The perfect chocolate chip muffins have plenty of chocolate without being too sweet. Get the secret to keeping the chips from sinking.
Chocolate chip muffins are the perfect breakfast muffin for those folks obsessed with chocolate. These muffins are packed with chocolate chips, but aren’t over-the-top sweet, making them great for breakfast or a snack.
My friend Susie often told me that muffins were just an excuse to eat cake in the morning. And though I understand her sentiment, I’ve always thought of muffins as a different creature than cake despite their similarities. The ideal muffin to me is less sweet than cake, with a sturdier, coarser crumb. And though chocolate chip muffins seem like the sort of dessert-like dish you’d get at the end of the meal, these baked goods definitely fall into the muffin category for me.
The crumb is sturdy, allowing the chocolate chips to nestle themselves throughout the muffin and not sink to the bottom. The muffin itself isn’t overly sweet, though the semi-sweet chocolate chips give you burst of sweetness to help satisfy your chocolate craving. And the addition of a touch of cinnamon and nutmeg layers in some subtle depth to the muffin, making every bite a delight.
What Kind Of Chocolate Chips Are Best For Muffins?
You can use whatever chocolate chip that you prefer to eat out of hand. I used a semi-sweet chocolate chip that was a nice balance of sweetness and dark bitterness. But if you are a dark chocolate fan, find a nice bittersweet chocolate to use. If you prefer something sweeter, go with a milk chocolate. Of use a blend of different chocolate chips to keep things interesting!
You can also use chopped chocolate in this recipe if you’d like. Just chop the chocolate into 1/2-inch chunks, roughly the size of chocolate chips, and fold them in as instructed. Keep in mind that the chopped chocolate will melt more than chocolate chips, which are designed to retain their shape in the high heat of the oven. So, if you end up eating these muffins warm with chopped chocolate, it might be a bit of a delicious mess!
Can I Use Low-Fat Yogurt?
Sure! You can use whatever plain yogurt you have on hand. Keep in mind that the fat in the full fat yogurt adds to the richness and moisture to the muffin. So, a low-fat yogurt will yield a slightly drier muffin.
Whatever you do though, make sure you use plain yogurt. Yogurt with fruit or with other flavors often have sugar added to it. You want plain yogurt that does not have any added sugar. Added sugar from the yogurt will throw off the chemistry of the muffin.
Can’t get enough muffins? Try my best blueberry muffins too!
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Chocolate Chip Muffins
These chocolate chip muffins aren’t too sweet but are packed with loads of chocolate chips. The cinnamon and nutmeg add a subtle dimension to the muffin crumb, while the use of yogurt in the batter means it’s a little thicker and chocolate chips don’t fall to the bottom.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cooling Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins 1x
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (280 g)
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 3/4 tsp. kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 3/4 cup white sugar (150 g)
- 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
- 1 cup plain yogurt, full fat preferred (250 g)
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1 and 1/2 cups chocolate chips (265 g)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and spray a standard 12 cup muffin tin with cooking oil.
- Place the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium sized bowl. Using a balloon whisk, stir the ingredients together until they are uniform in color and well blended.
- Place the butter, white sugar, brown sugar, yogurt, vanilla, and eggs in a large bowl. Stir with a whisk until combined and smooth.
- Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients. Slowly fold together the ingredients with a large spatula, stirring until most, but not all, of the dry ingredients are absorbed.
- Add the chocolate chips and fold them into the batter, slowly stirring until they are evenly distributed.
- Divide the batter into the muffin cups. The batter will fill the cup almost to the top of each cup.
- Bake in the oven 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean and the edges of the top of the muffin are turning golden brown.
- Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then careful running a thin knife around the edge of each muffin, releasing it, and moving them all to the wire rack to cool completely.
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