Bakery-Style Chocolate Chip Muffins
These are the BEST bakery-style chocolate chip muffins—soft, fluffy, and loaded with chocolate chips. No need to rest the batter or space them out—just mix, bake, and enjoy sky-high muffin tops every time. They’re quick, easy, and taste like they came straight from a bakery.
Originally published in 2014, this chocolate chip muffin recipe has remained a reader favorite with millions of views every year.
Why you’ll love this recipe:
- Incredibly easy to make – There is no mixer or resting time required, so you can easily whip up a batch of delicious muffins in a matter of minutes. Simply mix, scoop, and bake!
- Perfect every time – With this tried-and-true chocolate chip muffin recipe, you’ll get perfectly fluffy, moist muffins with sky-high, crispy tops and loads of melty chocolate chips, every single time.
- A go-to recipe for any bakery-style muffins – This recipe also serves as a fantastic base for creativity. You can customize your muffins any way you want by adding your favorite mix-ins.
If you are a fan of bakery-style muffins like I am, try my Blueberry Streusel Muffins, Banana Nut Muffins, and Lemon Crumb Muffins.
Or if you are in the mood for chocolate, try my Chocolate Chip Scones (they’re like giant chocolate chip cookies for breakfast!) and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars.
Ingredients you’ll need:
Substitutions & variations:
- For healthier muffins: Swap half the flour for whole wheat and reduce the amount chocolate chips.
- Dairy-free option: Use plant-based milk and replace butter with a neutral oil.
- Flavor boosts: Add orange zest, cinnamon, or espresso powder for a unique twist.
How to make chocolate chip muffins:
(The full written and printable recipe is further below.)
Step #1) In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Then toss in the chocolate chips and set aside.
Step #2) In another bowl, whisk together the melted butter and granulated sugar. Then whisk in the eggs, followed by the buttermilk and vanilla until combined.
Step #3) Add the wet ingredients to the dry mixture and stir together until just combined.
Step #4) Divide the batter evenly into a greased muffin pan. Bake at 425°F for 5 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350°F and continue baking for another 15 minutes.
🌟 Expert tips:
- Use fresh leavening agents. Baking powder and baking soda lose their effectiveness over time. A good rule of thumb? Replace them every 6 months.
- Don’t overmix the batter. Gently fold wet and dry ingredients until just combined. Overmixing can lead to dense, tough muffins.
- Start hot for a high rise. Begin baking at a higher temperature to help the muffins rise quickly and form those bakery-style domes.
- Don’t overbake as this will dry out the muffins. Keep a close eye during the last few minutes and as soon as a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, the muffins are done.
Storing & freezing instructions:
These chocolate chip muffins can be stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days. To freeze, place the muffins in a freezer-safe ziplock bag or container and store them in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat in the microwave for 30 seconds or so to warm them up before serving.
Recipe FAQs:
This is usually due to the batter being too thin because there wasn’t enough flour, too much milk, or the melted butter was too hot. The latter is usually the main error I find, so make sure to let your melted butter cool down to lukewarm.
If your muffins didn’t rise very high, it could be due to several reasons:
Old baking powder or baking soda: Leavening agents lose their effectiveness over time. If your baking powder or soda is expired or not fresh, the muffins won’t rise properly.
Incorrect oven temperature: Preheating and baking at the initial high temperature (425°F) is crucial for creating a quick rise. If your oven wasn’t hot enough, or if the temperature wasn’t maintained, the muffins won’t get that high rise.
The batter was too thin: When the batter is not thick enough, it lacks the structure to hold its shape as it rises, resulting in flat or uneven muffins. See the answer to the question above for more on this.
This often comes from overbaking or too much flour. Spoon and level the flour and keep a close eye at the 15-minute mark.
Yes, use oil instead of butter, flax eggs instead of regular eggs, plant-based milk instead of dairy milk, and vegan chocolate chips
If you’ve tried this Chocolate Chip Muffin Recipe or any other recipe on my blog please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Bakery-Style Chocolate Chip Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 & ½ cups (315g) all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup (114g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled for 5 minutes (see notes*)
- 1 cup (200g granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup (240ml) buttermilk, (see notes**)
- 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 & ½ cups (265g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
optional toppings:
- more chocolate chips
- sparkling or coarse sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray a standard 12-cup muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray or line with paper liners (if using paper liners, grease the rims of the pan to prevent the muffin tops from sticking).
