Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Muffins (video)
A crispy, sky-high muffin top, full of chocolate chips, soft and buttery on the inside – a perfect way to start your morning!
I love enjoying a good muffin with a nice, warm cup of coffee, especially now that the fall weather is setting in. My favorite part of a muffin is the muffin top, that’s why I love bakery style muffins. Breaking off that large, crispy muffin top and taking that first bite is heaven to me. When I was a kid, I would only eat the tops of my muffins and it used to drive my mother crazy because she though it was so wasteful. But, the bottom just couldn’t compare to the top. This reminds me of that Seinfeld episode back in the 90’s where Elaine had the idea of a store just selling muffin tops. I know I totally dated myself with the last reference, but I hope some of you know what I’m talking about or else I’m just going to feel old and geeky.
Anyway, let’s talk baking science. The key to the perfect bakery style muffin is to have just enough leavening agents (baking soda and baking powder) to create that puffy dome when baking, but not so much that you can taste it. Baking at an initial high temperature will cause the air bubbles in the batter to expand even further. This will help give the muffin a soft and fluffy texture and also create the high rise. Using enough fats and liquids like butter, eggs, and milk, will make the muffins moist and rich. You also need enough volume of batter to fill the tins to the top. Lastly, and this is a tip in general for making soft and tender muffins, mix the wet with the dry ingredients until JUST combined. Over mixing will result in hockey pucks and you don’t want that. Everything else is a matter of preference in taste.
I used mini chocolate chips for this recipe because they disperse more evenly throughout, but you can use regular chocolate chips or chocolate chunks if you prefer. I also added some salt to enhance all the flavors. I used to shy away from salt, but I learned from watching Master Chef that it’s useful for more than just adding a savory taste, it also potentiates all the other flavors. I added 1 tablespoon of vanilla because I like vanilla in all my baked goods. It’s just one of those flavors that goes well with most things, and of course you need some sugar. I only used 1 cup of sugar for this recipe because the chocolate chips are already sweet. So, in a nutshell, that’s pretty much how I came up with the recipe.
Enjoy these fabulous muffins with your morning coffee and/or as an afternoon snack. They’re moist, fluffy, rich in flavor, loaded with sweet chocolate chips, and they’re so delicious, I promise you’ll want to devour the whole thing, not just the tops.
Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 20 min
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 12
Description
The BEST chocolate chip muffin recipe – soft, moist, fluffy, loaded with chocolate chips, and a perfect crispy sky-high muffin top!
Ingredients
- 2 & ½ cups (315g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp (13g) baking powder
- 1 tsp (5g) baking soda
- ½ tsp (2.5g) salt
- ½ cup (114g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup (250ml) buttermilk (see notes for substitutions*)
- 1 tbsp (15ml) vanilla extract
- 1 & ½ cups (275g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray a 12 cup muffin tray with non-stick cooking spray or line with paper liners.
- In a large bowl, toss together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and chocolate chips. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sugar, eggs, milk and vanilla. Slowly add to the dry ingredients. Gently fold together until JUST combined.
- Divide the batter into the 12 muffin cups and bake at 425°F for 5 minutes. Then reduce the oven temperature to 375°F and continue to bake for another 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Do not overbake or the muffins will be dry. Let cool for about 5-10 minutes and enjoy warm.
Notes
*You can substitute the buttermilk with any kind of milk. Even non-dairy milk like almond or rice milk works. Simply mix it with 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to make 1 cup.
Muffins taste best the day of, but can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
For mini muffins; bake for 10-12 minutes at 375F only.
- Category: breakfast, snack
- Method: bake
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: chocolate chip muffin recipe, easy chocolate chip muffins, best chocolate chip muffins
You might also like my Bakery Style Blueberry Streusel Muffins, Bakery Style Banana Nut Muffins, and Double Chocolate Muffins. Click here to see all muffin recipes.
1,517 Comments on “Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Muffins (video)”
I love this recipe and have been following it for years! My family requests these regularly. I saw that someone said they make these mini, baking at 375 for 10 minutes. Would you suggest I start with the initial 425 at 5 minutes additionally?
Hi Lily,
Your muffins are Amazing.
Can u please give the recipe for 6 muffins?
Hi Flora,
Simply cut the recipe in half and bake as instructed. Enjoy and have a great day!
I made it and it was really good.
Do you think it will be a good idea if i put on top of them some chocolate ganache for my son’s birthday?
Sure, you can top it with frosting or ganache and make it like a cupcake for his birthday. Sounds like a great idea!
My teens absolutely love these! I have been using this recipe since 2016, and they know when I try something different. I make these into mini muffins (375° for 10 min) they can just pop in their mouths without any mess. Thank you for sharing!
★★★★★
You’re very welcome, Kacey. I’m so happy to hear that you’ve been using my recipe since 2016!
Hi Lily, these muffins look amazing, I want to try baking some this weekend, but just wondered if it would be fine to simply double the recipe? Any changes needed? Thanks!!
No changes needed. Enjoy. These muffins are going to make your weekend a great weekend!
My go to for years. Superb! My kids ask for them weekly 🙂
★★★★★
These muffins tastes amazing, but they were a bit dry, did I bake it too long or didn’t put enough of the milk??
Most likely they were overbaked. Try reducing the time by a few minutes and that should help.
These are the best! Crispy on the outside and so soft on the inside. I only had almond milk and they are just perfect. I do have to say that I have recently switched to weighing my ingredients after I saw a video on the how much it makes a difference in recipes if you don’t measure properly.
★★★★★
The recipe was nice and easy to follow, I baked at 230 degrees and then 190, but my muffins are flat and don’t have that lovely peak. Could baking at a lower temp for longer achieve this? They are currently cooking so I haven’t had chance to taste test yet! Hopefully I can get them to peak!
★★★★★
No, the higher temperature is better. Let me know how they turn out after they finish baking.
We love muffins. These muffins are delicious.
★★★★★
perfect muffins🤩
This recipe looks great. I would like to make it dairy free. I see instructions for swapping buttermilk for other milks. However, how would you substitute butter for oil? Any recommended ratio?
You can replace the butter with the same amount of oil. I hope that helps and I hope you enjoy the muffins!
My family and I absolutely LOVE this recipe. I’m so happy I found it. My son doesn’t really care for muffins or cupcakes. But when he asked for chocolate chip muffins, of course I had to search for a recipe! Thank you!
★★★★★
You’re very welcome, Marcella! I’m so thrilled to hear you and your family loved them. Thank you for your kind words:)
Love these muffins! My 9 year old daughter and I made these this weekend and they were a hit with my family! I substituted the buttermilk for homemade milk kefir because I didn’t have any buttermilk 😊. Also, we used regular size chocolate chips. Definitely going to make them again!! Thank you for sharing!
★★★★★
You’re very welcome, Leslie! I’m glad to hear it was a hit with the family:) Enjoy and have a great day!
Hi. Tried your recipe today and all chocolate chip ended up on the bottom of muffin. They didn’t spread all over as on picture. They looked more like cupcakes than muffins. Any advice?
Perhaps the batter was too thin. Also, did you toss the chocolate chips in the flour mixture before adding the wet ingredients?
Hello! I’m looking forward to baking these…but I plan on using a muffin top pans instead of regular muffins. Would the bake time/ instructions change with using muffin top pans? Thanks!
For a muffin top pan, I would bake at 375F for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Enjoy and happy Sunday!
Thank you! I baked them for 12 minutes at 375 and they turned out great! My family loves them!