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 made the muffins using whole milk and reducing the sugar to half cup and added two bananas and I baked them in the big muffin pan I got six muffins. I got to say my son is a picky eater and he enjoyed them.
I was wondering if I can substitute the butter for oil- canola or olive oil. Which one you recommend, and what is the quantity (in cups), please?
Also, can I substitute buttermilk for 2% milk?
Thanks!
I recommend using 1/2 cup canola oil instead of butter as a substitute and yes, you can use 2% milk. Enjoy!
Wonderful recipe. Moist and delicious!
Hey! How can I make it gluten-free? Can I substitute the flour with cornstarch or maybe almond flour? Thanks!
No, cornstarch will make it gummy and almond flour will make it dense. You’re best to use a gluten-free flour blend like Bob’s Red Mill or Robin Hood brand.
Hiya.
Just found and made these Muffins however the chocolate chips sank to the bottom 🙁
Checking back through your previous comments it’s worth me noting I did mix the chocolate chips with the dry ingredients before combining with the wet. Also, I notice the batter mix wasn’t as thick as yours in the video so assume that’s the culprit (used 250ml milk with tablespoon of Lemon juice). In order to prevent in future what should I do?
Reduce the milk quantity?
Taste lovely though, just have to nipple the chocolate bits out the casing!! Lol
Thank you, only just found you so will be trying more recipes in the future x
Oh no! I’m glad it still tasted lovely and yes, reduce the milk to maybe 3/4 cup to thicken up the batter and that should do the trick. Thank you for your feedback and happy Saturday!
Thank you Lily for the getting back so promptly. I will try that next time 🙂 will let you know how it goes x
Hi, I was wondering if soy milk works for the buttermilk substitute?
Yes, you can use soy milk. Enjoy and happy Saturday!
I love making these a d was making them today but for some reason the wet mixture and turned into a rice consistency and i’m not sure if something is curdled or one of the ingredients was too hot/cold, have any idea?
Most likely the milk or eggs were too cold causing the melted butter to re-solidify. Not to worry, the recipe still works even when this happens.
I love this recipe. I stumbled upon this recipe a few months ago and haven’t turned back. I love the crispy muffin top and my kids will eat 2 at a time especially when they first come out of the oven. The only change I did was decrease the cups of chocolate chips to just 1 cup. The best recipe for chocolate chip muffins I have used!
Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome, Anita, and thank you for your kind words!
Delicious! I am 14 and started baking a couple years ago, and these are the best muffins I’ve ever had, let alone make! The only thing is if you are making them in regular cupcake holders it makes about 15 or so, but extras are never a bad thing! Thx for the recipe!
You’re very welcome, Addy! I’m so impressed you started baking at such a young age:)
This is the best chocolate chip muffin recipe !! I was wondering what the time difference would be if I wanted to make these in jumbo sized?
Thank you, Jessica! Jumbo muffins take about an extra 10-15 minutes to bake.
I have always made baked goods from mixes and recently started trying out making them from scratch and these did not disappoint! Makes me sad I used a mix all these years because there is zero comparison! Thanks for the recipe!
You’re very welcome, and hey, now you have a comparison:)
Hi Lily, I have tried baking it today and it turned out so well. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
You’re very welcome, Christina! So glad you like it:)
Is this for Jumbo muffins or Regular sized?
Regular sized:)
March 13, 2021
Hello Lily! Greetings from Oxnard, Ca, USA! My family loved these muffins! They came out just as you described. I was wondering how the recipe would taste if I used less sugar, like 1/4 or 1/2 cup of granulated sugar OR a sugar substitute like Agave honey? I’m thinking that the chocolate chips would add the necessary sweet taste. I’m watching my sugar and salt intake.
Hello Iggie! Thank you for your kind words. You’re better of reducing the sugar by 1/4-1/2 cup versus substituting it with a liquid sweetener. The liquid sweetener will change the texture and make it denser.
I’m desperately trying to watch the entire video for this chocolate chip muffin and it keeps skipping to the next video with almost no time to stop it. This is not a great feature. Anyway you can turn this off?
Your recipe looks delicious for the first 15 secs lol!
Hi Amanda,
You’re right, that feature does not give you a lot of time to choose if you want to keep watching. I’ll have my ad company fix that. In the meantime, if you go to the video just above the recipe, that video is specific to the recipe and will play through. Sorry for the inconvenience and thanks for letting me know.
How much sugar should I use if I only have semi-sweet chocolate chips?
The same amount. Enjoy and have a great weekend!
I made these for my moms birthday and these muffins where so good and the perfect recipe for my family.
Can light buttermilk be used? That’s all I can find in stores right now.
Yes, light buttermilk can be used. Enjoy and have a great day!
Hi! I’m making these right now. Can I put the batter in the fridge and bake in a few hours or should I bake immediately? Thank you!
Hi Melanie,
It’s best to bake it right away since the leavening agents are reacting as soon as you mix them with the wet ingredients. If you want to prepare in advance, I suggest mixing the wet and dry separately, then combining them when you are ready to bake. I hope that helps!
Sweet and fluffy. Absolutely perfect. Baked as stated. Thank you so much, I’m looking forward to trying more of your recipes.
You’re welcome and I hope you enjoy my other recipes just as much!