It’s dessert… for breakfast! These triple chocolate muffins are rich, dense, and extra indulgent thanks to real melted chocolate, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips. They’re excellent paired with a cup of coffee in the morning or with milk as an after-dinner treat.
One reader, Debb, says: “Love this muffin—and get rave reviews when I share it. I added a few packets of Starbucks Via (instant coffee) to the recipe this time to get a triple chocolate mocha muffin. ★★★★★“
Have you ever woken up and felt like it was the perfect day to have chocolate cake for breakfast? If so, today is your day.
Triple chocolate muffins are a totally acceptable way to sneak in dessert first thing in the morning. I love making muffins for their ease and simplicity, and while I usually reach for wholesome favorites like healthy bran muffins or whole wheat banana nut muffins, once in a while it’s ok to indulge your sweet tooth.
Perfectly dense and packed with 3x the chocolate-y goodness (more on this chocolate trio later), these muffins will be appreciated for birthday breakfasts, as part of your special Mother’s Day recipes or Father’s Day recipes, as a Valentine’s Day treat, or really on any morning that just needs a little extra sweetness.
These Triple Chocolate Muffins Are:
- Denser than chocolate cupcakes or chocolate cake, but not as rich as homemade brownies
- Extra chocolate-y thanks to chocolate bars, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips
- An even deeper, darker, and more decadent version of these double chocolate muffins (which come from my 1st cookbook, Sally’s Baking Addiction!)
- Easy to prepare in just 1 bowl, with no mixer required
- Positively indulgent in a way that will grab any chocolate lover’s attention—in the best way possible!
Triple Chocolate Lineup
These muffins get their deep chocolate profile from a triple-threat lineup of ingredients:
- Pure Baking Chocolate: Most of the chocolate flavor comes from one melted chocolate bar. You want to use a high-quality brand of pure baking chocolate, such as Ghirardelli or Baker’s brands, which can be found in the baking aisle. Do not use chocolate chips because they contain stabilizers that will prevent them from melting properly. (No baking chocolate on hand? Try my double chocolate muffins instead.)
- Cocoa Powder: Just like in chocolate cake, reach for natural unsweetened cocoa powder rather than dutch-process cocoa powder. You can read up on the differences between natural unsweetened vs. dutch-process cocoa powder if you’re interested. Choosing the right variety will make a big difference in the taste, texture, and appearance of your muffins.
- Chocolate Chips: Last but certainly not least, add a heaping cup of chocolate chips to the batter to provide a little texture in each bite. Use semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips, regular size or mini. If you enjoy a certain type of baking chip in your chocolate chip cookies, you’ll enjoy them here, too!
I also use these 3 powerhouse chocolate ingredients in my homemade brownies.
FAQ: Are These Just Cupcakes?
While you may feel the same joy you get while biting into a chocolate cupcake, today’s muffins are not quite as light and spongy. And of course, there’s no tower of chocolate buttercream or swipe of chocolate ganache on top. (Although there’s no rule saying you can’t…)
Muffin Success Tips:
- Avoid over-mixing: While these chocolate muffins have a denser, tighter crumb, too much mixing can over-develop the gluten and create an overly heavy, squat muffin. Mix the batter until just combined.
- Use room-temperature ingredients: Proper room-temperature ingredients are important so the batter comes together with ease. Especially when we’re working with warmer ingredients like melted butter and chocolate, you’ll want to make sure your eggs and sour cream aren’t coming straight from the cold refrigerator.
- Fill the liners to the top + use a burst of high heat: My #1 trick for those bakery-style high muffin tops? Filling the muffin pan to the top with batter, along with an initial high burst of heat (exact details in the recipe instructions), help the muffins to rise quickly without over-baking.
Again, there’s no masking that these triple chocolate muffins are every bit as rich, indulgent, and chocolate-y as they taste and sound. If you’re looking for something on the lighter side, my healthier chocolate banana muffins will still satisfy those early-morning chocolate cravings. Or browse all my muffin recipes to find your next breakfast bake.
