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This chocolate muffins recipe comes out rich, moist and ultra chocolaty! They’re simple to bake and impress anyone.

Chocolate muffins
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Not sure about you, but we’re suckers for a good chocolate muffin. We’ve been searching for the recipe that’s just right, and finally we found it. Try this Chocolate Muffins recipe: it comes out moist, rich and super chocolaty! It’s simple to put together and we promise: it will impress everyone. We make these often for friends and family and they’re always a hit!

Ingredients in this chocolate muffins recipe

We’ll admit: a chocolate muffin is really just a glorified chocolate cupcake. In fact, muffins and cupcakes share a lot of the same ingredients. So we suggest saving chocolate muffins for snacks instead of breakfast: if you can! The rich, moist interior is studded with just the right amount of chocolate chips. There are a few flavor secrets that we think are essential for a good chocolate muffin. Here are the ingredients you’ll need:

  • All-purpose flour
  • Unsweetened cocoa powder
  • Dutch process cocoa powder (required for the best flavor!)
  • Baking soda
  • Espresso powder (optional)
  • Kosher salt
  • Milk
  • Apple cider vinegar
  • Brown and granulated sugar
  • Neutral oil
  • Vanilla extract
  • Chocolate chips
Chocolate muffins recipe

Dutch process vs standard cocoa powder

This chocolate muffins recipe has just a few flavor secrets, and one is using both regular and Dutch process (dark) cocoa powder. You really do need this special type for the right flavor! It is treated with an alkali to make it pH neutral, which gives it a darker color and milder flavor. This makes the flavor ultra chocolaty!

Chocolate muffin recipe

Using espresso powder in desserts

Espresso or instant coffee powder is another flavor trick here! Using powdered coffee is a well-known trick to enhance the chocolate flavor in baked goods. However, this is totally optional and not integral to the flavor of these chocolate muffins! If you’d like, you can use a caffeine free alternative, like a decaf espresso powder.

Variation: make it dairy-free or vegan

This chocolate muffin recipe is easily adaptable to be dairy-free or vegan. Most muffin recipes have eggs and sometimes sour cream or yogurt, but these muffins don’t need either. Here’s how to make this recipe dairy-free:

  • Use oat milk or your favorite dairy-free milk (we like oat milk best for baking)
  • Use dark chocolate chips: all brands vary, but many are vegan. Check the ingredient list to make sure they don’t contain milkfat.
Chocolate muffin

Chocolate muffins storage info

How to store chocolate muffins? Room temperature is best, since they taste even moister and most delicious throughout the storage time. However, they shouldn’t be stored more than 2 days at room temperature. You can prolong storage in a refrigerator or freezer:

  • Room temperature: Store at room temperature for 1 to 2 days in a sealed container. This keeps in the moisture and the muffins are even softer after storage.
  • Refrigerator: These muffins store well in the refrigerator for up to 1 week! Let them stand at room temperature for a few minutes before eating. You can store them at room temp for a few days and then move to refrigerator storage.
  • Freeze: Freeze in a sealable container and store up to 3 months.
Chocolate muffins

More muffin recipes

Love to bake? Here are a few more muffin recipes you might enjoy:

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Chocolate muffins recipe

Easy Chocolate Muffins


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5 from 1 review

  • Author: Sonja Overhiser
  • Prep Time: 25 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 45 minutes
  • Yield: 12 1x
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Description

This chocolate muffins recipe comes out rich, moist and ultra chocolaty! They’re simple to bake and impress anyone.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 cups [280 g] all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 tablespoons Dutch process cocoa powder
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon espresso powder (optional)
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 ¼ cups milk (or non-dairy milk)
  • 1 ½ tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • ½ cup neutral oil (grapeseed, canola or vegetable)
  • 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 cup 55% or semi sweet chocolate chips, plus more for topping

Instructions

  1. Preheat: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a standard 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray or add muffin cup papers.
  2. Make the batter: In a large bowl, whisk the all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, Dutch process cocoa powder, baking soda, espresso powder, and salt.
  3. In a separate medium bowl, whisk milk and vinegar until frothy. Whisk in the brown sugar, granulated sugar, oil, and vanilla extract. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with a spatula until a thick dough forms. Fold the chocolate chips into the batter.
  4. Scoop the batter evenly into the muffin cups: the cups will be full to the top, using about a heaping ¼ cup per muffin. Sprinkle another handful chocolate chips onto the tops of the muffins.
  5. Bake: Bake the muffins for 20 to 23 minutes, until puffed and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a rack to cool fully, about 1 hour. Eat immediately or they taste even better the next day after storage in a sealed container at room temperature. Store 1 to 2 days in a sealed container at room temperature, then transfer to refrigerator and refrigerate up to 5 days (allow to come to room temperature before serving). You can also freeze the muffins for up to 3 months.
  • Category: Muffin
  • Method: Baked
  • Cuisine: Muffin
  • Diet: Vegetarian

About the authors

Sonja & Alex

Hi, we’re Alex and Sonja Overhiser, married cookbook authors, food bloggers, and recipe developers. We founded A Couple Cooks to share fresh, seasonal recipes and the joy of cooking! Our recipes are made by two real people and work every time.

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3 Comments

  1. Camila Wilson says:

    Hi Sonja,
    Can I replace all-purpose flour with another flour?






  2. MK says:

    Have you made this with gluten free flour? Or do you think it would work without any other changes?

    1. Alex Overhiser says:

      We haven’t tested it! I would think a 1 for 1 should work fine though.