Chocolate Chip Muffins

With a fluffy top, tender crumb, and chocolate in every bite, these Chocolate Chip Muffins are just as wonderful as any you’d get at the bakery. Enjoy warm from the oven for the best chocolatey treat!

The Best Chocolate Chip Muffins

This recipe takes your everyday chocolate chip muffin recipe and makes it 10x better. These muffins are infused with mini chocolate chips in every bite and the addition of buttermilk, oil, and sour cream keeps them super moist and tender.

Then I pulled out a bakery trick to let them rise even taller. Allowing the batter to sit just 20 minutes produces tall, fluffy muffins – just like the ones you’d find at a bakery. Then I add a little sprinkle of sanding sugar for a little textured crunch on top.

Served warm from the oven, these chocolate chip muffins are absolutely divine!

What You’ll Need

In addition to the mini chocolate chips, these chocolate chip muffins are made with pantry staples and a few other ingredients.

• All-purpose flour
• Baking powder & baking soda – Both leavening agents are needed to create the rise and tall muffin tops.
• Salt
• Granulated sugar
• Eggs
• Vegetable oil
• Melted butter– the combination of better and oil give the best flavor and texture
• Buttermilk – Buttermilk not only adds a slight tang to these muffins but also helps create a tender crumb. See below for how to make your own.
• Pure vanilla extract
• Sour cream – Sour cream helps keep these muffins extra moist.
• Mini chocolate chips – I like using mini chips so that there’s chocolate in every bite.
• Sanding sugar for garnish – Optional but gives these a little textured crunch on top.

Can I Use a Buttermilk Substitute?

If you don’t have buttermilk in the fridge, no worries – you don’t need to go buy some just for this recipe! Instead, you can make a homemade buttermilk substitute with regular milk and lemon juice or vinegar. I use whole milk but you can use whatever you have in the fridge.

I wrote a post on how to make your own buttermilk that you can check out for details but the gist is that you need 1 tablespoon of lemon juice for every cup of milk.

How To Make Chocolate Chip Muffins

These mini chocolate chip muffins require just a few minutes of prep and 20 minutes for the batter to rest, before being popped into the oven.

1. Make the batter. Combine the dry ingredients and set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs then add the oil, buttermilk, vanilla and sour cream until well combined.
3. Add the dry ingredients and beat until the flour incorporates. Fold in the chocolate chips.
4. Let the batter rest. Cover the batter with plastic wrap and rest for 20 minutes.
5. Bake. Fill each muffin liner 3/4 full. Top with mini chocolate chips and sanding sugar. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes.

Why Does The Batter Need To Rest?

Allowing the muffin batter to rest is a secret to getting tall, fluffy muffins – just like you’d expect from the bakery. While bakeries often let their batter rest overnight, even just 20 minutes helps get the desired result. The starch in the flour absorbs the moisture and expands, giving the batter a thicker consistency. In turn, when it’s baked, the muffins bake taller.

Tips for The Best Homemade Muffins

Homemade muffins are easy to make – here are a few tips to make them even easier.

• Use buttermilk. Buttermilk is the key to the tender, fluffy texture of these homemade muffins. I use buttermilk as frequently as possible when I bake and I do not recommend substituting it in this recipe.
• Use a cookie scoop. I love using a large cookie scoop to help me fill the muffin tins just the right amount, without any mess.
• Don’t overmix the batter. A key to fluffy muffins is to not mix the batter too much. Once the flour is incorporated and the chocolate chips are folded in, avoid mixing too much more.
• Fill the tins 3/4 way. If you fill the tins less than 3/4, you probably won’t get the fluffy muffin top. If you over fill, the tops can all bake together.

Serving Suggestions

My favorite way to enjoy these buttermilk muffins is warm from the oven, when the chocolate chips are perfectly gooey. Since the muffin is so moist, I don’t find the need to add anything to them though you could always add some peanut butter if you’re a fan of chocolate and peanut butter! While these are definitely more of a dessert muffin, there’s no shame in enjoying one for breakfast either!

How to Store & Freeze

• How to store homemade muffins. These muffins are best when eaten within 2 days. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
• Can I freeze this? Yes, you can freeze these buttermilk muffins. Freeze in a single layer for up to 3 months. Thaw on the counter before enjoying.

More Muffin Recipes:

• Blueberry Muffins
• Easy Banana Muffins
• Zucchini Muffins

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