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.
Hi about to make!! Can i use regular butter or should i stick to unsalted? Just wondering because i only have salted on hand. Let me know i’m so excited to try these ☺️
You can use salted butter and just omit the salt. Enjoy!
can i sub oil for butter ?
Yes, you can. Enjoy the muffins!
Easy and tasty. Surprised my wife. She had no idea I could bake. Thanks for making me look good. !!!
You’re very welcome, Chuck! I’m so glad you and your wife enjoyed the muffins:)
Just after making this recipe today , I halved the recipe to make 6 and it worked amazing !! 😍 so nice deffo recommend
Hi! My son loves chocolate chip muffins, but has an egg allergy. Do you think these would work well with a flax seed “egg”? Thank you 🙂
Yes, you can use flax eggs as a substitute in this recipe. I hope you and your son enjoy the muffins!
YUM!
These were amazing! I cut the amount of sugar and chocolate chips in half and added a cup of almond slivers and they came out PERFECT! The family loved them 🙂
Can’t wait to make them again!
Hi, I was just wondering if the temperatures given are for a fan oven or not?
Thanks!
The temperature given is for a standard conventional oven, so no fan. If you want to bake it in a convection oven, just reduce the temp by 25F and reduce the baking time at the end by a few minutes.
These were awsome. I was craving something sweet and had all the ingredients on hand. The batter was pretty thick and I over-filled 12 muffin cups (and still had about 1 cup left over), but they turned out great. The texture is perfect and I agree with other reviews that you could use this as a base for just about any muffin flavor. I’ll try again with strawberries. Thanks for the recipe!
You’re very welcome, Patricia! Glad you like it:)
I made these chocolate chip muffins tonight, followed the recipe exactly, and they were absolutely wonderful! Next time I will make the dozen instead of the six large ones. A little bit too large for me and couldn’t consume a whole one at once. This is certainly a “keeper” recipe to add to my collection. Can’t wait to try some of your other recipes. Thank you so much.
You’re very welcome, Anna Marie. Thank you for your kind words and I hope you like my other recipes just as much!
My Mom and brother both thought it smelled like pancakes, made a lot more than I bargained for!:D
These. Are. Amazing.
Hi! I made these for my family and they asked for them again 🙂 I love this recipe thank you very much for sharing!
You’re very welcome, Rebecca! So happy to hear your family is already asking for them again:)
Best recipe I have ever tried🌼🤔
Made this, and it was a hit with my family. I was wondering if it could be made with less sugar?
Yes, you can reduce the sugar by 1/2 cup and/or reduce the chocolate chips by 1/2 cup for less sweetness. Thank you for your question and glad it was a hit with your family!
I followed this recipe exactly and the muffins turned out GREAT! I love them and will be keeping this recipe for next time. I love that fact that it only makes 12 (1-dozen) because most times that’s all you need. I’m sure it would be easy just to double the recipe if you need more. Great recipe, Thanks! I’m sure you could use the same mixture for blueberry muffins with a little lemon zest, and maybe strawberry muffins just add some chopped strawberries This is a keeper. Thanks!
I used sour cream and vinagar because I had no milk products and substituted orange extract and cranberries, plus used up a 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips. This is such an adaptable recipe. It is the bomb!! This is the only recipe you need to make any delicious mile high muffin!! You are a muffin guru!!
Aww, thanks for your high praise, Gina:) I’m thrilled you think it’s the bomb!
Can you make these into 6 large muffins? If so, what would be the baking time?
Thank you! So excited to try this recipe!
Yes, you can turn the recipe into 6 jumbo muffins. Just bake it for an extra 10-15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. You’re welcome and I hope you enjoy the muffins!
These are THE best muffins I’ve ever had, and they are so easy to make!
My family couldn’t get enough! Never will I ever have the need for a store bought or bakery muffin again!
I always double the recipe now and make extras to give to friends and neighbours and they rave about my incredible baking skills (thanks for that!).
The only thing I add is some large granular sugar to the top of the muffin. I love the extra texture and taste and it’s something my favourite bakery does.
There’s nothing like a warm muffin right from the oven, and it’s even better when you’ve made it yourself.
Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful gem with us!
You’re very welcome and thank you for your rave review, Lee:) Enjoy the muffins and stay safe! xoxo
Soooo good! easy clean up too! definitely would make again! i also used a little less buttermilk than on recipe to make it thicker.