Gooey little chocolate puddings
The great thing about these little beauties is I’ve designed the recipe so you can use in a 12-hole muffin pan – since not everyone has fancy ramekins or moulds. This does mean they turn out quite small, so you can feel justified in devouring two or three. The cooking time is for standard sized muffin tins – if you try to use the giant muffin tins and cook them for 7 minutes, you will end up with slop – so try doubling the time. Make sure you set an exact timer because even a minute more and you won’t get that gooey centre.
Gluten-free option: Use coconut or gluten-free flour in the place of the wheat flour. You may not get quite the amount of ooze, but I’ve tested it and they still taste gooey and superb.
Ingredients
200g good-quality dark chocolate
200g butter (unsalted if you have it)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract or paste
3 free-range eggs
2 free-range egg yolks
1/2 cup caster sugar
3/4 cup flour
Method
Heat the oven to 180c conventional bake. If your oven only has fan bake, set it to 170c.
Lightly grease a 12-pan muffin tin with butter, then add a little cocoa into each one and swish around to coat the sides. Tap out the excess. Measure a circle the size of the bottom of each hole, then cut 12 of these out of baking paper, and pop them in the bottoms. It’s a pain, but it just helps them pop out easier later on.
Melt the broken up chocolate with the butter in a heatproof bowl sitting over a pot of simmering water. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla to mix well. Leave to cool to warm.
Beat the eggs, egg yolks and sugar with an electric beater until thick and pale – a good 4-5 minutes. Fold into the chocolate mixture to combine. Lastly fold in the flour, checking for unmixed lumps.
Carefully pour (or spoon) into the muffin pans, nearly to the top but not quite – they won’t rise like cupcakes. Bake in the centre of the oven for 7 minutes. Now here’s the tricky part – everyone’s oven runs at a different temperature (some vary by 20c). What you’re looking for it for the tops to just lose their shine. There should be a very small bit of shine in the centre when they’re ready.
Remove from the oven and let sit for a couple of minutes. Run a butter knife around the edges, place a chopping board or flat tray on top, and carefully tip the whole thing over, so the puddings end up sitting on their tops on the board/tray. Don’t let them drop any distance or they will go SPLAT.
Use a fish slice/metal spatula to transfer the puddings carefully to a plate or bowl. Serve immediately with fresh fruit, whipped cream or ice cream, and a dusting of icing sugar.
Chelsea’s tip:
If you like, you can prepare this in advance and have the batter sitting in the muffin pan until you’re ready to cook them.
Hello for people wanting to make these in advance, I made them right up to cooking stage, spooned into muffin pans and put in freezer..before cooking take out and thaw at room temp, then cook .. not hard when u have guests to cook and serve at the time..stunning little puddings, thnx C!
Hi there I’m having a dinner party for 8 and would like to serve these desserts in vintage teacups … Can you advise whether I should double the recipe and if so an indication of baking time? Many thanks!
Hi. My daughter (ages 9) and I are hosting a fun My Kitchen Rules evening. We want to use this lovely recipe. You mention above that we can make the mixture before and bake later. How long could you keep it, and in the fridge or on the bench? Thanks Ian
Hi Chelsea
Can I freeze these? And reheat on the oven? Love your book
LOVE these! So easy to make and so yummy! Thank you!
hi Chelsea cant want to try this out
Hi Chelsea, which size eggs would you recommend? I usually use size 7 in my baking and sometimes size 6.
Yep that’d be fine!
This is definitely one of my new favourite dessert recipes for a few reasons – so easy to make and relatively quick, and SOOO delicious love it :-) Thanks Chelsea.
Hi Chelsea!
I love this recipe!!! Just wondering if you can use milk chocolate and add cocoa to make it richer? Don’t have dark chocolate in the house and it’s raining :( lol
Thanks!
Sure why not!
Hi Chelsea
I just made these yummy for our tummy desserts and they were DELICIO’SO!!
My kids absolute loved them with lots of French vanilla icecream….
Thanks for sharing your beautiful recipes, I’m now a big fan!!
I’m wanting to make only 2 of these, what would the amounts be for one of them???
