Dark Chocolate Financiers are indulgent little treats, exploding with chocolate flavor. They will satisfy any chocolate lover’s craving.
I don’t know how many time I’ve said this on the blog, but let me just say it again, I LOVE chocolate desserts. And these Dark Chocolate Financiers are a chocolate lover’s dream! They’re rich and tender, full of chocolate flavor. The nutty brown butter works wonder in this recipe, enhancing the chocolate flavor to the absolute max. One batch of this makes 20, and that is nowhere near enough.
In my recipe below, I’m listing the volume measurement first. So if you’re just a casual baker, and you don’t have a kitchen scale, I wholeheartedly believe you should still be able to make some out-of-this-world dark chocolate financiers to impress the heck out of your coworkers and neighbors. With that said, the weight measurement are also provided for those who prefer to be very accurate with their baking. And I’m pretty sure I only paid about $10 for my trusty old kitchen scale that I have been using for years. It is so useful to have around. So just get one!
Recipe Tips and Tricks
Recipe Tips and Tricks- When making brown butter from unsalted butter, you will be reducing the weight by approximately ⅔ of the original weight. So start with a generous amount of unsalted butter. You can also brown a large batch and save for other usage. Refrigerate as usual in a cover container for up to a week.
- Watch the pan very carefully when browning butter, because you can get from brown to burned pretty quickly.
- For this particular recipe, I used Guittard Cocoa Rouge, Ghirardelli 72% dark chocolate, and Baker’s unsweetened baking chocolate because those were what I had on hand or were able to find. You can use any brand equivalent as long as the dark chocolate is at least 70% cocoa. This is where the weight measurement will come in handy if you are not using the exact same brand of chocolate bar I used.
- I find that refrigerating the batter will make it easier for piping, and the batter will not spread as you bake and the financier dome will be achieved.
These Dark Chocolate Financiers are small in size, so if you have perfect self-control, you’re golden. However, I’m willing to bet you another batch that you won’t be able to stop at one. So pencil in that yoga class on your calendar, because these are totally worth it.
Dark Chocolate Financiers Recipe
📖 Recipe card
Dark Chocolate Financiers
Ingredients
- ½ cup + 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon granulated sugar ((120 gram))
- 2 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour ((20 gram))
- ⅔ cup almond flour ((63 gram))
- ¼ cup dutch cocoa powder ((23 gram))
- 3 large egg white ((100 gram))
- 2 Ghirardelli 72% dark chocolate squares ((20 gram))
- 1 ½ pieces of Baker’s unsweetened baking chocolate ((10 gram))
- ½ cup brown butter ((100 gram))
Instructions
- Combine sugar, all-purpose flour, almond flour and cocoa powder in a medium bowl and whisk to distribute evenly.
- Add the egg white and whisk to incorporate the dry ingredients completely. Scrape the side of the bowl as necessary. Set aside.
- For the brown butter, start with 5 ounces (1 ¼ stick) of unsalted butter, heat in a small sauce pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted, start whisking. The butter will start bubbling rapidly. When the bubble subsides, the butter will start to brown, continue whisking. When the butter smells nutty and becomes caramel in color, it is done. Take off the heat.
- Pour the brown butter in a heat proof bowl, discard any burned milk solid at the bottom of the pan.
- Wipe the pan clean with a piece of paper towel.
- Measure out ½ cup of brown butter, reserving anything extra for later, and add it back into the sauce pan along with the chocolate. If the chocolate doesn’t melt completely in the hot butter, melt over medium heat and whisk to combine.
- Quickly pour the melted chocolate butter mixture into the medium bowl with the batter you set aside earlier and whisk to combine.
- Place the batter in the fridge for about 1 hour.
- Brush 20 cavities of a mini muffin pan with the left over brown butter, and sprinkle with flour.
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Remove batter from the refrigerator and transfer to a piping bag or a ziploc bag. Cut the tip off, and pipe the batter into the prepared muffin pan, filling it to just below the rim.
- Reduce oven temperature to 350°F and bake for 14 minutes.
- A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean when done.
- Place a clean towel on your counter and flip the muffin pan over to unmold the financiers. If any of them refuse to come out, loosen it with a butter knife.
- Let them cool completely on a cooling rack.
