Chocolate Chip Muffins

Overhead image of a box of the best chocolate chip muffin recipe served with jam and butter

These bakery-style chocolate chip muffins are moist, buttery, tender, and loaded with chocolate chips for a decadent breakfast treat or a sweet afternoon snack!

Course Breakfast, Brunch

Cuisine American

Keyword chocolate chip muffin recipe, chocolate chip muffins

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Cooling Time 5

Total Time 35

Servings muffins

Calories 240kcal

Author Blair Lonergan

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour, properly measured (see note below)
½ cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons quick-cooking oats (optional)
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup buttermilk or whole milk, at room temperature
¼ cup (½ of a stick) salted butter, melted and slightly cooled
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips (I prefer miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips, but any variety will work)
Optional, for topping: additional chocolate chips and coarse sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 12 standard muffin cups with paper liners; set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, oats (if using), baking powder, and salt.
In a medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk (or milk), melted butter, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Stir just until combined, being careful not to over-mix. The batter may be lumpy, which is fine.
Fold in the chocolate chips.
Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each cup almost to the top. Sprinkle additional chocolate chips and coarse sugar on top, if desired.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs attached.
Transfer muffins to a wire rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes

Properly measure the flour by fluffing the flour with a fork, and then spooning the flour into the measuring cup and leveling it off with a knife. Do not use the measuring cup to scoop the flour directly out of the canister. This will pack the flour too tightly in the measuring cups, resulting in more flour than you need, which in turn yields dry, dense muffins.
We prefer mini chocolate chips, which add the perfect touch of chocolate in every bite of muffin. You can use any chocolate chips that you like, including dark chocolate chips, semi sweet chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, or milk chocolate chips.
Start with room temperature ingredients. The room temp buttermilk and eggs will blend more easily into the batter.
The key to a perfect muffin is just barely mixing the ingredients. You want them to come together, but a few lumps are fine. This way they’ll stay moist and tender!
For even higher muffin tops, leave some of the muffin tins empty to allow the heat to circulate around the individual muffins. If you'd like to do this, you'll need two 12-cup muffin pans. Line 6 cups in each pan with paper liners, leaving alternate muffin cups empty.
Fill the muffin cups about ¾ full. I like to use an ice cream scoop to make sure that each cup has an equal amount of batter, ensuring that the muffins bake evenly in the oven.
Don't skip the sugar topping and extra chocolate chips on these muffins! They create perfect sweet, crispy tops that contrast beautifully with the moist, tender insides.
To check if the muffins are done, insert a toothpick into the center of a muffin and make sure it comes out clean. Don’t cook them for too long, or they can dry out.
Use the same batter to prepare a loaf of chocolate chip bread instead of individual muffins. Pour the batter into a greased 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. Bake at 350°F for about 1 hour.
Swap out the buttermilk and use whole milk instead.
Omit the quick oats if you don't have any on hand, or if you don't care for them.
For whole wheat muffins, you can substitute half of the all-purpose flour (1 cup) for an equal amount of whole wheat flour. I don't recommend using 2 full cups of whole wheat flour, because it will make the muffins a bit too dry and dense.
Mini Muffins: bake the batter in mini muffin tins in a 350°F oven for about 12-15 minutes.
Instead of a combination of both butter and oil, use just ½ cup of oil or just ½ cup of melted butter.

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