These double chocolate muffins are rich and moist with a robust chocolate flavor from cocoa powder and chocolate chips. Buttermilk gives them a beautiful, tender crumb and best of all, they’re super easy to make and ready in about 30 minutes! What are you waiting for??
A tray of bakery style chocolate muffins in 30 minutes!
I don’t always get on my soapbox, but these chocolate muffins are worth it ~ they’re soft, rich, and deeply chocolatey in that satisfying, not-too-sweet way. You get a double hit from cocoa powder and chocolate chips, so every bite has real depth and those little pockets of melted chocolate.
The texture is exactly what I’m always after ~ super moist and tender, with that bakery-style crumb that makes you wonder how they pulled it off. And unlike most muffins, these don’t fade after day one. They’re just as good the next day, maybe even better, when the chips firm up and contrast with the soft cake.
If you’ve ever thought muffins were a little dry or forgettable, this is the one that will change your mind.
Important ingredient notes
This recipe is super pantry-and-fridge-staple friendly, just make sure these ingredients are on your regular grocery list.
- unsweetened cocoa powder
- Dutched cocoa gives the extra rich color and flavor to these chocolate muffins, but you can use any kind you have on hand. Just be sure the label says unsweetened.
- baking powder and baking soda
- the combination gives these muffins their high rise, make sure your baking powder isn’t over a year old.
- vegetable oil
- using oil instead of butter keeps these muffins incredibly moist.
- Experiment with a healthy mild olive oil for rich flavor!
- buttermilk
- buttermilk makes for a tender, moist crumb. I highly recommend using real, cultured buttermilk from the store, in my experience it makes for the best final texture.
- In a pinch, you can make your own buttermilk by adding a teaspoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to milk and letting it sit on the counter for 15 minutes.
- chocolate chips
- use regular chips, mini chips, or chocolate chunks, they turn chocolate muffins into double chocolate muffins!
Pro tips for beautiful high rise bakery style muffins
- Don’t over-mix!
- Don’t use a stand mixer or electric beaters for muffin recipes; a whisk and silicone spoonula works better because you don’t want to over mix the batter, which can result in a tough texture.
- Muffin batter tends to be lumpy, so don’t try and smooth it out, a few lumps are fine. Again, too much mixing will make the muffins tough.
- Fill your muffin cups fairly full, the muffins won’t overflow the cups, they’ll spring up nicely in the oven.
- The traditional advice is to fill muffin cups 2/3 full, but you can push that a bit farther to get nice big tempting muffins.
- I prefer muffin liners with this kind of sweet muffin; the sides will stay soft and moist in the paper and won’t stick to your pan. Look for parchment paper liners, they don’t stick to the muffin, either!
- The chocolate chips in this recipe will be mostly under the surface of the muffin once baked. If you’d like them to be visible, I recommend popping a few into the tops of the muffins before baking.
- Think ahead! Make sure your oven has been preheated properly.
- Muffins require a nice hot oven to give them that initial rising boost.
- Remember that muffins are small – they don’t take long to bake, and they can over-bake in a flash. Keep alert!
You asked…
Yes, it’s generally ok to reduce the sugar by about 1/3 without too much trouble. If you’re looking for a sugar substitute you might try the new sugar alternative from King Arthur Flour because it’s a dry sugar substitute that is used in a 1 to 1 ratio, which is ideal.
Yes, use any unsweetened cocoa powder you have on hand, just be sure it’s unsweetened. Each brand will give a little bit different result, which is fun.
Yes, you won’t use liners in that case, and the baking time will be quick, anywhere from 9-13 minutes, but check them in case your oven runs differently.
Yes, they’ll freeze well, just double wrap them to keep air out. I like to wrap the cooled muffins in plastic wrap, and then in foil.
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Chocolate Muffins
Video
Equipment
- 12 cup muffin pan
- paper muffin liners
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder, I used Dutched cocoa
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 1/4 cup buttermilk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 heaping cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F and line a 12-cup muffin tin with muffin tin liners.
- Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, buttermilk, and vanilla extract.
- Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix together well. Then, fold in the chocolate chips. Don't over-mix!
- Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin tins. (note: as you can see, this means filling your muffin tins almost to the top, which results in nice, large muffins. You can also fill your muffin tins more like 2/3 full for more traditional size muffins, which will yield more than 12 muffins for this recipe.)
- Bake for 20 minutes, or until risen and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out without wet batter clinging to it.
- Allow the muffins to cool for a few minutes in the baking pan, then cool them completely on a baking rack.
Nutrition
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I was planning to order a batch of Muffins then came across this recipe. Wow, just Wow will never be ordering from out again. Just delicious. I added grated orange rind to add a kick
Chocolate orange muffins are going to happen here, soon!!
Excellent recipe – moist and densely ‘chocolate forward’…quick question as I do not see an option to 2x 3x the recipe, can you double this recipe as-is OR is it best to make two batches???
Thanks Sue!
You might double but not triple the recipe, just to make sure everything gets incorporated properly. Bakeries etc have specialized equipment for making large batches, but home bakers are more limited.
I’d love to try this recipe as is, but I’m making it for a friend whose husband is recovering from a stroke. As is often the case, he has difficulty swallowing, so everything has to be pureed. However, she’s discovered he likes to soak broken pieces of muffin in milk and is able to eat them that way. I’d like to know if these muffins can be made without the chocolate chips? They’d be hard in milk, and that would cause serious issues. Also, I wondered about subbing some chocolate protein powder (collagen peptides) to provide a bit more nutrition. I am open to suggestions. Personally, I only make muffins with lots of texture (nuts, raisins, craisins, oranges, etc.) so this is completely foreign to me. Again, suggestions welcome. FYI, I need to make and deliver these tomorrow!
Hi Juanita ~ yes, you can leave out the chips without any problems. I think you could try adding a bit of protein powder, maybe reduce the flour a bit if you do. You could also use part whole wheat or white whole wheat flour for more nutrition and fiber.
These muffins are super delicious! I made mini muffins and used mini chocolate chips – made about 64 muffins, baked 15 minutes. The only thing I changed was I added a teaspoon of espresso powder. My son couldn’t wait to try them and gobbled some up while the chocolate chips were like hot lava. Nice crispy top, fluffy and chocolatey interior. This is my new favourite recipe!
Thank you for sharing this! It is one of my daughter’s and my fav recipes!
This was SOOOOO good! We added almonds and a few white chocolate chips, forgoing the regular ones, and still turned out great. Our tops came out a bit wonky but I think that’s cuz I got the batter everywhere. I would definitely recommend these! Note: they’re very rich and moist. Do not eat if you aren’t willing to eat yourself sick lol
The recipe was easy to follow and the results were delicious. I hardly ever leave reviews but these were too good to not write one! They are not overly sweet, just perfect!
I’ve made this recipe many times in small loaf pans, and it always turns out great. I keep it in the freezer to gift it to others.