Enjoy the softest, fluffiest muffins with this simple no-mixer-required batter! These chocolate covered strawberry muffins are exceptionally light and each bite is filled with chocolate chips and sweet strawberries. Sour cream is the main ingredient and you can easily swap it out for Greek yogurt instead.
I originally published this recipe in 2012 and have since added new photos, a video tutorial, and more success tips.
One of my favorite cookbooks, Cooks Illustrated: The New Best Recipe cookbook, contains a recipe for fluffy & moist blueberry sour cream muffins. I used to make them quite often and over the years, I’ve made some changes to the batter including using a combination of baking powder and soda, adding vanilla and 1 extra Tbsp of butter, reducing the sugar, reducing the sour cream and adding milk, plus adding plenty of strawberries and chocolate chips. The recipe below reflects my edits—you’ll love them because they brown nicely (baking soda), aren’t as sweet (reduced sugar) and the batter isn’t quite as heavy (adding milk).
One reader, Sarah, commented: “If I could give these 6 stars, I would. Fluffy, light, absolutely perfect muffin consistency. It doesn’t get better than strawberries and chocolate! ★★★★★“
Tell Me About These Chocolate Covered Strawberry Muffins
- Flavor: These muffins are buttery, mildly sweet, and studded with melty chocolate chips and sweet juicy strawberries. If you love chocolate, don’t skip the chocolate drizzle on top. These muffins could basically be cupcakes in disguise!
- Texture: Sour cream keeps the muffins light, moist, and fluffy. Because it leaves such a desirable texture, sour cream is my secret ingredient in many other baked goods like vanilla cupcakes, 1-layer sprinkle cake, double chocolate muffins, and banana bread. Since we’re using 1 cup in this batter, the muffins are lighter than other muffin recipes that may use less sour cream. And if you don’t have sour cream on hand, Greek yogurt (non fat, low fat, or full fat) works as a wonderful replacement.
- Ease: This is a recipe suitable for beginners. In fact, muffins are my #1 suggestion if you’re looking for a quick, fun, and easy baking recipe and that’s why I recommend them when baking with kids. Plus, I know you’ll appreciate that there’s no mixer required; you can whisk and fold this batter by hand.
Success Tips for These Chocolate Chip Strawberry Muffins
- Room Temperature Ingredients: Bring your egg, sour cream, and milk to room temperature before mixing together this batter. If any are too cold, they will change the temperature of the batter and solidify the melted butter—same is true when making banana muffins too. The batter will no longer be uniform in texture so you’ll have some greasy muffins and some dry muffins.
- Thick Muffin Batter: As you put together this muffin batter, you’ll notice it’s quite thick. Thick muffin batter is actually perfect because the thicker the batter, the more likely your muffins will hold a tall shape. Thin muffin batters usually spill over the top of the muffin liner giving you flat, mushroom-topped muffins. Additionally, thick muffin batter keeps the slippery strawberry pieces suspended in the baked muffins.
- Initial High Temperature: Bake the muffins for 5 minutes at an initial high oven temperature and then lower the oven temperature down. The initial high oven temperature quickly lifts up the muffin top. Once you lower the temperature, the centers of the muffins bake. You’ll notice I suggest this in nearly all my muffin recipes.
Fresh strawberries are best, but see the recipe note if you’d like to use frozen. If you prefer plain strawberry muffins, you can absolutely skip the chocolate chips and chocolate topping.
Chocolate Topping
A drizzle of melted chocolate turns these strawberry muffins into dessert. (But still definitely acceptable for breakfast!) Use baking chocolate such as Ghirardelli or Bakers brands—both are sold as 4 ounce bars in the baking aisle. One 4-ounce bar is plenty to melt down and drizzle over the muffins.
If you love these flavors and you really are looking for dessert, these chocolate covered strawberry cupcakes should be on the menu. They’re chocolate cupcakes with strawberry buttercream filling and rich chocolate ganache on top.
Looking for chocolate muffins instead? You will love these double chocolate muffins because they’re soft, moist, and filled-to-the-brim with chocolate chips.
More Muffin Recipes
If you love baking muffins, here are more quick and easy recipes:
- Applesauce Muffins
- Blueberry Muffins
- Apple Cinnamon Muffins
- Morning Glory Muffins
- And, of course, my favorite base muffin recipe (any add-in/flavor!)
Chocolate Covered Strawberry Muffins
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 24 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins
- Category: Muffins
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Enjoy soft and fluffy strawberry muffins with chocolate chips and a chocolate drizzle on top. See recipe note if using frozen strawberries.