More Muffins:
- Bakery-Style Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Chocolate Covered Strawberry Muffins
- Banana Chocolate Chip Streusel Muffins
- Pumpkin Muffins (with or without chocolate chips)
- Banana Muffins
Triple Chocolate Muffins
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 10-12 muffins
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These brownie-like muffins come together with pure baking chocolate, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips for 3x the chocolate goodness!
Ingredients
- one 4-ounce bar (113g) semi-sweet chocolate*
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup (80g) sour cream or plain yogurt, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (63g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/3 cup (27g) unsweetened natural cocoa powder*
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 heaping cup (180-200g) semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips (mini size works too!)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C). Spray a 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with cupcake liners. Set aside.
- Coarsely chop the chocolate. Place in a medium heat-proof bowl along with the butter. Microwave on high in 10 second increments, whisking after each until completely smooth and chocolate has melted. Cool for 5 minutes, then whisk in the sugar, eggs, vanilla, and sour cream. Set aside.
- Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Add the wet ingredients and fold to completely combine—make sure there are no flour spots at the bottom of the bowl. Fold in the chocolate chips. Batter will be thick.
- Spoon the batter evenly into each cup or liner, filling each all the way to the top. Bake the muffins 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 15–17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total time these muffins take in the oven is about 20–22 minutes, give or take. Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the muffin pan, then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling.
- Muffins stay fresh stored at room temperature for a few days, or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: For longer storage, freeze cooled 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 | Cooling Rack
- Chocolate: For the 4 ounces (113g) of chocolate, make sure to use high-quality chocolate, not chocolate chips. (You will use chocolate chips as the last ingredient.) I suggest high-quality chocolate baking bars sold in the baking aisle such as Baker’s, Ghirardelli, Guittard, or Lindt.
- Cocoa Powder: Use natural cocoa powder, not dutch-process cocoa powder. Read about the difference between natural cocoa powder vs. dutch-process cocoa powder.
- FAQ: Is there really only 1/2 cup of flour required? Yes, that’s correct. The cocoa powder takes the place of some flour. These are fudge-brownie-like muffins. Here’s my traditional double chocolate muffins recipe, if you want to try those instead.
- Mini Chocolate Muffins: Fill muffin cups only about halfway. A couple teaspoons of batter per mini muffin cup is plenty. Bake at 350°F (177°C) (for the whole time—no initial high heat) for 12–14 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Yields about 30 mini muffins.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Hi,
Can you use almond extract instead of vanilla?
Hi Ronni, that will change the flavor profile quite a lot, as almond extract is quite potent. But if you love the flavor of almond extract, feel free to give it a try! We’d recommend reducing the amount, though.
Hi! I’m baking these on a “jumbo size” muffin pan 3.5″ X 1.7″ Cups. Is that the one the recipe describes? If not I’ll have to double the recipe or something. I need 12.
Hi Andi, this recipe is for regular sized muffins, not jumbo. You’ll likely need a double batch for 12 jumbo muffins.
I got 11 jumbo muffins after doubling the recipe. Had to triple it.
Sank quite a bit when they cooled off, my baking soda is brand new and I followed the recipe as close as possible, there was no batter on the toothpick. Just moist crumbs.
Delicious! I used Dutch processed cocoa, semisweet, dark and milk chocolates. Definitely do not overtake, I left them in probably 2 minutes too long so they were a bit dry. Definitely a keeper!
I made this recipe yesterday. The recipe is simple so i had hopes a new favorite. Nope.
Every muffin fell apart when I took them out of the pan. Every single one. I had planned to serve the muffins at a birthday party in the evening. Fortunately, I had double chocolate muffins in the freezer.
I won’t try this recipe again.
Hi Brenda, when you say they fell apart, were they dry/crumbly or too soft? If they were dry, be sure to spoon and level your flour and cocoa powder to ensure it isn’t over measured. Too much flour/cocoa powder can severely dry out the muffins—as can over baking. If they seemed too soft (but not dry/crumbly), it’s possible that they needed a few more minutes in the oven. Thank you for giving these a try.
I love the ease of the recipe and the chocolate flavor was good but sadly they weren’t near as moist as I hoped for. I did everything exactly described in the recipe and am positive I did not overbake. Was really excited for this recipe, hopefully they are a little more moist when they fully cool.
