These double chocolate muffins have been our favorite chocolate muffin recipe for over a decade. I love them so much that I published the easy recipe in my 1st cookbook back in 2014! (We now add even more chocolate chips and a touch of vanilla for extra flavor, as you’ll see in the recipe below.) The muffins are incredibly rich, mega chocolate-y, and loaded with chocolate chips in every single bite. Sour cream helps guarantee a soft and moist muffin that has a denser texture than chocolate cupcakes.
Not pointing fingers or anything but chocolate sweet rolls, you’re kind of high maintenance for the morning. (Worth the hype and effort for sure though.) Here’s something easier that satisfies your chocolate craving and doesn’t require a ton of effort, time, or patience. Ha!
One reader, Teck, commented: “It’s truly a superb recipe. Moist and full of flavor. Easy to follow. Voted the best muffin by my family. ★★★★★”
Another reader, Paulina, commented: “They turned out just perfect and looked so good, you’d think I bought them. This will definitely be my go-to chocolate muffin recipe from now on! ★★★★★”
Double Chocolate Muffins Details
- Flavor: Chocolate. Seriously, that’s all you really need to know! This chocolate muffin recipe comes together with cocoa powder and chocolate chips. In recent years, I began adding vanilla extract to the batter for a touch of extra flavor. You can certainly leave it out if you’d like (and as mentioned above, the cookbook recipe doesn’t include it).
- Texture: Unlike chocolate cupcakes and chocolate cake, these muffins don’t really have a sponge-like texture. And that’s mostly because we aren’t adding hot water to the batter. They’re more like a bakery-style muffin with a tighter crumb and satisfying bite.
- Ease: Besides the deep chocolate flavor, what you’ll love most about this double chocolate chip muffin recipe is its ease. The recipe uses common baking ingredients, doesn’t require a mixer, and is super straightforward like this pumpkin muffins recipe—2 cups of this, 1 cup of that, and whole eggs. (No separating needed.)
Key Ingredients in Double Chocolate Muffins
The full written recipe is below, but let’s walk through some key ingredients so you understand their importance. This is always helpful when looking for substitution options.
- Cocoa Powder: Use unsweetened natural cocoa powder. You could get away use dutch process cocoa powder, but the muffins may not rise as much. For best taste and texture, stick with natural. Most of the flavor comes from the cocoa powder, so choose a good one! I’ve baked with many over the years and I always go back to Hershey’s.
- Sour Cream: If you were to skip the sour cream and replace it with milk, the chocolate muffins would be thin, flat, and wet. Just like it does in chocolate covered strawberry muffins, sour cream lifts the crumb and keeps the muffins moist. You can replace it with plain yogurt and I often do—in fact, that’s how the recipe is written in the book!
- Oil: We usually use creamed butter and sugar in muffin recipes like blueberry muffins. However, cocoa powder is a very drying ingredient so it’s best paired with oil to keep the muffins moist. If you replace it with melted butter, the muffins will dry out. You won’t miss the flavor of butter because chocolate overpowers it.
By the way, if you enjoy banana + chocolate together, you’ll love these chocolate banana muffins—they’re whole wheat, too!
Expect a thick and sticky batter.
Avoid Overmixing & Use Room Temperature Ingredients
Really all you’re doing here is whisking the dry ingredients together in one bowl and the wet ingredients together in another bowl. The dry ingredients include the sugar and chocolate chips. This way you’re only mixing the ingredients together once—dry + wet instead of dry + wet + mixing in the chocolate chips. Make sense?
- The reason why you’ll mix the chocolate chips into the dry ingredients is to avoid over-mixing the final batter. Over-mixing muffin batter can lead to a tough, dense baked good. While these chocolate muffins are certainly denser than our soft and spongy chocolate cupcakes, they aren’t heavy as bricks.
- What will also help you avoid overmixing is using room temperature ingredients. Bring the eggs, milk, and sour cream to room temperature before starting. As a shortcut, place the eggs in a glass of warm water for 10 minutes and—honestly this is what I do—microwave the sour cream and milk for 10-15 seconds to take the chill off.
Tip: You won’t regret eating one warm out of the oven. Those melty chips!
