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.
I used to make your triple chocolate muffins.. can’t find the recipe now… can you share…. Thx
Hi Deepa, We were no longer satisfied with the outcome of that older recipe, so we unpublished it. We still have it, so send us an email and we can forward it to you. sally@sallysbakingaddiction.com
I made these twice as jumbo muffins, and they were solid! Everyone liked them 🙂 They came out drier than the pictures, though. I’m not sure if it was because I did jumbo sized, because they did take a really long time to bake through the center. I feared I was overbaking them but the centers were still runny for a long time. Idk.
That being said, they are probably just as moist (or maybe more) than muffins I would get at a bagel shop. Not quite to my liking though! I really like a moist, slightly dense muffin, but I think most muffins are on the drier and firmer side. So I can see why some people in the reviews find these dry while some people think they’re perfect. Based on the pictures, I thought they would be moister than they actually are.
Making another batch now and adding a little melted butter and a teeny bit of baking poweder, so we’ll see how that goes.
I added 2 tbsp melted butter and 1/16 tsp baking powder (who knows if that really did anything haha). I also baked them at 425° for closer to 10 minutes. That sounds long, but I was having my muffins basically burst open on the top and become flat muffin tops because they would spread so much. The longer high heat time helped the tops to stay firm and not burst open and spread. Maybe this also kept some of the moisture in. Maybe that was the trick and not even the butter (or baking powder, lol). Idk but these ones were fire! So much more moist! The way I like em
This was absolutely the best moist chocolatey muffins i made. I used non dairy milk, non dairy yoghurt, dark chocolate chips, and half the amount of sugar. It tasted heavenly.
I made two batches of these for my family. They tasted really good with a few minor changes. For the second batch, I added an extra pinch of salt to the batter for extra flavor. I also only filled the pan 3/4 full, and they came out a perfect size. I cooked them for 5 minutes at 425 and 12 minutes at 350. In the future I won’t bake these at 425, because that’s a little too hot. I would maybe do 400 for 5 minutes.
Great recipe!
Made these exactly as written but added two scoops of greens powder to a double batch- will add 3 next time- nobody noticed! They raved and raved about how great the were, not realizing I had hidden greens powder in them. Total win. These baked beautifully and puffed up perfectly!
I doubled the recipe and baked mine at 350° for 18 to 20 minutes. 425 is way too hot even for 5 minutes. I used mini chips which helps to spread them more evenly in each muffin. Doubling the recipe I baked 42 muffins! I did substitute butter and did find a were a little drier. I will definitely try using oil next time. I find that baking any muffin at 425 is way too hot. My muffins always turn out great at 350°.
Hi Sally! I accidentally bought a Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder, can I use it as a substitute and if yes, should I substitute the baking soda with baking powder? Thanks in advance!
Hi Micah, You could get away use dutch process cocoa powder, but the muffins may not rise as much. See the list of key ingredients in the post for details.
This recipe was easy to make however the texture and taste were a little off to what I was expecting. The texture was dry as they sit out on room temperature for 2 hours. I doubt I overmixed or did not follow the recipe because I measure in grams and I mixed frugally. As per instructions, i mixed the dry ingredients together and the wet ingredients (only for a few seconds but still combined) and then mixed together until only combined.
As for the taste, it wasn’t what I expected to be honest. I’m a big lover on her “Inside Out Chocolate Chip Cookies” and it taste kind of similar but the batter itself doesn’t have much flavor– it relied heavily on the chocolate chip pieces rather than being cohesive and the batter having its own flavor.
Incredible! I’ve honestly lost count how many times I’ve made this recipe since I found it! My husband says they’re the best chocolate muffins ever!!!!
Great recipe!!! Followed it as written exactly. Made them in the 6 count jumbo muffin pan. In the instructions for this size it states fill to the top. So I did as stated. What happened was the muffins overflowed causing large muffin tops. So that the tops came together. I was able to get four out nicely but two broke. All in all I will make them again and again but will make 8 jumbo muffins. They are delicious and I highly recommend them to everyone. The best chocolate muffins I ever made. Thank you Sally again for a wonderful easy recipe.
Can I cut this recipe in half? There are only two of us. 12-14 muffins will last much to long.. thank you
Hi Patricia! For best results we recommend making a full batch and freezing the extra muffins to enjoy later – see recipe notes for details!
Loved these! They tasted great and were super easy to make. I actually made them this morning before going to work (that’s how quick and easy the recipe is) so my son could have them for breakfast! Give them a try you won’t be disappointed!!
