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 (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
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.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
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.
Jess John
Made these this morning and they were so good! I ran out of sugar before I could add some to the top of the muffins but they were still delicious! My kids said they were really good too! Also learned how to make “buttermilk” so definitely storing that in my important info for remembering.
Sam
Thank you so much! I am so glad you enjoyed the muffins. The buttermilk substitute can be a life saver sometimes. 🙂
IK
Thanks for sharing your recipe! The family loves it! Best muffin ever!
Sam
You are very welcome, I’m so glad to hear it was such a hit! 🙂
Cheryl panzell
These may be the BEST chocolate chip muffins I’ve tasted! My daughter and her friend made them. They finished baking when I got home from work. I had one after dinner and YUMMY! You should really try them!
Sam
Thank you so much, Cheryl! I am so glad you enjoyed the muffins! 🙂
Moira
Doubled the recipe just as it was and changed nothing. Turned out soft,sweet and moist. Delicious!! Very pleased. Thank you Sam.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed the muffins, Moira! Thank you for the feedback. 🙂
Angela Tiner
These are absolutely amazing. I will be adding them to my favorite go to recipes. Thank you for sharing them.
Sam
Thank you so much, Angela! I am so glad you enjoyed the muffins. 🙂
Anna
The muffins are very delicious! I made regular size and I baked 7 minutes at 425 and 10 minutes at 350 and they were perfect.Thank you so much! I am so excited I found your blog and I can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed the muffins, Anna! I hope you love everything else you try. I love hearing how things turned out for you. 🙂
Barbi
Thank you so much for this! I don’t have a giant muffin tin and I was stressed over messing up a dozen count.
Jessie
Hi,
I just tried this today. They didn’t turn out to be as soft or fluffy as the ones in the picture. They are a little bit dry and they didn’t rise to the size shown in the picture either.
I followed the recipe 100%, (I think). Based on the result, what would you recommend me to try or change? I really like this recipe and want to be able to make the same as you do. 🙂
Thank you!
Sam
Hi Jessie! Try mixing the batter a little less, it sounds like it was over-mixed (the biggest reason muffins usually turn out too dense or dry). Another possibility could be that your baking powder could be bad. I hope that helps!
Noelis
BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS EVER!! I’ve never commented or reviewed anything in my entire life, BUT.. This has been my favorite recipe, and I make them all the time for my family and we just never get tired of them!! Super super delicious!! Thank you Sam!! 🙂
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoys the muffins, Noelis! 🙂
Rian
Wow wow wow! I rarely post comments/reviews, but I just had to after making these muffins (this morning)! I followed the recipe exactly as written and even had to do the suggested substitute for buttermilk and they were absolutely delicious. These muffins boasted a yummy sugar crusted top with moist and fluffy insides. I used my 12 muffin tin and cooked them for the same time as suggested (just kept an eye on them) and they baked to perfection. I will have to hide the rest because my teenager daughter is already trying to work on her third muffin! These definitely rival any bakery muffin I have ever tried. Thank you for the amazing recipe and I will definitely try more desserts from this site in the near future.
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed the muffins so much, Rian! 🙂
Rhonda Garvin Conaway
Can I use cupcake tins and cupcake liners?
Sam
Hi Rhonda! Refer to the second half of step 11 for baking in a 12 count muffin tin. 🙂
Myisha Conley
These muffins are my families favorite! They don’t last a day! I was wondering how I could use this same recipe but use either fresh fruit or frozen fruit. Could you steer me in the right direction?! Thank you for your wonderful recipe.
Sam
Hi Myisha! Yes you certainly can, that won’t be a problem. About 1 1/2 cups of fruit will work nicely (though this could vary depending on the type of fruit). I also have a blueberry muffin recipe that is essentially the same (just not jumbo-sized) if you want to check that out!
Katherine
Would I cut both phases down if I am using regular muffin tins?
Sam
Hi Katherine! I would cut down both baking times, but I am not quite sure what it would need to be. 🙂
Karen
What us the significance of the corn starch and can I leave it out?
Sam
Hi Karen, it helps make them nice and soft, you can leave it out but results will not be the same.
Sydney
These are delicious!! I made these with the kids today and they were a huge hit. The only change I made was to use 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup white sugar instead of using all white (to make it taste even more reminiscent of a chocolate chip cookie). I love the moist, soft texture that the interior of the muffin has, along with the contrasting crunchy, sugary top! We will be making these again for sure. Thanks for sharing!
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed the muffins, Sydney! 🙂
Melissa
I made these yesterday and LOVED them!!!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Melissa! 🙂