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.
These are delicious and easy to bake muffins. My kids love them. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Will I need to change the amount of time and temperature if I use a pan for mini muffins (24 cups/pan)? Thanks.
Yes, just bake at 375F for about 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Enjoy and have a great weekend!
Hi there, these look delicious and so easy to make, just one question… should the ingredients be weighed with a scale? I always wonder when I see “cups” and gram measurements like the flour in your recipe
Thank you!
Weighing is always more accurate, but if you don’t have a scale, you can use measuring cups. I hope that helps and please feel free to reply back if you have any other questions:)
A simple and great recipe! Thanks for sharing! 😊
HELLO! I am very excited to make these, but i only have a jumbo muffin pan with 6 spaces. Would you recommend any changes to the cook time with this pan instead of standard?
thank you in advance!
Bake at 425F for 5 minutes, then 375F for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Enjoy the muffins!
The absolute perfect muffin. Going to use the base for other kinds now. Simply amazing.
Any changes for high altitude baking?
This is what I was told by another reader:
*Decreased both the baking powder and baking soda by 1/2
*Decreased the sugar by 2 TBS
*Added 1 extra egg
*First, bake them for 7 minutes instead of 5 at 425. When it was time to decrease the oven temperature, lower it to 375 instead of 350.
Enjoy and I hope that helps!
Is it okay if I just use cow milk instead of buttermilk?
Yes, you can just use cow’s milk. Enjoy the muffins and have a great week!
I only have salted butter, do I omit the salt from the recipe?
Thanks,
Yes, you got it! Enjoy and have a great week!
wait so you mentioned they cld both sub in cows milk for buttermilk but you did not tell them to add either the cream of tartar, vinegar, lemon to the milk to make your own. so are you saying reg milk wld be fine. or wld it be slightly bettor or worse? how wld you feel about a yogurt or sourcream addition? or wld that be too muc
This recipe is very forgiving. You can use any kind of milk including non-dairy milk. Buttermilk and whole milk is best for moister and tenderness. You can use store-bought or homemade buttermilk. Let’s just keep things simple and stick with milk. I hope that helps clarify things. Please feel free to reply back with any other questions. Have a great day!
Hi, I am very excited to try this recipe, based on the great comments! Just wanted to clarify, under substitution for butter milk it says to use any milk then states to mix that with white vinegar or lemon juice. Is this for non-dairy products only or should I be adding vinegar or lemon juice to cow’s milk as well?
You can add lemon juice or vinegar to cow’s milk OR non-dairy milk to make buttermilk. So yes add it to your cow’s milk as well. I hope you enjoy the muffins and have a great day!
I’ve made this recipe a few times and it always comes out great – and it really does taste like a bakery muffin! I’ve also tried it substituting half the flour with almond flour and still tastes great too.
Perfection! Nothing compares!
This recipe was very forgiving, I forgot to mix the sugar with the wet ingredients and accidentally put it in with the dry stuff. I let it rest for like 15 mins before I filled my muffin tin and they were still completely perfect. Very happy with this recipe. Awesome rise, perfect crisp tops, and moist centers.
These muffins are absolutely incredible! I made them exactly as the recipe stated with no adjustments or substitutions and they could not have come out better. My husband said they’re the best he’s ever had and I agree! I’m now going to try them with dried blueberries. Thank you for sharing this!
Hi. I am wondering what type of egg substitutes could I use to replace the eggs in this recipe? (ex: applesauce…etc)
I suggest applesauce or flax eggs. Enjoy and stay safe!
Hi. I am excited to try your recipe. Is it okay to use yogurt instead of buttermilk?
yes, use 3/4 cup yogurt mixed with 1/4 cup milk or water. Enjoy and stay safe!
Wow! Every muffin recipe I’ve collected over the last 30+ years has just been put in the recycling bin. This is the recipe I’ve been waiting to discover. Easy to put together, and they rise like no other muffin I’ve ever made. Thank you!!
You’re very welcome, Sharon! Thank you for your rave review. Stay safe and happy baking!
Wow, I never reviewed anything online but I need to it this time. Great recipe! I used almond milk with white vinegar instead of buttermilk. Came out perfect! Great texture and fluffiness.
These muffins came out absolutely perfect! I followed the directions exactly.
I am going to make these muffins today with the kids. Seems like a great recipe, thank you in advance!
I’m about try this recipe now. I have only 50g of granulated sugar. May I use regular white sugar or packed brown sugar instead? Thank you!
You can use regular white sugar instead. I hope you enjoy the muffins and happy Sunday!