There's nothing quite like a freshly baked bakery-style chocolate chip muffins served warm with a steaming mug of coffee or tea on any given morning. This makes for an ideal way to start your day.
So comforting and filling and just plain delicious! Now you can bake up some Bakery-Style Chocolate Chip Muffins at home with this easy, no-fuss recipe. And indulge at home any day of the week!
Looking for more homemade muffin recipes? Try Double Chocolate Chip Muffins and a mini version of these muffins, Mini Chocolate Chip Muffins.
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How to Make Bakery-Style Muffins at Home
The key to achieving bakery style muffins lies in the ingredients used in this recipe and the way they’re baked.
To keep these chocolate chip muffins moist, we use a combination of vegetable oil, milk, and sour cream for added richness.
The brown sugar in these muffins has more moisture than granulated sugar and helps to retain some of that moisture when baked.
The way these chocolate chip muffins are baked is also key to achieving that bakery-style size and beautiful dome shape.
Starting with a higher than normal baking temperature, baking for a few minutes, than lowering the temperature for the remainder of the baking time helps to create the domed top that captures the bakery style so well.
And, who doesn’t love a good muffin top? (I’m not talking about the body part that’s so affectionately referred to as a muffin top on some of us, but rather a literal muffin top). Want another kind of muffin top? These Cinnamon Streusel Muffins have a layered muffin and a delicious crunchy top served with a simple glaze to pull it all together.
Size Matters
Bakery muffins are usually large in size and flavor! And these muffins mimic both those characteristics for sure.
I recommend using a jumbo muffin pan in which to make these. The recipe does list baking times for both jumbo and standard size muffin pans.
Ingredients needed to make Bakery-Style Chocolate Chip Muffins
To make these muffins, you'll need the following ingredients:
- All-Purpose Flour
- Baking Powder: make sure it’s fresh so it’ll work properly to help your cupcakes rise
- Salt: use kosher salt, however, use whatever kind you have available. Feel free to adjust the level of salt to suit your preferences
- Vegetable Oil: any neutral-flavored oil will work here, such as canola or grapeseed oil. Do not substitute with olive oil, sesame oil or walnut oil, as these carry a distinctive flavor that will affect the flavor of your muffins
- Brown Sugar: either dark brown or light brown will work in this recipe
- Eggs: US size large eggs. Room temperature eggs work best. Remove the eggs from the fridge at least 30 minutes prior to mixing into the batter to ensure they incorporate evenly
- Vanilla Extract: use high quality, pure vanilla for this recipe. There's a full tablespoon in the muffin batter and the goal is to have that wonderful flavor shine through
- Milk: whole milk works best here, although you can substitute for 1% or 2% with little impact on the end result. I have not tried substituting the milk for non-dairy milk, although it should work just fine in this recipe
- Sour Cream or Plain Greek Yogurt: be sure to use full-fat varieties
- Semi-sweet Chocolate: I would recommend using a semi-sweet chocolate baking bar and chopping it to get those big puddles of melty chocolate on top and throughout the baked muffin. Chocolate chunks or chocolate chips will also work well here
FAQS
Can these muffins be made Gluten-free?
I have not tried making these muffins gluten-free, however, I have had luck in the past substituting cup-for-cup or measure-for-measure gluten-free flour for the all-purpose flour.
I would recommend a high quality brand such as Bob’s Red Mill. Be sure it says cup-for-cup, measure-for-measure, or 1-to-1 on the label.
Do these muffins freeze well?
Yes! After the muffins have cooled completely, wrap them individually in plastic wrap and place in a ziplock bag in the freezer.
Allow to thaw at room temperature at least 30 minutes before serving, or warm in the oven or toaster oven at 350º for 8-10 minutes. Store in the freezer for about 3 months.
Learn all the best storage tips for keeping muffins fresh!
Can I substitute the sour cream and milk in this recipe?
The sour cream can be substituted for plain Greek yogurt in equal amounts.
I have not tried substituting the milk for non dairy alternatives, although it should work just fine in this recipe.
Can I make these chocolate chip muffins vegan?
I have not tried making the recipe vegan, however, I would recommend substituting the eggs for flax eggs (2 tablespoons (18 grams) flax meal + 5 tablespoons (74 ml) water) and substituting the milk and sour cream for non dairy alternatives.
Some brown sugars are not vegan, so be sure to read the ingredients. Wholesome Brand is a vegan variety of brown sugar that would work well here.
The chocolate can be substituted for dairy-free chocolate as well.
What kind of mix-ins can I add in to these muffins?
There are plenty of variations to these muffins you can make! Here are some recommendations:
Chocolate Cherry Muffins - reduce the amount of chocolate in the recipe by half and add in fresh cherries (pitted and cut into quarters) or frozen cherries (not thawed). Fold into the batter with the chocolate and bake as usual
White Chocolate Chip Muffins - substitute half or all of the chocolate in this recipe for chopped white chocolate. I would recommend using high quality white chocolate baking bars instead of white chocolate chips, as these do not melt well when baked
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Looking for more muffin recipes? Give these a try:
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Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup whole milk
- ½ cup full-fat sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
- 1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate baking bar chopped or chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425ºF.
- Line a 12-cup muffin tin with silicone cupcake liners or paper cupcake liners or spray with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- In a separate large bowl, mix together with a wooden spoon the vegetable oil, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract ,milk and sour cream until well incorporated.⅓ cup vegetable oil, 1 cup packed brown sugar, 2 large eggs, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract, ½ cup whole milk, ½ cup full-fat sour cream
- Gently fold in the dry ingredient mixture until no dry spots of flour are left.
- Gently fold in chocolate chips.1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate baking bar
- Fill each cup of muffin tin about ⅔ of the way with muffin batter.
- Bake for 5 minutes at 425ºF, then lower the oven temperature down to 350ºF for another 15 minutes for standard muffins and 20-22 minutes for jumbo, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the center muffin comes out clean.
- Allow to cool in muffin tins for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Comments
Eleanor
Hi! What muffin pan liners did you use?
Kimberlee Ho
Hi Eleanor, here is a link to the ones I use in this recipe: https://amzn.to/3Qzu4kL. They're called Tulip muffin liners.
Sapna
Hi,
Could you please help or guide with the measurements by weighing scale for this recipe!!
Kimberlee Ho
Yes! The Metric measurements are enabled on the recipe. If you look underneath where it says "Servings, Calories," etc and just above where it says "Equipment" you'll see an option for selecting to view the measurements in metric units. Click that and it'll show you the weights.