Chocolate Muffins
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Calling all chocoholics! These tender chocolate muffins with a double hit of chocolate make a delicious breakfast or after-school snack.
The men in my life all have one thing in common: a strong, deep-seated penchant for chocolate. Growing up, my dad lived on a steady diet of Nestle Crunch bars, and he kept a stash of Hershey’s Kisses in the back corner of the freezer where my sister and I couldn’t reach them. These days, I live with chocolate lovers of a more discriminating sort: my husband and son, who know that a little flattery and praise is all it takes to get me into the kitchen, covered in cocoa powder. These tender chocolate muffins with a double hit of chocolate are one of their all-time favorites. The recipe calls for buttermilk; if you don’t have any on hand, or don’t want to purchase a whole carton, it’s easy to make your own using milk and vinegar or lemon juice.
What you’ll need To Make Chocolate Muffins
Step-by-Step Instructions
Begin by combining the eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla extract in a medium bowl.
Whisk well.
In another large bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Whisk well and then rub the mixture through your fingers to break up any lumps of brown sugar.
To the dry ingredients, add 3/4 cup of the chocolate chips, the buttermilk-egg mixture, and the melted butter.
Using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, mix until just combined.
Using an ice cream scoop or two spoons, fill the muffin cups to the brim with batter.
Distribute the remaining 1/4 cup of chocolate chips evenly over the muffin tops, pressing them lightly into the batter.
Place in the oven and bake for 8 minutes at 425°F (220°C), then turn the oven down to 350°F (175°C) and bake for about 12 minutes more, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean (check a few spots as the melted chocolate chips will make the tester look wet). Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for about 5 minutes before removing the muffins from the pan; cool on a rack.
Enjoy!
YOu may also like
- Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Chocolate Zucchini Bread
- Triple Chocolate Loaf Cake
- Zucchini Muffins with Chocolate Chips
- Chocolate Banana Bread
Chocolate Muffins
Calling all chocoholics! These tender chocolate muffins with a double hit of chocolate make a delicious breakfast or after-school snack.
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup low fat buttermilk (see note)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- ⅔ cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder, such as Hershey's
- 1¼ cups light brown sugar, packed (be sure it is fresh with no hard lumps)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1cup semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
- 1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
Instructions
- Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 425°F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
- In a large measuring cup or bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla extract.
- In another large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Rub the mixture through your fingers to break up any lumps of brown sugar.
- To the dry ingredients, add ¾ cup of the chocolate chips, the buttermilk-egg mixture, and the melted butter. Using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, mix until until just combined.
- Using an ice cream scoop or two spoons, fill the muffin cups to the brim with batter. Distribute the remaining ¼ cup of chocolate chips evenly over the muffin tops, pressing them lightly into the batter. Place in the oven and bake for 8 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350°F and bake for about 12 minutes more, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean (check a few spots as the melted chocolate chips will make the tester look wet). Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for about 5 minutes before removing the muffins from the pan; cool on a rack.
- Note: If you’d like to make your own buttermilk, check out the easy method here.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The muffins can be frozen in an airtight container or sealable plastic bag for up to 3 months. Thaw for 3 – 4 hours on the countertop before serving. To reheat, wrap individual muffins in aluminum foil and place in a preheated 350°F oven until warm.
Nutrition Information
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- Serving size: 1 muffin
- Calories: 324
- Fat: 14 g
- Saturated fat: 8 g
- Carbohydrates: 50 g
- Sugar: 31 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 5 g
- Sodium: 293 mg
- Cholesterol: 52 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Comments
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Could these be made into mini cupcakes and if so, what temperature and how long on the baking?
Sure, Gwen – I’d adjust the oven temp to 375°F and start checking after 12-15 min. Enjoy!
Delicious,my grandchildren love them. Just as we do.
I made these today. Tbh I was worried they would be dry…they’re not at all and have a nice flavour. I used 1/2 cup veg oil instead of butter and added 1 tablespoon instant coffee for richness/shelf longevity. Make sure the brown sugar is packed tight when you measure is my tip 🙂
These muffins are spectacular! They come out beautiful, moist and chocolatey ever time I make them. Make sure you measure the flour correctly and the powders are fresh.
Hi Jenn,
I love all of your recipes and your cookbooks and can’t wait to try this one. Is there any way to add a slight coffee flavor to enhance the chocolate in this? Do you think that it would be better to add espresso powder, coffee itself, or just skip it and don’t mess with perfection? Thanks for your time.
Hi Elijah, so glad you like the recipes! Yes, if you’d like to add a subtle coffee flavor to these, you could add a teaspoon give or take of espresso powder. I’d love to hear how they turn out with that addition!
