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.

Muffin pan full of chocolate chip muffins.

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!!”

Sandy

What You’ll Need To Make Chocolate Chip Muffins

ingredients for 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.

whisking dry ingredients for chocolate chip muffins

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.

chocolate chip muffins ready to bake

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.

chocolate chip muffins fresh out of the oven

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Print

Chocolate Chip Muffins (Easy, No-Mixer)

Muffin pan full of chocolate chip muffins.
Packed with mini chocolate chips and finished with a crunchy sugar topping, these muffins have been a longtime favorite in my house.
Servings: 1 muffin
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes

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

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

Per serving (12 servings) Calories: 348kcalCarbohydrates: 46gProtein: 4gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 64mgSodium: 215mgFiber: 1gSugar: 29g

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.

4.72 from 142 votes

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245 Comments

  • 1 star
    These never got done after over 40 minutes in the oven. I even brought out my oven thermometer to make sure it was the correct temp. This recipe is a complete fail.

    • It’s more likely your baking powder or soda wasn’t that fresh. I made these and they puffed up and cooked in the specified time.

  • 5 stars
    I felt like this was weird- this recipe seemed to either receive a 1star or a 4/5 star vote. I’m in the 5 star- they were moist, golden on top and not too sweet (which chocolate chip muffins sometimes can be). I struggle to understand how this could be a 1 star unless the user made a mistake… who knows??

    PS. I did sub plain yogurt for the sour cream since that’s what I had.

  • 5 stars
    A perfect chocolate chip muffin. And easy too!

  • 5 stars
    Love this recipe. It tastes great but I’m having trouble getting ours to have that ‘golden brown’ look. Any suggestions?

    • Hi Nancy, are you making any changes to the recipe or ingredient substitutions? (And glad you like them!)

  • 5 stars
    Hi Jen! Would this recipe work baked in a 9×13 dish? I’ve made these several times and they are amazing and always a big hit. Just wondering if it would bake up ok as a “cake” and cut into smaller servings. I also wanted to say that my family loves all your recipes and we have been working through both of your cookbooks. My six year old son calls you the “Chef Lady” and whenever I make something new he is skeptical unless I tell him it is one of your recipes 🙂. We had to switch over to gluten free a couple years ago and every single recipe we’ve substituted the King Arthur 1:1 Gluten Free All Purpose flour for has turned out fantastic! Thank you for sharing all your knowledge and yummy recipes!

    • Hi Toni, I’m very flattered to be the “chef lady“ in your house! 🙂
      Yes, I think you could convert this recipe and bake it in a 9 x 13“ baking dish. I’d love to hear how it turns out if you try it!

  • 5 stars
    Moist, delicious, and the perfect amount of chocolate chips — I couldn’t keep my kids and husband away from them!!

  • very bad, waste of ingredients very dry and bitter no flavour absolutely horrible
    do not recommend!!!

  • 5 stars
    Very moist, excellent muffin!

  • 5 stars
    I substituted blueberries for the the chocolate chips because I wanted a muffin recipe with sour cream to use up sour cream about to expire in my refrigerator. The best tasting muffin ever!!!
    Thank you for this recipe.

  • I usually bake with unsalted butter but did not have any so I used salted. Waiting to see if I messed these up! 🙁

    • Hi Jennifer, I hope they taste okay. For future reference, while it varies by brand, most salted butter has approximately 1/4 tsp. salt per stick, so you can use salted butter and reduce the salt in the recipe as needed. Hope that helps!