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!
One reader, Teck, commented: “It’s truly a superb recipe. Moist and full of flavor. Easy to follow. Voted the best muffin by my family. ★★★★★”
Another reader, Paulina, commented: “They turned out just perfect and looked so good, you’d think I bought them. This will definitely be my go-to chocolate muffin recipe from now on! ★★★★★”
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
Double 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 silicone 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 Silicone 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.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Hi Sally,
These muffins were delicious! Thank you so much! My husband asked me if I had a calories estimation per muffin? Could you please tell me? I used a standard size muffin pan and got exactly 14 muffins.
Thanks again!
Hi Stephanie, so glad you enjoyed them! We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
Curious….. Your Master Bakery Style Muffin Recipe calls for the sugar to be added to the wet ingredients? What would happen if I added the sugar to the wet ingredients for this recipe? Thank you 🙂
Not a problem at all. I’ve done it both ways (for this and many similar, simple recipes), and the results are the same.
Can the batter be made the nite before, rest in fridge then baked off the next morning?
Love these muffins! I added 1t espresso powder to the dry ingredients and it intensified the chocolate flavor. Will definitely make them again.
Hi Del, we don’t recommend it. Once the wet and dry ingredients are mixed together, the leaveners are activated and it’s best to bake off the batter right way. Glad these are a favorite!
Very very good
For this recipe, I have a plain low-fat Greek Yogurt. Will that work?
Hi Allison, that will work in a pinch, the muffins may not be a moist and rich though.
This recipe is amazing, I improvised when I didn’t have enough choc chips, used pecan nuts chopped to make up the weight, my family absolutely loved them, will definitely be doing them again maybe will walnuts.
This is the better muffins in my life! One moment. I put in my muffins a smaller amount of chocolate chips. I think these muffins are great both ways. Thank you!!!
Turned out good even with some changes, I did half whole wheat flour, I made flaxseed meal eggs and and I omitted 20 g of sugar and added a tablespoon of espresso powder. I also added a teaspoon of baking powder.
We loved them. I used 1/4c. Less sugar and sprinkled mini chocolate chips on top but only used 1 c. In the mix. Very good. Thanks
I love this recipe! I’ve played around a bit to make it “healthier” (at least in my mind) and I really like using 1/4 AP flour to 3/4 gluten free flour blend or oat flour. It makes the muffins denser (which I like in the morning).
TIP: replace the sour cream with Chobani (or other brand) coffee flavor. A m a z i n g
Hey Sally! I made the recipe once and fell in love! I was only wondering if it were possible to substitute the flour with gluten-free flour.
Hi Jane, we haven’t tested this recipe with gluten free flour, but other bakers have reported success using a 1:1 gluten free flour. Let us know if you give it a try!
Hey Sally! You are always my first website that I turn to when searching for a new recipe. I am desperately searching for a red velvet muffin recipe for Valentine’s Day. When I couldn’t find one on your site, I searched elsewhere. Unfortunately, I wasn’t overly impressed with what I found out there and the reviews were not super positive. So, I’m wondering if it’s possible to turn this double chocolate muffin recipe into a red velvet muffin recipe? If I substituted buttermilk for regular milk, and added red food coloring, I’m wondering if that would be sufficient. I know in your cake recipe (which I’ve made many times), you also talk about the butter flavor component as it also produces a lighter bake than oil. However, from a texture perspective I’m looking to make a muffin which I think is springier than a cake. So, what do you think of the plan?
Hi Jay, We wish we could help but we have never tested a red velvet muffin. It would take some recipe testing for us to be confident about how to alter this recipe, but please let us know if you try anything!
This recipe was super easy to make and the muffins tasted delicious!! I don’t like things super sweet but my husband does so I might decrease the amount of sugar I add next time. Overall, definitely recommend!
I love the choc muffin recipe, but can’t get mine to crack on the top, mine come out shiny and smooth. I have followed the instructions twice. Any advice please. They do taste really nice though.
Hi Michelle, how is the texture inside? If the muffins are done, then you aren’t doing anything wrong! The cracks are from heat expanding and escaping through the tops of the muffins. Sometimes they will crack more than other times. You can try baking them for a minute or two longer to see if that helps, but be careful not to overbake the muffins and dry them out. Hope this helps and thank you for giving these muffins a try!
Made 6 jumbo muffins in a silicone muffin pan that was coated in non stick spray. After the initial 5 minutes at 425°, I turned down the heat to 350° and cooked for 30 minutes. Turned out perfect! Very moist and delicious.
I made this gluten-free and lactose free and they were absolutely delicious. The baking time was much longer but I’m guessing it was because of the substitutions. Definitely a keeper. Thank you so much!
I like the flavor but found them to be dry. They seemed fine right out of the oven, but after letting cool for 30 min I wrapped them in plastic wrap and put them into a zip lock bag. Next day they were pretty dry. Def needs more liquid. I followed the rec exactly and even measured in grams. So I don’t know why they were so dry. I may try making thrm again and see if adding more milk and yogurt will help.
Be very careful not to over-bake! Always use a toothpick test to check for doneness. Over-baking, even for a minute, can lead to dry muffins. Thanks for giving this recipe a try!
These are so delicious. I usually use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream and sometimes substitute about one third of the flour (2/3 cup) with whole wheat flour; you can’t tell the difference. Also, I fill my muffin liners quite full and I can get 18 out of this recipe.
My husband loved these! Definitely will make again! I used my Danish dough whisk and that was super easy to mix. If you don’t have one, get one!
This was delicious, like a mini treat. I filled a little over 3/4 full because I couldn’t make myself go to the top. Everyone loved them.
Approximately how many mini muffins does the recipe make?
Hi Judy, it will make about 30-36 mini muffins.
These are moist, chocolatey and delicious. I halved the recipe and it was the perfect amount. A great quick recipe.
I loved this chocolate muffin recipe. Thr only thing missing for myself was pecans. I do love pecans in my muffins. So next time I will add some to just a couple for myself. Everyone else loved them just as they were! Thanks for the recipe.
Good recipe. I haven’t tried any other chocolate muffins, so can’t compare, but these turned out pretty well. I personally like more chocolate flavor than these produced, so next time I’ll try dark chocolate cocoa powder. And they were a little bit on the dry side, but I followed the recipe times exactly, and probably should’ve taken a minute or two off the second batch. I did like the chocolate chip-batter ratio and they rose beautifully! All in all, definitely a recipe I will be using again, with a few tweaks!
I found this recipe very easy to follow for a 0 baking experience person and have delicious muffins. Thank you!
Replaced the whole milk with almond milk and it still turned out great. Love this recipe.
Love this!
I love this recipe so much! Have made it so many times. It uses little equipment (not much washing to do) and is easy to follow. The muffins also rise perfectly! Amazing!
My hunt for an excellent chocolate muffin recipe is over! My whole family loved these. I used Rodelle cocoa powder and Ghirardelli chocolate chips… heaven!
hi! I would like to make these for my sister, who is gluten and dairy free. Would almond flour and oat milk/almond milk suffice? Thanks!
Hi Abby, we don’t recommend almond flour in these muffins, as it has very different baking properties than all-purpose flour. You could try a 1:1 gluten free flour, but we’re unsure of the results there as well. Oat or almond milk will work, though. Let us know if you give them a try!
Hey Lexi I can’t seem to make them right, I’ve made 3 batches and I’m just crushed. My son wanted these for his birthday, but they turned out VERY dry and just not good. I wouldn’t make them again. I’m glad for the experience though.