Chocolate Muffins
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With a soft crumb and double the chocolate, these chocolate muffins strike the perfect balance between indulgent and everyday-friendly—no bakery run required!
The men in my family are all devoted chocoholics, so I’ve made a lot of chocolate treats over the years—but most don’t exactly count as breakfast. Not so with these double chocolate muffins! They’re less sweet than chocolate cupcakes, with a soft, tender crumb and rich chocolate flavor from a double dose of cocoa powder and chocolate chips. Best of all, they come together fast with pantry staples.
Whether someone needs a midweek pick-me-up or we’re just craving something a little more indulgent for breakfast, this is the chocolate muffin recipe we turn to again and again. If your craving round two, don’t miss my favorite chocolate chip muffins—they’re just as delicious.
“These muffins are spectacular! They come out beautiful, moist and chocolatey every time I make them.”
What you’ll need To Make Chocolate Muffins
- Large Eggs: Add structure and moisture, helping the muffins hold together while keeping the texture tender.
- Buttermilk: Adds moisture and tangy flavor, while helping create a soft, tender crumb. If you don’t have any buttermilk on hand, or don’t want to purchase a whole carton, see how to make buttermilk using milk and vinegar or lemon juice.
- Vanilla Extract: Rounds out the flavor and brings out the richness of the chocolate.
- All-Purpose Flour: Forms the base of the batter. For best results, scoop it into your measuring cup with a spoon and level it off with a knife.
- Natural Unsweetened Cocoa Powder: Delivers bold chocolate flavor without making the muffins overly sweet. Note that this is not the same as Dutch-process cocoa powder; they are not interchangeable in recipes.
- Light Brown Sugar: Sweetens the muffins and adds a hint of molasses flavor. Gently pack it into the measuring cup for accuracy.
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda: Help the muffins rise and stay light and fluffy.
- Semi-Sweet or Bittersweet Chocolate Chips: Add melty bursts of chocolate throughout—semi-sweet is a little sweeter, while bittersweet has a deeper, more intense cocoa flavor. Choose whichever you prefer.
- Butter: Adds richness and flavor while keeping the muffins moist and soft.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Mix the wet ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla until well combined.
Step 2: Whisk the dry ingredients. In another large bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk well, then rub the mixture through your fingers to break up any brown sugar or cocoa powder clumps.
Step 3: Combine wet and dry ingredients. Add ¾ cup of the chocolate chips, the egg mixture, and the melted butter to the dry ingredients.
Step 4: Stir to incorporate. Stir with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until just combined—don’t overmix. (Overmixing develops the gluten and can lead to tough muffins—stop stirring when you no longer see streaks of dry flour.)
Step 5: Fill the muffin tin. Line the muffin tin with muffin liners for easy release and cleanup. Then use an ice cream scoop or two spoons to fill the liners all the way to the top with batter. Filling the cups to the top helps give the muffins a nice domed shape—if using a scoop, this also keeps your portions even for consistent baking.
Step 6: Top off the muffins. Sprinkle the remaining ¼ cup of chocolate chips evenly over the muffin tops, pressing them in lightly. Adding chips to the tops makes them look like bakery-style muffins and makes sure every bite has visible chocolate.
Step 7: Bake. Bake at 425°F (220°C) for 8 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (175°C) and bake for 12 minutes more, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Starting at a high temp helps the muffins rise quickly and form domed tops, while lowering the heat ensures they bake through evenly. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. The muffins can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or frozen for up to 3 months.
More Chocolate Recipes You May Like
Chocolate Muffins
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 (packed) light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
Instructions
- Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 425°F (220°C). 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 (115 g) 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 ¼ cup (40 g) 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 (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.
Notes
- If you don't have any buttermilk on hand, you can make your own using milk and lemon juice or vinegar. Check out how to make your own buttermilk.
- Freezing Instructions: The muffins can be frozen in an airtight container or sealable plastic bag for up to 3 months. Thaw for 3 to 4 hours on the countertop before serving. To reheat, wrap individual muffins in aluminum foil and place in a preheated 350°F (175°C) oven until warm.
