Bakery-Style Chocolate Chip Muffins (2025)

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Jump To Recipeby Lily Ernst on September 8, 2024

Get ready to make the best chocolate chip muffins you’ve ever tasted! These muffins are soft, moist, loaded with chocolate chips, and have perfect crispy, sky-high tops. With just a few simple steps, you can enjoy rich, buttery muffins that rival any bakery.

Originally published in 2014, this chocolate chip muffin recipe has remained a reader favorite with millions of views every year.

Table of Contents

Why you’ll love this recipe:

Incredibly easy to make – There is no mixer or resting time required, so you can easily whip up a batch of delicious muffins in a matter of minutes. Simply mix, scoop, and bake!
Perfect every time – With this tried-and-true chocolate chip muffin recipe, you’ll get perfectly fluffy, moist muffins with sky-high, crispy tops and loads of melty chocolate chips, every single time.
A go-to recipe for any bakery-style muffins – This recipe also serves as a fantastic base for creativity. You can customize your muffins by adding your favorite mix-ins like berries, nuts, lemon zest, or a dash of spice.

If you are a fan of bakery-style muffins like I am, try my Blueberry Streusel Muffins, Banana Nut Muffins, and Lemon Crumb Muffins.

Or if you are in the mood for chocolate, try my Chocolate Chip Scones (they’re like giant chocolate chip cookies for breakfast!) and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars.

Ingredients you’ll need and why:

All-purpose flour provides the structure and foundation for the muffins, giving them a soft but sturdy texture.
Baking powder helps the muffins rise by creating air pockets, resulting in a light and fluffy crumb.
Baking soda reacts with the buttermilk to boost the rise and improve texture, giving the muffins an extra lift.
Unsalted butter adds richness and moisture, contributing to the tender crumb and buttery flavor.
Granulated sugar sweetens the muffins and helps create the golden-brown, slightly crisp tops.
Eggs bind the ingredients together, adding structure and moisture while helping the muffins rise.
Buttermilk adds moisture and creates a tender crumb, like in thisButtermilk Cornbread and Master Scone Recipe. You can use storebought or homemade buttermilk.
Chocolate chips deliver melty, indulgent pockets of chocolate throughout each bite. I prefer mini chocolate chips because they disperse more evenly, but regular or chocolate chunks also work.

Substitutions & variations:

All-purpose flour – This can be substituted with soft whole wheat flour for a healthier version.
Unsalted butter – This can be replaced with the same amount of any neutral-tasting oil like vegetable, canola, avocado or light olive oil.
Chocolate chips – You can use any flavor of chocolate chips or a combination for a double or triple chocolate flavor.

How to make chocolate chip muffins:

(The full written and printable recipe is further below.)

Step #1) Mix dry ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Then toss in the chocolate chips and set aside.

Expert tips for perfect muffins:

Use buttermilk for extra soft and moist muffins. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make a homemade version byadding one tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to a liquid measuring cup. Add your milk of choice until you reach1 cupof liquid. Stir together and let it sit for 5 minutes to thicken before using.
Don’t overmix the batter, as it can result in dense muffins. Gently fold the wet and dry ingredients together until JUST combined.
Bake at an initial high temperature, causing the batter to rise rapidly for those signature large, bakery-style muffin tops.
Don’t overbake as this will dry out the muffins. Keep a close eye during the last few minutes and as soon as a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, the muffins are done.

Storing & freezing instructions:

These chocolate chip muffins can be stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days. To freeze, place the muffins in a freezer-safe ziplock bag or container and store them in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat in the microwave for 30 seconds or so to warm them up before serving.

Recipe FAQs:

Why did my chocolate chips sink?

This is usually due to the batter being too thin because there wasn’t enough flour, there was too much milk, or the melted butter was too hot. The latter is usually the main error I find, so make sure to let your melted butter cool down to lukewarm.

Why did my chocolate chip muffins not rise very high?