Double Chocolate Muffins Recipe Video
Double Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 21 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes (includes slight cooling)
- Yield: 12-14 muffins
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These double chocolate muffins are incredibly rich, mega chocolate-y, and loaded with chocolate chips in every single bite. Sour cream helps guarantee a soft and moist muffin that has a denser texture than chocolate cupcakes.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (41g) unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 and 3/4 cups (315g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup (185g) full fat sour cream or plain yogurt, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (120ml) vegetable oil*
- 1/2 cup (120ml) whole milk, at room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C). Spray a 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray or use cupcake liners. This recipe yields about 14 muffins, so prepare a second muffin pan in the same manner or bake in batches and reserve leftover batter at room temperature for when the first batch is done.
- Whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and chocolate chips together in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Whisk the eggs, sour cream, oil, milk, and vanilla extract together until combined. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and fold together with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon until completely combined. (Batter is quite thick, so I recommend a spatula or spoon over a whisk.) Avoid overmixing. The batter will be thick and sticky.
- Spoon the batter into liners, filling them all the way to the top. Bake for 5 minutes at 425°F then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (177°C). Bake for an additional 15-16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total time these muffins take in the oven is about 20-21 minutes, give or take. (For mini muffins, bake 13-14 total minutes at 350°F (177°C) the whole time.)
- Cool muffins for 10 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack until ready to eat.
- Cover leftover muffins and store at room temperature for 5 days or in the refrigerator for 1 week.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: For longer storage, freeze the muffins for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then heat up in the microwave if desired.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 12-count Muffin Pan | Cupcake Liners | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Wooden Spoon or Silicone Spatula | Cooling Rack
- Jumbo Muffins: If you’d like to make about 6 jumbo muffins instead of standard size, follow the recipe through step 3 using a greased jumbo 6-count muffin pan. Spoon batter into the liners, filling all the way to the top. Bake for 5 minutes at 425°F then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (177°C). Bake for an additional 25-28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Sour Cream: Use full fat sour cream. In a pinch, you can replace it with plain yogurt. (Full fat Greek style or regular yogurt would be best.)
- Oil: For best taste and texture, use vegetable oil. In a pinch, you can replace with canola oil or olive oil. The muffins can taste greasy with melted coconut oil, but if you try it, it’s imperative the other ingredients are room temperature so the coconut oil doesn’t solidify as you mix the batter together.
- Milk: Whole milk is best. 2%, 1%, or nondairy milk work in a pinch. Do not use nonfat milk. Don’t use buttermilk. (You could use buttermilk if replacing both the sour cream AND milk, but the muffins taste a little spongy that way. Best to use sour cream and whole milk.)
- Recipe excerpted from Sally’s Baking Addiction. This version includes more chocolate chips and the addition of vanilla extract for a little extra flavor. The cookbook version also uses plain yogurt, but you can use sour cream as noted here.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Made them and they are delicious.
Dry and not nice
I’m from Brazil and a Just made it. It was perfect
Can I use this to make double chocolalte loaf?
Hi Anisha, you can definitely use this recipe in a 9×5 loaf pan for a double chocolate quick bread. Same temperature, but we’re unsure of the exact bake time. Keep a close eye on it and use a toothpick to test for doneness. Hope you enjoy it!
Hello! I need a quick answer please, can I use dutch cocoa instead of regular cocoa? If so what would I need to adjust?
You could get away use dutch process cocoa powder, but the muffins may not rise as much.
Okay,thank you.
Hello!
Can I use brown sugar instead of white?
Hi Dina, You can use brown sugar, but the muffins will taste a little heavier.
I have made this recipe 3 times already and it’s my fave muffin! So moist and rich in flavour. I will try to make this recipe without cocoa powder next time for vanilla muffins.
I tried this batter for muffins once before and loved it, so i did a whole chocolate strawberry cake with this muffin batter as a base. My whole family loves it. The baked batter is just so moist, fluffy, soft and most important of all, absolutely delicious. Definitelly the best recepie ive ever came across :))
Could I use buttermilk instead of sour cream or yoghurt? And would I just combine the amounts for milk and sour cream and use that in buttermilk? Thank you!
Hi Maire, You could use buttermilk if replacing both the sour cream/yogurt AND milk, but the muffins taste a little spongy that way. Best to use sour cream/yogurt and whole milk.
Your recipe helps me get through dark times. Thank you for this dish now I Know how people get diabetes
I’m a chocoholic so I had to try these muffins. I followed your recipe exactly cutting it in half to make 6 and adding 1 tsp espresso like you said in another recipe and they came out perfectly soft and chocolatey. Looking forward to cooking more of your recipes. Thank you!
Best chocolate muffin recipe ever! Only had 200g of chocolate but still turned out soft and super delicious.
These were a little disappointing. Good chocolate flavor but dry. I would add a little more wet ingredients next time.