Ingredients
Muffins
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 5 Tablespoons (71g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1 cup (240g) sour cream, at room temperature*
- 1/4 cup (60ml) milk, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (about 180g) chopped fresh strawberries (see note about frozen)*
- 3/4 cup (135g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Chocolate Topping
- 4 ounce (113g) semi-sweet chocolate bar, coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C). Spray a 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with cupcake liners. Set aside.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl until combined. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg, sugar, and melted butter together until combined. Whisk in the sour cream, milk, and vanilla extract. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, whisk a few times to begin combining, and then stir with a silicone spatula to finish combining. Batter is very, very thick. Fold in the strawberries and chocolate chips. Avoid overmixing.
- Spoon the batter into liners, filling them all the way to the top. Bake for 5 minutes at 425 then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (177°C). Bake for an additional 17-19 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total time these muffins take in the oven is about 22-24 minutes, give or take. (For mini muffins, bake 12-14 minutes at 350°F (177°C) the whole time.)
- Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the muffin pan, and then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling.
- Chocolate Topping: In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate in 15 second increments stopping and stirring after each until perfectly smooth. (Stir in 1 teaspoon vegetable oil if chocolate seems too thick for drizzling.) Drizzle over muffins. Muffins can still be warm when adding the chocolate topping.
- Allow chocolate to set completely at room temperature or in the refrigerator OR enjoy muffins while chocolate topping is still warm.
- Muffins stay fresh covered at room temperature for a few days, then transfer to the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: For longer storage, freeze muffins for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature or warm up in the microwave if desired.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 12-Count Muffin Pan | Muffin Liners | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Silicone Spatula | Cooling Rack
- Sour Cream: If you don’t have sour cream on hand, Greek yogurt (non fat, low fat, or full fat) is the best substitute.
- Milk: You can use any milk, dairy or nondairy such as skim milk, whole milk, coconut milk, etc.
- Strawberries: Cut the strawberries into 1/2 – 3/4 inch pieces. Fresh strawberries are ideal, but you can use frozen and thawed berries if needed. I recommend thawing and patting them dry with a paper towel before folding into the batter.
- Room Temperature Ingredients: It’s best if any cold ingredients are brought to room temperature before starting. The melted butter will slightly solidify if other ingredients are too cold and you may notice greasy oily pockets in the baked muffins.
- Adapted from the blueberry sour cream muffins in Cooks Illustrated: The New Best Recipe. The recipe above includes the changes—using a combination of baking powder and soda, adding 1 Tbsp of butter, adding vanilla, reducing the sugar, reducing the sour cream and adding milk, plus adding plenty of strawberries and chocolate chips.
Reader Comments and Reviews
These are easy and delicious! I didn’t add the chocolate drizzle because I thought it was nicely balanced as is.
DELICIOUS! LOVE this recipe! I have been baking for decades and these were the most moist muffins! I undercook a bit.
These are absolutely AMAZING! My favorite muffin of all time. I use the base recipe for most other muffins now. Yesterday I made “Red, white and blue” muffins. I subed raspberry and blueberry for the strawberries and used white chocolate instead of regular chocolate. They are delicious
This is the best recipe I have ever had and the only thing I ever want to eat for the rest of my life. thank you Sally you saved my life
Made this for the first time and it turned out great. I reduced the sugar (70g for topping and 120g for the cake) and it turned out just fine. I might reduce the sugar even more by 20 g for the cake next time to reduce the sweetness even further. Had I followed the sugar amount in the recipe it would have been too sweet for my liking. Thank you Sally. I wil make this again sometime.
I didn’t love this recipe as much as I had hoped to. It was a bit too heavy on the chocolate and light on the strawberries. I think I may have cut the strawberry pieces too small. I also think that I would just top the muffins with some of the chocolate chips, rather than drizzle the chocolate on top. That seemed like overkill. I’ll definitely try these again with slight modifications.
Some of your muffin recipes say they can be done as 6 giant bakery-style muffins. Would this batter work to do that with too? Thanks! My whole family loves your recipes!
That should work fine, Kamarie! We would follow the baking instructions from our jumbo blueberry muffins recipe.
I’ve made these jumbo many many times, they are amazing!
I didn’t have sour cream but I did have a 1/2 cup of greek yogurt leftover and then I blended a 1/2 cup of full fat cottage cheese to get to the full 1 cup measurement (blending was to get a smooth, creamy consistency like yogurt) Changed nothing else and the recipe turned out delicious! Super fluffy and not too sweet.
I love ALL of your recipes. Do you think it would turn out the same if i substituted equal amount of honey for the sugar?
Hi Cheryl, we haven’t tested this recipe with liquid sweeteners, so we’re unsure of the results.
Would applesauce work well enough instead of sour cream/Greek yogurt?
Hi Rose, the taste and texture will be compromised if using applesauce. Sour cream (or yogurt) keeps the muffins light, moist, and fluffy.
I’m excited to make this recipe for my son’s classroom to celebrate his birthday. Have you tried this as mini muffins? Thoughts on suggested cooking time?
Hi Catherine! For mini muffins, bake 12-14 minutes at 350°F (177°C) the whole time.
