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
- Category: breakfast, snack
- Method: bake
- Cuisine: American
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.
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.
I’ve posted a review here before (almost two years ago lol) and I just HAD to do it again! This summer was the summer from hell temperature wise so the oven didn’t get turned on much if at all. I’ve had to make do with store bought muffins – which were blah and tasteless and dry – and Timmie’s (being a fellow Canadian you know where I mean lol) and their muffins are terrible in my opinion, they are more cupcake like and you can taste the preservatives. Now that the heat has finally given a temporary break I ran to the kitchen to make a double batch of these again – hopefully that holds out til the real cool weather kicks in lol. This is the recipe that I compare all chocolate chip muffins to and this always comes out the winner!
Well hello again Jane! I hear ya about the heat. I made a lot of no-bake desserts this summer because it was so ridiculously hot, but now that the temp has cooled down, its time to get my bake-on lol. Thank you for the lovely comment and it was nice to hear from you again. Have a great long weekend:)
First of all God bless Google for finding your blog for me. Secondly the muffins turned out great! My silicone muffin pan is a bit big, so I made 10. They are heavenly. My son loved, husband loved loved, and so did I!
Will work on getting the top to be the right color.
Once they cooled- amazing!
Totally better than any bakery!
Will be trying more of your recipes.
I am also in Ontario . Was pleasantly surprised that you are here too
Yes, there are not too many Canadian bloggers and most of my readers are American, so nice to meet you too!
If you have a convection oven, use the fan-forced setting for the initial 5 minutes and that will help the tops be a more golden brown.
Thank you very much for your kind words and have a lovely day:)
I do have convection! Will try that next time.
Also looking into getting a new range+ oven. That’s, the feature I am not ready to give up on.
Hi! I made these muffins yesterday. They came out delicious! I swapped out mini chocolate chips for 1 cup of regular chocolate chips, sprinkling a few on top. My problem- the muffins ended up sinking in the center! They tasted delicious and had a perfect crunch, but still soft n fluffy on the inside. But they weren’t pretty at all 🙁 Please help me fix this!
I should add, I did use muffin liners. Also, I only got 7 muffins out of the batter. Did you use the big muffin tin? Or a cupcake tin and fill them up? Thanks in advance!
Hi KC,
The muffins sinking in the center could be due to over-mixing or too much leavening agents. I used a standard 12 cup muffin/cupcake pan and there is definitely enough batter in this recipe to fill 12 muffin cups. What size baking pan did you use?
Now that I look at it, I used a jumbo sized muffin pan. This explains why I only got 7! haha. Overmixing is a possibility, as my kids really wanted to “help”. I’m going to try again using a regular muffin pan and mixing my self this time! Thanks for your help!
The best chocolate chip muffin I have ever had! We are in love! We topped with turbinado sugar and regular chocolate chips. We also used regular chocolate chips instead of the mini ones! It was a hit with my family of 7! Thank you!!!
You’re very welcome Rebekah and thank you for such a wonderful comment:) Enjoy and have a lovely week!
Best muffins I have ever made!! Thank you so much 🙂
You’re very welcome and thank you for your great comment:)
Hi little sweet baker
, Anita from Ireland here
From all muffin recipes I have tried ( and I went through a lot as I use muffins as breakfast/school lunch option) yours is truly the best. I just would like to know why I could slightly taste baking powder or soda?
Any idea how to blend cheese and rosemary into it and make savory version?
I reduced sugar to half the amount as we don’t really eat sugar (only in baking) I add the cranberries and coconut chips. Loved it. truly moist inside and crunchy top.
thank you for sharing this recipe.
You’re welcome Anita and thank you for your wonderful feedback. I would simply eliminate the baking soda if you notice a slight taste in the muffins. I’m not sure how to convert this into a savoury cheese muffin, but here is a great cheese muffin recipe you could add some Rosemary to http://www.homecookingadventure.com/recipes/cheese-muffins
Enjoy and have a great week:)
Maybe because the sugar was reduced your noticing the flavors of the baking soda?
