Small Batch Chocolate Chip Muffins

Yield: 6 chocolate chip muffins // Total Time: 30 min. // Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate links. // Recipe updated 11/29/2022 (added streusel!)

Light and fluffy chocolate chip muffins with streusel, made small batch!

Small batch chocolate chip muffins

Today we’re taking some delicious light and fluffy muffins, loading them with mini chocolate chips and topping them with a generous amount of streusel.

Why do you post small batch recipes?

I love making small batch bakes because they are the perfect size myself and others who don’t have a lot of people to bake for in their home. Small batch helps cut down on waste and eliminates the feeling that all that excess dessert MUST be eaten. Here on my blog I post a lot of small batch bakes with a mix of some 8-10″ single layer cakes from time to time. All my recipes can easily be doubled or tripled to fit your need, so long as you use grams to measure!

Small batch chocolate chip muffins recipe tips

Weigh your ingredients

Weighing your ingredients is important for getting the recipe perfect and getting consistent results. Not weighing your ingredients can lead to adding too much or too little of an ingredient which can make or break your recipe. If you haven’t already, I highly recommend purchasing a kitchen scale. This one is super cheap and worked well for me when I was starting out!

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.

Room temperature ingredients

It is important for the ingredients to be at room temperature so that they properly incorporate with each other. If you have ever had your batter look curdled, it is most likely due to the ingredients separating from being at different temperatures. Take out the egg, milk, and sour cream at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hr 30 min. before starting the recipe. For some tips and tricks on how to get ingredients to room temperature fast, you can check out this blog post here!

Under-bake, don’t over-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.

Get those perfect muffin tops

The 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!

Get evenly distributed 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.

Ingredients and substitutions

For the streusel:

Unsalted butter: the base of the streusel, really what makes it buttery and delicious. You can use salted butter here as well!

Granulated sugar: sweetens up the streusel.

All purpose flour: adds structure to the streusel.

For the chocolate chip muffins:

All purpose flour: for structure and chewiness.

Baking powder: for helping the muffins rise.

Baking soda: 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.

Light brown sugar: for sweetening and for moisture.

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!

Whole milk: for moisture. You can use 2%, 1% or your favorite plant-based milk here, just note that the texture may change and the muffins may be less light and fluffy. Note: I’ve also had great success replacing both the whole milk and sour cream with 95g of buttermilk!

Sour cream: for moisture and tenderizing the muffin batter. You can also substitute in greek yogurt here!

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 (which is printable!) at the end of this blog post.

1. Make the streusel. In a small bowl, melt the butter, then add in the sugar and flour. Use a fork to mix the ingredients together until you have formed little clumps of dough. Set aside.

2. Make the muffins. In a medium sized mixing bowl, melt the butter then whisk in both sugars.

3. Add wet ingredients. Whisk in the egg, vanilla, milk, and sour cream until the mixture is well combined.

4. Fold in dry ingredients. Add in the dry ingredients, and use a rubber spatula to fold the mixture together just until a few streaks of flour remain. Then, fold in the chocolate chips just until no flour streaks remain.

5. Top the muffins. Distribute the muffin batter evenly between the muffin liners. Top each muffin with some of the streusel, and additional chocolate chips if desired.

6. Bake. We’ll start the muffins out at 425°F for 5 minutes, which will help them rise up nice and tall. Without opening the oven door, reduce the temperature to 350°F / 175°C for the remainder of the baking time.

7. Serve and enjoy! Serve warm with butter, or room temperature without. Either way is delicious!

Small batch chocolate chip muffins Q & A

Can I double these small batch chocolate chip muffins?

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. However, I even more strongly recommend measuring by weight if you are going to double the recipe for the best results.

How to store these muffins

Like most baked goods, these muffins will definitely taste the best on the day that they are baked. They will last for up to 3 days stored in an airtight container at room temperature.

Why do you measure in grams?

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, and here’s an article about why I use a kitchen scale, and why you should too!

A note on oven temperature

Ovens vary and fluctuate in temperature. For example, I always have to set my oven to 330°F if I want it to bake at 350°F. 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.

Tools and ingredients

You can find all my favorite tools and ingredients that I use on my Amazon Storefront page, here!

Did you make these small batch chocolate chip muffins?

If you made these small batch chocolate muffins I would love to see them and know your thoughts! Please leave a comment and review down below, and tag me on Instagram @freshbeanbakery. If you have any questions about the recipe I will gladly do my best to answer them in the comments below!