This recipe for Easy Chocolate Chip Muffins is a great base for any breakfast muffin flavor. Made with sour cream and milk, this small batch of muffins is super moist and spiked with plenty of chocolate chips – a delicious breakfast treat to start your day!
Easy Chocolate Chip Muffins
Is there anything better in the morning that a fresh muffin? How about a muffin that is loaded with chocolate chips? I didn’t think so.
Chocolate chip muffins combine my two favorite things – breakfast and chocolate. And when you can have a batch ready in about 30 minutes, I’m surprised I don’t have muffins for breakfast every day. But, the quarantine-15 has already graced me with its presence, so I don’t need to give it any extra help.
But, I digress. Back to these Easy Chocolate Chip Muffins. Did I mention they are ready in about 30 minutes? There isn’t much to prepare for these muffins either.
- As with most baking recipes, it is best if all of the ingredients are at room temp.
- The exception here is we are melting the butter. Even easier.
And it keeps getting easier. We don’t need fancy folding techniques to incorporate the ingredients. Or alternate between liquid and dry ingredients.
- Mix the dry ingredients together.
- In another bowl, mix the wet ingredients together. And I do have a shortcut for this step … keep reading …
- Combine the two, and off to the oven they go!
- Into the muffin tin first, of course.
Small Batch Breakfast Muffins
Now you may be asking why the heck do I want a small batch of delicious chocolate chip muffins. Every treat with chocolate should be a full batch so there are a lot of leftovers!
That is a fair point – but I can’t have too many of these sitting around. And the great thing about small batch baking is if you eat all these muffins the first day, you can either make another fresh batch the next day. Better yet, try them with different flavors!
I will say if you are going to bake in small batches, it is helpful to have the right tools. I finally splurged on a 6-well muffin pan and there is just something about a smaller baking pan that seems easier. Probably because there are fewer wells to clean!
Tips For Making Easy Chocolate Chip Muffins
Above, I hinted at a shortcut for the liquid ingredients. That, along with a few other tips …
- Bring all of the ingredients to room temp – most professionals (and I agree) swear that baked goods turn out better when they all start at the same temperature.
- Use a cookie scoop to scoop the batter – this is from experience and it is so much easier to equally portion batter. And there is less mess.
- Top the muffins with extra chocolate chips (before baking) – inevitably some of the chips will fall when you pour the batter into the liners. Adding a few on the top lets folks know the goodness they are about to enjoy!
- Sprinkle the muffins with coarse sugar before baking – this adds great texture. Plus, a little extra sugar never hurts.
- Start the oven temp high, then reduce – starting at a higher temperature for 5 minutes gives the muffins their rise. The leavening agents like to get to work fast, so we give them heat to rise. Then we reduce the heat to keep everything else baking evenly.
Great Base Recipe For Any Muffin Flavor
I tested this muffin recipe 5 times. And the reason for the excessive testing is I wanted to create a muffin batter recipe that worked great as a ‘base’. I would love to bake, and share, more muffin recipes, and I want them to be easy.
With that, I don’t want to have to make a lot of adjustments to a recipe because of the flavor I have chosen. Of course, there may be exceptions (the only that comes to mind is a chocolate muffin, and adjusting the flour ratio to accommodate for cocoa powder), but, this recipe would work for a variety of flavor combos!
What kind of combos you ask? Well …
- Blueberries + lemon zest
- Raspberries + white chocolate + macadamia nuts
- Cranberry + cinnamon
- Fresh peaches
- Fresh strawberries + chocolate chips
- Lemon poppy seed
- Apples + streusel
Of course, now that I have a master muffin recipe, I need to go back and re-create my other recipes. But have no fear, they are all delicious!
Happy breakfast baking!
Easy Chocolate Chip Muffins
Equipment
- 1 – Muffin/Cupcake Pan
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 5 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- pinch baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons milk, room temperature
- 2 tablespoons full fat sour cream, room temperature
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- turbinado sugar (optional – for sprinkling the tops)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F degrees and adjust the oven rack to the middle position.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
- In a small mixing bowl or liquid measuring cup, stir together the milk, sour cream, egg, and vanilla extract until thoroughly combined.
- Pour the liquid ingredients, and the melted butter, in with the dry ingredients. Whisk until just combined. Add the chocolate chips and whisk a couple more strokes. Scoop the batter into the muffin liners equally – using a cookie scoop is great for equal scoops and less mess. If using – sprinkle some Turbinado Sugar on top of each muffin.
- Bake for 5 minutes at 425F degrees, then lower the temperature to 350F degrees and bake for 10 more minutes – or until the tops are lightly golden, and a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes – then transfer the muffins to the wire rack to cool completely.
RECIPE NOTES
- Cooking at a high temperature (425F degrees) for the first 5 minutes, then lowering the temperature – will make the muffin tops puff up.
- Before baking, you can add a few more chocolate chips on top of the muffins for extra chips.
about the author ...
I'm Erin and I'm all about desserts - and a little bit of butter!
I've tested, written, and photographed hundreds of recipes on my website. Here you'll find the tastiest small batch gluten free and traditional desserts - all homemade, all simple, and all for you!
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