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 Lily!
I’m kind of a baking novice. I only have whole wheat flour. Is there a way to combat the drier, heavier texture of the whole wheat flour by compensating with another ingredient, or would you recommend just waiting until I can get some all purpose flour (I can wait)?
Hi Sylvia, I highly recommend you wait until you can get some AP flour. I developed the recipe using AP flour, so it is really the best for the muffins. Thank you for your question and let me know what you think after you try it:)
THEY ARE PERFECT!!!! Better than any bakery muffins I’ve ever tasted:) They were so worth the wait!!! We all love them! I can’t wait to try more of your recipes! Thank you for sharing:) And thank you for the massive boost of confidence in the kitchen:)
Awww, that’s awesome to hear! You made my day with your kind words:)
Hi, Sylvia,
This reply is late, but I want to encourage you to experiment with whole wheat. Although not strictly interchangeable, I have had great success converting most muffins using a bit more liquid and a wee bit more leavening. (But this recipe already has plenty of leavening.) In fact, I just made a remarkably similar recipe to this, using 100% whole wheat (I use KAF White Whole Wheat) and it looked exactly like the pictures above, and was delicious! I can tell from reading Lily’s recipe that it should work really well with 100% whole wheat, with about 1T-2T extra liquid. (Mine were done in 5 + 12 minutes, so check sooner.) Good luck healthifying!
I made this recipe and it was so delicious best chocolate chip muffins I ever tasted. U was wondering if I could make this recipe a double chocolate chip muffins. How much cocoa will it require?
Hi Karla, glad to hear you liked them so much. As for making this recipe into a double chocolate muffins, try replacing half a cup of flour with unsweetened cocoa powder. Thank you for your comment and have a lovely day:)
I followed this recipe exactly but I’m not sure what happened. I had way too much batter for 12 cups. But I followed the directions and split the batter evenly among them (each cup was overflowing with batter above the rim). When I put them in the oven, they spilled over the sides of the pan. The muffins did not rise well and cooked into each other due to the excessive amount of batter. At first I misread the amount of baking powder. I thought it was 1 tsp but when I read it again I realized it said 1 tbsp. Is this correct? Any suggestions on why I had too much batter? I’m thinking it must be due to the amount of baking powder. Or possibly from the vinegar I added to the milk to make buttermilk. I’m wondering if the acid of the vinegar mixed along with the baking powder was too much of a rising agent (when mixed with the baking soda). After taking them out of the oven, all of the muffins sank in the middle and the insides of the muffins were doughy (like they weren’t fully cooked).
Hi Carolyn, I’m sorry to hear the recipe did not turn out for you. It’s hard to me to tell you what went wrong since I was not there to see how you did it. The recipe does call for 1 tablespoon of baking powder and the homemade buttermilk should not have affected anything. The only thing I can think of is since you had too much volume of batter and it sounds like it was too wet, perhaps you over measured one of the liquid ingredients? I honestly would say, give it another try because I know the recipe does work for many of my readers. Let me know if you do make it again and have a wonderful day:)
I had the same problem with too much batter. I made 12 regular muffins and 12 mini muffins. I think there is a lot of variation in muffin tin size. My guess is there is a some variation in muffin tin size. I have this problem a lot so I think maybe I only have a medium sized tin and need to get a large muffin tin. My family loves the muffins though.
Good point Angela. Thank you for sharing your that and I’m glad your family loved the muffins. Have a great day:)
I made this recipe and it turned out quite lovely! I did make these as mini muffins which I cooked at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. This is definitely going to become my go-to recipe for chocolate chip muffins!
Hi Christy, I’m happy to hear that this is going to be your go-to recipe. Thank you for your feedback:)
This is the fifth or sixth time I’ve googled “muffins with high tops” in the hopes of finding this recipe again!! LOL It’s been a HUGE HIT with my five kids and with school beginning next week, I’m getting a head start on breakfasts. 🙂 This time I’ve bookmarked your page and printed the recipe to add to my recipe stash in the cupboard! LOL Thanks for a great recipe and such a delicious one with the tall tops.
You’re welcome Kimberly and thank you for your kind words:)
I tried these ones yesterday and omg they’re amazing!
I used cupcake liners so they don’t look as charming as yours, but still a winner!
Me and boyfriend almost finished it in a blink 😛
Thanks for sharing hun, I love you already!
Cheers,
Cath xoxo
Thank you Cathleen for your lovely feedback. Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend:)
I made these and enjoyed it thoroughly !!!!! am again planning on baking them tomorrow for a party and this time will try using the buttermilk option. Totally worth it !!!
Thank you for your kind words. I’m glad you enjoyed them as much as we do:)
I just made these muffins and they were, by far, the best chocolate chip muffins I’ve ever baked. They have big muffin tops, were extremely moist, and loaded with chocolate chips. I’m so glad I found your baking blog, I’ll be spending some time looking up more yummy recipes!! Thank you so much Lily!!!
You’re welcome Therese, I’m glad you liked them so much. Thank you for your lovely comment:)
I only have salted butter, could I use it and not add any salt into the mixture?
Hi Lina, yes you can use salted butter and not add salt to the mixture, enjoy:)
Made these muffins today, and they are the best muffins I have ever made!
I made them as per the recipe and they turned out great. Never understand why people change a recipe, wonder why it didn’t work and complain to the person kind enough to share in the first place.
