better than bakery chocolate chip muffins
Who else grew up with Otis Spunkmeyer muffins?
Dudes, those big fat sugarbombs were my favorite as a wee lass. On the rare occasion I’d take lunch money with me to school, I’d always hunt one down and gobble it up. Back in those days we didn’t care about calories or health profiles: our tastebuds dictated our meals and snacks. The good ole days.
These incredibly soft, tall, chocolate-laden muffins are about as close as you can get to the Spunkmeyer special. My coworker even confirmed that they reminded her of “those things you get from the vending machine.” Equal parts charming and easy. You’ll never dig through your pockets for spare change again, unless it’s for sugar if you inevitably run out right in the midst of the baking process. Been there.
I’ll stop short of saying these aRe tHe bESt, I loathe that cliche and how the hell am I supposed to know if they’re the #1 muffin on the planet? Ain’t no contest for that shit. Well, maybe there is, and the opinions are arbitrary anyway. I do hope, however, that these fulfill your muffin cravings and rise above your expectations. Hell, maybe they’ll make you rethink running down the road for a muff and switch on the oven instead.
When Muffin Tops are a Good Thing
I discovered a couple trade secrets to tall, poofy-lidded muffins. I shall share here…else what kind of food writer would I be?
First: a good deal of leaveners. I use a whole tablespoon of baking powder plus a bit of baking soda to react with the tangy Greek yogurt. Eggs help with the lift, too.
Second: room temperature wet ingredients. The eggs, yogurt, and buttermilk should all be warm, else curdling and disruption in the effectiveness of the leaveners will occur. Keeping temps as uniform as possible is usually a good rule of thumb for baking in general, but especially here.
Third: letting the batter rest before baking. Muffin nap. The leaveners thus activate before the muffins even hit the oven. Think of it like yeast in bread, except not nearly as long of a stagnant period.
Fourth: starting the muffins at a higher oven temp, then lowering it for the majority of the baking process. The 425 degree start period flash heats the muffins and triggers a high rise immediately.
Armed with those pro tips, let’s get baking, bitches.
Hey Batter Batter
God, I need to think of new batter puns.
Start off with the wet ingredients. Basic basic. Oil, sugar, yogurt, eggs, vanilla.
In a separate bowl, whisk up the dry ingredients. Pour into the wet and run your mixer on a low speed while streaming in buttermilk (hopefully you listened to me and it’s at room temperature already). Mix until just combined. No longer. Use a spatula to fold in chocolate chips – again, do not overmix. I like using both big and tiny chips. All the chocolate.
Rest the batter for about 15 minutes. Then, line your muffin tins, or grease them well if you ran out of liners. Scoop batter into each slot, filling only 3/4 of the way up. I like to use an ice cream scoop for this. Much cleaner and more uniform portions. Sprinkle a few more chocolate chips on top of each if you’d like.
Bake the muffins at 425 for 5 minutes, then the rest of the time at 375. Don’t open your oven door until 15 minutes total have elapsed. Your muffs might deflate. No bueno.
I let mine cool for a few minutes in the tins, then move them to a wire rack. At this point, you can definitely dive in with a cup of coffee and a smear of creamy butter if you swing that way. I definitely enjoy that dichotomy sometimes.
I like to store these dudes in the fridge, covered up, and reheat one in the microwave when the yearnings for chocolate hit. And boy, do they hit. Aggressively. They’re quite sturdy in a lunch box, so your kid can enjoy a little snack during a long school day. Or, perhaps, you for your workday. Might I suggest a nice cup of joe to accompany?
Tried this recipe out? Leave a comment below with your thoughts, and don’t forget to come say hi on Instagram and show me what you made!
Need some chocolate? I feel that.
Blackberry Lavender Chocolate Chip Cookies
Strawberry Chocolate Chunk Cookie Bars
“Screwball” Chocolate Chunk Cookies
better than bakery chocolate chip muffins
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup plain whole milk Greek yogurt, at room temperature
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups mini or regular dark chocolate chips (or a mix of both!)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a 12 cup muffin tin (plus 4-6 slots of a second tin) with liners, or grease well with butter.
- Beat together the oil and sugar until smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Whip in the eggs, one at a time, then add the vanilla and yogurt until combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to the wet ingredients and, with the mixer running, slowly stream in the buttermilk until just combined. Gently fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula. Do not over mix.
- Let the batter sit at room temperature for 15 minutes. This helps the leaveners work to create those lifted muffin tops.
- After 15 minutes, carefully scoop the batter into each muffin tin, filling 3/4 of the way full. You may get anywhere from 14-16 muffins.
- Bake the muffins for 5 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 375 and continue baking for 15-20 minutes longer until an inserted toothpick emerges clean. Let cool in the tins for 5 minutes, then move to a wire rack to continue cooling. Highly recommend enjoying a warm muffin! Or, store cooled muffins in a covered container for up to 5 days.
