Bakery-style chocolate chip muffins have never been easier to make at home. These muffins bake up nice and tall with crispy, caramelised tops and a moist, fluffy interior packed with melty chocolate chips and just a hint of cinnamon. No creaming, no mixer, no chilling — and no lining up at the bakery.
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What is a Bakery-Style Muffin?
The phrase “bakery-style muffin” gets thrown around a lot online (guilty as charged 🙈). Basically, it’s marketing speak for a tall, domed muffin with a fluffy interior, a crispy top, and plenty of mix-ins — something a bit more substantial than your run-of-the-mill homemade muffin.
I assure you these bakery-style chocolate chip muffins live up to the name and would not look out of place in any bakery or cafe. Perfectly sweet, incredibly moist, and loaded with chocolate chips, they’re the kind of muffins that will make you feel like a professional baker. No one will suspect that you made them in just 30 minutes.
Baking Tips for the Best Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Add the chocolate chips to the dry ingredients: Many recipes will tell you to fold in any chocolate chips at the very end, but I suggest mixing them into the dry ingredients. This helps to distribute them evenly and prevents over-mixing the batter later on.
- Don’t over-mix: Over-mixing will develop the gluten, leading to dense, chewy muffins. Once the wet and dry ingredients meet, mix only until you can’t see any more streaks of flour. It’s perfectly normal for the batter to be a little lumpy (small lumps will dissolve in the oven).
- Fill those cups up: Forget what you’ve heard about only filling muffin liners 2/3 to 3/4 of the way. For sky-high muffins, fill those liners almost to the brim — I leave about a 1/8-inch gap. Sure, you’ll get less muffins this way, but they’ll be bigger and better!
- Blast with a high initial heat: 220°C might sound outrageous for muffins, but starting them in a hot oven for the first 5 minutes creates a big burst of steam, helping the muffins to rise tall. After that, lower the temperature to 180°C for the remaining 15-18 minutes to finish baking them through without burning.
*I picked up some of these muffin-baking tips from Bake With Bakabee. Her post on perfecting bakery-style muffins is well worth the read!
Ingredient Notes + Substitutions
Dry ingredients
- Plain flour: using plain, all-purpose flour (rather than self-raising) lets us control the amount of leavening to give these muffins the best possible rise. To make these muffins a bit healthier, you could try substituting 1/3 to 1/2 of the flour for whole wheat flour instead. Using 100% whole wheat flour will make the muffins very dense…not recommended!
- Baking powder helps the muffins rise tall during baking to form those nice, bakery-style domes.
- Baking soda reacts with the acidic ingredients (brown sugar and sour cream) to create air bubbles, making the muffins light and fluffy. Baking soda is about 3-4 time stronger than baking powder, so we only need to use a little bit!
- Cinnamon: a touch of ground cinnamon compliments the brown sugar and chocolate beautifully.
- Salt — to balance the sweetness. Don’t skip it!
- Chocolate chips: I prefer using mini chocolate chips so that you get some chocolate in every bite, but regular chocolate chips work too.
Wet ingredients
- Melted butter: adds a rich flavour while helping to keep things soft and moist. Allow it to cool slightly before adding to the wet ingredients.
- Vegetable oil: using 50/50 butter and oil gives the best balance of flavour and texture. I typically use vegetable oil, but any neutral-flavoured oil, such as canola or avocado oil, works just as well.
- Granulated sugar — to sweeten the muffins (obviously) and to help them crisp up.
- Brown sugar adds extra moisture and a warm, caramel-like flavour. If you don’t have any on hand, you can easily substitute with more granulated sugar instead.
- Eggs: use 2 large eggs and bring them to room temperature first.
- Vanilla extract: a healthy dose of vanilla is essential to any good muffin.
- Sour cream keeps these muffins moister than using milk alone. You can substitute with plain, greek yogurt. Either way, full-fat is best!
- Milk: use full-cream (whole) milk for the best flavour, or substitute with an unsweetened plant-based milk, such as almond or soy.
For the crunchy topping
- Coarse sugar gives the muffins those signature crunchy, caramelised tops. Any coarse sugar, such as demerara or turbinado (AKA raw) sugar will work.
- Cinnamon (optional): I like mixing a little more cinnamon into the coarse sugar to create a cinnamon-sugar topping.
