Baking muffins at home brings joy to the day, especially when you pair a warm muffin straight from the oven with a cup of coffee. Although, a light and fluffy chocolate chip muffin is delicious any time of day! Whether the craving strikes first thing in the morning or for an afternoon snack, you can have these homemade muffins dotted with chocolate on the table in just over 30 minutes. So, what are you waiting for?
Ingredients for Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Flour: All-purpose flour is used in many muffin recipes to provide structure.
- Baking powder: Baking powder is key to making these muffins rise. For best results, check that your baking powder has not expired before adding it to the batter. Make sure you know the difference between baking powder and baking soda, and that you’re not confusing the two!
- Egg: This chocolate chip muffins recipe calls for a single egg. Pull it out of the fridge ahead of time to let it come to room temperature before adding it to the batter, since room temperature eggs combine with other ingredients better than cold eggs do.
- Oil: Canola oil is used in this recipe to add fat and moisture. You could swap canola oil for vegetable oil if needed.
- Mini chocolate chips: This muffin recipe uses mini chocolate chips, so there’s chocolate spread evenly throughout the batter. This also helps to give the muffins a more delicate texture with little pops of chocolate. Semisweet chocolate is our go-to choice, but there are other types of chocolate for baking if you need to switch things up.
Directions
Step 1: Preheat the oven
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Prepare a muffin pan with paper liners, or grease each muffin cup.
Step 2: Combine the dry ingredients
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Step 3: Add the wet ingredients
In a small bowl, beat the egg, milk and oil. Stir the wet ingredients into the flour mixture just until moistened. Fold in the chocolate chips.
Editor’s Tip: Use a spatula or wooden spoon for this step, rather than a hand mixer. This will help to prevent overmixing the batter.
Step 4: Bake the muffins
Divide the batter between the 12 prepared muffin cups, filling each three-fourths full. Bake the muffins until a toothpick inserted in one comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Cool the muffins for 5 minutes in the pan before transferring them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Chocolate Chip Muffin Variations
- Add nuts: Chocolate chips pair well with walnuts and pecans. Fold in 1/2 cup of chopped nuts with the chocolate chips for extra crunch. You could also sprinkle crushed nuts such as pistachios on top before baking.
- Choose your chocolate chips: Treat these muffins like your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe by customizing them how you like. This recipe calls for mini chocolate chips, but you can easily swap them out for another option. Consider using regular-sized semisweet chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips or even white chocolate chips. If you don’t know which brand to buy, grab one of our Test Kitchen’s picks for the best chocolate chips.
- Top with sugar: Love those bakery-style muffins with a crunchy sugar topping? Recreate them at home! Just before the muffins go in the oven, sprinkle a bit of coarse sugar on top.
How to Store Chocolate Chip Muffins
To keep muffins from getting stale, store them in a plastic zip-top bag or airtight container. Store the muffins at room temperature for up to two days, or keep them in the fridge for up to five days.
Can you freeze chocolate chip muffins?
Yes! You can freeze muffins, and this recipe for chocolate chip muffins is no exception. Bake and cool the muffins. Once cooled, transfer them to a freezer bag or airtight container. Keep muffins in the freezer for up to two months.
Chocolate Chip Muffin Tips
How do you make light and fluffy muffins?
The key to light and fluffy muffins is to avoid overmixing the batter. Beating the wet ingredients together before combining with the dry ingredients helps prevent overmixing. After you’ve done so, mix the wet and dry ingredients together until they’re just combined to prevent overmixing.
How do you make mini chocolate chip muffins?
Prefer a bite-sized treat? Make mini muffins! Use a mini muffin pan and divide the batter to make 36 muffins. Reduce the bake time to 10 to 12 minutes, and keep a close eye on the muffins to prevent overbaking.
