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.
Absolutely delicious. Definitely a family pleaser in this household! Will have to make it again!
Seriously, this is THE best muffin recipe. I also use this same recipe for blueberry and coffee cake muffins. I will never use another recipe. PERFECTION!
i wanted to tell you-you were dead on to mix the chips in w the flour (coating them in flour) before adding all ingredients together-it is a proven trick to get the chips to stay near the top and middle of the muffins instead of sinking to the bottom! well done and thank you chef!
You’re welcome and thank you for your kind words.
as you used mini choc chips-would i still use the same amount if using regular sized chips?
yes, use the same amount of regular size chocolate chips.
Can You substitute butter with canola oil ?
Yes, you can substitute the butter with canola oil. Enjoy the muffins and stay safe!
Absolutely love this recipe! They are my favorite muffins. I’ve made them many times following your recipe exactly. I just started baking with sourdough. I used your recipe as a base and they turned out really well. Thanks!
These turned out so good! I got 12 regular muffins and 12ish mini muffins out of 1 batch.
I absolutely LOVE this recipe. It was perfectly crunchy on the outside and deliciously fluffy in the outside.
Quick question – can I use salted butter if I don’t have unsalted?
Thank you for your lovely review, Jessica! And yes, you can use salted butter, just omit the salt in the recipe. Stay safe and happy baking!
Hi! These look amazing and I was would love to make these but I’m wondering if I should do anything different because I live at high altitude? Thank you!
Hi Jill,
I don’t have any experience with high-altitude baking, but here are the changes a reader made with great success:
*Decreased both the baking powder and baking soda by 1/2
*Decreased the sugar by 2 TBS
*Added 1 extra egg
*First, I baked them for 7 minutes instead of 5 at 425. When it was time to decrease the oven temperature, I lowered it to 375 instead of 350
I hope that helps!
I’ve made these twice in the last week and my family loves them. My kids have requested that I never buy muffins again and that I only make these from now on.
I made a substitution on the recipe one time. I used 1 cup semisweet chips with 1/2 cup peanut butter chips. My husband and my kids thought it was great.
Stay safe and healthy! Thank you for the recipe!
You’re very welcome and thank you for your kind words. Stay safe as well and happy baking!
Best recipe hands down!! Thank you for sharing.
I just made your chocolate chip bakery style muffins .great recipe ,easy,and delicious. I just subscribed to your recipes.Cant wait to try more!!!! Thanks
How high should we fill the liners with batter?
Divide the whole batter into 12 liners so it will fill all the way to the top, maybe even above the rim, but that’s how you get that super high muffin top.
Hi there. Can we freeze these muffins? Or is it better to just half the recipe and make only what we can eat now?
Yes, you can freeze these muffins. So it’s up to you if you want to make a half batch or freeze the leftovers. Stay safe and happy baking!
Am I able to substitute self raising flour for plain flour?
Yes, just omit the baking powder and salt. I hope you enjoy the muffins and stay safe!
i looked it up. for self rising as the chef said-leave out the baking powder and salt-but it said to add an extra 1.5 tsp of flour for every cup. im attempting them as we speak! wish me luck!
You are very right. I always forget to make up for the volume. I hope that you enjoyed the muffins. Stay safe and happy baking!
Hi! Really delicious recipe, thanks but just one question, I am cooking my muffins in Tefal crispybake and when they grow they go to only one side. Sadly they look uneven. You think I did everything right? Maybe there is something I can do?
Huh…that’s strange. Try rotating the pan halfway during the baking time and see if that helps.
recipe is so easy to follow, thank you
Hi, so the substitution for the buttermilk it says to use milk and 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice. Are you still putting the full 1 cup of milk and the 1 tablespoon of vinegar or are you taking out some of the milk from the 1 cup to add the vinegar in?
Add one tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to a measuring cup first, then fill it with milk to make 1 cup (250ml in total volume). I hope that clarifies things. Please feel free to reply back if you have any other questions. Thanks and happy baking!
Hi. When you say 1/2 cup butter melted, do you mean 1/2 stick or the measurement is taken after it is melted ? Sorry I don’t bake and trying to make this with my daughter now. Thanks !
One stick or 114 grams of butter. I hope that helps and please feel free to reply back with any further questions. Stay safe and happy baking!
Hi, I could not find any baking powder or baking soda, can I just use self-raising flour instead? Thanks
Yes, you can use self-raising flour and omit the salt as well. Stay safe and happy baking!
Using this recipe for past few year and it never fails, I use it a base and then add my own little extras.