These moist, light, & fluffy bakery style Chocolate Chip Muffins are perfect for impressing overnight guests or just treating yourself. They’ve got sky-high sugared tops, lots of chocolate chips, and the BEST flavor and texture. Recipe includes a how-to video!
(Still) The Best Chocolate Chip Muffin Recipe
When I first shared this recipe back in 2016, a google search for “chocolate chip muffins” generated roughly 1.2 million results. Today you’ll find that number is closer to 64 million. 🤯 Despite the stiff competition, I still firmly believe that I have the BEST chocolate chip muffin recipe out there…yes, better than 64 million other muffin recipes!
What makes these muffins so good? Well for starters, they’re huge–we’re talking jumbo, bakery style chocolate chip muffins! They’re also perfectly soft and fluffy (in contrast to the crisp biscotti I just shared), and of course, they’re chock full of chocolate chips. As a finishing touch, they’re sprinkled with coarse sugar, so not only are the tops slightly crisp, but they’re also kind of glittery. These muffins truly belong in a New York City bakery display, but luckily, you don’t have to plan a trip to NYC to try them.
Like my basic muffin recipe, this recipe uses a technique from The Kitchen Whisperer for nice, tall muffin tops. I use this technique in my banana muffins too, and so many of you have commented to let me know how well it works for you.
Let’s dive right into the details!
What You Need
Besides technique, these muffins use carefully selected ingredients to claim their title as the BEST. Here are a few of the game changers we’ll be using today:
- Butter + oil. I love to use this combination for a flavorful AND moist crumb. Don’t substitute one for the other–we need both!
- An extra egg white. What makes these muffins so light and fluffy? To get that bakery style chocolate chip muffin texture, we’re adding an additional egg white. Both your egg and egg white should be at room temperature for best results.
- Buttermilk. Buttermilk is the secret to moist muffins! These muffins begin their bake at a fairly high temperature, so it’s important that they have the right ingredients to prevent dryness. You could use my buttermilk substitute if you don’t have the real stuff on hand, but real buttermilk adds moisture and thickness that isn’t quite duplicated with a substitute. (And no, you do not need baking soda in this recipe just because we’re using buttermilk).
- Cornstarch. This is my secret ingredient for extra soft, tender muffins. Don’t skip it!
- Chocolate chips. I like to use a blend of mini and regular sized chocolate chips, and I always reserve a few for placing on the muffin tops just before baking.
- Coarse sugar. While you’ll use granulated sugar in the muffins, I recommend sprinkling coarse sugar on the tops. This is optional, but it really elevates the look and texture and makes these truly “bakery style” chocolate chip muffins!
SAM’S TIP: Don’t have jumbo muffin liners? You can make muffin liners out of parchment paper! Not only does this save you a trip to the store, but it also gives you that bakery-style look.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Whisk together the butter and oil and sugar. Add the egg and egg white, plus the vanilla. Stir this until it is very well combined, then add the buttermilk and stir well.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then carefully fold them into the wet ingredients.
- Pause when the ingredients are about halfway mixed and add in the chocolate chips. Continue folding until everything is just combined.
- Cover your bowl with a towel and let the batter rest for 15 minutes or up to one hour while your oven preheats
Resting the batter is optional, but doing so gives us fluffier chocolate chip muffins and taller muffin tops. If you’ve made my buttermilk pancakes, you know I like to allow that batter rest while the pan preheats for the same reason, the batter thickens and the results are fluffier!
Now comes the special technique for chocolate chip muffins that rise higher than any others! You’ll start your oven on a high temperature and then drop the temperature about a third of the way through baking–without opening the door! This little trick makes your muffin tops spring to life without burning (or drying out) your muffin bottoms. Pretty cool, right?
- Once batter has had time to rest, preheat your oven and line your muffin tin.
- Fill your muffin liners with batter, making sure to fill them almost to the top (leave about ⅛ inch)–but don’t let them overflow.
- Sprinkle each muffin with coarse sugar and bake at 425F for 8 minutes. Reduce the oven to 350F (don’t open the door!) and continue baking until they begin to turn golden brown. This can take anywhere from 7-15 minutes, so keep an eye on them!
- Remove the muffins from the pan and let them cool before enjoying.
SAM’S TIP: (Carefully) remove your chocolate chip muffins from the pan within 5-10 minutes of them coming out of the oven. If you leave them in their hot pan, the bottoms may become soggy.