What would you recommend instead of sour cream or yogurt?
Hi L, You could use buttermilk if replacing both the sour cream/yogurt AND milk, but the muffins taste a little spongy that way. Best to use sour cream/yogurt and whole milk.
The only muffins my daughter will eat. I’ve made them with butter, with coconut oil, mixed up white and semi-sweet chocolate chips or even put left over chocolate from Easter, they always turn out great.
I use plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream and olive oil.
I lowered the sugar, added protein powder and shredded Zuchinni and these were really good. My picky daughter ate 3 the day I
She has a really good chocolate zucchini bread recipe you should try if you’re going that route.
Sally!, where have you been all my life?! Phenomenal muffins!, my entire family are already obsessed with them, thank you! I’m now subscribed and can’t wait to try the next of your recipes!! ❤️
We’re so happy to read you loved these muffins, Bianca!
Help… why did my muffins fall? The center completely sunk in. Wonderful decadent flavor.
Hi Robin, sinking in the middle usually means the baked good is slightly undercooked. An additional minute or two in the oven should help for next time!
Can you substitute dark chocolate morsels instead of the milk chocolate chips?
Absolutely!
They don’t taste good at all… WAY too sweet, not very chocolaty at all, somehow they taste like flour and oil mostly? I swear I followed the recipe well, but this muffin is just bad in my opinion unfortunately
I’m wondering if I could substitute just egg whites for the full egg in the recipe? Should I use 3 egg whites?
Hi Jen! We recommend sticking with whole eggs for this recipe.
Lady, these are by far, the best muffins I’ve ever baked! Wow, so moist, gooey and decadent. Thank you! I didn’t change anything, did it exactly per your recipe.
in my taste there were OK, not the most delicious muffins tbh. I’ll try another recipe next. But thanks for sharing 🙂
Every time I make these I add a few scoops of brewers yeast for my friends that are nursing. They always turn out great! Love this recipe.
These are delicious! Turned out perfect! They were not at all dry. Very moist and extremely tasty. I highly recommend this recipe.
They are extra tasty with a simple glaze made with powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, and a little cocoa powder!
Hi Sally, I love this recipe! My question is, how would I alter it in high altitude? Thanks!
Hi Janessa! I wish we could help, but have no experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
Hi, Do you think adding a shot of espresso to the recipe to enhance the chocolate flavor would ruin it in any way?
Hi Lynette, you would be adding extra liquid to the batter, which could throw off the ratio of dry to wet ingredients. We’d recommend adding a little espresso powder instead!
I traded the chocolate chips for mint chips. DELICIOUS!!!
I do not recommend this recipe. The muffins were very dry. I followed the recipe and mixed only with a spoon, so it wasn’t from over mixing them.
Hi Diane! Over-mixing doesn’t usually yield a dry muffin, but it can make them tough. A dry muffin is usually caused by too much flour/cocoa powder in the batter or over-baking. How did you measure the flour/cocoa powder? Make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much into your measuring cups – or use a kitchen scale. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post.
Made these today. Any Sally Muffin recipe is excellent and so were these. I followed the recipe almost exactly. I used 72% Ghirardelli cacao chocolate chips and added some Starbucks instant coffee mix and a cup of raspberries because I love the combination of dark chocolate and raspberry. I ended up with a dozen full size muffins and half a dozen 3/4 size that I baked in neoprene muffin cups. I added 3 minutes to the baking time after a toothpick test. The muffins came out light, rich and decadent. Recommended for chocoholics.
These muffins are great! Can I feeeze or refrigerate the batter for later use?
Best chocolate muffin recipe ever. Thanks Sally!
How would you advise making these into muffin tops without a special pan?
Again thanks for all of your great recipes.
Hi Ree, we have never tried to bake muffin tops in a regular muffin pan, but we’d love to know how they turn out if you give it a try!
This was my first time making double chocolate chip muffins and they were fantastic! I will definitely be making these again.
Sally is my go to for my muffin recipes! They’ve all be fantastic! For this muffin, can espresso powder be added to deepen the chocolate flavor or will it make it taste like coffee? Thanks!
Hi Stephanie, you could absolutely add a teaspoon of espresso powder or instant coffee to start and then adjust for more/less in future batches. Hope you enjoy the muffins!
Hey Sally (or whoever answers Sally’s comments!). I track my calorie/nutritional intake, is there any way to start adding them on here? I will never stop eating your recipes- THE ULTIMATE BEST!
Hi Nina! We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076