Nutrition Information
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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Can I use normal milk instead of buttermilk?
No, you really need buttermilk for these. If you don’t have any on hand, you can easily make your own. See how here. Hope that helps!
These directions were simple to follow, and a warm chocolate muffin was on my plate in under an hour! Super impressed because they look exactly like the picture and like a muffin I’d see in a bakery. Thank you for supplying my baking therapy 🙂
These are absolutely delicious. Make them 3 times recently. Everyone loves them! Easy enough to make with your little ones.
I did this recipe twice in the last month and turned out amazing. Thank you 🙂
Easy and delicious chocolate muffins. My 3yo loves making these 😊
I have been making these for the family for a while now and I was wondering: can I give them 15 stars? Made them again this morning. I now consider baking to be therapy during these strange times we live in…. Stay safe.
🙂 So glad you like them — stay healthy and safe!
Can these be cooked at all one temperature? I cooked as directions indicated for time and they were super dry.
Hi Kelly, I’m sorry you found these to be dry! Just curious, did you make any adjustments to the recipe? Did you use the spoon and level method for measuring the flour as a little bit of extra flour can make a big difference. If you’d like, you can reduce the temperature and bake them for the whole time at 350°F. Hope that helps!
Amazing! I didn’t have liners so I generously sprayed the muffin tin and also floured it. Worked out perfectly
These came out TRULY AMAZING. Deeply chocolately, moist and delicious.
CHANGES I MADE:
– Instead of butter I used 3/8 cup Olive Oil. Works perfectly. (You can often substitute olive oil for butter in baking by using 2/3rds the amount of butter called for.)
– I added 1/2 tsp of cinnamon powder. I always like the combination of a very light cinnamon touch with chocolate.
PRECISE DIRECTIONS: Your directions are so precise. The oven temperature directions made all the difference – perfect rise, evenly baked, and the outside is ever-so lightly crispy, inside soft and moist. (Often muffins come out super dry or gummy and in order to get the inside baked the outside over bakes. This was not like that at all.)
I will be making these a LOT!
These are more true to a cupcake for me, versus a muffin. Almost like what a chocolate cupcake box mix turns out like, and the choc chips all sank into the batter while cooking. Not bad, but I’m still searching for a good chocolatey MUFFIN recipe …
Turned out great. I used 1:1 gluten free flour, and canola oil (instead of butter). Oh, also I had a bit of Penzeys high fat and some Ghirardelli cacao powder instead of Hershey’s. Thank you- what a treat!
Best muffins I ever made – thank you! I have tried making muffins over the years but they always turned out to be a disappointment; dense and flat. These are so moist and delicious! Is it possible to omit the chocolate and add blueberries or other ingredients?
Carol
Hi Carol, so glad you had success with these! I wouldn’t recommend omitting the chocolate as it would be an entirely different recipe. If you’re interested in blueberry muffins though, these get great reviews from readers. 🙂
These are in the oven on 425 right now…and I’m wondering if after the 8 minutes are up I need to wait until the oven gets to 350 to put the muffins back in for the remaining 12 minutes? The batter tastes sooo delicious! Can’t wait to devour these.
Hi Fran, I know I’m weighing in too late to be helpful, but you don’t need to remove the muffins from the oven while you wait for the temperature to come down. Hope the muffins turned out nicely!
Okay taste but SO dry (and yes, I measured my flour properly and didn’t overmix…I am an amateur pastry chef). I think it was the super high starting oven temp and the 20 minute bake time. Typically my muffins are done in 15 minutes at 350. My oven is well insulated and even after the 12 minutes, the oven temp didn’t come down to 350. Was at 360 when I pulled them out. Next time I’d lower the oven temperature and baking time. Not sure what the purpose of the initial bake af 425 for 8 minutes was. I also used a dark nonstick pan and should have known better than to follow the 425 initial degree bake instructions. They taste great dunked in milk or served with some ice cream, though. Impossible to eat straight.