“These muffins are SUPER DUPER GOOD.” – exact quotes from my two boys (ages 6 and 3)
I measured everything out by weight just as in the recipe and am very pleased with the results. Great recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Aww, you’re welcome and thank you for your kind words. Your boys sound very cute. They are the same as age as mine:)
Hi Lily, I tried these muffins yesterday and I thought I did everything exactly as the recipe asked but I must have gone wrong somewhere. The only thing I did a little different was sprinkled a little dusting sugar on top before baking in hopes of achieving that crunchy muffin top that Tim Hortons has on their chocolate chip muffins. Anyway my muffins seemed dense not sure what happened? Other than that they looked perfect and the flavour was amazing they just weren’t light and fluffy, where did I go wrong? Please help.
Hi Christina, the only thing I can think of based on the information you have provided is perhaps there wasn’t enough leavening agents? The recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of baking powder and 1 teaspoon of baking soda. Also, check the expiry dates just to make sure they are still fresh. If you want the crunchy tops like Tim Hortons, sprinkle some sparkling or coarse sugar (like raw, tubinado or demerara) on top. I’m pretty sure it’s sparkling sugar Tim Hortons uses. You can buy that at Bulk Barn. I hope that helps and let me know if you have any further questions.
Hello Lily. Looking forward to making these muffins. My daughter and I have been searching for ones with great reviews and it looks like your rate high. Her comment was “they look great”!
Thank you too for the link to the nutritional calculator in your July 26 reply above.
Will post some comments after we bake.
You’re welcome and the I hope you and your daughter enjoy the muffins as much as my boys and I do:)
This is the most amazing muffin recipe ever! I am so glad I came across it a year ago.
I just made another batch but substituted fresh blueberries for the chocolate chips at they turned out amazingly! Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful recipe!
Aww, you’re welcome Stephanie and thank you for your lovely comment. Enjoy and have a wonderful day!
Where’s the nutritional information?
Hi Kinaya,
I don’t provide nutritional information with my recipes, but here is a site where you can just copy and paste the ingredients into, and it will calculate it for you. https://www.caloriecount.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php
OMG!! I AM SO HAPPY!! THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HELP/ADVISE ? My muffins have now turned out perfect!! I am in love with them… 1st try became a little wrong/soggy ? but after adding only 3/4 cup milk as advised it has turned out perfect. I also reduced the chocolate to just 1 cup and added a few on top as it seemed a little too chocolaty before but thats just me ?. 2nd try has been amazing and will share this with all.
Thank you Lily ?
Yeah! You’re very welcome Shumi. Hugs:)
These are the most amazing choc chip muffins I have ever made and I am so glad I came across this website. I have even given the recipe to my work colleague who went home to Ireland for a home visit and now her Dad is making them on the Emerald Isle !!! Thanks for your amazing recipe. Works every time.
Aww, you’re welcome Dana and thank you for your kind words (and for sharing my recipe – love that it’s being made by your friend’s dad in Ireland) Have a wonderful day!
My batch is in the oven right now. I am going to make hot chocolate to go with it! ever since i found this recipe, i make it whenever i need to cheer up! these are absolutely delicious. I just noticed in the video that you put more chocolate on top… i never did that but it sounds awesome!
Aww, thank you for your kind words. I’m glad my recipes make people happy. Enjoy and have a great day, hugs:)
I baked these today in Nadi, Fiji and they were glorious. Thank you!
You’re very welcome Sharon. Enjoy and have a lovely day:)
Hi Lily i don’t know where i went wrong but the shapes didn’t come out right ? i took pictures but cannot attach them here… can i mail you and show you… maybe you can tell me where i went wrong. Will love to try these again… my batter was a little runny/smooth but sticky!