Hi Natalie, I’m glad you enjoyed the muffins as much as we do and thank you for your lovely comment. I greatly appreciate it:)
These were delicious! I made a second batch after I accidentally added too much butter (and tried to compensate with flour) in my first attempt (big WHOOPS).
PS. I can’t wait to make them again and next time use buttermilk! I think the slight acidity will round off the flavours perfectly. Thank you so much for such a wonderful recipe!
You’re welcome Daniela and thank you for your lovely comment:)
I want to try to recipe but I would like to make mini muffins. Do have to change th cooking time or temperature to do this?
Amanda
Hi Amanda, for mini muffins, just bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes, enjoy:)
Do have a recipe for an original style bakery coffee cake?
Hi Amanda, I don’t, but here is one from Barbara Bakes that looks absolutely fabulous http://www.barbarabakes.com/corner-bakery-cinnamon-creme-coffee-cake/ enjoy:)
I’m sorry I might have posted this twice. First off I LOVE this recipe but I’m having an issue getting them to rise like yours. You photo shows a nice size muffin with a beautiful muffin top. Mine only rise to the brim of the pan and have peeks. Two questions for you if you don’t mind. One, what size pan are you using? The 12 cup muffin/cupcake pan or the larger 6 cup one? Second, how high do you fill your cups? The recipe says it makes 12 but I always end up with more batter then that. So could my problem be that I’m not filling them high enough? Thank you for your time.
Hi Michelle, I use a standard 12 cup muffin pan and I divide all my batter amongst the 12 cups, so it does end up filling to the brim and that’s part of why I get the high muffin top. I hope that helps and feel free to email me back if you have any further questions. Thank you for your feedback and have a lovely day:)
Thank you for your quick reply! Next time I make a batch I’ll make sure to fill each cup to the brim with batter. Does it have to be packed or just filled in? Thanks again!
Just filled in. Enjoy:)
I just made this muffins this afternoon and they’re SO DELICIOUS. Even my brother, who is really picky and critical about food, said it was tasty. Thank you! I’ll definitely be making these again. <3
Hi Dee, you’re welcome and thank you for your kind words. Enjoy and have a lovely day:)
These muffins were really tasty!! The only problem I had was my chocolate chunks were all at the bottom of my muffins 🙁
Hi Des, try tossing the chocolate chunks in the flour mixture before adding the wet ingredients next time. Coating the chocolate chunks with the flour will prevent them from sinking when baking. I hope that helps:)
Best muffin recipe I’ve ever made , I’m in the uk so used bi carb & baking powder and made buttermilk with 1 cup milk 1 tlbs lemon juice but seriously the bad comments I’ve read I can’t get over this is a perfect recipe , thanks for making my kids very happy 🙂
Hi Joanne, you’re welcome! I’m glad to hear you and your family enjoyed them as much as we do:) Thank you for your kind words (and for having my back, I greatly appreciate it)
These were wonderful. Of course, I did make some changes so that I didn’t feel completely guilty. LOL I replaced 1 cup of the flour with oat flour. Replaced 1/4 cup of the flour with ground flax. Used only 1/2 the amount of butter plus 1/4 cup olive oil, and replaced one of the eggs with a flax egg. Oh, and I used 3/4 cup skim milk plus 1/4 cup fat free vanilla Greek yogurt. I made 1/2 with chocolate chips and 1/2 with diced bananas. The banana muffins tasted like banana bread. Yum!
Hi Donna, thank you for your detailed feedback:) I love your idea of the diced bananas. I’m going to try that next time. Thanks again and enjoy:)
i dont have baking soda but i do have baking powder. can i use that instead??
Yes you can Daisy, enjoy:)
Loved your recipe. Follow it xactly and you will get these super yumm muffins!!
Many thanks Raf, I appreciate your feedback:)
These look delicious! I cant wait to try them. Do you use a normal size muffin pan or a extra large pan?
Hi Robin, I use a normal size muffin pan, enjoy:)
Will the recipe be altered in any way if I use 1% milk instead of the preferred buttermilk/whole milk? Its all I have:/
Hi Alicia, 1% milk will still work, but whole and buttermilk makes the muffins more moist. You can make your own buttermilk by adding 1 tbsp of white vinegar to a measuring cup and fill with milk to make 1 cup, stir and let stand for 5 minutes. Thank you for your question and enjoy:)
Hello Lily, I do not know, how you managed to get such good comments. I am sorry to say but these muffins do not turn out good. It smells too much of soda. I guess I will tweak it and try it once more. I will share my updates if it turns out good. Thank you!
Hi Meghna, thank you for your honest feedback. There is only 1 teaspoon of baking soda in this recipe which is not a lot. Is it possible you mixed up the amount of baking soda for the baking powder? The only reason I ask that is because I have done it myself. Give it another try and please let me know what you think either way:)
I really wanna make these but don’t have unsalted butter or enough milk. So could i use evaporated milk? And if I’m using regular butter would I just omit the salt? Since you said to use unsalted butter? I’m not much of a baker so idk these things!
Hi Samantha, yes you can use salted butter and yes omit the salt. As for the milk, depending on how much you have, you can substitute part of it with yogurt, sour cream or the evaporated milk. So, if you have 3/4 cup milk, add 1/4 cup substitute or if you have 1/2 cup milk, add 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup substitute. Don’t use all evaporated milk because that will change the taste as evaporated milk has a distinct taste. I hope that helps:)