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.
My family loved them!
I want to make truly bakery-style muffins…so I want to bake them as six jumbo muffins. How much time would they take and would the temperature be the same?
This is the best muffin recipe ever. I have tried every cookbook, Google, and Pinterest recipe. Hands down my favorite. I have been baking with this recipe for over a year!
Thank you so much for your rave review, Michaela! Stay safe and happy holidays!
AMAZING!!!
I made this as it says and they were very moist and tasty. I did the 5 min and then 12 and they came out a bit over done on the edges. Next time I’ll see about a shorter time or different temp ranges.Â
quick question, instead of buttermilk can i just use regular milk?😊
Yes, you can! Enjoy:)
Hi,
The muffins taste really good but are not as fluffy as yours and didn’t rise perfectly like yours. How can i prevent this next time?
I will definitly keep this recipe!
Hard to say since I can’t see how the muffins turned out. Since the muffins didn’t rise as much as they should have, perhaps the batter was a little too thin or the leavening agents are not fresh. Check the expiry date on the packaging or you can reduce the milk to 3/4 cup and see if you get a better result. Hope that helps and have a great week!
Delicious! I made this at high altitude (4500″) so I reduced the baking powder and sugar slightly, increased the milk by 1/8 cup and the oven temperature by 25degrees.
I used dark chocolate chips and added streusel from your blueberry muffin recipe. They turned out wonderfully.
Thank you for sharing your tips for high altitude. I get asked all the time. Much appreciated!
Hi! I just made these and I’ve never made homemade muffins before so is the batter supposed to be that thick?  They didn’t come out as I planned and I was thinking maybe too much flour but I thought I’d ask for your opinion
Yes, muffin batter is supposed to be thick. Can you clarify what you mean by “they didn’t come out as planned” and let me know how they taste? That’s the most important:)
This is my go-to chocolate chip muffin recipe – my daughters and I love them! Thank you for this recipe.
You’re very welcome and thank you for your kind words, Samantha! I’m so happy you and your daughters love the muffins:)
Hello can I use self raising flowerÂ
Yes, you can. Just omit the salt and baking powder. Enjoy!
Just wondering if I could substitute oil for the butter. Love all your recipes.
Thanks
Thank you and yes, you can use oil instead of butter. Enjoy and have a great day!
This is by far one of the most delicious muffins I have baked or eaten. If this is any indication of other recipes I can’t wait to try them.Â
Thanks, Pat! I hope you enjoy my other recipes as well:)
Hi can you add sweetener instead of sugar ?
I can’t guarantee you the results as I have never tried it for myself. I recommend you follow the instructions on the packaging on how to substitute for baking and see how you like it.
Can I substitute buttermilk with sourcream?
I would go with 1/2 cup sour cream mixed with 1/2 cup water to kind of mimic buttermilk for the same results. I hope that helps and enjoy!
Just made these today and they are amazing! So moist and delicious! My family loved them. My 4 year old who never eats muffins ate it right up and wanted another one. Â I subbed out the butter for oil, and put in about 1/2 cup of brown sugar instead of the sugar called for in the recipe. I split the batter into two batches and made one with chocolate chips and the other with frozen blueberries and lemon zest. Â Also made a vanilla glaze that I drizzled on top.Â
Easy and came out perfect! Great recipe.
Hi Lily,
Have you tried using coconut oil or an alternate to the butter? Thanks!
Hi Carla,
I’ve used vegetable oil with great results. I find baking with coconut oil greasy, so you have to use less oil, perhaps 1/3 cup.
Hi lily quick question instead of using all purpose flour could I use the gluten free flour 1 to 1 and would it still come out the same?
Yes, you can use a gluten-free 1:1 flour mix. I recommend Bob’s Red Mill GF 1:1 baking flour because I’ve used it before and the taste is exactly the same.
Is there a way to incorporate cocoa powder to make double chocolate chip muffins
Yes, here is the double chocolate version of this muffin: https://www.littlesweetbaker.com/double-chocolate-muffins/
Enjoy and have a great weekend!
Tried out today. Came out really good. Thank you.