I had some of the mixture leftover as I only made a few of these wee puddings and it was left in the fridge overnight. It wasn’t really useable for this recipe after that, so I spooned some into a mug, put a blob of nutella on top and popped it in the microwave for a minute! Absolutely delicious!
So, if theres leftover it makes a yummy little mug cake too.
I cooked these in ramekims in a big cast ron pot on the fire – had a little water in the bottom of the cast iron pot and cooked for approximately 20 mins – the water was boiling for the last 5 mins. They were delicious – kids loved them and so did I! Will definitely do this again – especially over winter when the fire is cranking!
Hi Chelsea,
I made these last night and they were a hit with hubs and our dinner guests! I halved the recipe as I only had a 6-muffin tin and figured we didn’t need to eat 12 of them! I used self-rising flour as it was all I had and they turned out great. Love, love this recipe…will be making this very often!! They were amazing served with a salted caramel & cashew ice cream. Thanks for such a fabulous recipe!
What are to do with the egg yolks?
They go in with the eggs :)
Made this tonight, was perfect! Percy ooze, perfect cake component. Now there was only two of us, how to I store the rest? Freeze? Neighbors tomorrow?
Thanks,
One full and satisfied belly.
Hey Chelsea. I am yet to make this yummy pudding! I have a quick question though. When it says 3 eggs and 2 egg yolks. Is that meaning i only want 2 yolk from the 3 eggs totalled?
Thanks! Rosie
Sorry! 5 yolks total :)
Hi Chelsea!
This looks amazing and sounds so straight forward. My only problem is my oven only does fan force. Should I drop to 170 degrees and leave for same amount of time?
Thanks so much :D
yes, that’s right x
Hi Chelsea, does it matter if my oven is only fan bake ?
Hi Chelsea. I made these last night – luckily in 2 batches; first batch I thought needed extra time cooking, but they didn’t. Still delicious but had cooked too long so just like a really yummy muffin. Second batch I stuck to the 7 mins – they were glorious. Kids were so excited eating them. Will definitely make again… and again… Thanks :)
Hey Paula, we usually do it in Ramekins and it takes about 15 minutes in the oven (just make sure you remember to take them out, they keep cooking in the hot ramekins) Good Luck.
Hi Chelsea/Paula,
We often use ramekins for this – takes about 15 mins to bake, just be really careful not to cook too much, as they dry out quickly if they pass the gooey stage. If they do, some cream sorts them out though!
Hi Chelsea.
I’m going I attempt these tonight but using ramekins. Do I need to adjust the ingredients? We have 10 people for dinner.
Also, would I be best to serve them in the ramekins rather than take them out?
Thanks a lot! I’ve been dying to try these for ages!!
You might need to cook them for a bit longer as they won’t cook as quickly in the ramekins!
These look amazing! Would it be possible to make the mixture a couple of hours in advance and leave at room temperature to bake later? Thanks
Yes!
Made these the other night and they were soooo delicious! Made 6 in big muffin tins and put them on for exactly 14 minutes and they turned out perfectly. Reheated some last night for 20 seconds in the microwave after being in the fridge and the centre stayed runny. Just love your recipes Chelsea!
I have made these twice. The first time they were amazing, but the second time they didn’t work because I used cheap Pam milk chocolate buttons. It is really to important to use top quality dark chocolate!
I love this recipe, will be making it again tonight with 72 percent dark ghana chocolate!
Hi, was just wondering if these could be cooked in advance and then blasted in a microwave when to be served? Thanks Sarah
Not really, as the microwave will cook the inside – but if you don’t mind it not being runny, then sure!
Kiaora Chelsea, I came to your cook night @ Mason Appliances in New Plymouth last week, I wanted to give you a tip to remove moisture from boiled potatoes. I always place a tea towel over the pot after removjng water and place lid on top. Thanks for a great night and fine cooking!
Moehau
Hi there, Am I able to make the mixture ahead of time?
Thanks
Yes, you can, but careful as the chocolate can start to set if it gets cold.
