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.
Just made these. They’re great! Thanks for the recipe.
Hi , sorry making this today and just realized I don’t have granulated sugar, what sugar and quantity can I use insteadÂ
Hi Noreen,
I would ask a neighbor if you can borrow a cup of sugar or wait until you can buy some because anything you substitute it with will change the taste and texture of the muffins. Granulated white sugar is best for this recipe. You can go half and half with some brown sugar, but you still need some granulated sugar. I hope that helps!
I followed the recipe exactly and they turned out AMAZING! Very delicious. Very moist. Very high muffin tops. 🙂
hi for buttermilk, will making it with heavy cream be a nicer alternative? thanks and love your recipes 🙂
Using heavy cream will make it too rich. I suggest using whole milk for best results.
What size muffin pan are you using?Â
A standard 12-cup muffin pan. Mine is Wilton brand and holds exactly 90ml of water in each cavity. I hope that helps!
Any suggestion with how To incorporate rolled oats for breastfeeding help? Can I just soak them in the buttermilk mixture before adding? Love love love This recipe and make them once a week.Â
Thank you for your kind words. Try substituting 1/2 cup of flour with 1/2 plus 2 tbsp of quick oats to start and let me know how it works out. In theory that should not affect the recipe too much.
Hi , can I make buttermilk with long life milk , how much lemon should I add in 250ml milk
 Thanks will try it for sureÂ
I’ve never baked with long life milk before, but from what I’ve read it should work. Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Enjoy the muffins and have a great day!
Followed this recipe to the T and it came out brilliantly!Â
Absolutely loved it!Â
If I want to make 18 muffins, how would I change the ingredients to match 18 muffin instead of 12?
Multiply the ingredients by 1.5 and follow the instructions as written for 18 muffins instead of 12. Enjoy and have a great day!
I just made these tonight. Sooo yummy. This will be my go to recipe for Chocolate Chip muffins. I will share this recipe with friends and family.
I did the lemon juice + milk substitute (used 1%) for buttermilk. Also did half light brown  sugar and half granulated sugar. Used muffin top pans and baked at 375 for 15-16 minutes. So delicious! My family loves it. The recipe yielded 20 muffin tops.Â
Oh! Also I used fine sea saltÂ
Can l use self rising flour into this? And still add baking soda and baking powder to it?
If you are going to use self-rising flour, omit the baking powder and salt, but still add the baking soda. I hope that helps and have a great weekend!
I substituted the 1.5 c chocolate chips for 1 c chocolate chips and 1 c chopped strawberries. Super dreamy. Wonderful recipe!Â
Ok I feel dumb but I was going to use almond milk. I need to use 1 cup of almond milk AND mix in vinegar? It says mix to make 1 cup, so do I use less than a cup of almond milk?
Don’t feel dumb. Simply add 1 tbsp of vinegar to a measuring cup, then fill it with almond milk until you reach the 1 cup mark. I hope that helps clarify things:)
Can I substitute melted butter with oil?
Yes, you can! Enjoy and have a great day:)
Hi! How do you get the nice chocolate chips on the top of the muffin? 🙂 When I sprinkle the chocolate chips on top and bake them, they just melt away and don’t looks as nearly as nice as yours do..
Hmm…I’ve never had that happen before. Are you using creamy milk chocolate chips that melt easily or perhaps try using larger chocolate chips? Sorry I can’t be of more help.
Hi dear
Wt should I substitute in place of eggs
Plz suggest
You can try 1/4 cup of applesauce or mashed bananas for each egg or substitute with flax eggs (1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water, let stand for 15 mins to thicken = 1 egg). The taste and texture won’t be exactly the same though.
Could I use sour cream instead of buttermilk?
Yes, use 3/4 cup sour cream mixed with 1/4 cup milk or water. Enjoy and have a great day!
Absolutely delicious! Made these yesterday and it was the bomb. Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside!
One of the best baking recipes I’ve tried!