Moist Chocolate Chip Muffins with Buttermilk

This recipe was originally published in May 2023. It has since been updated with a new recipe and new images.

Is there anything better than a muffin still warm from the oven? These bakery style chocolate chip muffins are based on my amazing cinnamon muffin recipe! This base muffin batter gives you super tall muffin tops, just like you find at a bakery.

They're made in one bowl and you don't even need a mixer. I love not having to drag out my stand mixer, so this is a win for me.

When testing these muffins, I used both regular chocolate chips and mini chocolate chips. I love how it looks but you also get so much chocolate in every bite.

The muffins are so easy to whip up, and I have a few tips on how to get super tall muffins tops. These are perfect for breakfast, brunch or as an afternoon snack!

Simpe Pantry Ingredients

• Buttermilk: using buttermilk in your muffin recipe will make the muffins super moist and fluffy. You can swap it out for full fat yogurt or sour cream.
• Leaveners: baking soda and baking powder are going to give these muffins a rise. Make sure your baking powder and baking soda haven't expired!
• Chocolate Chips: I'm using a combination of semisweet chocolate chips and mini chocolate chips, but feel free to use just one type if that's what you have on hand.
• Neutral Oil: You want to use a neutral oil like canola oil or vegetable oil. I tested this recipe so many times, with just butter or a combination of oil and butter, and found oil gave the softest muffin.
• Dried Milk Powder: a secret ingredient! Using skimmed dried milk powder is going to boost the flavor, but feel free to just leave it out if you don't have it on hand.

Step 1: In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and dried milk powder.

Step 2: In another bowl, whisk the oil with the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla extract, and sugar until smooth.

Step 3: Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour. After 50 minutes, preheat the oven to 425°Fahrenheit/220°Celsius and line 2 muffin pans with liners, lining every other muffin cavity.

Step 4: Gently scoop out the muffin batter with an ice cream scoop and fill to the top of each muffin liner. Sprinkle over some extra chocolate chips. Bake for 5 minutes, then without opening the oven, decrease the temperature to 350°Fahrenheit/175°Celsius and bake for an additional 18-20 minutes.

Making Tall Muffins

• Kitchen Scale: I always recommend weighing out your ingredients using a weighing scale. Not only does it mean less dishes for you, but it is the most accurate way to bake! It is so easy to add too much flour, giving you dry and stodgy muffins.
• Chocolate Chips: Keep a small handful of chocolate chips to the side and use them to sprinkle on top of each unbaked muffin just before baking.
• Mixing the Batter: Stop mixing the muffin batter as soon as there are no more streaks of flour. You don't want to overmix the muffin batter!
• Room Temperature: Make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature before you start the recipe. It is going to be so much easier to incorporate all the wet ingredients together if they're all at room temperature.
• Sparkling Sugar: Sprinkle over some sparkling sugar or coarse sugar on top of the muffins to get a sparkly muffin top.