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Then toss in the chocolate chips and set aside.2 & ½ cups (315g) all-purpose flour, 1 Tbsp baking powder, ½ tsp baking soda, ½ tsp salt, 1 & ½ cups (265g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- In medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter and granulated sugar.½ cup (114g) unsalted butter, 1 cup (200g granulated sugar
- Then whisk in the eggs, followed by the buttermilk and vanilla until combined.2 large eggs, 1 cup (240ml) buttermilk, 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry mixture and stir together until JUST combined.
- Divide the batter evenly into the prepared muffin pan, filling to the top. Sprinkle with more chocolate chips and/or coarse sugar if desired.
- Bake at 425°F for 5 minutes. Then keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the temperature to 350°F and continue to bake for another 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool for 5-10 minutes and transfer the muffins to a cooling rack. Now is the best time to enjoy the muffins while they are fresh and still warm!
Notes
Baking Soda: Reduced from 1 teaspoon to ½ teaspoon to prevent over-leavening, which can cause a bitter aftertaste.
Oven Temperature: Lowered the second baking temperature from 375°F to 350°F to minimize the risk of overbaking, as oven temperatures can vary.
These smelled so amazing baking but turned out just ok.
It has made much more batter than 12 muffins. Not sweet enough at all for me. I checked them just short of twelve minutes and they were overdone done by at least a minute or two. I followed recipe to the T. Not sure what happened and I know I’m in the minority 🙁 Thanks anyway.
Hi Jennifer,
Sorry to hear that the muffins were just ok. This recipe is designed for 12 large “bakery-style” muffins. So if you divide the batter into more than 12, then each muffin will be smaller than intended and take less time to bake. As for the sweetness, well that’s a matter of personal preference. Most people like the recipe as is, I’ve had some readers reduced the amount of chocolate chips or sugar for their own liking. If you want it sweeter, you can simply add more chocolate chips, or sugar, or both! I hope that helps and thank you for your honest review.
Hi. Can I use Bevel margarine instead of butter? Don’t have butter. Thanks!
Hi Lynda,
You’re better off substituting with vegetable oil. I have no idea what Becel margarine is like melted.
Every time I want chocolate chip muffins, I come to this recipe! It is amazingly good!!
Thank you for your kind words, Leah! I’m happy to hear you think these muffins are amazing:)
Can I replace the 308g all-purpose flour, 13g baking powder and 5g baking soda with 308g self raising flour? Thank you and awaiting your advise.
You can substitute the flour, baking powder and salt with self-rising flour, but for this recipe, you’ll still need to add 3/4 tsp of baking soda to make it equivalent. I hope that helps and please feel free to reply back if you have any further questions.
Thank you for the advice. I tried your recipe today. My batter turns out to be quite liquid not like the batter you have in your video. But it tastes great! Thank you for the recipe. I will use your muffins recipe for my future baking.
My muffins did not raise as much as yours. Is it because my batter is too liquid? Do you know why the batter so liquid? Is it because I over-mix or under-mix the batter?
Yes, if this batter is too thin, it won’t rise as much, but instead spread out to the sides. Mixing wouldn’t affect the viscosity of the batter.
I am using the grams and millimetres as the unit of measurement as we do not measure in cups in country. I am wondering whether that is the issue for the batter to turn out liquid. When I mix the wet and dry ingredients, the batter is very liquid.
Grams and milliliters is the more accurate way of measuring, so you did that right. I’m wondering if your butter was too hot and melted some of the sugar causing it to be more liquid than it should be? How did you melt your butter, and did you let it cool?
I put the butter in the microwave to melt before preparing the other ingredients. When I start to mix the wet ingredients, the butter is cool. Can it be that I use low fat milk instead of buttermilk? I will get the buttermilk today and will try the recipe again. I will let you know. Thank you so much for the prompt advice. You are great!
Aww, you’re very welcome and thank you for your kind words. Any kind of milk works in this recipe. However, buttermilk does make it a little more moist. I hope it works better for you this time.
I bought the buttermilk and tried the recipe again today. I also took extra care that the melted butter is completely cool before mixing it with the sugar. The batter turned out great and the muffins raised a lot. They are nice and delicious. My family likes the muffins a lot. I also tried your ‘Bakery Style Blueberry Muffin’ recipe. The crunchy and sweet streusel topping makes the muffin even taster. Your recipes are great! Your prompt reply and expertise advice is extremely valuable. Thank you very much, Lily.
Yay, I’m so happy it worked! My pleasure:) I’m thrilled you and your family enjoyed the muffins.
Is this for 12 regular sized muffins or jumbo?
