30 minutes, 6 deliciously light and fluffy chocolate chip muffins
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small batch chocolate chip muffins
These small batch chocolate chip muffins are so good, you’ll probably want to double them. They’re super light and fluffy, and we’re loading them with mini chocolate chips. I’m a firm believer that mini chocolate chips are the way to go in bakes like muffins and scones because they evenly spread out in your baked good and don’t leave you with random bites without any chocolate in them! We’re also going to top these off with a cinnamon streusel, because streusel is NEVER optional!
why you’ll love these chocolate chip muffins:
- They’re small batch: meaning it makes the perfect amount to have fresh muffins for a few days to yourself.
- They’re moist: as all muffins should be.
- Chocolate chips: these muffins are absolutely loaded with mini chocolate chips, so you get a delicious amount of chocolate in every bite.
expert baking tips
Weigh your ingredients:
My recipes are all written in grams because it is the most accurate way to bake. When you use a kitchen scale, you ensure that your baked goods turn out as close to the written recipe as possible. Plus, the cleanup is way easier when using a scale! I will provide standard cup measurements but please note that I have not tested the recipe using cup measurements and therefore can not guarantee your recipe will come out how mine did. Here is my favorite kitchen scale.
Use room temperature ingredients:
It’s important that your ingredients are at room temperature so that they can easily incorporate with each other. Take out your cold ingredients about an hour before starting the muffins.
Mix the batter carefully
It is super important to not overmix the muffin batter. Overmixing the batter leads to more gluten development which is not desirable in these muffins. Not only will you get those pointy tops on the muffins, but you will end up with tough and chewy muffins.
keep a close eye on the muffins while they bake
Muffins like to go from under-baked to over-baked super quickly so it is important to keep a close eye on them. Start checking at 14 minutes with a toothpick. If the toothpick comes out wet, check them again in 2 minutes and so on until only a few moist crumbs stick to the toothpick.
how to get bakery style muffin tops
One trick to getting those nicely domed muffin tops is (mostly) all in your oven’s temperature! Bake the muffins at 425°F / 220°C for 5 minutes. Then, without opening the oven, reduce the temperature to 350°F / 175°C and continue baking until done. The super high heat will make the muffins rise nice and tall! You will also want to bake them lined in every other tin on the muffin pan, and fill them to the very top. This recipe makes the perfect amount of batter to fill every muffin liner straight to the top for those perfect muffin tops!
Another trick, that’s optional, is resting the muffin batter. After making the muffin batter, let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour before baking. This will give time for the starches in the flour to absorb the moisture in the batter and will give you more flavorful, higher-rising muffins. Most baking powder is – but – just make sure your baking powder is “double acting” if you try this method.
how to evenly distribute your muffin batter
My favorite way to evenly distribute muffin batter is to use cookie scoops! Works perfectly every time. So long are the days of eyeballing which muffin may need a little more batter.
A note on oven temperature:
Ovens vary and fluctuate in temperature and might not always actually be at the temperature they claim to be at. If you love to bake like I do, I highly recommend getting an oven thermometer. They are super helpful for letting you know when your oven might be lying to you! I use this one.
ingredients for small batch chocolate chip muffins:
streusel:
- Unsalted butter: the base of the streusel, really what makes it buttery and delicious. You can use salted butter here as well!
- Light brown sugar: for swetness, in a pinch you can use granulated sugar here.
- All purpose flour: adds structure to the streusel.
- Ground cinnamon: optional to give a little flavor to the streusel.
chocolate chip muffins:
- All purpose flour: for structure and chewiness.
- Baking powder: for helping the muffins rise.
- Salt: to help balance and bring out the sweetness of the muffins.
- Unsalted butter: for tenderness and flavor. You can use salted butter in place of the unsalted, just be sure to omit the extra salt from the muffins.
- Granulated sugar: for sweetening and helping lock in moisture.
- Egg: for binding and for moisture.
- Vanilla: for flavor. I use and love this vanilla extract!
- Kefir: my “secret” ingredient for muffins! Kefir adds such as a nice subtle tang to the muffins and keeps them moist and fluffy. You could also use buttermilk here, or a 50:50 mix of greek yogurt and milk.
- Chocolate chips: Use your favorite chocolate or chocolate chips here! I used mini chocolate chips so that the chocolate was fairly evenly spread out throughout the batter.
how to make small batch chocolate chip muffins
Here are the steps to follow to make my small batch chocolate chip muffins. You can find the complete recipe at the end of this blog post.
- Combine the streusel ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. Mix together the wet ingredients: In a medium sized mixing bowl, melt the butter, then whisk in the sugar, egg, kefir, and vanilla.
- Fold in the dry ingredients until only a few streaks of flour remain.
- Then fold in the mini chocolate chips.
- Distribute the muffin batter between six liners, top them with streusel, then bake and enjoy!
small batch chocolate chip muffins recipe q&a
can I double this recipe?
Of course! Obviously they will not be small batch anymore but small batch isn’t always what we need. Simply double all of the ingredients in the recipe to make 12 delicious chocolate chip muffins. I even more strongly recommend measuring by weight if you are going to double the recipe for the best results.
how to store muffins
Like most baked goods, these muffins will definitely taste the best on the day that they are baked. They will keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for about 3 days.
tools and ingredients:
You can find all my favorite tools and ingredients that I use on my Amazon Storefront page, here!
other recipes you might enjoy:
did you make this recipe?
I’d love to see and know your thoughts! please leave a comment and review below, and tag me on instagram @freshbeanbakery. #freshbeanbakery
Small Batch Chocolate Chip Muffins
Ingredients
Streusel
- 28 g unsalted butter (2 tbsp.)