Perfectly gooey and chocolatey! I used a mix of chocolate chips and dark chocolate chunks which gave them a really nice texture. However I had to divide them into 9 muffins instead of 12 because the recipe wouldn’t fill the tray completely. I weighed everything so it wouldn’t have been a case of inaccurate measurements. They also weren’t as domed as I’d hoped them to be. Is there a way to give them more done without sacrificing the texture?
Hi Christina, this recipe usually makes around 10. These are on the flatter side (see in the photo?), and not very domed. You may love these double chocolate muffins instead, for a more bakery-looking muffin with tall tops.
The muffins “grew” so much in the oven they spilt all over the pan, and then sunk in the middle. What did I do wrong? Still tasty, but looks awful.
Hi Ana, it sounds like the muffins may have been slightly over-filled. For next time, you can try filling the cups just a bit less. That should definitely help!
Just put these in the oven. Is there really only one half cup of flour in these muffins?
Correct!
Lost count of how many time I have baked these. Everyone who have tried these muffins have loved them. I make a small addition to the recipe, that is adding orange rind. The rind mellows the strong chocolate flavor. Thank you for the recipe. This is a staple desert of our family.
Hello Sally and Team,
Tried this recipe this past weekend, and…my cupcakes when going into the oven where okay they began to rise, but I noticed about 5 mins into baking they began to have a sinkhole in the very middle.
Long story short, they deflated miserably and were like cups by the time I took them out – crispy edges and sticking to the liners.
Could you let me know any possible mistake I made?
P.s they still tasted so good, all 12 were gone by the evening 🙂
Hi Faadilah, a little sinking is normal with chocolate cupcake/muffins, but was your baking soda expired by chance? They should certainly still resemble muffins and not cups, so perhaps the leavening (baking soda) wasn’t working as intended. You’ll want to make sure you’re using unsweetened natural cocoa powder here, too (and not Dutch process cocoa). Hope this helps, and thank you so much for giving these a try!
Hiii!
Thank you for your reply, yes, I think it was my cocoa – I use pure alkalised cocoa, can you let me know if I can add any baking powder to the dry ingredients if natural cocoa isn’t readily available for me?
Hi Faadilah, here’s more on the difference between the two in baking.
This is one is the best muffin
Recipes ever. Simple and delicious
Can I use this batter to make donuts
Hi Linda, so glad you enjoy them! We can’t see why you couldn’t use this batter in a donut pan. We also have this recipe for chocolate donut holes that could be baked in a donut pan as well.
Donuts made with this batter sounds decadent !!!
Is there a glaze you would use?
Hi Trish, you can try adding this vanilla glaze or this chocolate glaze to the tops of the muffins. Enjoy!
I have never been so happy as to NOT have a four-ounce bar of semisweet chocolate in the house. These muffins will definitely be made by me but NOT TODAY, SATAN! Hahaha. Thanks, Sally, for a gorgeous muffin in my future.
I made them! Knowing that a full-size cupcake exhausts me, I made these in a 24-hole mini cupcake tin. I got 40 mini cupcakes out of the batch. They are perfect! Two little delicious bites.
It is a bit weird to experience the taste of a brownie with the texture of cake. After the third one, mulling on the concept, I have to agree. These are very nice nice cupcakes. And they don’t need icing!
I still did the first five minutes at 425 but cooked them for only another 10 minutes/10 minutes 30 seconds at 350. The other slight alterations were that I didn’t baby my chocolate and butter in 10 second increments – how long is my life? I make brownies routinely with 4 ozs of unsweetened chocolate and a stick of butter, so I did with this as I do with that – 30 seconds, stir, 30 seconds stir, and that usually does the trick. I’ve never had the chocolate scorch or burn.
The other thing I did is that I whisked the eggs with the salt, then whisked the sour cream into that before adding it to the cooled choc/butter and vanilla. It made incorporating everything evenly much easier.
With 40 mini cupcakes, I sent half dozens around to friends and neighbors, and I still have plenty for myself!
