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.
Looking forward to making these delicious muffins! Do you bake your recipes with a convection oven or a regular oven? Do you recommend any adjustments for a convection oven? Thank you for your time!
My oven has both options, but I usually bake using the conventional setting (fan off). Sometimes, I will use the convection setting to brown the tops during the last 5 minutes of baking. In those cases, I do reduce the temp by 25F. I hope this helps and pls feel free to reply back with any further questions.
These are our favourite muffins! Question, can they be frozen once cooked?
Thanks!
Thank you! And yes, they can be frozen. Thaw overnight in the fridge and warm up in the oven or microwave if desired.
First time I tried this recipe I doubled the batch . But they still turned out awesome . Best choc chip muffins I’ve made. Thanks !!
You’re very welcome, Tracie! So glad you enjoyed the muffins:)
Easy and quick to make. Taste is perfect, my son has already eaten three. Recipe saved.
Can I use veg oil instead of melted butter? If so what would be the quantity? TIA
Yes, the same amount, 1/2 cup. I hope you enjoy the muffins!
Lovely! A must try recipe.
I have yet to try it yet but I tested my baking skills trying to bake this recipe in a loaf pan, I don’t think I did it right as it looks a little off woth a dip on the middle of each haha, got a cook time and heat suggestion for the loaf pan option?
To make this into a loaf, I would reduce the temp to 350F and bake for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Hello! Can I also check, I have baked my muffin at 210C for 5 mins and 190C for another 11 mins and they came out soft ! However, the top part is not that brown and crispy ! Should I increase my baking time? But I am afraid it will cause the muffins to dry inside! Pardon me for having so many questions 🙁
Yes, I would bake them for another 2 minutes. If you have a convection (fan-forced) setting, bake at 350F convection for an extra 2 minutes and that will definitely help brown and crisp up the tops. I hope this helps!
These are so delicious! It has become our go to muffin recipe.
Hello! I have tried it with cake flour and it was soft and moist! Love the texture. A lot!! However, can I check if your muffins have a strong vanilla taste? I have used the same amount as mentioned in the recipe but I couldn’t taste the vanilla. May I check what brand of vanilla extract did u use? Thank you!
Delicious! Perfectly moist and soft. Will definitely be baking these again!
Hello! Can I check if I can replace all purpose flour to cake flour?
You can. The texture will be softer and more like a cake, of course. Enjoy!
Thanks for the reply!! Will try it out and let you know 😊
These are truly a 5 star muffin! Super easy to make and baked perfect in exactly 12 minutes. I added course sugar to the tops for an extra special treat. These are definitely a keeper! Thanks for sharing.
You’re very welcome and thank you for your rave review, Tammi!
OMG! These were the best muffins I’ve ever made! The mini chocolate chips were such a good idea and so plentiful in this recipe! I got rave reviews for these! Can’t wait to make them again, the recipe is flawless!
Delicious! That crispy top almost made me cry lol
I need to make this again asap! I’ll reduce the sugar a little more because I only have milk chocolate chip at the moment and I’ll also skip the paper liners I used the first time
I’m glad those were happy tears, lol. Thank you for your feedback, Claudia!
Do we need to use the vinegar and lemon juice with regular milk as well?
You don’t need to, but if you do, you’re essentially making buttermilk.
Amazing recipe! My family loves them!
Amazing muffins!! This is a perfect recipe. Thanks so much- my family really enjoyed these for breakfast today❤️
You’re very welcome, Priya! So glad your family enjoyed it:)
hi! i have a question, is it ok to use brown sugar instead?
You can, but it will change the texture a bit, give a darker color, and a hint of molasses flavor to the muffins. Best to go half and half if you really want to use brown sugar.
Great chocolate chip muffins! Very delicious! Thank you!