If your muffins didn’t rise very high, it could be due to several reasons:
Old baking powder or baking soda: Leavening agents lose their effectiveness over time. If your baking powder or soda is expired or not fresh, the muffins won’t rise properly.
Incorrect oven temperature: Preheating and baking at the initial high temperature (425°F) is crucial for creating a quick rise. If your oven wasn’t hot enough, or if the temperature wasn’t maintained, the muffins won’t get that high rise.
Overmixing: Overmixing the batter can cause the muffins to be dense and prevent them from rising well. Stir the ingredients just until combined to avoid deflating the batter.
The batter was too thin: When the batter is not thick enough, it lacks the structure to hold its shape as it rises, resulting in flat or uneven muffins. See the answer to the question above for more on this.

Why did my chocolate chip muffins turn out dry?

There are two main reasons muffins often turn out dry:
Too much flour: Adding excess flour is one of the most common causes of dry muffins. Over-measuring can happen easily if you scoop flour directly from the bag, as the flour gets packed into the cup. This leads to a dense, dry texture. To avoid this, either use a kitchen scale for accuracy or fluff the flour with a spoon before spooning it into the measuring cup and leveling it off with a knife.
Overbaking: Baking muffins for too long removes moisture, leaving them dry and crumbly. Even a couple of extra minutes can make a big difference. Be sure to check for doneness early by inserting a toothpick into the center—if it comes out clean, the muffins are ready to come out of the oven.

Can I make these chocolate chip muffins vegan?

Yes, use oil instead of butter, flax eggs instead of regular eggs, plant-based milk instead of dairy milk, and vegan chocolate chips

If you’ve tried this Chocolate Chip Muffin Recipe or any other recipe on my blog please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!

Bakery-Style Chocolate Chip Muffins

5 Stars4 Stars3 Stars2 Stars1 Star4.9 from 736 reviews

Author: Lily Ernst
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 20 min
Total Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 12
Category: breakfast, snack
Method: bake
Cuisine: American

Print Recipe

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 baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ cup (114g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled for 5 minutes (see notes*)
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup (240ml) buttermilk (see notes**)
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1 & ½ cups (265g) semi-sweet chocolate chips

optional toppings:

more chocolate chips
sparkling or coarse sugar

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Instructions

Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray a standard 12-cup muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray or line with paper liners (if using paper liners, grease the rims of the pan to prevent the muffin tops from sticking).
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Then toss in the chocolate chips and set aside.
In medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter and granulated sugar. Then whisk in the eggs, followed by the buttermilk and vanilla until combined.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry mixture and stir together until JUST combined.
Divide the batter evenly into the prepared muffin pan, filling to the top. Sprinkle with more chocolate chips and/or coarse sugar if desired.
Bake at 425°F for 5 minutes. Then keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the temperature to 350°F and continue to bake for another 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool for 5-10 minutes and transfer the muffins to a cooling rack. Now is the best time to enjoy the muffins while they are fresh and still warm!

Notes

The muffins taste best warm and on the day of. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 3 months.

How to melt the butter* – Place the butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave the butter in 15-second increments until it is mostly melted. Stir the remaining chunks of butter until fully melted. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes while gathering the other ingredients.

Buttermilk** – If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make a substitute by adding one tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to a liquid measuring cup. Add your milk of choice until you reach 1 cup of liquid. Stir together and let it sit for 5 minutes to thicken before using.

To make jumbo muffins – Bake at 425F for 5 minutes then reduce the temp to 350F and continue to bake for another 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

To make mini muffins – Bake at 350F the entire time for 10-12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Recipe changes – Based on reader feedback, I implemented two minor adjustments to the original recipe to ensure consistent success:
Baking Soda: Reduced from 1 teaspoon to ½ teaspoon to prevent over-leavening, which can cause a bitter aftertaste.
Oven Temperature: Lowered the second baking temperature from 375°F to 350°F to minimize the risk of overbaking, as oven temperatures can vary.

Nutrition

Serving Size: 1 muffin
Calories: 367
Sugar: 31 g
Sodium: 227.2 mg
Fat: 15.3 g
Carbohydrates: 54.1 g
Protein: 6.1 g
Cholesterol: 51.7 mg

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