Frequently Asked Questions
We’re using a varying temperature technique here, which plays a big role in helping the muffins rise. But another key step is resting your batter. The longer it rests, the thicker it will be, and thicker batter means taller muffins! I recommend letting your batter rest for at least 15 minutes, but if you can let it sit for about an hour or so, you’ll be rewarded with beautifully tall muffin tops!
Yes! They won’t need to bake as long though, so just keep a close eye on them.
Your chocolate chip muffins will stay fresh when stored in an airtight container at room temperature. You can also freeze them!
If you try these, I’d love it if you commented to let me know how they stack up against the 64 million (and counting) other chocolate chip muffin recipes out there!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Bakery-Style Chocolate Chip Muffins
Ingredients
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled at least 5 minutes (57g)
- ¼ cup canola oil may substitute vegetable oil (60ml)
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200g)
- 1 large egg + 1 egg white room temperature preferred
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup buttermilk room temperature preferred
- 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour (220g)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons corn starch
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 1 cup chocolate chips I used a mix of mini and regular sized, but you can use either or a combination (175g)
- ⅓ cup additional granulated sugar, coarse sugar preferred for topping (67g)
Recommended Equipment
- 6-count Jumbo Muffin Tin (see note for making 12 muffins)
Instructions
- Combine butter, oil, and sugar in a large bowl and whisk together.
- Add egg, egg white, and vanilla extract. Whisk together thoroughly, until all ingredients are well-combined, then stir in buttermilk until combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, corn starch, and salt.
- Fold dry ingredients into wet gently, taking care not to overmix. Once about half of the dry ingredients have been incorporated into the batter, add in chocolate chips and continue to fold in to batter until all ingredients are just combined.
- Cover bowl with a dry towel and allow batter to sit while your oven preheats (see note).
- Preheat oven to 425F (215C) and line a 6-count jumbo muffin tin with paper liners.
- Once your oven has preheated (maybe give it a few extra minutes or check your oven thermometer, my oven often says it's reached temperature when it really hasn't yet!), portion batter into prepared muffin tin, filling each tin all the way to the top with batter (without overflowing).
- Sprinkle tops generously with additional sugar and place muffin tin in preheated oven.
- Bake on 425F (218C) for 8 minutes and then, without opening the oven door, reduce the oven temperature to 350F (175C) and bake another 15 minutes, or until tops are just beginning to turn golden brown Note: if you are using a standard 12-count muffin tin rather than jumbo-sized, they will not need to bake as long, check your muffins after 7-8 minutes on 350F (177C)).
- Allow muffins to cool in the muffin tin for 5-10 minutes then carefully remove from muffin tin and enjoy!
Notes
Allowing the muffin batter to sit
This step is optional, but it helps the batter thicken and ultimately results in taller muffin tops. Allowing the batter to sit for up to 60 minutes also works and will yield even taller tops.Storing
Store leftover muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. Baked muffins may also be cooled and then frozen in an airtight container for several months.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Maryam
These muffins are amazing!!! The only thing I would say is baking them at 425 F is bit high. The tops were golden brown and crunchy while the inside was completely raw. I dropped the temp to 350 F for the last 8 minutes and they were perfect! Thanks for a great recipe!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Maryam! We’re so glad you liked them! The technique of using a high initial temp and then dropping a few minutes in creates the tall muffin tops we all love. Did you reduce the temperature after 8 minutes, or just for the last 8? That could’ve been the issue. Your oven may also be running a bit hotter than it says 🙁
Eric
Hi Sam, is it possible to make the batter the night before and bake them in the morning? I’m not a morning person. My family and I love all your recipes, btw. Thanks for the great content.
Sam
Hi Eric! It should work, but I find the muffins turn out better if the batter doesn’t sit that long. Enjoy! 🙂
Vicky
Sam – these are AH-mazing, everyone loved them! Thank you for sharing, I’d give these 20 stars if I could, yum!!!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
So glad you loved them, Vicky! We really appreciate your comment 🥰
C
I stayed up late to make these and I don’t regret it! They’re soooo delicious that I’m afraid I’m going to eat them all before I go to sleep! I made them in a 12 count pan and I can’t imagine how delightful they would be in jumbo form. My mouth is watering just thinking about it! Wonderful recipe!
sophia Moussallam
G’day Sam, just wanted to update you on how my muffins turned out. Well I must say, firstly, they are the softest and fluffiest muffins I’ve made thus far. I actually separated the eggs, added the yolks with the wet ingredients and whipped the egg whites and added them to the batter before I baked them. I’m wondering can this batter be used for the blueberry muffins because I prefer to use buttermilk instead of sour cream? I would like to make the chocolate muffins, can I use buttermilk instead, if so what ratio of buttermilk? Great tip with the corn starch, is that the same as buying cake flour which has a lower protein? Looking forward to your reply.
