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!
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
PrintDouble 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 rubber 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 Rubber 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.
Can i use unsalted butter ( melted) instead of vegetable oil?
Hi Chan, 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.
Hello! Would it work if I make these using oat flour? Would I need to add or adjust anything if I replace the flour with oat flour? I would love to make these but my daughter can’t have gluten.
Thank you!
Hi Dianela, we haven’t tested these muffins with oat flour, but oat flour tends to dry out baked goods. You might have success experimenting with a gluten-free all-purpose flour like Bob’s Red Mill or Cup4Cup. If you give anything a try, we’d love to know how it goes for you!
Hello! Can I add Zucchini to these? If so, do any other adjustments need to be made?
Hi Allie! We recommend following this chocolate zucchini bread recipe instead – see recipe notes for muffin directions. Enjoy!
Hi and pardon me if this question sounds silly. You mentioned that the toothpick must come out clean. But there’s often melted chocolate in them. How do I judge then that the muffin is ready pls? I always end up over baking as a result.
Hi Kylie, that’s totally normal for a bit of the melted chocolate to come off on the toothpick. What you don’t want to see is wet bread crumbs or batter. Hope this is helpful for next time!
Can I make these as mini-muffins? What would you change?
Hi Alayne, Sure can! For mini muffins, bake at 350 degrees (the entire time) for about 12-14 minutes, give or take. Keep a close eye on them and use a toothpick to test for doneness.
I’ve made these muffins twice in less than a week they are that good! Family inhaled them lol. Thank you for a fantastic chocolate fix!!
Hi Sally.. can i use brown sugar instead granulated sugar in this recipe? And what will be the result? Thank u
Absolutely, but the muffins will taste a little heavier.
These look and taste like the ones you get at those cozy hometown coffee shops!
I was reading your post about baking powder and baking soda and I am confused. According to your explanation as well as the link you provided to Fine Cooking, this recipe should have 1 tsp baking powder and 1/4 tsp baking soda. Thanks in advance for helping me understand!
Hi Janine, that combination of baking powder/baking soda could very well work here! But 1 teaspoon of baking soda also works. This batter includes many acidic ingredients including cocoa powder, sour cream, and milk. I found that it needed quite a lot of baking powder in order for the muffins to sufficiently rise. (So you could use them both as you mentioned.) Baking soda is stronger and since there are so many acidic ingredients, it works wonderfully as the only leavener here.
Can I use low-fat yogurt or even Greek yogurt?
Hi Mikey, full fat Greek style yogurt would be best.
What vegetable oil should I use? Sunflower?
Hi Mabel, vegetable oil will come labeled as such. In a pinch, you can replace with canola oil or olive oil. See recipe notes for more details!
These were PERFECT! Wouldn’t change a thing about these. The whole family thought they were incredible. Thank you!
If i do not use the chocolate chips, do i keep the same recipe or increase the amount of sugar?
Hi Sally, you can simply omit the chocolate chips with no other changes to the recipe.
I made this recipe last week to take to family. I froze them and individually wrapped them. They have been enjoying them all week to take to work, and said how good they are. I have added this recipe to my go to recipes. Thanks Sally.
I tried this recipe and the muffins are amazing! Thank you
Can I replace the milk with chocolate milk?
Hi Ace, that should be okay in a pinch, but note that the taste of the muffins will be different due to the added flavoring in chocolate milk. If possible, it’s best to stick with regular milk here.
I made these today and I substituted Sativa for the sugar and used Lily’s Baking chips White and Milk Chocolate and they turned out amazing so moist and chocolatey would highly recommend
Can this recipe be doubled without adjustment?
Hi Hanna, for absolute best results, we recommend making two separate batches so as to not over or under mix, which can impact results.
Hi sally ,
We don’t have sour cream in our country and nothing comes out good with yogurt from me can i use buttermilk instead???
Hi Maham, 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 (or yogurt) and whole milk.
Would it be okay to whisk the sugar along with the wet ingredients? I’m afraid I might have some trouble getting the crystals to dissolve properly.
That shouldn’t be a problem.
I made these for my family and also shared with a neighbour. They were very tasty the best muffins I have made so far. I also used milk and dark chocolate chips, they were lush. Thank you Sally.
I have no canola oil or vegetable oil at home – will olive oil affect the taste of my muffins?
Can I store the muffin batter without baking the muffins and let it come down to room temperature and then spoon the batter into the liners?
Hi Shae, We don’t recommend it. The leaveners are activated once mixed into the batter, so the long it sits, the less likely the batter will bake up properly. It’s best to bake them right away. Let us know if you give these muffins a try!
Can you substitute Mayonnaise for the Sour Cream?
Hi Naomi, we haven’t tested it but other readers have reported having success substituting the sour cream with mayo in other similar recipes.
I have substituted mayo for sour cream and both my cakes and muffins have come out amazingly moist!
Hi Sally,
Can I add coffee powder to make it into mocha muffin? If so, how much coffee powder should I put? Thanks!
Hi Shirley, you could certainly give it a try though we haven’t tested it this way! I recommend adding about 1-2 Tablespoons of espresso powder. Here are all of our recipes with espresso powder if you’re interested. Let us know what you try!
First time making these, followed directions to a T. Just perfect….they are delicious!!!
Pure chocolate heaven! My daughter recently expressed that her favorite bakery had paused baking her favorite chocolate-chocolate chip muffins. So…mom to the rescue! I whipped up a batch, courtesy of this awesome recipe, and these have topped the muffin charts! They are perfect. One of them appears to be designed with a heart on the top; it’s a sign of love. Thanks so much!
I did do different things which I rarely talk about but this recipe is wonderful.
First all my culinary training says that sugar is a wet ingredient so I mixed the sugar with the eggs, oil, milk, etc.
Next, when I make chocolate cakes, cupcakes, cookies, I usually include a little dark rum and espresso powder, in this case 2T an 2t, respectively. I did that.
Another thing I did, only because it was for my grandsons, I used 2/3 cup each of milk choc, semisweet and dark chocolate chips.
I made them yesterday as a gift. I know they will be a big hit. I used premium full fat sour cream and whole milk.
Hi, I made these and they were delicious the day I made them, but by day 3 they were quite “dry”. Any recommendations as far as storing them so they last longer?
Hi Beka! Muffins will always dry out as they sit. Storing them (tightly covered) in the fridge will help them stay fresh longer – popping them in the microwave for 10-15 seconds will make them taste fresh from the oven again!