Chocolate chip mini muffins are the perfect on-the-go snack or bite sized dessert. Filled with mini chocolate chips and topped with turbinado sugar, these muffins are made from scratch and come together in a single bowl.
Mini muffins make the perfect after-school snack or midday treat. Banana mini muffins and lemon chia seed mini muffins are a few of my favorites.
If you've got a bit of a sweet tooth, you're going to love these chocolate chip mini muffins. They've got the perfect amount of rich chocolatey flavor and taste great with a cup of coffee or glass of cold milk!
Mini muffins make a great snack, on-the-go treat, or small dessert. Plus, this recipe is easy to customize with your favorite mix-ins, like nuts or dried fruits.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Sugars - You'll need granulated sugar for this recipe. Sugar not only adds sweetness, but also helps keep your mini muffins moist.
- Butter - Butter not only adds flavor but also moisture to your muffins. Unsalted butter and the listed salt can be substituted with salted butter if needed.
- Egg - One large egg adds stability, structure, and moisture to your muffins.
- Milk - I recommend using whole milk because it contains the most fat, which keeps your muffins moist. Whole milk can be substituted with any milk you have on hand (skim, 1%, almond milk) if needed.
- Vanilla extract - Just a hint of vanilla adds depth of flavor.
- Flour - I have only tested this recipe using all-purpose flour. If you need to bake using a different type of flour, I recommend searching for a recipe that is written for the type of flour you have on hand.
- Leavening agent - You'll need baking powder for this recipe, not baking soda. The two are not interchangeable.
- Salt - Salt enhances the flavor of the rest of the ingredients without making the recipe "salty". I don't recommend omitting the listed salt in the recipe unless you're using salted butter.
- Chocolate chips - I recommend using mini chocolate chips for best texture. Standard chocolate chips can be a little large for mini muffins. Chocolate chips could also be substituted with chopped pecans or walnuts.
- Turbinado sugar - Optional, but adds a nice little crunchy crust to the top of your mini muffins. Turbinado sugar could be substituted with granulated sugar if desired.
Tips and tricks
Don't overmix the batter - Stir your ingredients by hand until they are just incorporated, then stop mixing. Try to not to over-mix your batter. If the batter is mixed too much after the flour is added, the gluten can become overworked, leading to a tough muffin.
Don't overfill the muffin pan - Take care not to overfill your muffin pan. This won't necessarily make larger or taller muffins. The batter can spill over while baking and create a mess.
Use liners or butter - Line your pan with paper liners or generously grease your muffin pan beforehand. If you've never made muffins without liners before, I'd err on the side of caution and use liners instead. Muffins stuck in a muffin pan can be a huge hassle to clean up. I don't recommend greasing the pan unless you know and trust the pan you're using.
Don't skip the sugar crust - I like to top my muffins with a sprinkle of turbinado sugar. If you don't have turbinado sugar on hand, granulated sugar will also do the trick. Adding sugar to the tops of your muffins before they bake gives them a crunchy sugar crust.
Take care not to overbake - Overbaking creates dry muffins. Ovens can run hotter and colder than the next, and your muffins may be done sooner than mine. I recommend relying on visual cues instead of baking time.
Frequently asked questions
This recipe makes 24 mini muffins, or about 8 standard size muffins. To make mini muffins, you'll need a mini muffin pan, like one of these:
- Wilton Perfect Results Premium Non-Stick Mini Muffin and Cupcake Pan, 24-Cup
- USA Pan Bakeware Mini Cupcake and Muffin Pan, 24 Well
I'd suggest using mini muffin liners or giving your pan a thin coating of butter before adding your muffin batter. Even in my nonstick pans, I like to use a thin layer of butter to make sure the muffins release from the pan easily.
One of the most common complaints I see in baking is that the recipe is followed "to a T" and the baked goods still turn out dry. Dry baked goods can happen for several reasons:
- Ingredients were substituted/omitted/reduced - The fats and sugar (butter, whole milk, eggs, milk, and granulated sugar) help keep your muffins moist. Using lower fat substitutions, reducing the sugar, or omitting an ingredient entirely will cause them to turn out dry.
- Too much flour was added to the recipe - Did your muffins turn out dry and bland? This is a sure sign that too much flour was added to the recipe. Either use a kitchen scale to weigh your flour accurately (which is how I measure flour and highly recommend to others), or spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level off with a knife. Scooping with the measuring cup directly from a bin of flour compacts it into the cup, adding up to 25% extra flour to the recipe.
- Muffins are overbaked - Baking muffins for too long will dry them out in the oven. Ovens are inconsistent and can run hotter or colder than the next oven. The time that worked for me may not work for you, so I recommend using other cues to tell when your muffins are done.
Here are three easy ways to test muffins for doneness:
- Gently press with one finger onto the top of a muffin. If it bounces back immediately, your muffins are done. If an indent is left, your muffins need more time.
- Insert a toothpick into the center of your largest muffin. If it's covered with batter, they're not done. If it's covered in crumbs or dry, your muffins are done.
- Use an instant-read thermometer. Muffins are done at about 205 degrees Fahrenheit in the center. This is the most reliable and exact method to test for doneness.
These muffins will keep for about 3 days or more in a tightly sealed container at room temperature.
Yes, baked muffins freeze well, up to 3 months in a tightly sealed, freezer-safe container. To thaw, transfer to the counter top to allow to come to room temperature for about an hour.