- 40 g light brown sugar (3 tbsp.)
- 45 g all purpose flour (~⅓ c.)
- ¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
Chocolate Chip Muffins
- 56 g unsalted butter (4 tbsp.)
- 100 g granulated sugar (½ c.)
- 1 egg room temperature
- ½ tsp. vanilla
- 120 g kefir room temperature (½ c + ½ tbsp.)
- 140 g all purpose flour (1 c. + 3 tbsp.)
- 1 ¼ tsp. baking powder*
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 90 g mini chocolate chips (¼ c. + 2 tbsp.)
Instructions
Streusel
- Alternate lining a muffin pan with 6 parchment liners. If you won't be resting the batter and want to bake the muffins right away, preheat the oven to 425°F / 220°C. Otherwise, preheat the oven after letting the batter rest.
- In a small bowl, melt the butter, then add in the sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Use a fork to mix the ingredients together until you have formed little clumps of dough. Set aside.
Chocolate Chip Muffins
- In a small mixing bowl, melt the butter then whisk in the sugar.
- Whisk in the egg, vanilla, and kefir until well combined.
- Add in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Use a rubber spatula to lightly fold the mixture until only a few flour streaks remain.
- Add in the chocolate chips and fold just until no flour streaks remain, and the chocolate chips have been evenly distributed.
- (OPTIONAL) Cover the batter and let it rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour before baking. This will encourage a more flavorful, higher-rising muffin!
- Evenly distribute the muffin batter between the six parchment liners, filling each liner to the very top. Top each muffin with some of the streusel and extra chocolate chips, if desired.
- Bake the muffins for 5 minutes. Without opening the oven door, reduce the temperature to 350°F / 175°C. Bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Please note that the nutrition facts are only an estimate and may vary based on different brands of ingredients and any substitutions made.
My new favourite chocolate chip muffin recipe. The streusel is so perfect! I used 50:50 greek yogurt and milk because I didn’t have kefir and they turned out great. 🙂
Ah thank you so much Lauryn, I’m so happy you like them! 🙂
hi!!
i know for a fact i made these before a few times and they turned out seriously amazing.
but i don’t remember kéfir being a part of the recipe, i actually didn’t know what that was until i looked it up right now,
was it always the recipe? i don’t remember what i put instead in these, so you have any idea what can be used instead?
Hi! I updated these a bit ago because I found that kefir provided the best texture. I note it in the ingredients section that you can use a 50:50 mix of Greek yogurt & milk in place of the kefir – it used to be sour cream and milk so you could also do a 50:50 of that to replace the kefir – or use buttermilk! 🙂
Would have been helpful to have the direction to preheat oven after the instruction to rest the batter, or mentioned in brackets at the start of the recipe. Having the oven preheat for 40 mins seems wasteful.
Also muffins and upcakes are not the thing and are not interchangeable. The pans are different and the cases are different. Cupcakes are smaller, and fairy cakes are smaller still. There is a large muffin case/ tin, known as Texas muffins, but they rarely specified in recipes.
*not the same thing
Way too much streusel for only 6 muffins, also not sure how you are meant to top them if you are filling the cases right up to the very top, as it will dome a little and then just fall off. Unless you have double action baking powder then resting it will kill the rise, not ensure it. Tried this recipe as it was small batch, thought the balance was out and should have trusted my instinct. Waste of time and ingredients
Hello, thank you for trying out my recipe. The resting time is optional and most often skipped (for faster muffins) which is why the preheating is still listed at the beginning of the recipe, but I can add a note to make it more clear. I am aware that there are large muffin pans, but most home bakers use the same 12-tinned pan interchangeably for muffins and cupcakes, and most stores label them as the same thing. You are right that unless you use double acting, you won’t get a better result. Almost all baking powder sold in baking aisles is double acting, but I will add a note about that as well into the recipe. I’m sorry you feel that this was a waste of time, but I appreciate you trying it out and leaving feedback.
Love the recipe b so confused about cupcake vs muffin tins. When I make these in my muffin tins I only get 4 🥴
Hi, thank you so much! Typically a muffin pan and cupcake pan are the same pan, it’s just interchangeable what you call it. A standard sized muffin/cupcake pan should be yielding 6!
These muffins are absolutely scrumptious! I found this recipe through Instagram, and these muffins definitely taste just as good as they look. I have been trying to find a good go-to muffin recipe for ages, and this is definitely the best one I have tried. And, the recipe was so easy to follow. Thank you so much for writing it (and putting the American measurements)!
Thank you SO much, I’m so happy to hear that you liked the recipe and what an honor to be the best you’ve tried ahh! 🙂
now i know these are just muffins, and i am about to be so dramatic– but these are the best muffins i have ever had. since i started baking (ab a month or two ago!) your blog has been my guiding line through this lovely journey ! and after a lot of fun recipes i decided to make this lovely classic night before exam. i just have to say i literally, stopped everything when i bit into the first muffin and ate it with my eyes closed just EXPERIENCED IT! as the biggest muffin lover ever, i never thought anything would top the muffins from my local bakery, but wow❤ this is the best thing in the world❤ also the recipe is a DELIGHT to read, everything is so easy to follow and written with fun and interesting explanations<3
You just made my entire week with your two messages, thank you so much!! I am so delighted to hear that you find the blog posts helpful and easy to follow especially on your newer baking journey. You are too kind and I am so happy that you enjoy my content and enjoyed this recipe. <3
Replacement of egg (substitute for 1 egg?)
Hi, I’ve never tried this recipe with an egg substitute however it looks like some people have success by swapping out the egg for sour cream! So for this recipe just increase the sour cream from 30g to 80g. I hope this helps!