When it comes to double chocolate muffins, these giant muffins are the best of the best – moist, tender, and extremely chocolatey. They’re loaded with three kinds of chocolate for an intense amount of chocolate flavor. And they can be made gluten-free!
Quick Note: This is an updated version of a post that originally appeared on Bright-Eyed Baker in 2014. Updates include new text and photos, and very minor tweaks to the recipe, including an option to make these muffins gluten-free!
I’m just gonna put this out there to begin with: this is the kind of double chocolate muffin you make when you mean business. They’re chocolate on chocolate to the max and you can’t be sorry about that. This is not the time for lightened-up or healthified muffins (if you’re looking for that, try these instead). But if you’re with me, keep reading.
You know those jumbo, bakery-style double chocolate muffins you see at the store? I look at those and I expect something moist, cakey, and most of all CHOCOLATEY, but usually you get something else, something that makes eating chocolate for breakfast not-so-worth-it. And that? Well that just sucks. I’ve made my fair share of double chocolate muffins over the years, but these were the first to really check all the boxes for me. Moist? YES. Soft? YES. Tender? YES. Chocolatey? HECK YES. And in one of those rare moments of baked good perfection, these taste phenomenal whether you eat them at room temperature, warm, or – I hate to say it but I will – straight from the fridge. They’re a straight-up splurge if you have them for breakfast, or you can really get wild and serve them with whipped cream for dessert. Either way, I promise you, they’re SO worth making.
Ingredients
It took a lot of tweaking to get the ingredients and proportions in these muffins just right, so it’s important to stick to the recipe on this one. You’ll need:
- All-purpose flour (gluten-free or regular) – YES, you can make these GF! Just use your favorite all-purpose gluten-free flour (make sure it contains xanthan gum).
- Natural cocoa powder – A full cup makes these muffins extra chocolatey. Natural cocoa powder is also acidic and will react with the baking soda in this recipe to create more rise.
- Baking powder – Like I mentioned here, baking powder is key for making bakery-style muffins with perfectly-domed tops.
- Baking soda – Neutralizes the acidic cocoa powder & sour cream, and helps the muffins rise.
- Salt – Brings out the flavors!
- Eggs and egg yolk – Eggs add structure; the extra egg yolk makes the muffins more tender.
- Granulated sugar – Balances out the cocoa powder for sweetness, and adds moisture and tenderness.
- Avocado, canola, or vegetable oil – For chocolate recipes, oil often trumps butter because it makes for a softer, more moist crumb. Butter is typically used for its flavor, but chocolate usually takes over the flavor anyway. ;)
- Sour cream – Sour cream keeps the batter thick (perfect for tall, giant muffins), and the fat content keeps the muffins moist & tender. You can use yogurt if you absolutely must, but for the best possible results I recommend sour cream.
- Vanilla extract – Adds another layer of flavor & complexity. I use vanilla extract in 99% of my baked goods.
- Chocolate chips / chopped chocolate – I highly recommend using a combination of different chocolates in this recipe (milk, semisweet, and bittersweet). The better the chocolate, the better the muffins.
- Sparkling sugar – Gives the muffin tops a sweet crunch, annnnd makes the muffins look even more like they came straight from a bakery (bonus).
Recipe tips
Tons of readers have already made these muffins successfully since I first shared the recipe, but if you’re making these for the first time, here are a few extra pointers:
Wipe off the surface of the muffin tin after spraying it with cooking oil. When you fill the muffin cups, they will be FULL. To help prevent this from turning into a sad muffin-top disaster, we want to pull out every stop to make sure these muffins rise up and not out. Slick cooking oil on top of the muffin pan isn’t going to do us any favors.
Cream together the eggs and sugar until the mixture is pale and the batter ribbons down from the beaters when lifted. This ensures the sugar is dissolved into the eggs, adds structure to the muffins, and gives the muffins their shiny, crinkly, brownie-like tops.
Use the best chocolate you can afford. I mentioned it before but it’s worth saying again. If you want to make the ultimate double chocolate muffin, splurge on good cocoa powder and chocolate. I typically use Ghiradelli unsweetened cocoa, along with their milk chocolate baking chips, semisweet chocolate chips, and bittersweet baking bar.
