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’ve now made this a dozen times! Thank you! My girls love this. I mix it up by using 3 kinds of chocolate chips but the recipe as-is is a hit!
You’re very welcome, Aneela! I’m so glad you and your girls love them:)
Hi my mixture came out quite dry, more like a cookie dough……
Ended up adding more butter and buttermilk. Fx they taste ok still.
What could of caused this? I followed the recipe exactly.
Huh…the batter should not have been that thick, so there was either too much flour or not enough butter/milk. However, you did the right thing and added more liquid. I wish I could tell you exactly what caused it, but it’s hard since I wasn’t there to see it. Sorry I couldn’t be more help.
You know this recipe is good when you forget the sugar and its still edible. Followed the recipe and only added cinnamon and it still was good. Made many times and always Perfect! A total winner!
Thank you for your kind review, Regina! I’m so glad you think it’s a winner:)
Have been baking this since so many years… First I baked for my 2 year old n he used to ask daily for it… Then it became hit in my friends and family… Now doing it professionally… Have tried so many recipes but jone came out so good as this one… Just one thing as few friends don’t eat egg but based on reviews want to eat these muffins.. so is there any egg substitute for this recipe… Thanks a lot for sharing such an awesome recipe..
Hi Shruti,
You’re very welcome! Try unsweetened applesauce or flax eggs. I find those are the best egg substitute in baking. Thank you for your lovely comment:)
Amazing recipe, super moist!!
Made following the recipe exactly only I used regular sized chips and had to sub buttermilk for vinegar/2% milk mix. Perfection.
This has been our go-to recipe for a long time now and my whole family loves it! These muffins rarely make it to day 2. We make two simple changes based on dietary and taste preference: Reduce the chocolate chips to 1/2 cup (even then one child says it’s “too chocolatey”); and we use unsweetened vanilla nut-milk instead of buttermilk, which tastes just as great but drops the fat and calories considerably. (And yes, we still use butter). This recipe deserves ten stars…bakery style muffin perfection.
Aww, thank you for your feedback and kind words!
love this recipe – i’ve swapped the sugar for erythitol
Can i put frozen fruit in with the chocolate chips??
Yes, but keep in mind that the frozen fruit will add a few more minutes of bake time, and depending on how much fruit you add, you’ll either get bigger muffins or maybe even an extra muffin. I hope that helps!
I tried this recipe. It tasted good once they came out. But once cooled totally, and placed in a store tight container, it was really dry. I don’t know what I did wrong. Felt like I wasted so much ingredients. Not sure I will try again….
Hi Afia,
I’m sorry to hear the muffins dried out after it was stored. Sounds like it was slightly overbaked. Try baking it for a few minutes less next time.
Hi. Can I substitute maple syrup for the sugar?
No, you can’t substitute the sugar with maple syrup. That’s too much liquid. You can reduce the sugar by 1/4 – 1/2 cup if you’d like. I hope that helps and have a great day!
I made this with coconut milk and i can honestly say it was the tastiest muffin I ate in my life. Im worried second time round it wont come out like that again! Awesome.
Two questions
-can I use heavy cream?
-should I remove the muffins from the oven while lowering the temperature?
Hi Anita.
Do not use heavy cream. If that’s all you have, add 2 tablespoons of heavy cream to a 1-cup measuring cup and add enough water to make 1 cup. It’s like you’re making milk.
Do not remove the muffins while lowering the temp. Keep the muffins in the oven and just change the setting to 350F. I hope that helps!
Such a simple recipe and it came out so good! Cut the sugar by about 30g or so and I thought it was the perfect sweetness. Thank you so much for the recipe!
2nd time I’ve tried this recipe and they turned put better than the 1st.. they’re more moist. The chocolate
chips keep sinking to the bottom though, where am I going wrong with this?
Also Can you store the muffins in the fridge afterwards?
Yes, you can store the muffins in the fridge. As for the sinking chocolate chips; are you tossing them in the flour mixture before adding in the wet ingredients?
I only added 1/4 c of sugar, the choco chips are enough sweetness.
So good! I’ll make them again.
Hi Lily,
Can I use this recipe to make cupcakes to go with my chocolate buttercream frosting?
You can, but keep in mind that it will have the texture of a muffin versus cupcake.
I made these for my family and friends went crazy for them. I followed the instructions exactly and they were perfect.
Hi, what happens if I don’t have baking soda?
You can just omit it. Enjoy and have a great day!
Hi! For the homemade buttermilk, can bottled lemon juice be used or must it be fresh lemon?
Also, are the temperatures stated for normal (non fan assisted) oven only?
Thank you so much!
Hi Naima,
Yes, you can use bottled lemon juice and yes, the temperatures are for conventional ovens (non-fan assisted). I hope that helps and I hope you enjoy the muffins!
My family loved these! They were absolutely perfect. Great, easy and delicious.