll be posting a lot more about Frenchy stuff in the next year so stay tuned. Starting with my forthcoming weekend in Paris in 2 weeks’ time 🙂
Lucky duck! Well, you’ve convinced me that I need to follow you. I’m hoping to drop into Paris next year for the Tour de France but plans are a little wobbly right now. I’ll have to live vicariously through you!
Wow what a great idea! Makes me want to try it with all of the Lindt ball flavors…
You should SO do that!! I’d love to know what the other flavours taste like in the muffins.
If/when I do it I’ll let you know how it goes! Thanks for the idea. : )
Oh my, positively delicious!!
I agree one should never feel guilty about eating chocolate, or anything else for that matter.
These look absolutely divine! I used to love milk chocolate, but over the years I’ve moved up to 72% dark chocolate 😉
Thanks Stefan! I’m a dark chocolate fan myself so I understand what you are saying….My favourite chocolate of all time (which I will be blogging about soon) is around 56% cocoa. Very nice!
Lindt Lindor balls are so delicious! I can’t wait to make this muffins. They sound (and look) delicious! Wish I had one …. or two …. now!
Make sure you try one when they are still warm (the Lindt ball is a bit oozy) and one when it’s completely cooled.
Oh my. Did I really just dribble on my laptop?? I am addicted to the milk chocolate Lindt balls, and these muffins sound divine. Yum!
If only I could share these muffins with people so you can all know how awesome they taste, because they really are special. I will definitely be making them again!
These look absolutely wonderful. And Lindt balls are my husband’s favourite – I’m definitely going to make them for him (us!!), but think perhaps I won’t tell him about the ‘secret ingredient’. He’ll be delighted!
It will be hard to hide the smug look on your face when he bites into the muffin, and you know what he’s in for. Do drop me a line and let me know what he thinks when he tries them. 🙂
I cannot even begin to imagine how satisfying that crunch will be once you break into the LindtBall…after sinking your teeth into that moist sponge! Genius idea!
You’ve just inspired me to make another batch today…mmmm
Send some my way if you do
Duly noted – LOL!
This looks wonderful!! I am considering this recipe for Christmas if I can get organized enough! I agree that the muffininess takes some of the guilt out of the chocolate decadence.
I am going to share this with readers on my blog as I know they will love it too. Thanks and happy holidays!
Thanks for stopping by my blog and I’m glad you like the recipe. I hope these muffins can make it into your Christmas menu! Happy holidays to your too. 😀
Oh, my. I think I know what my special gift goodies will be this year. Wowowwow. Beautiful!
Thank you! I have a few of my friends making multiple batches of these muffins so they must be alright. 😀
Um, these are totally cupcakes, not muffins– in my definition of the terms at least– and Lindt balls baked into them sound amazing!! This is even more genius than baking with peppermint patties or peanut butter cups. 🙂
They started off as muffins until I dressed them up. You could always lick the buttercream off to make them muffins again if you really want to ping me on a technicality. ;p LOL
There are no words, except pass the buttercream! My only issue is that I can’t see these ever making it into the oven, I’d just eat the cake mix with a spoon. Or my hands. Or I may just put my entire face into the bowl. Love, love, love your blog!
Thanks Alison – I love your blog too! I did struggle to not eat everything before popping the tray into the oven, but the finished product is definitely worth the wait…:)
I agree – one Lindt ball is never enough! They are little chocolate balls of deliciousness 🙂 Love the sound of these muffins so must try.
Aren’t they? You should definitely try it, you won’t regret it! Thanks for checking out my blog. 🙂
Oh my goodeness – might have to try these over Christmas! Thank you – I’ll charge you by the extra kilos I put on!
Hi Kylie – thanks for stopping by and checking out my post! I’ve made 3 batches of these so far in the last week and have only eaten one, so my advice is to share these rather than keep them to yourself – LOL 🙂 Hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas!
Wow (I see that seems to be a common response!). Yuuuuuum 🙂
I can vouche that they taste as good as they sound. I’ve eaten a few (or several). Thanks for checking out my post!
I’m speechless. I need these in my life.
Hi Emma! Thank you for checking out my post. I hope you get the chance to make these, because they’re pretty tasty 🙂
Oh. My. Gosh. These look incredible! I’m going to have to give these a try!
