Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Muffins
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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
Equipment
- 6-count Jumbo Muffin Tin (see note for making 12 muffins)
Ingredients
- 4 Tablespoons (57 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled at least 5 minutes
- ¼ cup (60 ml) avocado oil or vegetable oil or canola oil, may substitute vegetable oil
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 egg white, room temperature preferred
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup buttermilk, room temperature preferred
- 1 ¾ cup (220 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons corn starch
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 1 cup (175 g) chocolate chips, I used a mix of mini and regular sized, but you can use either or a combination
- ⅓ cup (67 g) additional granulated sugar, coarse sugar preferred, for topping
Instructions
- Combine butter, oil, and sugar in a large bowl and whisk together.4 Tablespoons (57 g) unsalted butter, ¼ cup (60 ml) avocado oil or vegetable oil or canola oil, 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- Add egg, egg white, and vanilla extract. Whisk together thoroughly, until all ingredients are well-combined, then stir in buttermilk until combined.1 large egg + 1 egg white, 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract, ½ cup buttermilk
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, corn starch, and salt.1 ¾ cup (220 g) all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 2 teaspoons corn starch, ½ teaspoon table 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.1 cup (175 g) chocolate chips
- 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.⅓ cup (67 g) additional granulated sugar, coarse sugar preferred
- 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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
Amazing muffins! My son said they were in the top 5 desserts I ever made! Thanks so much!
I am so glad everyone enjoyed them so much, Debbie! 🙂
When you say “stir well” in the first couple steps, is this with a hand mixer or just with a wooden spoon? Thanks!
Hi Liz! For muffins I just stir by hand. 🙂
Hello. One question: did you use regular muffin liners or are they slightly larger in size?
Thank you!
Hi Inna! You can make these either as jumbo or standard size muffins. There are instructions for baking both in the recipe. In the pictures I actually make my own muffin liners from parchment paper. 🙂
Thank you!! ❤️ I should have read the recipe before asking a question :)) I am baking them rn!
Enjoy! 🙂
Have you made them as mini muffins? Just wondering the difference in temp and time on each since they cook so fast being baby muffins.
Hi Lauren! I haven’t ever tried it but I would follow the baking instructions on my cinnamon mini muffins as a guide. 🙂
Hi. Have you ever tried a loaf pan version? I’m just wondering about baking temperatures and times for a loaf pan version? Thank you!
Hi Lisa! I have not tried it but I think it could work but I honestly can’t tell you how to adjust the time and temperature.
Muffins were super tasty, but I didn’t get a good rise out of them. I let them rest for about 25 minutes. Any ideas why?
I am glad you enjoyed them so much, Steph! I wonder if your baking powder is bad?
That’s probably it. I don’t do a ton of baking. My baking powder is a few months old.
Ahh. I’d try some new baking powder and hopefully that will fix them for you. 🙂
Superb as always!added funfetti as well ,will make again!thanks Sam!
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Joanna! 🙂
Hi Sam,
Could you please help me?? I love your recipe but was wondering if I could add shredded zucchini in place of the buttermilk for moisture? The garden has produced a LARGE quantity of zucchini this year 👏 but am looking for ways to use them up. I love the fact that they can be made in LARGE muffin tins, which I want to do, and found your recipe.
Thanks so much for any advice.
Have a great week—stay safe.
Hi Susan! This swap would be a little more difficult so without having tried it I can’t say for sure how it would turn out. I do have a chocolate chip zucchini muffin though. 🙂
This îs The Best recipe for muffins i have EVER tried. These chocolate chips muffins are perfect and addictive. My friends and family cannot get enough. So thank you for your fine recipes. I am a big fan. Greetings from Romania!
I am so happy to hear this, Raluca!! Thank you so much for commenting, I really appreciate it! 🙂
Hi Sam!
Thanks so much for sharing your wonderful recipes! I’m very much new at baking and I plan to try this muffin recipe later but I’m just wondering. Sorry if my question may seem stu**d, but why is it that baking soda is not included in the recipe if there is an acidic ingredient? Hope you can enlighten me and help me increase my knowledge about baking.
Thank you so much in advance for your help!
-Celeste
Hi Celeste! Not a stupid question, it’s actually a very good one that comes from an understanding of the chemistry of baking. While baking soda is often used in conjunction with acidic ingredients (like buttermilk) after much, MUCH trial and error I found that this recipe did not require it. The buttermilk here is critical for adding flavor and moisture to the muffin, but it doesn’t necessitate baking soda for the chemical reaction, we’re getting all the lift that we need from the baking powder and other ingredients. I hope that makes sense!
Perfect all they way. 💯…will surely make it again
I’m so glad to hear this! Thank you so much for commenting, Cavita!
Thank you for this amazing recipe! I loved how the muffins were super soft and fluffy. I’m definitely gonna make them again!!
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much! 🙂
So yummy, moist and fluffy! Great tips about the corn starch and egg white, I’ve been wanting to make muffins like these for years!
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Sarah! 🙂
I love your brown paper muffin wrap in the photos. Where did you find those and did your use those in the muffin tin for baking? Or did you wrap the muffins somehow afterward?
I actually make them myself! 🙂 Here is the link on how to make parchment paper muffin liners! 🙂
Thank you very much for this recipe! They turned out great, the best muffins I have ever made. I separated part of the batter to mix with blueberries instead of chocolate chips for family members who don’t like chocolate. Both muffins were delicious! I really appreciate that you put metric weights of ingredients in your recipes. It makes it so much easier to measure.
I am so glad that you enjoyed the recipe and you were able to accommodate all taste buds. Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Thanks for the great recipe…they turned out excellent. I am not a cook or a baker…made several oops and they still turned out great. Made buttermilk with lemon and milk (it never really did thicken up). Had less than a cup of chocolate chips and used my memory and set the oven at 450 degrees for 8 minutes then cooked another 8 minutes at 350 (made 12 in muffin pan) and yet still wonderful. I will make these again.
I am so glad that you enjoyed them, Connie. Thanks for letting me know how they turned out for you. 🙂