These bakery style triple chocolate muffins are rich and tender, high-rising, and deeply chocolate-y both in color and flavor. Easy to make and no mixer required! This recipe makes 6 muffins, but you can easily double the ingredients should you need a bigger batch.
Triple Chocolate Muffins
Chocolate for breakfast. Why not? If we can have a slice of this chocolate babka in the morning, or maybe a piece of pain au chocolat from your favorite boulangerie then there’s definitely room for some chocolate muffins.
Warm from the oven, you’ll love the contrast between the slight crunch from the muffin top and the soft and tender inside . Packed with three kinds of chocolate – they’re totally a decadent way to start (or end) your day!
Why This Recipe Is a Keeper:
- No hand mixer or stand mixer required. You can make this batter using your trusty spatula.
- Easy to make. You only need 2 bowls for this recipe – one for mixing the dry ingredients and the other one for the wet ingredients. This is a fun recipe to do with kids.
- Eat anytime of the day. While these are great to be paired with your coffee in the morning, my kids eat this for snack, and even for dessert, with a glass of milk.
- Small batch bakes. Need a smaller serving size for whatever reason? This recipe only makes 6 muffins, but you can easily double the recipe ingredients to get 12.
- Freezable. For longer storage, you can freeze these triple chocolate muffins for up to 3 months. I like wrapping them individually in a plastic cling wrap before putting them in a freezer safe bag/ container. This way I can easily take out a piece or two when needed. Allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature or warm up in the microwave if desired.
How To Make Triple Chocolate Muffins
Shop efficiently (treat this as your grocery list) and gather your ingredients at home without running circles in your kitchen. (i.e. One trip to the fridge to get all your dairy needs.)
Ingredient Shopping List
DAIRY
- 1 large egg (50grams without shell)
- 85 grams full-fat/ whole milk
- 60 grams unsalted butter, melted
PANTRY
- 30 grams Dutch-process cocoa (NOT natural cocoa powder)
- 120 grams all-purpose flour
- 135 grams light brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 40 grams dark chocolate chips
- 40 grams semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1:
Twenty minutes or more before baking, set an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 F / 175 C.
Step 2:
In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and chocolate chips. Set aside.
Step 3:
In a medium bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the wet ingredients: eggs, milk, vanilla extract, and vinegar, and melted butter.
Step 4:
Pour the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring to blend. It is not necessary to beat the batter. It is very easy to overmixing at this stage. The key is to stop mixing when everything is well combined.
You should get a thick batter, as shown in the photo below.
Step 5:
Evenly scoop the batter into 6 muffin cups or cupcake pan. It is important to have the same amount of batter so that they will be done baking all at the same time. You can choose to use a scoop or eyeball it. My preferred method is to weigh it.
My batter weight was 562 grams so I placed 93 grams per muffin hole. Your batter weight may be slightly different – that’s normal. Whatever weight you got, evenly divide them by 6 to get the batter weight for each muffin cup.
Step 6:
Bake the muffins for 20 minutes, or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin come out clean.
Note: Always use the baking time indicated in the recipe as a guide. Each oven is different so you may need to adjust your time.
I use an oven thermometer and I put the muffins inside the oven once my oven thermometer is at 350 F. You would be suprised that sometimes, even if your oven display says it’s at 350 F, your actual oven temperature has not reached 350 F yet!
STEP 7:
Remove the muffins from the oven. After 5 minutes, transfer them on a cooling rack.
Tips for Muffin Success
- Do not overmix your batter. Overmixing is one of the common reasons your muffins (or any other baked goods like cake, cupcakes) are overly dense. Remember to stop mixing once the dry and wet ingredients ingredients are just combined.
- Use room temperature ingredients. Room temperature ingredients bond together very easily since they are warmer, creating a smooth and evenly textured batter. Cold ingredients do not emulsify together and this results to clumpy batter, dense and flat baked goods.
- Do a toothpick test. This is one of those recipes where you can avoid underbaking your baked goods by doing a toothpick test. Insert a toothpick or cake tester in the middle of a muffin. If it come out dry with a few crumbs that means the muffins are ready. Just keep in mind that if you have poked into a chocolate chip, you’ll get a wet, gooey chocolate too.