Thanks for stopping by and checking out my post! If you get a chance, let me know how you go with the recipe 🙂
I tried these out (using a different muffin recipe so I didn’t have to convert to weight measurements!) and they were so good! http://scarletscorchdroppers.wordpress.com/2013/01/29/lindt-melting-middle-muffins/
Thank you for a great idea 🙂
These look very pretty!
Thank you Victoria 🙂
Yum! I love Lindt dark chocolate balls. You’re a baking genius!
Thank you 🙂 I wouldn’t call myself a baking genius though. I’m just good at finding cool recipes. It’s amazing what you can do with Google 😛
These look decadent and delicious – a winning combination! Thanks, too, for visiting, my blog.
Thank you! And thanks for stopping by my blog too I’m also a fellow Francophile! I’d love to live somewhere in France one day 🙂
I adored these. They tasted fantastic. I did have a problem with the Lindt balls dropping to the bottom of the cakes and sticking to the paper cases, some of the paper was left on the cake as I tried to peel it off. Is there a way of overcoming this? or did I do something wrong? I really, really want to make them again and they would have been perfect with out the case issue 🙂
Hi there Kitty! I’m so glad that you enjoyed them! You haven’t done anything wrong. Remember, you’re putting chocolate into a hot oven (belgian chocolate too!) so, they will melt. However, try chucking the Lindt balls in the fridge so they’re cold when you pop the try in the oven.
Fantastic, thank you for your reply. I am determined to make these turn out perfectly. Even my husband was impressed with them, and he is never really that moved by anything I bake 🙂
oh my goodness these look to good will be making them today!
Hi Ellen! Thanks for stopping by and checking out my post. Let me know how you go making these 🙂
Can you bake them and leave overnight, as I would like to make these for xmas, but only have time to bake the day before? Does the chocolate centre stay soft or is it solid? They look amazing! I would like to make a vanilla cupcake with choc centre.
Hi HK! If you store them in container that has a lid (preferably airtight), they’ll be OK for the next day. I would pipe the buttercream on the day that you want to serve them. The chocolate centre will be solid once the cupcakes are cooled, i.e. they’ll be the same hardness as before you put them in the cupcake batter. They are only soft/melted when the cupcake is still warm from the oven. Thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog, and hope you have a wonderful Christmas!
Thank you! Hope you have a lovely xmas too 🙂
I made these with some left over Lindt balls I had from Valentine’s Day and they were absolutely delicious! The muffin mixture made exactly 12 and as a chocolate muffin recipe has replaced my old go to. With the addition of the Lindt chocolate, these are sickly but delicious. I keep them in the fridge but just stick them in the microwave for a couple of seconds to warm up the chocolate in the middle when I want to eat one. Great recipe! 🙂
That’s fantastic to hear Belle! It’s such an easy recipe but the results are always amazing!
I made these for my sweetheart for valentine’s day and they went down an absolute treat! A great idea and a great muffin recipe!
A great way to win over someone’s heart!
do you think the lindt balls would work just as well with a banana nut muffin?
I think it may make an interesting combo. I would be more inclined to use chocolate chips rather than a lindt ball though, however, I wouldn’t be adverse to give the lindt balls a try. Let me know how you go if you decide to give the lindt balls a try 🙂
These look amazing and I can’t wait to try them. I am in the UK – do you know what the 1 cup measurement would equate to in grams? I have tried looking it up but keep getting different answers! Thanks for your lovely recipes, I am so glad I discovered your blog.
Hi Yvonne! Sorry for the tardy reply! I believe 1 Australian cup is 125g. Hope this helps.
Only recently discovered this recipe. I had a lot of leftover Lindt balls. My daughter and grandaughter absolutely loved them (as did I). I made another batch today as they disappeared too fast. LOVELY….
By the way, an Australian cup measurement is 250g.
Thanks for a great treat.
Hi Cheryl! Thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog! I’m so glad that you enjoyed the recipe. It’s definitely one of my favourites. I thought an Australian cup measurement is 250mls for liquids and 125g for flour? I measured out 1 cup of flour then weighed it because flour doesn’t weigh as much as liquids….. Sorry if I am mistaken.