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 had almost given up on making muffins at home because they never rise enough and make a dome shape and they are just “okay”
I followed the recipe exactly as written. All I can say is WOW! These are delicious and absolutely look like they came from a bakery! They rose beautifully in a dome shape as promised. I now have my go to muffin recipe. Can’t wait to try with blueberries. Thank you for this great recipe.
You’re very welcome and thank you for your rave review! Enjoy the muffins and have a great day, Kathyanne!
Do i need to mix in the vinegar or lemon juice if i use whole milk?
Up to you. TBH I sometimes do and sometimes don’t (it depends on my mood) and it only makes a small diff when using whole milk.
Hi! can i change the butter for just oil?
Yes, you can. Enjoy!
Turned out great, very tasty and soft. Great recipe!
Simply fabulous muffins! This is now my go to recipe, thank you for sharing. I added extra chips on top.
You’re very welcome, Gail! So glad you liked it:)
Do you have a time recommendation for baking these in a jumbo muffin tin?
Bake them for 10-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Enjoy and have a great week!
OMG THESE ARE AMAZING! I made them today and they turned out perfect and moist. Def bakery style! I was in the middle of making them when I realized I ran out of eggs. I replaced the eggs with 2 mashed bananas and they are still perfect!
I tried this recipe today and it turned out fantastic. I did switch to 2 tsp of baking powder as suggested in one if the reviews.
Thank you for a wonderful recipe!
Tk u for sharing this wonderful reciepe.Mam,Any egg substitute??
You can substitute with flax eggs or unsweetened applesauce instead, but the texture won’t be the same.
My grandkids gobbled these up. They were gone in less than 24 hours. Will definitely make these again!
I didn’t have vanilla to add but these were still ssssoooooooo good !!
These are AMAZING!!!!! I’ve been in to baking lately. I’ve tried a lot of good muffin recipes, but out of them all, this one is definitely my favorite. A soft moist inside and a crispy top. Next time I want to make muffins, this is my go to recipe!
Thank you for your rave review, Stella! Much appreciated:)
My batter was super thick. Kinda like cookies. Did I do something wrong? I spooned it into the muffin cups and followed it to a t. Thanks 😊
Your batter shouldn’t be thick like cookie dough. Yes, something must have gone wrong. Perhaps the milk was forgotten?
My batter turned out thick… is it supposed to be thick?
Yes, muffin batter is supposed to be thick.
Here we go. Accidentally posted this on a different recipe. These are fantastic!! I swapped regular AP flour for gluten free 1:1 flour (Presidents Choice) and it turned out perfectly!! The vanilla in this makes it taste so much like bakery muffins!!! Thanks so much for this recipe 🙂
No worries and thank you for your wonderful feedback, Ash. Enjoy!
Hello
It is perfect 🥰 muffins my kids loved it.
Thank you
these were absolutely delicious! family devoured them!
I try every recipe before I decide if it is worth printing. For the last few months, I have tried popular chocolate chip muffin recipes but was repeatedly disappointed in their taste and texture.
I will be printing this recipe. I followed the instructions exactly and was thrilled by how delicious the muffins turned out. Moist and not too sweet! Thank you Lily for sharing this, I finally found the perfect chocolate chip muffin recipe 🙂
I’m so happy to hear and you’re very welcome, Jess!
I followed the recipe to the EXACT letter, and they didn’t turn out well . The chocolate chips all sunk to the bottom. And the muffins didn’t rise very well. I have a new oven too ☹️ The taste was nice.
Sounds like the batter was too thin. I would cut back the milk by a quarter and that should help in your case.
Amazing 👏 love this recipe 😍 simple yet delicious thank u
You’re very welcome!