Step-by-Step: Easy Bakery-Style Chocolate Chip Muffins
These are super beginner-friendly and quick to throw together! The entire prep takes 10 minutes max. No electric mixers or fancy equipment needed.
1. Baking prep – Preheat your oven to 220°C (200°C/425°F) and line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
2. Combine the dry ingredients – Place all of the dry ingredients (except the chocolate chips) into a large mixing bowl and whisk together until well combined. Mix in the chocolate chips until evenly distributed.
3. Combine the wet ingredients – Whisk all of the wet ingredients together in a separate bowl or a large measuring jug. The mixture should be smooth and uniform.
4. Add the wet to the dry – Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture, and pour in the wet ingredients. Use a spoon or rubber spatula to gently fold everything together until just combined. The batter will most certainly be lumpy, but there shouldn’t be any visible streaks of flour.
5. Divide the batter – scoop or spoon the batter into the lined muffin tin, filling each liner just about to the top to encourage a big, bakery-style dome. In my muffin tin, this recipe makes enough batter for 10 large muffins.
6. Sprinkle the tops – If you’re adding cinnamon, mix it with the course sugar first. Then sprinkle the sugar mixture (or plain, coarse sugar) generously over the tops of the muffins. This is what gives the muffins that sparkly, crunchy top! Scatter with a few extra chocolate chips for good measure.
7. Bake – Bake in your very hot, preheated oven for 5 minutes. By this point, the muffins should have risen about 0.5 to 1 cm (1/4 inch or so) above the edges of the liner. Without opening the oven door, reduce the temperature to 180°C (160°C fan/350°F). Continue baking for another 15-18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean (meaning no wet batter — some melted chocolate is a given!).
8. Cool – Leave the muffins to cool in the muffin tin for about 5 minutes, otherwise they will be too soft to pick up. Then, carefully transfer the muffins to a wire rack to finish cooling. These are best enjoyed fresh out of the oven with a cup of coffee or tea!
Easy Bakery-Style Chocolate Chip Muffins
* Please note: all cup measurements are approximate and based on Australian standard cups (250ml). For best results, weigh your ingredients with a kitchen scale.
Equipment
- 12-cup muffin tin
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- 325 g (2 ½ cups) plain flour, spooned and levelled if using cups
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
- 150 g chocolate chips (mini or regular), plus extra for topping
Wet ingredients
- 60 g (¼ cup) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 60 ml (¼ cup) vegetable oil
- 165 g (¾ cup) granulated sugar
- 70 g (≈ ⅓ cup) brown sugar, sub with more granulated sugar
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 125 g (½ cup) sour cream, or plain greek yogurt, room temperature
- 160 ml (⅔ cup) milk, room temperature
For the crunchy topping
- 1 tbsp coarse sugar, demerara or turbinado (raw sugar)
- ⅛ tsp cinnamon, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 220°C (200°C fan/425°F) and line a 12-cup muffin tin.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Then mix in the chocolate chips.
- In a separate bowl or large measuring jug, combine the melted butter (slightly cooled), vegetable oil, sugars, eggs, vanilla, sour cream, and milk. Whisk until smooth and fully combined.
- Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture. Pour in the wet ingredients and gently mix together until JUST combined, and you can't see any more streaks of flour. It's perfectly normal for the batter to be a little lumpy.
- Divide the batter among the muffin cups, filling each about 0.3 cm (⅛ in) from the top. You should get 10-12 muffins depending on the size of your muffin tin.
- Combine the course sugar with the cinnamon (if using). Sprinkle the sugar over the muffins, then top with extra chocolate chips.
- Bake for 5 minutes. Then, without opening the oven door, reduce the temperature to 180°C (160°C fan/350°F), and bake for a further 15-18 minutes. The tops should be golden brown, and a toothpick inserted into the centre should come out clean (besides some melted chocolate).
- Allow the muffins to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Enjoy the muffins while still warm, or allow to cool completely before storing (see notes for storage instructions).
These were a hit! I used about 1 cup of wholemeal flour as you suggested to make them a little healthier. I also used Nuttelex, oat milk and Greek yogurt but would like to try them again with regular butter to see if they dome up more. Thanks for the recipe!