Chocolate Chip Muffins
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These easy chocolate chip muffins are soft and tender inside, with golden, sugar-crusted tops and mini chocolate chips in every bite.
These chocolate chip muffins were one of my go-tos when my kids were growing up, especially when I had a houseful of their friends to feed. The batter comes together in just 10 minutes (no mixer needed), and 20 minutes later, you’ve got warm, melty, chocolatey muffins ready to eat.
“Moist, delicious, and the perfect amount of chocolate chips — I couldn’t keep my kids and husband away from them!!”
What You’ll Need To Make Chocolate Chip Muffins
- All-Purpose Flour: For the most accurate measurement, spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level it off with a knife.
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda: Work together to give the muffins their lift and fluffy texture.
- Melted Butter: Using melted butter keeps the batter quick and easy—no mixer needed.
- Granulated Sugar and Light Brown Sugar: Using both gives the muffins sweetness and a subtle caramel note from the brown sugar.
- Eggs & Vanilla: The eggs provide structure and richness, while vanilla rounds out the chocolate flavor.
- Sour Cream: Keeps the muffins moist and gives them a tender crumb and soft texture. If you keep plain Greek yogurt on-hand, it’s perfectly fine to use it in place of the sour cream with no other modifications.
- Mini Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips: Mini chocolate chips are less likely to sink to the bottom of the muffins during baking, which means more chocolate in every bite.
- Coarse Sugar: Sprinkled over the muffins before baking, it gives the tops their signature sweet crunch.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How To Make Chocolate Chip Muffins
Combine the dry ingredients: Whisk the dry ingredients together well so the baking powder and baking soda are evenly distributed throughout the flour. This helps the muffins rise evenly.
Mix the wet ingredients: Whisk the melted butter with the sugars and vanilla until well combined, then add the eggs and sour cream.
Finish the batter: Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir just until combined. Once the flour goes in, avoid overmixing, which can make the muffins tough. Fold in the mini chocolate chips until evenly distributed.
Fill the muffin cups: Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, then sprinkle a few additional mini chocolate chips and some coarse sugar over the tops. The sugar bakes into a crisp, sparkly topping.
Bake the muffins: Bake until the muffins are risen and golden on top. Let them cool briefly in the pan, then transfer them to a rack to finish cooling. These muffins are best the day they’re made, but leftovers keep well for a few days and can also be frozen. See the recipe card below for full storage and freezing instructions.
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Chocolate Chip Muffins (Easy, No-Mixer)
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- Heaping ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup (packed) light brown sugar
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- ⅔ cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus about 3 tablespoons more for sprinkling on top
- About 1½ tablespoons coarse sugar, such as turbinado or sanding sugar, for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and set an oven rack in the middle position. Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. Whisk in the eggs, followed by the sour cream. Add the dry ingredients and whisk until evenly combined. Stir in ⅔ cup (120 g) of the chocolate chips.
- Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared pan, filling the muffin cups about three-quarters full. Sprinkle the tops with the remaining chocolate chips, followed by the coarse sugar. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until domed and golden brown. Let the muffins cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely. The muffins are best enjoyed fresh on the same day, but leftovers will keep well in a covered container for a few days. (To refresh individual muffins, warm in the microwave for 15 to 20 seconds.)
Notes
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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These are a favorite around my house. We’ve made them about a dozen times. Thanks for this recipe.
Can I make these in mini-muffin pans? If so, what temperature and cooking time do you recommend?
Thanks,
Ellen
Sure, Ellen. I’d keep the temperature the same and start checking for doneness around 15 minutes.
Hi Jen
Love ALL your recipes. I made these muffins this morning and they are great! I love how there is a bit more structure to them but incredibly moist. Quick question though. I baked them for 18.5 min and they were done with a toothpick test but the tops were still so pale. Do you think this in an oven issue? Should I switch to convection? I ended up broiling the tops a bit to give it a nice colour but would prefer not to have to do that. Or maybe I’m just too quick to take them out for fear of a dry muffin? Isn’t the toothpick test the best guide?
Thanks so much for all your recipes! They never fail me.
Hi Jennifer, so glad you like the recipes! I would not use the convection setting on your oven. Rather, I’d just leave them in the oven for a few extra minutes. These are pretty moist and don’t think you’ll dry them out if you leave them in for an extra two minutes or so. Hope that helps!
I have been making these muffins since I stumbled across the recipe 2 years ago. They are absolutely delicious. They are moist and loaded with chocolate chips. They are requested by family over and over again. The batter will be very thick. I can’t imagine why these would not turn out perfect and delicious like they do every time I make them. I love all the recipes I’ve made from you. Thank you.
I have made these before and they were delicious. So I am making them again for church. They are going to be a hit! They taste like chocolate chip cookies but healthier!
This recipe is great! The sour cream makes them moist and the addition of chocolate chips and sugar on top makes for an excellent muffin top. They arent overly sweet but still very tasty. I would make these again!
These got devoured. Definitely saving this recipe as a go-to for our family.
Note: 1 1/2 cups of flour was plenty. Otherwise I followed the recipe as is and it came out perfect.
Hi, I strongly recommend this recipe!! Thank you for this!!! I used milk+1tbs of vinegar instead of the sour cream since I did not have the latter. Also I used butter and oil mix instead of only using butter. I would also suggest using good quality chocolate chips like Hersheys – I have noticed it makes a huge difference in the end result! I skipped the sugar topping part, that would be good too. Also one can broil the muffins for a minute to give a brownish top.
Yum! Great texture — they were really moist and tender. And they tasted like they came from a bakery. I’ll definitely be saving this recipe!
I should have known the muffins would be dry when I saw how thick the batter was so thick. Honestly, believe the one star reviews. There are better chocolate chip muffin recipes out there. The people who say they are good are probably people who don’t mind a muffin as dry as a scone. There are muffins that have a better crumb. This is proof that just because Jenn was a chef, doesn’t mean she knows how to bake. A total waste of ingredients. The chocolate chip muffins were barely edible and yes, I do know how to follow a recipe.
Your comments are not nice. How dare you have the audacity to insult a chef based on a recipe that you made and probably messed up?