Exceptional!
I made two adjustments:
High altitude baking (temperature and leaving), we’re at 3500 feet.
A few less chocolate chips, 3/4 cup (1/2 cup milk chocolate, 1/4 white chocolate) and none on top.
Cooked them for the length of time suggested. They looked underdone but tested done and were perfect! I would give more stars if I could, Jenn’s recipes are always my first choice. Reliable and delicious.
These came out sooo delicious! I was a bit afraid that they would be dry, as some of the comments suggested, but damn they are moist and soft and just heavenly. I like my desserts a bit less sweet, so I used less sugar and added some orange zest, because I love how it complements chocolate. Thank you for this recipe Jenn!
I’ve done these muffins over and over again, and they are the best I’ve ever tried. My kids love them and their little friends think that I’m a professional baker because of them!!! I live in Italy and muffins are a rare find at local bakeries or sweet shops, so I consider myself very lucky to have come across this recipe! Thank you from the bottom of my heart! PS: the baking procedure is just perfect in a ventilated oven, the muffins come out soft and moist!
OH M GEE!!!! These are PHENOMENAL!!!!!!!
Sooooooo velvety soft and mouth-wateringly chocolatey. I’ve officially found my favourite muffin!!!
I honestly even cooked these for about four minutes longer (at 350°F) than the recipe calls for because I like my muffins with a slight crust on the top, and they were PERFECT!!
Instead of choc chips I used 70% dark chocolate chunks!! And only used about 245g of brown sugar
But holy moly are these delicious!!! They didn’t even last a few hours in my house everyone loved them so much!
Thank you oh so kindly for such a wonderful muffin!! 🙂
I agree with the other reviews that these are SO dry. The recipe really should be updated to bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Luckily the chocolate chips make them edible. Groceries are too expensive these days to be wasting food so they will get eaten but it’s disappointing how they came out.
These are the best
These muffins were really nice and rich, everybody enjoyed them. I highly suggest this recipe!
Wanted to love these, they came out looking just like the picture, but they were dry. Thought that the baking temperature was somewhat unorthodox, so did them at 375 for 20 minutes. Perfectly baked, but still dry.
Absolute perfection! I LOVE chocolate and these definitely hit the spot. Highly recommend!
I’m scratching my head wondering how I could’ve gotten them to look anything like the photo. I don’t think it’s possible. I used fresh baking powder and baking soda but they’re still ugly. I guess if you really like muffins this is an alright recipe but I won’t be making it again because there are too many other wonderful looking things to try. Everything else I’ve ever made following this chef has been amazing.
Definitely spray the top of your muffin pan with nonstick spray. Otherwise it’s gonna rip the tops off when it spills over and hardens on the tray.
I rarely leave reviews but I feel this recipe worthy. I actually feel all the recipes I have baked from this site are worthy. Not only are the recipes easy to follow and create. They are also delicious. The soft moist cakes I’ve created have been beyond amazing. We just scarfed these choc muffins in record time. Last week I did a funfetti layer cake for a little boy’s birthday (who I had never even met) who lost his home in the devastating floods that hit our community. It was received with such happiness and I was told how yummy it was.
I will continue to use these recipes. I need to try some of the savoury ones.
Thank you
Glad you enjoyed these (and how sweet of you to make the funfetti cake for the birthday boy). ❤️❤️
I love this recipe! The muffins are incredibly soft even after a few days (in air tight containers) and tasted really good! My family loves and praises them. I could not find buttermilk in my supermarket so I had to opt for whole milk which was not an issue at all. Definitely want to make them once a month now 🙂
Have you tried just adding vinegar to normal milk if you don’t have buttermilk? 1 tablespoon to 1 cup of milk. I never buy buttermilk anymore.
This reply is slightly late. I have not, but I will definitely give it a go! Thank you 🙂
Dry and no flavor. Followed recipe exactly. Even bought buttermilk so recipe would be the same. Waste of money and time.
These muffins are amazing, we accidentally made them without baking powder and soda and they still were fluffy suckers! They made it two days in our house. Thank you for sharing!!
Delicious!!
These showed up in an email just prior to Valentine’s Day. Made these as cakes are just too much for 2. Used Hershey Dark Cocoa and Ghirardelli 60% cocoa chips – and actually found full fat buttermilk. What a dream for chocolate lovers. They are sensational and easy as can be to make up. Absolutely do not understand the comments about dryness – these were moist and perfect deep chocolate flavor. Definitely sharing this recipe and product with others. Another total winner from Jenn!
