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.
Thats’s what I do but it still falls apart.Â
These are delicious! Â But I do not know what to do, they keep sticking to the pan or the muffin top falls apart. Â Help!! Â
Grease each cup AND rim of your muffin pan very well with butter or non-stick cooking spray and that will make it easy to remove without breaking the tops. I hope that helps and have a great day!
Soooooooo good! Actually the best!
I enjoyed making these. I had never baked anything using two temperatures before. My muffins looked perfect and I had a perfect rise on them. I would maybe suggest using milk chocolate chips instead of semi sweet. Although I used full size chips instead of going with my gut and using mini chips. My consistency throughout the muffin was kind of like cornbread though. I don’t know if I over mixed it but my batter was nice and thick. Still, they are very good and will go great with some coffee in the morning.Â
Hmm…sounds like you might have overmixed because the texture should be soft and fluffy, almost like a cake, not hearty like cornbread. A little less muscle next time and that should help, lol.
Hi,
I want to try this recipe. Seems easy and reviews are great!!!
Just to confirm…use a whisk, no mixer right?Â
Yes, no mixer required. Enjoy and happy Sunday!
I have tried this recipe twice already in less than a month….it is super easy and the muffins are amazing. Reminds me of muffins from a bakery that has closed permanently, but glad I can make my own!!! Â Â
Hello. I followed this recipe exactly but the muffins ended up flat. Tasted great but flat. What did I do wrong?
I’m glad it still tasted great. Usually, when this happens it’s due to the batter being a bit thin. Reduce the milk to 3/4 cup next time and that should help.
Thank you so much for this recipe they were perfect! My kids loved them. I had a bit of leftover batter and placed it in a mini cake pan added walnuts and it made a giant muffin so delicious.
You’re very welcome, Ruby! I’m so happy you and your kids loved them. Enjoy and stay safe out there!
I do not have buttermilk, can I use 2% milk instead?
Yes, you can. Enjoy and stay safe out there!
Absolutely delicious muffins!!!Best muffins ever!!!Can you please tell me receipe of pineapple coconut muffins with toasted almonds.
Thank you!
Thank you for your kind words. I don’t have a pineapple coconut recipe, but here is one that looks good. You can replace the coconut topping with almonds and instead of 3 egg whites, just use 2 eggs so there is no leftover yolks. I hope that helps!
https://www.completelydelicious.com/pineapple-coconut-muffins/
The consistency of this muffin is perfect! I was worried I had messed
somehow bc I was surprised by how thick the batter was,  but it was just right. My husband, who usually passes on bakery items, definitely had more than his fair share of these, and we’re all a little sad they lasted less than 24 hours. 🙂Â
Can you substitute white for brown sugar?Â
I would only sub half the white sugar for brown so it doesn’t change the recipe too much. I hope that helps and enjoy the muffins!
Amazing! Came together very quickly-even with the help of my 5 year old! Delicious, not too sweet, and very filling. This will now be my go-to recipe for Sunday mornings! Thank you so much!!
You’re very welcome, Bethany! So happy you and your little one liked it:)
Hello! Could I check if you used a conventional oven, or convection (fan-forced) when baking? Thanks so much and can’t wait to try out this recipe (:
I used a conventional oven. Enjoy and happy Sunday!
Easy recipe and delicious! Â Crispy on the outside, super soft and fluffy on the inside!!! Â Made for my coworkers and they were a hit! My kids wanted them for breakfast, snack and lunch lol!Â
That’s great to hear that everyone loves the muffins! Thank you for taking the time to leave such a lovely comment:)
This recipe is really amazing. The fluffiest muffin I have ever made in my kitchen. Thank you so much.Â
You’re very welcome, Emily! Glad you like it:)
we had tons of christmas fudge so i chopped that instead of chips and added raspberries. this a great muffin  recipe.Â
Easy to follow and excellent results. My kids and I enjoyed so much!Â
Excellent recipe! I saved half of the batter and folded in some blueberries for half of the muffins and both were a roaring success at work. Thank you so much for this tasty treat.
You’re very welcome! Thank you for your kind words and happy holidays!
Awesome recipe
Can you bake this recipe as jumbo muffins and bake them longer , as I want to bake them for Christmas breakfast and I am making several different muffins that are all jumbo size?
Yes, you can bake these in a jumbo-size muffin pan. I think they take 10-15 minutes longer to bake (just check with a toothpick). I hope you enjoy the muffins and merry Christmas!
How long should I bake them if I want to make jumbo muffins and should the recipe be doubled for 9?
Hi Michelle, if you double the recipe, you’ll get 12 jumbo muffins.