I have always struggled with a good vanilla base for muffins as they tend to be heavy and bland. Not this recipe! The muffins were airy and delicious and the hits of strawberry and chocolate divine. I was careful not to over mix and I filled the muffin tin to the top and they were perfect. I dipped the tops in melted chocolate instead of drizzling and it was a heavenly experience. Thank you for posting this.
I forgot the sugar! All of it! Ooops! They still turned out really well…more biscuit like but no could tell what was missing since it was the first time I made them. Not the last though…
These were absolutely delicious! I added 20g of powdered freeze-dried strawberries to the dry ingredients, and used halved raspberries as the fruit. Incredible, soft texture and great flavor!
It was SUPER easy and SUPER great!!! I used Frozen but still tasted great!! my brother wanted chocolate ones but I thought it was delicious!!! I’m only 12 but I thought it was easy though I’m advanced for my age
Hi Sally, I am a big fan of all your recipes. You are my go to girl for recipes. Would raspberries work in this recipe?
Hi Kathy, thank you! You can sub in raspberries for the strawberries, yes.
These were amazing!! I used Greek yogurt because I didn’t have sour cream and also mini chocolate chips.
Thank you!!
LOVED IT will do again
These are some of the best muffins i’ve ever made! I’ve made MANY different recipes over the years and i knew just from mixing this batter that it was going to be an awesome muffin. Key to mixing a muffin is to NOT over mix. Less is more. Enjoy everyone!
Loved these! I didn’t add any chocolate, so they are just the perfect mini strawberry muffins. Exactly what I’ve been craving! The muffin itself isn’t overly sweet nor bland, they were done at exactly 12 minutes and are super delicious!
Just made these and they are amazing!! Sally is always my go to when looking for a new recipe.
Hi Sally! I’d like to substitute fresh cherries for the strawberries. Would this work? Thanks!
Hi Cathy, We can’t see why not! Sounds delicious.
Defrosting and Patting frozen strawberries to take away the excess liquid was key. Used dark chocolate for the drizzle to take some sweetening off. What a success.
Absolutely delicious, Sally does it again! I made 6 with chocolates chips and 6 with strawberries only ( not a fan of chocolate in muffins) and both were great. It took longer to get the sour cream to room temperature but glad I didn’t change a thing, as the muffins rose beautifully and tasted great. Thank you, Sally.
Similar texture as big box store muffins . I used half the chocolate amount in the batter and half amount for the icing. Definitely sweet enough with those changes.
Hi Sally!!! I just made your lemon blueberry muffins, they came out perfect!! I have a question about these strawberry chocolate muffins. I have a lactose intolerance, I but the allergen free chocolate chips. Can I melt the chips or the cocoa powder to make the chocolate drizzle for on top? Or is there allergen free melting chocolate? Thank you!!!
Hi María, We’re so glad you enjoyed the lemon blueberry muffins! You can certainly try melting the allergen free chocolate chips for the chocolate drizzle. Chocolate chips usually contain stabilizers that prevent them from melting properly, but it’s *should* work okay for the purposes of drizzling on these muffins. Let us know how you like them!
Look at guittard dairy free line it is fantastic and Mets wonderfully
I made these for this morning’s breakfast, once again didn’t disappoint! My family and I absolutely loved them! I made a couple of changes one being instead of sour cream I used vanilla yogurt and two being I left out the chocolate chips and chocolate drizzle. I wanted more of a vanilla flavor and didn’t want to take away from the strawberries with adding chocolate. They turned out just as I was hoping that they would turn out! Thank you as always for sharing your recipes with us!
SO GOOD! Made these tonight and hubby said they are delicious. I used milk chocolate because I have more of a sweet tooth and also topped with chopped freeze dried strawberries. Very tasty!
What’s is a good dairy free substitute for the sour cream?
Hi Kelly! A dairy free yogurt would work well.
This is a delicious muffin. My coworkers are always asking me to make them.
So unique and delicious! I feel like most muffins recipes are underwhelming, not these muffins! They are fluffy and bakery style and the pairing of strawberries and chocolate chips (I used mini) is perfect! Make these today, you won’t be disappointed! In fact you’ll want to eat another and another, until they’re gone and you’re getting your mixing bowl back out again to make more. I’m off the try more of Sally’s muffin recipes!
I had almost a whole tub of leftover sour cream to use up, so I scored Sally’s website for the recipe that used the most. This one popped up, and although I had neither strawberries nor chocolate on hand, I improvised by adding a cinnamon sugar swirl in the center of the cupcakes with the a streusel topping on top! They baked up beautifully: the muffins themselves have a wonderfully fluffy texture, and the cinnamon swirl (I made it with melted butter) contributed sweet, juicy pockets of goodness. With the crispy crumbs on top, it was texture heaven and tasty to boot! Definitely a new favorite base muffin recipe.