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 tried this recipe last night and I was a lil disappointed that it became kind of dry the next day. I’m not a master Baker or anything, in fact I consider myself pretty new but I follow recipes well and these did not stay moist.
Hi Jen, I’m sorry to hear that the muffins didn’t stay moist. There are so many factors that can effect the end of results of baked goods like the difference in ingredients, oven temperatures and measuring tools. If you try this recipe again which I hope you do, perhaps reduce the baking time by 2 minutes. Thank you for your feedback.
i saw the picture of the muffins and just had to make them immediately. Literally immediately. at 8:30PM. Haven’t tasted them yet, but they look amazing, and I’m the type who would rather buy bakery muffins than make them since they always come out looking sad. These came out super plump and I am also a huge fan of the muffin top. I always split my muffin in two. I eat the bottom half first, and then the top part because you have to save the best for last!!! I can’t wait to try them tomorrow!
Glad to hear they turned out so well for you! The muffin top is my favourite part too, but I eat it first because I can’t wait. Enjoy the muffins:)
These are just wonderful and you did get the science of them just right! Going to make them now, for the second time. 🙂
Awesome, thanks for the feedback and have a wonderful weekend Erin:)
I’d like to try this recipe over the weekend. Can you give me any more details on melting and then cooling the butter?
Hi Emily, I melt my butter in the microwave, 10-20 second at a time to avoid the butter splattering, until just completely melted and then I set it aside to let cool as I gather my other ingredients. Let me know if you have any other questions. Enjoy:)
Recipe looks good! I’m going to try it out soon. How much batter do you put iHun each muffin tin? 3/4 full?
I fill each muffin tin to the brim, so when it rises you get that sky high muffin top. Enjoy!
I’m a big fan of the proper bakery-style muffin top – these look amazing!
Thanks Shani:)
Would it screw up the recipe if used 2% milk??
No, not at all. You can use any kind of milk. I personally prefer whole milk due to the higher fat content and buttermilk due to its richness. Go ahead and use 2% milk, the muffins will still be delicious. Enjoy:)
These looks so yummy, Lily! I will surely try your recipe. =)
Thanks, please do, I’ve received great feedback from other readers and it’s my most popular recipe, have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by:)
Hello! I just baked these, and they are amazing! I used white granulated sugar, but what kind of sugar did you use?
Hi Arlene, I used white sugar too. I’m so happy you liked them and thank you for your feedback. Have a wonderful weekend:)
I made these for the first time about a month ago, and have been making them at least once a week since! My new go to muffin recipe!! Today we used mint choc chips!! This might be my new favorite kind of muffin!!! And my boys love them too! It’s sub an easy breakfast and snack for them, I get a dozen regular size and a dozen mini muffins from one batch, but I think my regular size are a bit less sky high, but that’s ok since it leaves enough for the mini ones, they are perfect for all the little hands around here! Thank you for such a wonderfully perfect recipe!
I love chocolate mint, what a great idea! Thank you so much for taking the time to give me your wonderful and kind feedback. You made my day:)
yummo! Currently baking them right now! Substituted the egg with flax seed to make them a little healthier.
What a great idea with the flax seed! Thank you for taking the time to leave your comment Miranda. Enjoy the muffins:)
I made this recipe last night, they turned out delicious!! My family loved them. Only downside is I’m thinking I should have used a cupcake pan instead, no big overflowing muffin tops. 🙁 Definitely will be making these again.
Hi Marie, sorry to hear about the muffins tops (or lack of) but I’m really happy that your family loved them, thank you for taking to time to leave me your feedback, greatly appreciated and have a wonderful day:)
Im SO sorry to be that poster, But i just cut open this muffin, and its truly amazing!! you should quit your day job… for sure…
Awww, you just made my day! thank you so much for the lovely comment, so glad you liked them, and nice to meet you also:)
Thank you for bringing this into my life!! They are in the oven as I type this!!! And I must say, gorgeous photos!!
My 15 year old son has 5:45 AM basketball practice tomorrow and Tuesday. He requested chocolate chip muffins for breakfast. I found your recipe through a Google search. They are amazing! I am so glad out of the hundreds of recipes I chose yours. They look and taste fabulous and I can’t wait to cheer my sleepy son up with these for the next two mornings! I will be back to scour your site for more yummy recipes! Thank you so much!
Oh wow Lee Anne, thank you so much for the lovely comment, you made my day! enjoy:)
Ooh no! I already mixed all of my dry together including salt, and just noticed that we only have salted butter not unsalted. I used the last of the flour, did I already ruin these????
No, not at all, just continue, your muffins might have a hint of salt because of the salted butter, but that is fine.
Would you recommend adding anything to counteract the salty-ness?? Like a little more sugar maybe?
No, if you are really concerned that it would be too salty, you can cover up and set your dry ingredients aside until you have a chance to buy some unsalted butter.
Just made these with my two boys (4& will be 2 tomorrow actually) and we made mini ones too! They are delicious and kept disappearing off the plate! Someone even commented that they look perfect! Thank you for a wonderful recipe!!
You’re welcome Brailey and thank you for the lovely comment. My boys are similar in age to yours. Happy birthday to your little one:)
Hi, I was wondering what type of chocolate chips do you use. Like semi sweet or milk chocolate?
I used semi-sweet mini chocolate chips, but you can use any kind, a fellow blogger used a combination of milk and dark chocolate chips with this recipe and she said it was great, enjoy!
These look so good! I also have a soft spot for bakery muffins 🙂 I’m dying to make these right now…if only we had a kitchen in our dorms
Thanks Caitlin and nice to meet you:)
I made these this afternoon – I even got comments that they certainly did look like they were from a bakery! I used a combination of milk and dark chocolate and they are delicious, I will definitely use the recipe again. 🙂 🙂
Thank you so much for your comment, you made my day!:)