I’ve done the minis also – and they are so wonderful ! Thanks for documenting the time adjustments… I didn’t document mine and am always guessing
Is it possible to refrigerate the batter for a few hours? I love eating these fresh out of the oven but it’s often easier if I make the batter earlier in the day rather than after dinner.
Hi Helmut, once the wet and dry ingredients are mixed together, the leaveners are activated and it’s best to make them right away. You could mix up the wet and dry ingredients separately, store, then combine right before baking. Or bake them off and reheat in the microwave to your liking.
I’ve been reading the comments. 2 people made the comment. That their muffins sank in the middle. To 1 comment you said. To bake them a little longer. Then in another comment. You said to add a little more flour. So, which one is it?
Hi LuAnn, both methods can help with sinking muffins. Feel free to try adding a little more flour for stability, such as using 2/3 cup instead (about 80g). If they still seem underbaked at the 20-22 minute mark, then an additional minute or so will help.
The is by far the best triple chocolate muffin recipe ever. I can’t count how many times I’ve used it. What about vegan substitutions?
Hi Jayne, we haven’t tested the recipe with vegan substitutions, so can’t give you a recommendation for what to change in the recipe. If you try something, please report back and let us know how they turn out!
Fantastic recipe! These muffins are easy to make and astoundingly rich and delicious! I’m a bona fide chocoholic and I usually think chocolate desserts aren’t chocolately enough; but, I can honestly say, these are chocolately enough!
Will this recipe work with jumbo muffin tins (that only hold 6 muffins)?
You bet! See these jumbo blueberry muffins for baking guidelines.
I’m shocked this recipe doesn’t have more attention! I’ve been making these for years and they are incredibly decadent. So so good.
To add to my previous comment – I use semi-sweet chocolate chips in place of the chocolate bar because it’s what I have on hand. Do you find any difference between the two for this purpose?
Hi John, chocolate chips contain stabilizers that will prevent them from melting properly. In this recipe, most of the chocolate flavor comes from one melted chocolate bar. We’re glad you loved the muffins!
Absolutely Amazing!
Tasted SO good! I used a Hershey chocolate almond bar instead of chips, and it was perfect. I had just over a muffin’s worth left, so I put it in a mug and microwaved it for 1 1/2 minutes and it was almost as good as the baked version. Other than that I followed the recipe exactly.
I love this recipe the kind of taste like those two white brownies the only thing is is they are to me a little sweet it said three quarter cup of sugar but next time I’m only going to do a quarter cup otherwise these are perfect they’re chewy they’re chocolatey but I feel like I’m going to have a sugar rush but this recipe is a definite keeper like I said the only thing I change is just lessen the sugar other than that thank you so much
This is my go to recipe for when I need chocolate! I am such a fan of yours, I have made 70% of all your desserts & this is on my top 3!!
I absolutely love the flavour of these muffins. I’ve made these 3 times in the past week for my freeze stash for school lunches. But they keep sinking in the middle and I have followed this to a T. They risr how they should then go down in the middle. Why…. They aren’t under cooked either.
Hi Natasha, cocoa powder is a pretty light and drying ingredient and more often than not, baked goods can sink in the center. You could try adding a little more flour for stability, such as using 2/3 cup instead (about 80g).
Can this recipe be made with all purpose, cup for cup gluten-free flour?
Hi Susan, we haven’t tested that substitution so we’re unsure of the results. Let us know if you give it a try!
I made them using 1/2 coconut and 1/2 oat flour in place of regular flour. Everything else was exactly the same. So good!
This recipe was very easy to follow and turned out great! I made these muffins for a grandson who loves chocolate but does not like frosting. He loved them and said they are his new favorite thing. Thank you.
I absolutely love this recipe! No matter how many times I make them, I never get a full 12 regular sized muffins. I get 10 if I fill them 2/3. Nonetheless, they are wonderful!
Love this muffin – and get rave reviews when I share it. I added a few packets of Starbucks Via (instant coffee) to the recipe this time to get a triple chocolate mocha muffin. Also – I’ve baked mini muffins – those are wonderful also. And lastly – I scoop batter into muffin liners, freeze them – and then bake just what I need at a time – to have them fresh. They’re best fresh when the outside is a little crisp with super moist inside.