These Chocolate Chip Muffins have a beautiful golden dome top (we all know muffin tops are the best part!) and are nice and moist inside, not dry and crumbly which is a notorious problem with muffins. No stand mixer required, you just need a wooden spoon and 10 minutes.
This muffin recipe is a great base recipe for sweet muffins. The chocolate chips can be substituted with anything you want. Blueberries, raspberries, nuts, apple – let your imagination run wild!
Muffins are one of those recipes that many people think / say are really easy to make but in actual fact, I think a lot come out quite disappointing. The biggest problem being muffins that are dry and hard. I’ve made muffins in my time that I swear were as hard as baseballs!
Over baking is one culprit for this. But the batter is also a contributor. To avoid dry muffins, some recipes make the batter by creaming butter in a stand mixer. But it’s ingrained in my mind that muffins should be a fast recipe, and creaming butter doesn’t qualify!
The other way is to make the muffins using both baking powder AND baking soda / bi carb (which is baking powder on steroids) for extra lift power, plus buttermilk for moistness and also to activate the baking soda (which requires something with acid like milk + vinegar, yoghurt, sour cream or buttermilk to activate it).
This is my chosen method that I have always used. I know there are many muffin recipes out there that do not use baking soda and/or buttermilk. But they are not as moist and fluffy as these. I have made more than my share in my lifetime in a bid to find the moistest muffin with the least ingredients possible, and concluded that it is not possible to omit these without compromising the muffin!
And the good news? You don’t have to use buttermilk. You can substitute with milk and vinegar, left to curdle. I don’t always recommend that as a substitute, but for this recipe, I can barely tell the difference. Actually, I can’t tell the difference.
I know curdled milk doesn’t look very pretty, but I wanted you to see what it looks like because this is the magic ingredient in this recipe!
My “go to” sweet muffin base recipe used to be a Ina Garten blueberry muffin recipe. It really is a wonderful moist muffin BUT the batter is slightly thinner than this one so the choc chips sink to the bottom (even when I tossed in flour which is a trick that usually works for things like berries, like what I use for my Blueberry Lemon Loaf).
So now this recipe is my base recipe, and it has never failed me. My recipe is slightly adapted from this brilliant Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Muffins recipe by Little Sweet Baker. This recipe is BETTER than Ina Gartens, I’ve tried both!
PS I top the muffins with extra chocolate chips so they are visible when they come out of the oven. This is optional. 🙂
If you don’t use paper patties and spray the muffin tin instead, the tops will spill over and become a bit crispy, just like muffins you get from some bakeries. My personal preference is to use paper patties because clean up is easier and I think it looks prettier, but it is entirely up to you!
Happy weekend! What have you got planned? Maybe baking some MUFFINS??? 😉 – Nagi x
PS These freeze fabulously. Promise. I’ve been eating frozen ones all week!
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Best Chocolate Chip Muffin
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups / 375g plain flour (all purpose flour)
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda / bi carb soda
- 1 cup / 220g white sugar (Note 1)
- 1/4 tsp salt
Wet Ingredients
- 1 cup / 250ml buttermilk (Note 2)
- 1/4 cup / 60g unsalted butter, melted
- 4 tbsp / 80 ml vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs, lightly whisked
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate Chips
- 1 3/4 cups / 300g chocolate chips (US: semi-sweet)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200C/390F (all ovens) (Note 6). Line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper patties.
- Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt in a bowl. Stir through chocolate chips.
- In a separate bowl, whisk buttermilk, melted butter, oil, eggs and vanilla.
- Make a well in the flour bowl, pour in egg mixture. Mix until just combine - try not to stir more than 8 times. Some flour lumps in the batter is fine.
- Divide batter between paper cases. Top with remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips.
- Bake for 5 minutes, then turn down to 180C/350F (fan forced/convection) and bake for a further 15 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the muffin comes out clean.
- Remove muffins from the muffin tin immediately onto a cooling rack.
- Serve warm or at room temperature (warm is extra yum!)
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer:Â Getting waaaaaay too close to the muffins……Â But I can’t blame him. The smell as these were cooling must’ve been torture for him!!!
Count the muffins: Yes there is 1 missing. Restraint is imposed on Dozer by me. There was no one around to control ME.
If I wanted to make choc chip banana any tips?
Big fan of your recipes I refer all my friends to this site 😊
Too much bicarbonate soda, Nagi. 1/2 teaspoon is sufficient as you already have 3 teaspoon of baking powder to 400g bof flour. 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 200g of chocolate is also more than enough for this recipe in my view.
Hi Nagi, would this recipe be ok to use in a texan tin. To make six big muffins or best to stick to the 12 tin size? Thank you.
Love all the muffins recipes!!!
I suck at muffins, but these worked! So happy. The choc chips did sink to the bottom, and I did not have enough to put extras on top, but overall best muffins I have done (made with GF flour).
Hi Diane, I’m almost certain that because of the different flour it would have changed the texture of the batter and resulted in your sinking choc chips. I’m so glad you enjoyed them though! N x
Just made these with the new Donna hay GF flour (one to one) and they were fantastic. Ans dough like, no sinking chocolate!
Made this and it was delicious! Easy to make and lives up to its title!
These are absolutely delicious. I don’t think any will make it to the freezer though!
Thanks so much Nagi. I’ve had problems in the past with muffins recipes….as you mention what can happen. These have turned out perfectly, took a little longer to bake in my oven, but delicious. You are a legend with your recipes and I love them….so thanks .
Although these were light And delicious we found them a bit sweet – clearly thats our taste 🙂
That came from a sixteen year old boy!!! (Recipe followed exactly)
So did I. Still they were very good.
Great recipe and good tips
Turned out amazingly will definitely use this recipe again and again thank you
Another five star recipe Nagi. Delicious and easy to follow! Thank you for the buttermilk tips. Worked a treat.
Fluffy and moist, turned out great. I made with olive oil. The tops were crunchy, love the recipe. And I used super fine caster sugar. Thank you! The muffins were finished within 10 min.
Perfect Ira, I’m so glad you loved them!! N x
Always thankful for your recipe Notes, Tips XXX have a nice day, and Dozer XXXXXXX
As always, delicious recipe! Didn’t change a thing except sprinkling a little raw sugar on top before baking. Just one question, you said to add 4Tablespoon oil or 80ml. 4tablespoons is 60ml, so just wondering if I should add 4tablespoons or 80 ml. I did 4tablespoons and it seemed to work out fine. Thanks for all your yummy recipes.
Yum! Easily made 16 moderately sized muffins. Turned out great despite my unevenly temp oven. I just love your recipes Nagi and you are my go-to for absolutely everything 😊. Your Byron Bay dupe cookies & butter chicken are made at least fortnightly! They are always tasty and obviously well tested. Huge fan.
Beautiful moist and delicious, (and absolutely no creaming lol 🙂 Another trusted recipe from Nagi & Dozer. Thank you 🙂 xx
Best ever texture and flavor.
Comments: It takes way more than eight stirs to mix even when leaving some lumps. And I strongly suggest using fewer chips AND mini chips instead.
Hi there could you use this recipe for banana muffins and if so how many? Thankyou in advance:)