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 don’t drink milk what can I substitute For buttermilk in the recipe.
You can use any kind of non-dairy milk like almond or rice milk. You can dilute some coffee cream to make it a similar fat content to buttermilk, and add a tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice. I hope that helps and please feel free to respond back if you have any further questions.
I have been making these for a long time now and they always turn out perfect and are just delicious and a big hit with everyone!! Thanks so much!
You’re very welcome, Becky! I’m glad you enjoy the recipe so much, and thank you for your kind words:)
Just made these and they are amazing! I used almond milk and added walnuts! Thank you for such an easy yummy recipe!
You’re very welcome, Elsie! I’m glad you enjoyed them so much. Thank you for your kind words and happy holidays!
Great recipe!! We love these muffins!!!
Thank you! I’m glad you liked them:)
I used 1/2 white and 1/2 brown sugar and I forgot the vanilla and these were still AMAZING! Can’t wait to try them with the vanilla!
I’m so happy you thought they were amazing! Thank you for your lovely feedback and 5-star rating – much appreciated:)
Favorite recipe ever!!! My family loves them! Thanks for the great recipe
You’re very welcome, Mary! Thank you for your lovely review:)
I used This recipe for my family, only using half a cup of sugar, and it was still very good. Thank you for sharing your recipe. 2 thumbs up!! 🙂
You’re very welcome and thank you for your great review!
The recipe was easy to use
I used oil instead of butter
And I didn’t have any baking soda so I omitted it
However the cooking time took way longer than the recipe
After reducing the temperature and baking for 15 minutes i had to leave them for extra 3 minutes then 5 minutes and no the batter wasn’t runny at all
Could it be because i used silicone muffin cups on my metal muffin tray????
Hi Rania,
I’m old-school so I only use metal and glass bakeware. However from what I’ve read online, silicone does take longer to bake for some reason. Try baking the muffins in your metal pan next time. I hope that helps and feel free to email me back if you have any other questions. Have a great day!
Hi! This recipe is so delicious and easy to make ! Thank you so much! I want to know if it’s possible to use pastry flour instead of all
purpose to have a smoother texture ? Thanks !
Hi Mandy,
Thank you for your kind review! Yes you can use pastry flour if you’d like. I’ve had other readers substitute with pastry flour with great success. It gives the muffin a softer more cake-like texture.
Mine didn’t “overflow” the cases like yours did and is like the bakery style. they were high but didn’t come over the sides. any ideas?
Hi Jade,
Sounds like your batter was slightly thicker than mine due to less liquid or more flour. I noticed when I cut back on the milk a bit, it rises straight up instead of like a mushroom top. I hope that helps and let me know if you have any other questions:)
This happened to me too. They rose high straight up to the ceiling but not over the sides to give me a nice top. I used a yogurt/milk mixture so maybe not enough liquid.
Also, do you recommend using milk or buttermilk/sour milk? I ask because with plain milk you wont get the acidity to activate the baking soda.
You’re right about the yogurt making the batter thicker so you didn’t get the spread over the sides. Buttermilk is best, or any kind of milk with the addition of 1 tbsp of white vinegar or lemon juice to make 1 cup. I hope that helps and please feel free to email me back if you have any other questions. Have a happy New Year!
Ive been using this recipe ever since i discovered it two years ago and it has never failed me. Every time i bake these, my friends and family are begging for more! Simple and beyond delicious! The lovely baker who created this recipe is a GODDESS!!
Oh my goodness! I’ve never received such high praise. Thank you so much for your kind words, and for calling me a Goddess – you made my day!!!
Hey,
Attempting to make these – my batter looks a little liquid-y – any suggestions on how to rectify?
Thanks!
Try adding a little more flour to thicken up the batter like in the video. Good luck!
Hi!
Thank you for the lovely recipe. I tried it and it turned out really delicious. However, I had a muffin malfunction :D. I followed your recipe step by step, I weighted absolutely everything on my scale, but my chocolate chips sunk in the batter. After I baked the muffins, all of the chocolate chips were on the bottom of the cake…. it was still delicious though, but I wonder what went wrong. The batter seemed a bit liquid-y, maybe that was the problem? But I am sure that I used the right ammount of flour and everything… Could you help me, please?
Thanks in advance! <3
Hi Iglika,
I’m sorry to hear that your chocolate chips sank. Did you toss your chocolate chips in the flour mixture before adding your wet ingredients? Does your batter look like it does in the instruction video? If it looks thinner then there must have been an error in measurements. I hope that helps. Please feel free to email me back if you have any other questions.
I have to say I love this recipe! My daughter is super picky and the only muffins she would eat were the Little Bites muffin packs. After looking at the ingredients in them many times, I knew I needed to find something without so many unnecessary ingredients. I tried one other muffin recipe before I found your recipe and I was not a fan and my daughter wasn’t either. Now that I have been making these muffins, she happily eats a muffin for breakfast almost every day. Haha.. Thanks for sharing such a wonderful recipe! Much appreciated!
You’re very welcome, Danielle! I know how you feel after checking ingredients on packaged muffins. It’s scary, some of them have sugar listed as the first ingredient. Well I’m glad your daughter enjoys the muffins. Have a great weekend, and thank you for your kind words!
I made this recipe this morning and….wow, just. WOW! Perfectly delicious and buttery, wonderful recipe. I did, however, make the mistake of using 1 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips and it turned out to be a wee bit too much, for a breakfast muffin anyway, lol. Other than reducing the chips to just 1 cup next time, I will be using this recipe often. Thank you so much for sharing this!
You’re very welcome, Christina! Thank you for your rave review. Sorry for the chocolate overload lol.
I replaced the milk with vanilla almond milk. I also used 1/2 cup dark brown sugar and 1/2 cup of granular sugar. These are the best muffins I have ever had. I would rate this recipe a 6 star if only I could 🙂
Aww, thank you Shawn for your kind words! Much appreciated xoxo
Loved the muffins. can I substitute whole wheat flour for all purpose flour, and brown sugar instead of white sugar. Kindly advice. Thanks.
Hi Divya,
I always recommend to start with half and half, and see how you like it from there before you substitute all of the flour with whole wheat and all of the sugar with brown.
I substituted almond milk with 2tsp lemon juice and added 1tsp orange zest! Loved these, they were phenomenal!!
Thank you for your lovely feedback, and adding the orange zest sounds delicious!
These muffins are sorcery! The best chocolate chip muffin recipe I’ve ever tried. They’re going into permanent rotation at our house!
Thank you for your rave review, Kirsten!
WOULD I be able to substitute powdered sugar for the white sugar? If so, would I use twice as much?
No, not in this recipe because the texture is too different. The batter would become like a paste, so definitely not. Is there a reason you need to substitute the white sugar?