These Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Muffins are beautifully domed and fluffy, with a crunchy sugar topping. Check out all my tips to make the perfect muffins.
Ingredient Notes
- Buttermilk: Feel free to substitute with regular milk mixed with white vinegar. See recipe notes for details.
- Chocolate chips: You can use semi-sweet, bittersweet, white or milk chocolate.
- Sour cream: Substitute with full-fat, plain yogurt for a similar result.
Step by Step Process
Always preheat your oven first. Then prepare your pan with muffin liners.
Sift together the dry ingredients (1). Add a couple spoonfuls of dry ingredients to a bowl with the chocolate chips. Toss to coat (2).
In another bowl or stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (3). Add eggs one at a time (4).
Incorporate vanilla and sour cream (5). Add flour mixture and buttermilk to the batter in 2-3 additions each, alternating (6).
Fold in chocolate chips (7). Scoop batter into muffin tin (8) and bake as directed. Cool on a wire rack.
Recipe Tips and FAQs
- Start with a hot oven. I bake these for 5-8 minutes at 425F before lowering the temperature to 375F. The initial blast of heat helps the muffins rise and get the perfect domed shape.
- Don’t overmix. Make sure not to overmix the batter after combining the wet and dry ingredients. If too much gluten forms, the muffins will become tough and dense.
- Sift. Sifting the dry ingredients helps to aerate the ingredients, for a lighter texture. Make sure to whisk the dry ingredients together thoroughly for even baking powder and salt disbursement.
- Whip butter and eggs right. It’s important to take your time to whisk together the butter and sugar until it’s very light and fluffy. You should also thoroughly whip in the eggs to help incorporate air and make light muffins.
- Substitute any mix-ins you like: different types of chocolate, nuts, dried fruit and/or citrus zest.
Oil will create a more moist, sometimes greasy muffin, while butter will create a lighter, fluffier muffin with better flavor. For extra moisture with butter-based muffins, I like to add buttermilk and/or sour cream.
There are a number of reasons your muffins might not be fluffy. First, make sure your leaveners aren’t expired. It’s also important to incorporate a sufficient amount of air into the batter when you beat butter, sugar and eggs together. Start the oven at a higher temperature to create a higher rise, and make sure not to open the oven door, especially in the beginning stages, which can cause muffins to sink.
This post is also available as a web story.
Related Recipes
- Double Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins
- Pumpkin Cream Cheese Streusel Muffins
- Glazed Chai Tea Muffins
- Spiced Apple Sour Cream Muffins with Crumb Topping
- Sesame Banana Bread
If you make this recipe, please post a comment and rating down below. If you want to be notified every time I post a new recipe, subscribe to my blog and give me a follow on my social accounts: instagram, pinterest, twitter, youtube. See you next time!
Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 1 dozen muffins 1x
Description
These Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Muffins are beautifully domed and fluffy, with a crunchy sugar topping. Check out all my tips to make the perfect muffins.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp kosher salt (½ tsp fine salt)
- 1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 stick unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup sour cream or plain, full-fat Greek yogurt
- 3oz buttermilk or buttermilk substitute (see recipe notes)*
- Demerara or turbinado sugar for topping
Instructions
- Prep oven and pan: Preheat oven to 425F. Line a standard muffin tin with 12 liners.
- Sift dry ingredients: Sift together flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Whisk thoroughly to evenly combine.
- Coat chocolate: Place chocolate in a bowl and stir in 2 tablespoons of dry mixture until chocolate is fully coated. This helps prevent chocolate from sinking to the bottom of the muffins.
- Beat butter and sugar: Beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. This can be done in the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment over medium speed. You can also use hand held beaters or mix by hand, using a large whisk.
- Add eggs, vanilla and sour cream: Whisk in eggs, one at a time, until full incorporated. Whisk in vanilla and sour cream.
- Add remaining ingredients: Add dry ingredients and buttermilk to the batter, alternating, in two to three additions. Do not overmix. Gently fold in chocolate chips.
- Bake: Use a trigger release ice cream scoop or two spoons to fill muffin tin. Batter should fill liners to the top. Sprinkle with demerara sugar. Bake for 5-8 minutes or until muffins rise ¼ to ½ inch above the top of the pan. Check using oven light. Do not open the oven! Reduce heat to 375F and continue baking for approximately 12-16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean.
- Cool and serve: Cool in tin for 5 minutes. Then transfer muffins to a wire rack to cool completely. These are best served the day they’re baked when the tops are slightly crunchy. See notes for storage tips. Enjoy.
Notes
To make your own buttermilk substitute, combine 3oz of whole, 2% or 1% milk with 1 teaspoon white vinegar. Allow to sit for 5 minutes before using in recipe. If you don’t have the vinegar, just use regular milk for this recipe.
Store muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days. Store in fridge for up to 4-5 days.
You can freeze wrapped individually in plastic wrap and then sealed in a freezer bag for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before serving.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 muffin
- Calories: 380
- Sugar: 34g
- Sodium: 120mg
- Fat: 18g
- Saturated Fat: 11g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 53g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 6g
- Cholesterol: 54mg
Keywords: chocolate chip muffins, bakery style chocolate chip muffins, chocolate muffins
You’ve got to try this!
★★★★
Hey Sabrina, I’m going to make these now. I had everything but buttermilk in the pantry, so I needed to do a trip to WF. I’ll let you know how they go!
Sabrina! These are really delicious. I mixed the batter as little as possible, per your instructions. They’re light and fluffy and very good. I had been wondering, what will I do with all this buttermilk. The answer is clear now: Make more of these muffins!
★★★★★
Thanks so much, Daniel! I’m so happy you enjoyed them. They looked great!
I will be making these this weekend, they look so good!
Awesome 🙂 Let me know how they turn out!