Regards
Sophia
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed the muffins so much, Sophia! This recipe will work for blueberry muffins. I think you could swap the buttermilk in the chocolate muffins, but I do not believe it will be a 1 to 1 substitute and without having tried it I can’t say for sure how it would turn out. Using the cornstarch isn’t the exact same thing as cake flour here. 🙂
Bonnie
the muffin were really good the consistency felt like a cookie mixture and o was concerned until I backed them and it turned out awesome thanks
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so glad they turned out so well for you, Bonnie! Enjoy 🙂
Dawn
I just tried making this recipe and I’m not sure why but my batter is super runny and not dough-y at all like your pictures. Any tips or tricks how to fix that?
Sam
O no! I’m so sorry this happened Dawn! I’m not sure of a way to fix it, but next time make sure to let your butter cool a bit before adding it and double check your measurements. You may need a bit more flour if it’s really runny. 🙁
sophia Moussallam
HI Sam I posted this comment on your you tube video 3 weeks ago and no reply, not sure if you saw it so i posted same comment here as well.
Hi Sam, my name is Sophia and I’m from Australia. I was just on your website and was curious to see your choc chip muffin video. I love how you write the ingredients in grams, very helpful because not all countries have then same cup measurements. In saying that, I wanted to ask you what large egg size you use? Secondly, I notice in your notes for this recipe that you re-iterated that you do not need baking soda in this recipe even though you are using buttermilk. Is this because you are using double acting baking powder (rumfords) ? If so, In Australia it is not readily available and we only have single acting baking powder in our supermarkets. Websites out of Australia would not know that, and if i were to use single- acting baking powder in this recipe , will it give a different result? Thirdly, I understand the importance of not overmixing, and notice you add the choc chips half way through. Would it make a difference if i add the choc chips to the flour? Lastly, resting the muffin batter is new to me, I thought when baking powder mixed in with wet ingredients, it must get to the oven as quickly as possible? I would appreciate any thoughts on the above 🙂
Regards
Sophia
😃
Sam
Hi Sophia! My eggs are a standard large egg which is approximately 63-73g. I do use a double acting baking powder, but I’m not sure it will make any difference in this recipe, I would just not let the batter sit much longer than 30 minutes before baking as you mention. Mixing the chocolate chips withe flour may actually make it more difficult to get everything mixed nicely. I hope this helps and I’m sorry I missed it on Youtube. Thank you for following along and enjoy the muffins! 🙂
Lorraine
So easy, delicious and impressive looking!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
So glad you like them, Lorraine! Thanks for your review ❤️
Emily Locke
Amazing!!!!!!!!! Thank you Sam.
Hiba
Seriously the best choc chip muffin!!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy our recipe was a hit for you, Hiba! ❤
Trina
I can’t wait to try these. My men want chocolate chocolate chip so I’m wondering how much cocoa powder to add. Or maybe even melted chocolate???
Sam
Hi Trina! I would recommend checking out my double chocolate muffin recipe instead of altering this one. 🙂
Morgan
Tripled the recipe and getting ready to put them in the pan! Cannot wait to taste em!!
Sarah
These are the best muffins I’ve made! I didn’t realize until I was partway in that I only had less than a teaspoon left of cornstarch. But they still turned out great! I will have to try it with the full amount of cornstarch next time to as the difference 😊
Cassie
Absolutely delicious! Probably the best muffins I have ever made and I have made a LOT of muffins ❤ My family loves them
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Wow, thank you so much Cassie! We’re so happy you and your family loved them ❤
elizabaeth puntel
what is the difference using canola oil v. vegetable oil???
Sam
Hi Elizabaeth! Both are neutral cooking oils and so there’s no taste difference in the final product and you can use either without any issue or change to the recipe. I list either so that you can use whichever one is more convenient to you. I hope that helps, and I hope you love the muffins!
Brianne
I just realize that I only have salted butter is there a way around the step where it won’t mess it up?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Brianne! You can just reduce the salt in the recipe by about 1/8 teaspoon; a scant ½ teaspoon will do. Hope that helps 😊