Norwegian swimmer Henrik Christiansen has gone viral on TikTok for his love of the Olympic Village chocolate muffins, per USA Today.
The “muffin man” has been claiming hearts on social media — and has made it to the finals in marathon swimming, per the official Paris 2024 website. He will compete on Aug. 8 for gold.
Who is Henrik Christiansen?
This is Christiansen’s third Olympics, according to the Olympics wiki. Born in Lillestrøm, Norway, the 27-year-old has swam Olympic distances since the Rio Olympics in 2016.
On Monday, July 29, he took 25th in the men’s 800-meter freestyle; on Saturday, Aug. 3, he took 20th in the men’s 1,500-meter freestyle preliminaries. The last event remaining for him is the 10km swim in the Seine River on Thursday, Aug. 8, according to Paris 2024.
Per USA Today, Christiansen says he usually avoids social media during competitions. TikTok’s quick and easy video format has caused him to make an exception during this year’s Olympics, however. Now he has gone viral for posting praise about the Olympic Village’s chocolate muffins.
“(The response has) been unreal,” he said. “I had never in my life thought it would be as big as it has become. As professional athletes, we always want to excel at everything we do. So I kind of feel like it’s been an arena where I feel accomplished. But I’ve also been very careful not to let it affect (me), not to drain too much energy.”
He rated the muffins as an 11/10 in one video.
“What’s not to like?” he said, per USA Today. “They’re liquid in the center. They have chocolate chips. They’re really rich. They’re moist. It’s just — everything is really good.”
How to make Christiansen’s favorite muffins
Some recipe blogs have already taken a stab at recreating the muffins that purportedly fuel an Olympic swimmer. Here’s one recipe from Rose Bakes.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chunks, divided
- 2 large eggs + 1 egg yolk, room temperature
- 3/4 cup full-fat sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil or canola oil
- 1/2 cup whole milk, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup homemade chocolate ganache or chocolate sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F and grease a muffin tin or line with parchment paper liners.
- Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chunks.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, extra yolk, sour cream, oil, milk and vanilla extract together.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined (do not over-mix).
- Fill the muffin tin all the way to the top and sprinkle the rest of the chocolate chunks on top.
- Bake at 425°F for five minutes. Then, keeping the muffins in the oven, adjust the temperature to 350°F and bake an additional 18-23 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Let muffins cool in the pan for five minutes before removing to a cooling rack. Leave them on the cooling rack for another 10 minutes.
- Squeeze about a tablespoon of chocolate ganache or chocolate sauce into the center of the muffin by going through the muffin top. Drizzle a bit on top of the muffin before continuing on with the rest of the muffins.