This recipe is adapted from Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bakery.
these are the biggest hit every time i make them…for whoever
Thank you so much Jessica!!! 🙂
I just took a pan out of these out of the oven and ate a hot one. It’s delicious! . I used a mini muffin pan and the smallest size spring-loaded food scoop. They were done in 15 minutes (maybe I’ll do one minute less next time). My only changes: I added a teaspoon of vanilla, and I forgot to preheat to 425 first (I just preheated to 350). The financiers are dark, moist, and delicious. Great recipe! I’ll make these again.
Glad to hear you enjoyed these! Thank you for leaving a review and a 5 start rating!
Made these a couple times, in all shapes and sizes (by adjusting the baking time a bit when using larger molds of course). Even used a cake pan once for using it in a raspberry bavarois. It is SO delicious, seriously. Always using very dark cocoa powder. My go-to recipe for making cookies for friends and family. Thanks for this!
Thank you Selina! Happy to hear the recipe works for you with all different variations 🙂
really fudgy and delicious but didn’t hold its shape. the recipe was easy to follow, ill definitely try it again with some tweaks
I’m commenting to make up for all those who hadn’t actually made these but just couldn’t wait to!!
My mini muffin tray is for 12, so I halved everything, using two yolks because one wasn’t enough to pick up and mix well with the dry ingredients.
They’ve turned out well. A bit messy looking as I didn’t pipe them, but they’re very good. Not too sweet and very chocolaty. I use Lindt 70% bars and had some rather ancient Fry’s Cocoa Powder which doesn’t seem to have been any worse for age!
Thank you Trang! I know Financiers are best when eaten the same day, but if I SaranWrap them and freeze them, won’t that retain that crisp outside and soft inside?
Hi Joy, thank you so much for your 5 star review! I freeze these as well, they will stay soft inside when defrosted but won’t have the crisp outside, still delicious though!
I froze them and I’d say they’re equally delicious.
Thank you Joy! So glad you enjoyed them 🙂
With what can I substitute the butter with? Can I bake it with regular muffins pan?
This recipe calls for brown butter so I can’t recommend a substitute that I have used but searching around I see there are some recommendations for vegan brown butter that people make by cooking margarine with pecans. These are like very rich little brownie bites, I think they are best made in a mini muffin pan so I would not recommend using a larger muffin pan. I have not made them that way either so I don’t know whether they would turnout with the same results. However, you can try making them in a regular muffin pan, you’ll need to bake longer, try 18 minutes or so.
These look amazing! How fine does the almond flour need to be?
I usually use just the typical almond flour you can find at grocery store or Costco.
super delicious – made these using almond meal instead of almond flour (accidentally bought the wrong thing!) and they’re still amazing. soft, fudgy, yum!
Thanks Veeta! Glad to hear it works out 🙂
It’s very annoying when I find a 5 star recipe only to find out one only one person giving 5 stars has even made these.
Hi Joy, I’m sorry you were annoyed by this. I do hope you try this recipe, it is very very good! I’ve made it many times and even brought them to my yoga class to share with people who probably don’t even read blogs and everyone loved them.
What size molds do you have for your pan? I am trying to find the tiniest possible The one I have is 1 7/8in in diameter and I think it might be too big!
Hi Dani, I used a mini muffin pan for these. I think they are a tad under 2 inches.
I make gluten free desserts. Is there a substitute for the all purpose flour?
You can use all purpose gluten free baking flour from King Arthur or Bob’s Red Mill, or just replace with all almond flour. The financiers may not rise but I think the recipe should still work.
These chocolate bites look amazing! I love the sprinkling of powdered sugar on top!
I could smell the butter from afar. These financiers are so tempting and delish.
OMG! So decadent! I would love a few of these with coffee. Yumm!
Yeeees! Totally agree with you on baking with a scale. I never bake without mine! These look so yummy. I’ve never made financiers before, but now I want to try!
You totally should try, they’re so good!!!
I’m with you, chocolate everything! these look delicious
I LOVE LOVE LOVE financiers! I learnt how to make them a few years ago and the smell of that brown butter and that nutty flavour still makes me drool. These look sooo good!
These look so incredible, love all the chocolate flavor!
I don’t kid myself when it comes to stuff like this. If they are on the counter, they won’t be for long. I will eat them.
Gotta try these.