30 minutes, 6 deliciously light and fluffy chocolate chip muffins

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small batch chocolate chip muffins

Name: Small Batch Chocolate Chip Muffins
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 28 g unsalted butter ((2 tbsp.)); 40 g light brown sugar ((3 tbsp.)); 45 g all purpose flour ((~⅓ c.)); ¼ tsp. ground cinnamon; 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.))

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.

Close up of the cross section of the small batch chocolate chip muffins.

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.

Wet ingredients whisked together in a mixing bowl.

The flour almost fully incorporated into the batter.

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.

The finished chocolate chip muffin batter.

The muffin batter distributed between parchment liners.

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.

Small batch chocolate chip muffins on a serving tray.

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

Please note that the nutrition facts are only an estimate and may vary based on different brands of ingredients and any substitutions made.

Small Batch Chocolate Chip Muffins

small batch chocolate chip muffins

why you’ll love these chocolate chip muffins: