Bakery-Style Chocolate Chip Muffins.

Remember my “master muffin batter” recipe?  Well here she is again.

So beautiful and full of chocolate.

I’ve been having a blast baking enormous, XXL, bakery sized muffins in my new 6-cup jumbo muffin tin.  I love those oversized, gorgeous, tempting muffins we see behind the counter at bakeries and local coffee shops.  ”Buy me!” they say as I pay for my XXL vanilla coffee.

A couple weeks ago, I made my own bakery-style muffins.  Large and in charge.  Full of plump juicy blueberries. You guys loved them!  And so did we.  Today’s variety is the same basic batter recipe, but includes a plethora of chocolate chips, cinnamon, a dash of nutmeg, and of course… some sparkly sugar bling on top.

Always need the bling.

If you’re looking for a standard muffin recipe, a place for all of your favorite add-ins, then this is the one.  Whether they are made in a jumbo, standard size or mini size tin, these muffins bake up incredibly soft, fluffy, and moist. I have no tolerance for dry baked goods and these muffins are anything but.

It’s an easy recipe that can be mixed by hand in a matter of minutes before popping into the oven.  The batter is quite thick – as most muffin batters should be – and can hold a bounty of little extras like fruit, nuts, or in today’s instance… chocolate. Lots and lots of melty chocolate engulfed in a puffy, fluffy muffin.

Let’s see how they come to life.

Get out some of your baking tools.  Really, not much is needed to make this batter.  One large bowl, one medium bowl, a whisk, a wooden spoon, measuring cups/spoons, and your muffin tin.  Today’s muffins can be made into 6 large muffins, 12 standard size muffins, or 24 mini muffins.  Sometimes the mini versions are perfect for portion control, but that’s not what I’m going for today.  I’m replicating your favorite bakery chocolate chip muffin.

Something key to note here that I’ve learned over the past few months – I use a wooden spoon to mix my muffin batters.  Never an electric mixer.  While it is certainly thick, muffin batter is quite delicate and testy.  It can “crush” easily.  If you use a hand mixer, you need to be SO careful not to overmix the batter, which will give you a rock hard, dense, and crumbly product.  I avoid the hand mixer at all costs with my muffin recipes.

A wooden spoon or even a rubber spatula does the trick for mixing muffin batter.

3 cups of flour, 4 teaspoons of baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Wow!  4 teaspoons of baking powder? Yes.  As I mentioned in my Sparkling Jumbo Blueberry Muffin recipe, you’ll need this amount of baking powder to create a significant rise against the oil, milk, and eggs in the recipe.   Muffins can be made with any leavening agent and I’ve tested batters using baking soda, baking powder, or a mixture of both in my muffin recipes over the past year.  I prefer baking powder if I am looking for a significantly high domed top.

Use your whisk, or even a fork, to mix up all your dry ingredients so the baking powder and salt disburse evenly throughout.  You could always sift the dry ingredients together, but I do not take this extra step. A light 20-second whisk is sufficient.

The fragrant mixture of cinnamon and nutmeg are the perfect bed for the chocolate chips.  I love the combination of chocolate and nutmeg, especially in a muffin.  I do not suggest leaving it out!  Nutmeg gives the batter that little something extra.  Not much is added, just a scant 1/4 teaspoon.  I’m not so shy with the ground cinnamon though – there is 1 whole teaspoon of my favorite spice present today.  I can never get enough cinnamon.

Oil is the fat used in today’s recipe.  I’ve mentioned before that I’m familiar with using both butter and oil in my muffin and bread recipes.  The fat is what will give your product a moist, tender consistency.  If you are looking for a lower fat muffin recipe, you may use applesauce, bananas, or yogurt in lieu of oil/butter.  I do not suggest using a lower fat option in today’s recipe.  See here, here, and here for healthy muffin options.

Mix the wet ingredients by hand.  Again, there is no mixer needed today.  Less dishes to dirty, I like it!  Make sure the eggs and milk are at room temperature, which allows them to be more easily incorporated with the rest of the wet ingredients.  Try to set out your eggs and milk about 30 minutes before making the muffins if you can remember.

Combine the dry and wet ingredients together with a wooden spoon.  Don’t overmix.  Are you tired of me saying that yet?  But trust me, this is very important to assure a soft, fluffy muffin.  Sometimes I get a little mixing-happy when I’m not paying attention.  About 20 strokes to mix it all together is plenty.

The batter is quite thick.  Just know that ahead of time.   Gently fold in the chocolate chips.  I used semi-sweet chocolate chips this time, but I want to use a combination of chunks and chips in my next batch.  Use whatever chocolate you like.  You could even add walnuts or pecans as well – just do not go over 1 and 1/4 cup of total add-ins.  I was so excited to bake these that I forgot to add nuts to the batter. Whoops!

Now here’s my little secret.  Fill your muffin tins all the way to the top.  If using a giant muffin tin, your batter will fill 6 large tins to the brim.  I’ve talked about the importance of high filling in my post about creating sky-high muffin tops. This trick only works if you set the initial oven temperature high, then lower it as the muffins bake. I discuss that in detail below the next photo.

I sprinkled the tops with coarse sugar before putting into the oven.  This is completely optional, but I loved the extra sparkle/bling! I found these coarse sugar sprinkles in the baking aisle of my local grocery store.   {please note this photo was taken with my blueberry muffin variety.}

Bake the muffins for 5 minutes at 425F degrees, then about 25 minutes at 375F degrees.  Setting the oven to a high temperature burst lifts the muffin top up quickly and creates a tall crust.  That is why you fill the muffin tins to the top with the batter prior to baking.

Typically, muffins are baked at 350F – 375F the whole time, but set the oven to 425F initially, then bring back down to 375F.  You’ll have tall, sugar-crusted, crackly tops with this trick.

I know I explained a lot of “muffin science” above, but truthfully – this is a very straightforward and easy muffin recipe.  And you will fall in love with how soft these are, especially paired with the melty chocolate and the crunchy sugar-coated tops.  The cinnamon spice and touch of nutmeg put these apart from any chocolate chip muffin I’ve ever had. And the smell of them baking – wow.  Your kitchen has just turned into a muffin bakery.

I grabbed little pieces of the muffins here and there during the day and for dessert (after I already had one for breakfast!).  They are a perfect “anytime” chocolatey snack.

Do you like chocolate chip muffins? They are one of my favorite varieties behind bran muffins (I’m boring!), peach muffins, and blueberry muffins.

*make sure to read above for details and rationale for baking temperatures, quantities of ingredients, temperature of ingredients, and amount of ingredients.

Here is my other jumbo muffin variety using this same batter, linked a couple times above.

Sparkling Jumbo Blueberry Muffins

I like baking muffins as much as I like baking cookies.  The options are endless, especially if you find a treasured basic recipe that you love.  Today’s recipe is mine when I’m looking for bakery-style muffins.

Here are a couple of my other favorite muffin recipes and two favorite banana bread recipes – all including chocolate.

Banana Muffins with Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Streusel

Nutella Stuffed Cinnamon Sugar Muffins

Dark Chocolate Raspberry Banana Bread

Nutella Swirled Peanut Butter Banana Bread

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Tagged as: chocolate chips, cinnamon, Muffin Recipes