Wow. these are decadent, fudgy, pillowy goodness. I was a little skeptical about the sour cream and oil, but I’m glad I followed the recipe to the letter – these are PHENOMENAL. I halved the recipe and it made exactly enough for 6 regular-sized muffins with nice domed tops (I did exactly half of all ingredients except the baking soda – I did half plus a little smidge more as I like a lighter crumb).
These were good, moist, nice texture, however, I will make a few changes next time. First, add a little more salt next time because the finished muffins were a little flat tasting and I found myself wanting salt. Then I would bake the entire time at 350. I had nippled tops, which indicates that the initial oven temp was too hot (the outside set up too quickly, so the batter could only rise in the middle, giving the “nipple” effect.
These were excellent! Forgot to adjust for altitude (Denver) but it didn’t matter,
Oooh! I stopped walking in my kitchen, stopped thinking about anything except the muffin. It’s really good. Really. Good. I used Ghirardelli cocoa and 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate chips. Sally, if there were a Nobel Prize for Muffins, you would win.
I have made these twice for my kids. I followed the recipe exactly and both times they came out great and the kids love them.
How do you make the muffins less dry? It tasted fine, it was just dry. Should I use butter? Then how much? Or put more oil? If so, how much more?
Hi Abbie! Dry muffins are usually caused by one of two things (or both) – overbaking and measuring your dry ingredients by scooping instead of spoon and leveling, both easy fixes for next time! You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post.
The recipe states to cook til the toothpick comes out clean. I even baked for 3-4 mins less. Mine were dry as well. Not moist.. think the recipe requires some attention.
These are unreal. I’m kind of baffled by the negative reviews because they were super easy and came out perfectly. I subbed flax eggs for the real thing because I’m trying to use up a ridiculous quantity of ground flax seed that I bought and used vanilla almond milk and the texture was perfect. Excellent recipe!
Just meh. It sounded so good and my daughter loves double chocolate muffins. I followed this recipe exactly as written, but these majorly lacked flavor. Very disappointed I wasted almost an entire bag of chocolate chips.
Can the batter be kept in the refrigerator and baked the next day?
Hi Hywel, No we don’t recommend it. As soon as the batter is mixed together the baking soda is activated so if they are not baked right away, they will not rise properly.
Oops – they’ve already been in there for two hours! Do you recommend adding more baking soda?
Does it make a difference if I pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients?
Either way works! Some bakers have a strong preference and we usually add wet to dry (I find it combines easier). Just be careful not to over-mix regardless of which method you use. Happy baking!
Me and my family love the muffins they are so good the recipe is easy
I really, really didn’t want to write this but they weren’t great. I’m a good cook and baker; I used high quality, French Valrhona chocolate, weighed everything, watched the time, and they were meh. I love chocolate and didn’t even finish one. The chocolate chips were great (well yea, they’re Valrhona), the muffin texture was good, but the muffin itself was dry and almost flavorless. No clue how, though.
Totally agree. Sorry you wasted your chocolate.
My family and myself loved the muffins. Thank you.
Courtney
I’m sorry but these were the WORST muffins I have ever had. I followed the directions to a T and I almost threw up after the first bite. I highly do NOT recommend. I was so excited too 🙁
Nope. This was disappointing. The thick, gooey batter was difficult to manage. Their tops weren’t full which really affects presentation. The flavors were there, but could have been better.
It turned out very well!
Sally – I noticed that there’s no baking powder in this recipe, which is usually present in your muffin recipes, but a teaspoon of baking soda instead. Why the change?
Hi Mike! We typically test recipes using natural cocoa powder (acidic ingredient) with baking soda first. And these turned out wonderfully as is, so there is no need to add baking powder or replace some baking soda with baking powder.
I love this recipe! So easy to make and one of the best chocolate muffin recipes I have ever used.
These were so good! I cut back on the chocolate chips by 1/4 of a cup which was perfect. The recipe made 2 dozen regular sized with about a dozen mini muffins.
great recipe! easy to make especially with weight measurements for accuracy. super chocolate-y. my son requested something chocolate for Christmas brunch and these fit the brief! love your recipe.
Although this recipe is good I am a little disappointed because it turned out dry, particularly in the bottom part of the muffin. I actually have the cookbook in which it is said to cook for 10-12 minutes instead of 15-16 minutes written on the website so could that be the reason before the dryness? My cookbook also has other “mistakes” even though it was recently purchased.