Storing and Reheating
These triple chocolate muffins are best eaten freshly made. Fresh from the oven, I particularly love the crunchy tops in contrast to the soft and tender chocolate-y gooey goodness inside.
Once cooled you can store them in an airtight container or resealable food storage bag. You can leave them on your countertop for about 2 days.
Other than that, you can freeze these muffins for up to 3 months. I like wrapping each muffin in plastic cling wrap before putting them all together in an airtight container or releasable food storage bag. This way I can easily grab a piece or two when the chocolate craving hits or when my kids are looking for some snack.
Take a muffin out from the freezer about 1 to 2 hours before eating to let them come to room temperature, or your could gently warm them in the microwave. I always use the “defrost” mode (gentle heat) in my microwave and I start at 1 minute, then adding 30-second increments until the muffin is soft and warm.
FAQs
Why add vinegar in baking?
The amount of vinegar in this recipe does not alter the taste of the muffins. Instead, it is helps the baking soda give the muffins a tall rise and a tender crumb instead of a very dense texture.
When acids (like vinegar) come into contact with baking soda, carbon dioxide gas is released, which is essential in aiding cakes, muffins, and cookies to rise as they bake.
Are these like chocolate cupcakes?
These triple chocolate muffins are not as soft and spongy as cupcakes so they differ in terms of texture. Muffins are generally richer and denser than cupcakes. And of course, there’s no buttercream or frosting on top.
Why did my muffins sink in the middle?
Your muffins are underbaked. Remember to do a toothpick test in the middle of your muffins to see if they are ready. Refer to Tips for Muffin success above.
My muffins came out dry, what did I do wrong?
Two of the common reasons are: too much flour and overbaking. Did you measure your flour accurately? Did you do a toothpick test?
Watch How To Make It
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Rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Or tag @thebakeologie on Instagram and hashtag it #bakeologie !
Printable Recipe Card
Small Batch Triple Chocolate Muffins
Ingredients
- 30 grams Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 120 grams all-purpose flour
- 135 grams light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspon fine sea salt
- 40 grams dark chocolate chips
- 40 grams semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 50 grams egg (weight is without shell) (about 1 large egg in North America)
- 85 grams full-fat or whole milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon vinegar (plain, white vinegar)
- 60 grams unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
- PREHEAT THE OVEN. Twenty minutes or more before baking, set an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 F / 175 C.
- MIX THE DRY INGREDIENTS. In a large bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and chocolate chips. Set aside.30 grams Dutch-processed cocoa powder120 grams all-purpose flour135 grams light brown sugar1/2 teaspoon baking powder1/2 teaspoon baking soda1/2 teaspon fine sea salt40 grams dark chocolate chips40 grams semi-sweet chocolate chips
- MIX THE LIQUID INGREDIENTS. In a medium bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla extract, and vinegar, and melted butter.50 grams egg (weight is without shell)85 grams full-fat or whole milk1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract1 teaspoon vinegar60 grams unsalted butter, melted
- MAKE THE BATTER. Pour the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring to blend. It is not necessary to beat the batter; just make sure everything is well combined. Overmixing will give you dense muffins. Your batter should be thick.
- SCOOP THE BATTER. Evenly scoop the batter into 6 muffin cups or cupcake pan. I divided my total batter weight by 6.
- BAKE. Bake the muffins for 20 minutes, or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin come out clean.
- COOL. Remove the muffins from the oven. After 5 minutes, transfer them on a cooling rack.
Notes
- This recipe makes 6 bakery-style muffins. Easily double the recipe if you need to make more.
- My batter weight was 562 grams so I placed 93 grams per muffin hole. Your batter weight may be slightly different – that’s okay.
- If you tried this recipe or any other recipe on this site, I would love to know! Rate the recipe and leave a comment in the post. Or tag @thebakeologie on Instagram and hashtag it #bakeologie !
Tried this yesterday…So easy and chocolaltey without being too sweet. My kids loved them! And I am glad the measurements are by weight. Thank you for the recipe!