12 regular size muffins. I hope you enjoy it!
These are seriously THE best muffins I have ever made. And I make a lot. My kids request them all the time which is fine because they are easy to make with ingredients I always have on hand. They have never failed!
Great to hear and thank you so much for your rave review!
Do these freeze well? Thanks in advance!
Yes, they do freeze well. Let the muffins cool completely, wrap each in plastic wrap, place in a freezer bag, label and date, and store in the freezer for up to a month.
Thank you so much for the quick reply, they are in the oven now, 6 minutes left tobbake, the tops are huge and they look beautiful! I sprinkled with turbidano sugar for that bakery-style crunch on top! Wishing everyone well.
This is our go to recipe, a true family favorite. My kids always ask for it and my husband raves about these muffins. I’m notorious for trying lots of different recipes even when we find recipes that we love, but I continually come back to this recipe! I don’t ever use another chocolate chip muffin recipe! I did make it into mini muffins for my son’s class party this morning and they turned out great! Thanks so much for the perfect recipe!
You’re very welcome, Lorean! I’m so happy to hear that you keep coming back to this recipe. Thank you for your rave review – much appreciated!
So yummy! Kids loved making these with me. One of the best muffin recipes I’ve made.
Great to hear! Love it when kids help out in the kitchen. Thank you for your feedback:)
Yummy! Everyone loved them. I followed the recipe but
next time will reduce the amount of chocolate chips. Super
easy and super delicious. Two thumbs up from my five year old son.
Thank you for your kind words, Linda! I’m so happy everyone loved them, especially your son:)
I just made these tonight and they are amazing. By far the best batch of muffins I’ve ever made (and I’ve made a lot). I made a couple of adjustments: I used 300ml of buttermilk, which was a little over the 1 cup called for. I added 1/4 cup of veg oil, so they came out super moist. I used 240g of choc chips (a bit less than called for). They’re still plenty chocolaty. I added 1 tsp cinnamon to add a little extra flavor to the cake.
Really YUM!
Thank you for your wonderful feedback and for sharing your adjustments, Ally! I’m glad you thought the muffins were really YUM:)
These muffins are absolutely delicious! Great recipe 🙂
I do recommend strongly that you add oatmeal to this recipe. My mom and i doubled this recipe, so we added 2 cups of oatmeal, and it was yummy! They were jumbo sized too! By the way, i will be definitely using this recipe every time i want to make chocolate- chip oatmeal muffins.
Thank you for your feedback, and great idea about adding the oatmeal! I’m glad you liked the recipe so much:)
Muffins were delicious- used soy milk with lemon and they came out great. Quick question- do they freeze well? We will never eat all of them in the next day or two!
Yes, they freeze really well. Enjoy and have a great day!
I just made and they were so delicious!!
Thank you! I’m glad you liked it.
I’m not a baker but it’s says 425 for 5 minutes then reduce to 375 and bake for 12-15 minutes. So does that mean I take the muffins out of the over until it goes down to 375 before baking the 12-15 minutes?
Hi Chrystal,
Keep the muffins in the oven and just turn the temp down to 375F and continue to bake for another 12-15 minutes. Please feel free to reply back if you have any other questions.
Can I double or triple this recipe?
I have never double or tripled this recipe, but here’s what I recommend:
Make it as is first before you double it, and compare the difference if there is any. If there’s no difference, then go ahead and triple the recipe, and see how it works. I hope that helps and let me know if you have any other questions.
Made them this morning! Delicious and moist. I also had no idea you could add lemon juice to milk as a substitute for buttermilk. Good to know! Thank you!
You’re very welcome! I’m glad you enjoyed the muffins. Happy Easter!
These turned out amazing! My kids loved them! Very moist and the perfect amount of chocolate chips! Will definitely be using recipe this every time I make chocolate chip muffins!
Thank you for your rave review, Shay! I’m glad your kids loved them:)
Can i use regualr milk instead of buttermilk
Yes you can. Enjoy the muffins!
Made this recipes twice and hands down the best muffins we ever had. Super easy and used half half and milk because I didn’t have buttermilk but still just as good.
When i made this the first time, I thought these muffins were very close to the PERFECT bakery-style muffin. Like another reviewer however, I found they were slightly dry (more noticeable second day) and a little too chocolatey for our preferences. For round two I added 1/4 cup vegetable oil to impart more moisture, cut the sugar by 1/4 cup, and halved the chocolate chips. For us, this resulted in the PERFECT chocolate chip muffin. Thank you so much!!
You’re very welcome and thank you for your review!