Fill the muffin cups TO THE BRIM with batter. You’re going to make this batter and think that surely you have enough of it to make 18 muffins. But hear this: If you want giant, bakery-style muffins, fill only 12 muffin cups, and fill them to the very top. I promise you this will end well if you’ve followed the recipe.
More chocolate muffin recipes
For more reasons to eat chocolate for breakfast, try these muffins!
Lightened-Up Double Chocolate Muffins – If you’re looking for double chocolate chip muffins, but on the lighter side, here’s where to look! These use a combination of whole wheat pastry flour and almond flour, and are made with almond milk to be dairy-free.
One-Bowl Glazed Chocolate Chip Muffins – These are simple-to-make, classic chocolate chip muffins topped with a sweet vanilla glaze. Can’t go wrong there.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins – These muffins are easy to make, super soft & tender, and loaded with peanut butter and chocolate chips. They’re also lightened up a bit from your typical peanut butter muffin, and dairy-free!
Ultimate Double Chocolate Muffins
When it comes to double chocolate muffins, these are the best of the best – moist, tender, and extremely chocolatey. They’re loaded with three kinds of chocolate for an intense amount of chocolate flavor. And they can be made gluten-free!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 17-22 minutes
- Total Time: 37-42 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins 1x
- Category: muffins
- Method: baking
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 2 cups, spoon and level (8 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour (gluten-free or regular)*
- 1 cup (3 1/2 ounces) natural cocoa powder, sifted
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
- 1 1/4 cups (8 3/4 ounces) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (3 7/8 ounces) avocado, canola, or vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 cups (12 3/4 ounces) sour cream
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 10 1/2 ounces chocolate chips and/or chopped chocolate, divided**
- sparkling sugar, for tops
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375ºF and grease a standard 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray, wiping off any excess spray on the top of the pan.
- In a bowl, whisk (or better yet sift) together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or using a handheld electric mixer), begin beating the eggs on medium-high speed. Slowly stream in the sugar while beating and continue to beat until the mixture is pale and thickened and ribbons down from the beater when lifted before settling back down into the batter (see photo in post above). Wipe down the bowl and beater as needed.
- Beat in the oil until fully incorporated. Wipe down bowl and beater and beat in sour cream and vanilla until evenly incorporated.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and fold in just until only a few visible streaks remain. Add 8 1/2 ounces of the chocolate and fold in just until all ingredients are evenly incorporated. The batter will be thick!
- Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared muffin cups, smoothing the tops if needed but keeping the scoops mounded; fill all 12 muffin cups completely. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate and sparkling sugar on top.
- Bake muffins in preheated oven for 10 minutes, and then reduce heat to 350ºF and bake another 7-12 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of one comes out clean, or with just a few moist crumbs or streaks of melted chocolate. Cool muffins in pan for about 15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store muffins in an airtight container at room temperature, or in the refrigerator to keep for more than a few days.
Notes
*When this recipe was originally posted, only regular all-purpose flour was specified. However, I have since tested it with gluten-free all-purpose flour, and can confirm that this works just as well!
**For the chocolate in this recipe, I recommend using 3 different types for added flavor and complexity. You can use a mixture of milk, semisweet, and bittersweet chocolate (3 1/2 ounces of each).
Keywords: ultimate double chocolate muffins, double chocolate muffins, double chocolate chip muffins, gluten free chocolate muffins, giant chocolate muffin recipe
Copyright protected by Digiprove © 2014-2020
Erika says
THOSE TOPS!!! These are amazingly beautiful!!!!!! Question: have you tried making these without the extra egg yolk? Do you think they’d be much worse off if I made them without it?
alexandra says
Haha I KNOW! They’re my favorite part of the whole muffin. :) I haven’t tried it and I really would rather tell you not to leave it out just because it’s there to help keep the muffin really tender, and like I said, you gotta go big or go home with these! But if you were to leave it out, I do think you’d still have a good muffin.
Science Chef says
Hi! Great recipe with wonderful photos. Just made these today and they’re great, packed with chocolate flavour, the way I like it :-). I did leave out the egg yolk and it still turned out good, although I added some extra yoghurt to keep them nice and moist. Will probably make these again whenever looking for chocolate muffins!
alexandra says
I’m glad you liked them!