Recommended
📖 Recipe
Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup (120 g) all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon (4 g) baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup (66 g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- ⅓ cup (57 g) whole milk
- ¼ cup (57 g) unsalted butter, melted
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup (133 g) mini chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons (23 g) turbinado sugar, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and butter or grease mini muffin pan. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, add sugar, egg, milk, butter, and vanilla extract. Mix until fully combined. Make a well in the center of your dry ingredients, add your wet ingredients, and stir until just incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add chocolate chips and stir to combine.
- Fill mini muffin tins halfway with batter. Optionally, sprinkle tops of muffins with turbinado sugar. Bake for about 11 to 13 minutes, or until the top of your muffins pop back when pressed down gently (or a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with crumbs, not wet batter).
- Allow pan to cool for 2-3 minutes before removing muffins. Store cooled muffins in a sealed container.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- This recipe will make 24 mini muffins, or about 8 standard sized muffins. If making standard size muffins, bake for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Muffins will keep at room temperature in a sealed container for 3 days.
- Baked muffins can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months, tightly wrapped in foil and stored in a freezer safe container.
- Turbinado sugar can be substituted with granulated sugar.
I use Bob’s red mill 1 to 1 gluten free flour and sometimes cut the chocolate chips down to a little over 1/2 cup. Our son with celiac absolutely loves these muffins! I can whip up a batch in about 20 mins, they’re cheaper than pre-made GF muffins, and I have peace of mind knowing exactly how they’re prepared. I’ve made 3 batches this week!
Hi Linda, so glad to hear you're enjoying the muffins!
Hi Again,
I just noticed your video so i watched it. Your batter was definitely not as thick as mine. I could see when you scooped it with the spoon, there was some movement in the batter. Mine was way thicker.
Hi Shelley, it sounds like maybe too much flour was added to the batter - this is the only ingredient that would cause it to turn out thicker than it should. Did you measure with a kitchen scale or with measuring cups?
The batter seems very thick, so i'm trying only 6 to see how they come out. Also, the recipe says 1 egg, but in the directions, it says add eggs (plural). Please clarify. thanks Also, is the batter supposed to be thick?
Hi Shelley, yes the recipe should include one egg (I've updated the instructions to remove the typo). The video in the recipe card shows in detail the thickness of the batter around the 50 to 60 second mark - it will be thick but can be spooned into the muffin tins.
Doubled the recipe and used 2% milk. They turned out amazing! Made mini muffins and cooked about 10 mins. I probably could've taken them out about 30 seconds earlier. But very yummy. The batter was delicious and so was the end result 🙂 mom and kid approved 👍
Perfect little muffins to enjoy with a cup of coffee. I didn’t have mini chocolate chips, so I gave regular chocolate chips a rough chop. Delicious!
I added a tablespoon of vegetable oil & only baked for 10 minutes. Used a silicone mini muffin pan. They were perfect.
Is it possible to provide metric measurements as well. Its a lot easier than cup measures. Thanks!
Hi Maryanne, I agree! I prefer to measure all of my baking recipes by weight instead of using cups. You can find gram measurements in the recipe card in parenthesis next to each ingredient. Hope this helps!
I made these for coffee hour at church and they were perfect, but I had a little bit of a learning curve. I made a test batch for my husband first. I didn't want to use the paper liners because I wanted a touch of a crust and didn't want to lose any of the muffin from tearing the paper away. However, in my attempt to encourage a crust, I overcooked them. They were still good, but dry and more like a cookie. Also, I did not have turbinado sugar and instead sprinkled the tops with cinnamon sugar which was OK but not the best. For the next batch, I was careful to bake them for the shortest time (12 minutes) and I bought turbinado sugar and sprinkled the tops generously. My pan is a good quality, dark pan so they came out with a nice color crust and the turbinado sugar provided a little crunch on top. The chocolate chips provide just the right amount of sweetness. Perfect!
So glad to hear you enjoyed the muffins!
I must have done something wrong. My mini muffins came out like scones. They were still good but just not muffins. Haha. My batter was quick thick when spooning.
Hi Lily, I'm sorry to hear that your muffins didn't turn out! This sounds like possibly too much flour was added to the batter if it was thick before baking. Did you scoop your flour from a bin, or did you use a kitchen scale? Did they rise in the oven when baked? It's also possible that your leavening agent was expired. It's hard to say without being in the kitchen with you, but those are a few things that came to mind.
Same thing happened to mine. They were very dry. ☹️
Hi Kelly, I'm sorry to hear your muffins didn't turn out the way you wanted! I have a section in the FAQ above about how to prevent dry muffins. This could be due to overbaking, adding too much flour, or substituting some of the moisture-providing ingredients (butter, milk, egg sugar). Your oven could also be running slightly hot, causing them to bake a little faster. It's hard to say without being in the kitchen with you, but these are a few common things that can cause dry baked goods.
Omg! What a great recipe! So easy and super simple ingredients! So we made half the batch that this recipe was called for, we split the egg too 🙂 haha! Came out amazing! We used organic cane sugar to sprinkle on top instead! I’ve also read elsewhere to put them in at 425F and then lower down the temperature to get the the crispy tops and I did that! My 5 year old loved it!! Asked for a second one!! 🙂 thank you so much!
I made these fof my kiddos but I used oil instead of melted butter. They turned out perfect and my kids liked them.
Great recipe! Easy to make and they taste superb! Fantastic snack, dessert or breakfast!
Great recipe. I made this with my five year old. She loved making it as well as eating it.
That is so sweet, I'm glad you both enjoyed the recipe!
Very good recipe. I followed the recipe and they were very tasty. Probably could have used the suggested amount of raw sugar on top but I was cautious-- and used 1/2 the suggested amount.