Hi Shumi, you can email me at lily@littlesweetbaker.com It sounds like your batter was too thin. Try reducing to the milk to 3/4 cup and that should help.
Hi,
This recipe was AMAZING! The muffins turned out light, fluffy, and very Tim Horton-ey. I only have one concern, the shape. Each muffin baked very strangely and un-even. I had filled the tins like u did in the vid. I don’t know what I did wrong? I copied the directions to the tee but I did add a tiny but more milk and I sprinkled some sugar on top. Also, I used cupcake liners.
I really want to make these again with better shape, like yours. So can u tell me how I can fix this?
Thank you so much.
Hi Noor,
The cupcake liners and sprinkling of sugar is fine, but I don’t think you need to add the extra milk. That might make the batter thinner than it should be. Also, try to round and shape the muffin top before you place it in the oven and that should help the shape when it’s done.
These were delicious many thanks from Germany 🙂
You’re very welcome Gina and thank you for your feedback. Enjoy:)
This recipe was great !
Done in the Peruvian Andes, in Cusco, at 3400 m AMSL
Next time I’ll add a little more sugar an some cinnamon. Yummy !
Thank you for your feedback Marc:) I’m glad you enjoyed them so much. Have a great week!
I make this muffin recipe every weekend now for my boyfriend! He loves these muffins. They always turn out soft and moist. Sometimes I do white chocolate chips too! (:
Wonderful to hear Brinsley and thank you for your feedback. Have a lovely day:)
I will try this recipe again but I wasn’t that impressed with the result after my first attempt and I am an avid baker. I will definitely HALF the amount of choc chips next time as I found the muffins to be too overloaded with choc chips. My muffins looked fantastic but were a little too brown and crisp on the outside (perhaps I need to cook them on a lower temp as my oven is fan-forced and really hot, even though I cooked them at 5 ‘mins on 200 and then the remainder at 170. I will have to turn oven down lower next time. My muffins were not as moist as I expected them to be either. Is there a tip to make them more moist (I think another commenter mentioned something about adding sour cream)? After all the fantastic comments I’d read, I was disappointed with the end result I achieved. I was expecting a big WOW factor, but just didn’t get it.
Hi Naomi,
Yes, you can certainly lower the temp if your oven is really hot. Sometimes I will use the convection setting for the initial 5 minutes at 425F, then conventional setting for the remainder time at 375F. That seems to give me the perfect golden brown with my oven. You can also simply add 1 or 2 tablespoons more butter if you want it more moist. I hope that helps you get the WOW factor you are looking for:)
Hi thank you so much for recipe. I also have a fan forced oven and took the above advice to lower the temperature and mine turned out amazing! Lovely and mosit with a nice dome top. I put the oven at 175c for 5mins and then 160 for 13mins.
🙂
You’re welcome Lisa and thank you for your feedback. Enjoy and have a lovely day:)
Thank you so much for this recipe! I made mini chocolate chip muffins in silicone muffin mold. Since the muffins were smaller, I adjusted the time to 2 minutes on 475 degrees and 8 minutes on 375 degrees. All my muffins came out perfect! Light & fluffy and my family loved them! Of course my kids loved the chocolate chips on top!!!! This was a fun recipe for my kids to help participate in.
Aww, so nice to hear. I love it when kids help out in the kitchen. Thank you for your wonderful feedback and have a lovely evening:)
Yep. These are actually so good. I can’t believe how light and fluffy they are on the inside. Wow! Thanks so much.
You’re welcome and nice to meet you Mallory:)
These are amazing! I used 3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup coconut oil instead of all butter, and buttermilk. I also added walnuts and use less mini chocolate chips. Next time i’ll try adding shaved coconut (unsweetened) and white chocolate and macadamia nuts. they’re a great muffin base, so you can add whatever you want. THANK YOU SO MUCH for this bakery style muffin recipe!!
Aww, you’re welcome Paola and thank you for your kinds words. I love the idea of coconut, white chocolate and macadamia nuts – yum!