Hey
Wanted to tell people that these work fantastically with gluten free flour (not baking mix)
Thanks for such an awesome choc fix
yay! thanks for that :) any particular brand of GF flour that you use?
Hi Chelsea – my oven is fan bake only … any advice?
Instead of the extra steps in getting the muffin trays ready, could you not just use silicon muffin molds instead or would that affect how they cook etc?
I came across this recipe yesterday off the whittakers facebook page and just HAD to try it as the recipe was really easy and I had never attempted to make something like this before. I halved the recipe and had to use normal sugar as I didn’t have caster available, it turned out absolutely beautiful. I used the dark ghana so it was deliciously divine and rich. I will definitely be making this again, thank you for sharing.
P.S they taste amazing chilled too!
Hi cCelsea, As I have a dairy allergy person in the household I was wondering if this would work with a dairy free margerine instead of butter – the dark ghana is already dairy free?
Yes, the chocolate is dairy free. You can try with coconut oil as well, and margarine!
I have been planning to make these forever but just couldn’t find a recipe I was happy with until now! Just wondering what your opinion would be of using milk chocolate instead of dark – would this turn out ok? We don’t have dark chocolate lovers in this house!
Hi Lisa, it will still taste OK, but it won’t have that rich chocolate flavour. Give it a go!
Yummo! What an easy, delicious dessert!! Chelsea, you are a star! Thanks for sharing your amazing talent :)
Hi Chelsea,
Would love to try these but am wondering, can the batter be made in advance and baked at a later time? Thanks
Hi Ange, I’m not actually sure as I haven’t done it – I don’t see why not though, as long as it’s not too long. The chocolate will harden in the fridge but will come back to liquid at room temperature.
Hi Chelsea, love love love your recipes. How far in advance can these be made. Thanks
Hi Sarah, unfortunately they really need to be eaten straight away – you can have the chocolate melted and ready to go though!
Hi Chelsea, I also made this last night for Valentines and your Tasty Italian Bake. They went down such a treat and it was so easy and stress free. There weren’t even any leftovers for today :( I love your site, thank you! All the way from Zimbabwe!!
Just made these for my fam of 5 tonight…. All agree… Best pudding I have ever made them! So thanks Chelsea. Grateful mum, grateful tums!
Could you use almond meal instead of flour for a GF dessert?
I haven’t tried with almond email so I’m not sure – give it a go perhaps!
WOW I just made these for Valentines Dessert they are simply the best I did make a little addition of a tsp Peppermint to the melted chocolate & butter. Just because we love Peppermint chocolate this is now one of our favourite recipes. I also made you Dark Chocolate Mint Cheesecake and I love the fact that there was no added sugar it was also simply beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing such amazing recipes with us.
Hi Chelsea, great recipe! Went down a treat for our valentines dessert tonight, but I just wondered as this is quite a large recipe would it still work if you halved it?
Thanks!
Yes, it will!
Hi Chelsea, I made these tonight with my 6 year old for our family backwards Valentines dinner (backwards so the kids can go run and bounce out the chocolate while I’m cooking dinner!) Thanks for an awesome and easy recipe. It’s now being requested for upcoming birthdays :)
Hi Chelsea, is this using plain flour or S/R?
Thanks!
Just plain flour, Nikki!
Hi Chelsea, I made the vanilla cupcakes awhile ago that you gave us the recipe for us, and I put frozen raspberries in the mix and when I baked them, they where not rising much and where very yummy but where also a bit heavy feeling but also, light at the same. would the frozen fruit have done this? love you work very much!!!!
cheers, Sharron
Hi Sharron, yes it will be the frozen berries – they contain a lot pf liquid which will affect the texture, and also the will prevent the batter from cooking as they are so cold :)
Chelsea, I see you have used unsalted butter in this recipe. I often come across unsalted butter in recipes and wonder if you can tell me why it has to be unsalted? Would it make a difference to the
gooey puddings if you used ordinary butter instead? Love your style of cooking, use your recipes often, thank you.
Hi Lorene, to be honest with you, I used normal butter and it’s fine – it doesn’t taste salty so go for it :)