Omg… what did I just eat?! These muffins are perfection!!!! I made mini muffins, thinking I would eat less. These are going to disappear pronto. Thanks, Jenn, another fantastic recipe!
Hello! I’ve made these before and love them. Is there a way to use all Dutch-process cocoa in place of regular? I’ve read before that to do that you leave out all the baking soda and use double that amount of baking powder.
Hi Terri, I wouldn’t recommend Dutch-process cocoa powder here — sorry!
Joy of baking(the original recipe this is based on) says you can use either unsweetened cocoa or Dutch processed.
Hi Jenn,
Will you please give me your recipe to make buttermilk? I made your chocolate muffins this morning & my buttermilk was bad. I looked up how to make it, but I want your recipe. Love, love, love all of your recipes!!
Thanks for inspiring me!!
Debra
Hi Debra, So glad you like the recipes! I actually don’t have a recipe per se, but here’s the method: You’ll need milk and either white vinegar or freshly squeezed lemon juice. Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to a measuring cup and then add milk to the 1-cup line (use this same ratio of lemon juice/vinegar to milk when you need more than 1 cup of buttermilk). Let the mixture sit for 5 to 10 minutes. You’ll begin to see small curdled bits in the mixture; this means it’s ready to add to the recipe. Hope that helps!
Hi, I loved these muffins! So chocolatey and scrumptious. My kids couldn’t keep their hands off them! I noticed that few people commented that they found them dry. I definitely did NOT experience any dryness at all. I will be making these again soon!
the worst muffin I’ve ever done, and I bake a lot!
SOOOOO dry 🙁
Hi Jenn!
I bought both your cookbooks because all your recipes are always amazing! I only use your recipes now. That being said, this was first recipe out of maybe 100 I’ve made of yours that came out a little dry. I used the spoon and level method too. I was wondering though I made my own buttermilk using skim milk and lemon juice. Could that be the problem?
Also I noticed when I made your chocolate chip muffins you didn’t use cupcake liners? Why on some recipes you do and others you don’t? Some you have us spray liners? Just curious…..Thanks for all that you do for us with your blog and recipes!!!! Wish you could just “take the calories out of all these recipes!” Love, love, love your site!!
Denise Ksen Smith
Hi Denise, So glad you like the recipes but I’m sorry these came out dry for you! Other than making your own buttermilk (which shouldn’t have been a problem), did you make any adjustments to the recipe? If not, you could try reducing the oven temperature and baking them for the whole time at 350°F.
And I decide on whether to use liners, sprayed liners, or no liners at all based on the ingredients in the recipe and how much they would stick with any of the options (or to avoid having them stick). 🙂
Great flavor, moist and tender! I used canola oil instead of butter and full fat sour cream instead of buttermilk, got 16 muffins and baked 350° for 18 mins in silicone cupcake liners. They released very cleanly from the liners which isn’t always the case.
For those getting dry crumbly muffins, it’s likely the flour measure; buy a cheap electronic scale and weigh your ingredients- more accurate, consistent, and less washing up to do since you don’t need measuring cups!
These were great! Might need a little bit of modications to make it perfect. My husband said its not as sweet as he thought. Maybe use cane sugar half and brown sugar half? Otherwise it was great! I didn’t have buttermilk so I looked up how to make buttermilk online.. use mix 1 cup of milk and 1 tablespoon of white vinegar and have it sit for 5 minutes before using it with the recipe. I promised myself to only eat one but couldn’t stop eating them!
What a fantastic recipe!
Absolutely delicious and so easy to make. The only thing I changed was I halved the amount of sugar. Will definitely make these again and again x
This recipe is easy and delicious! I used apple cider vinegar and 2% milk since I didn’t have low-fat buttermilk. I highly recommend!
So easy but tasty. Thank you for the recipe Jenn ☺️
Hello Jenn,
Will it sink if I put cream cheese in the middle of the muffin before putting it in the oven.
Thank you!
Joyce
Hi Joyce, I’m not sure, but my gut would be to recommend against it — sorry!
Sounds like you’re trying to make black-bottom cupcakes. These have a center with cream cheese, egg, sugar and vanilla, plus chocolate chips. The centers of these cupcakes taste
like cheesecake. If you decide to add cream cheese, add an egg, some sugar (maybe 1/4 to 1/2 cup depending on how sweet you prefer) and vanilla and you’ll have a cheesecake-like center. Of course you won’t be able to test for doneness in the cream cheese part of the muffin, test in a cake-y area.
That said, Jenn’s recipes are fantastic, maybe it’s not necessary to mess with perfection.