Angela says
Can you use low fat sour cream?
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
definitely craving one of these muffins NOW. they look divine! love it!
alexandra says
Haha thank you Thalia!!
Leah | So, How's It Taste? says
Chocolate to the max? Yes, please! These look so chocolatey and delish!
alexandra says
Thanks Leah!
Katie @ Butterlust says
You and the muffins!! I can’t stand it!! And I second Erika’s comment – definitely some of the prettiest muffin tops (hehe) I’ve ever laid eyes on! …I’m going to go dig through the office kitchen for some chocolate now…
alexandra says
Ahahaha :) Thank you Katie!!
Jennifer @ Seasons and Suppers says
I’m not sure I can be trusted around chocolate muffins, but I’m willing to try ;) Beautiful!
alexandra says
Honestly, who CAN be trusted around them?! Thanks Jennifer!
Carmen says
I’m confused, where does the yoghurt in point 4 in the instructions come from? Is it instead of the sour cream? Can I use either?
alexandra says
That’s my mistake! Sorry! I fixed the recipe so that it reads sour cream in the instructions. I’ve tried yogurt as well, but in my opinion, sour cream is best for these. :)
Anda says
I must try them. It totally sounds like I was looking for. You are so so right about the muffins at the bakery. They all look mouth-watering and then they all kinda disappoint.
I have one question though: is there any substitute for the sour cream? My daughter has a milk allergy and cannot have any kind of dairy products. Maybe something like oat milk? But how much? Thanks!
alexandra says
Can you get your hands on a dairy-free yogurt? If you have a Whole Foods or something similar near you, they should have it. That would be the best substitute, and you can just sub an equal amount.
Anda says
I will look out for such a yogurt. Thanks for the quick reply.
In the meanwhile I checked out some of your other recipes. Your site is really beautiful and I like your writing style and that you make up your own recipes. Your site is already bookmarked under my favorites. :-)
Brandy says
I’m so excited to try these! THIS is exactly what my daughter and I are looking for! I shall surely let you know what we think! THANK YOU FOR SHARING!!!!
alexandra says
Awesome! Can’t wait to hear what you guys think!
Brandy says
LOVE THEM!!!!! Perfect!!!!
alexandra says
Yay that’s awesome!!! Thanks so much for coming back to let me know!
Danelle says
Does this batter come out rather thick? I just made them and was worried I did something wrong, much thicker than I expected. I am still baking them, so just hope they turn out. Batter tastes delicious, just a surprise that it’s so stiff.
alexandra says
It is a thick batter. I hope it turned out well for you! Feel free to let me know if you have any questions :)
Jennifer says
Mine came out super thick too! I’m currently baking mine and they smell amazinggggg
Hira says
I made these twice this week and they taste amazing! I just have one issue. The first time i made them , i filled my cups 3/4 full and the came out mounded from the top but not wide. The next time i made them, i filled them completely and they came out wide but not mounded. How do i get that wide and mounded top that you got?
alexandra says
Hi Hira,
It’s hard for me to say what the problem might be… Maybe try filling them up somewhere between 3/4 and completely to get that perfect medium? Or, you could try preheating your oven to 400ºF and dropping the temp to 375º as the recipe states as soon as you put the muffins in. The high initial heat can help the muffins rise instead of spread which might help :)
Dana says
I doubled the batch and it made a ton of muffins! We ended up with 2 trays of regular-sized muffins and three trays of minis. I have to warn you though- the minis rose up alont and they look two muffins stacked on top of each other! They all look absolutely delicious though!!!! Can’t wait to try them!
alexandra says
Woah!! Hope they turned out as good as they looked for you! :)
Seaniebeth says
I didn’t double the batter and still got 24 muffins! Filled them all between 3/4 and all the way full. They are beautiful (: Can’t wait to taste them.
alexandra says
Yay! Happy to hear that :)
Katrina says
So happy to find this recipe just now! I promised my 5 year old chocolate muffins when he got home from school today… then forgot about it until 12:30, lol. Glad to find another food blogger to follow too :)
alexandra says
Aww yay! I hope you guys love them :)
Martin says
Absolutely the best recipe for muffins I’ve ever made. They are simply the perfect muffins. I have made them with both yoghurt and sour cream and have to say there is only a minuscule difference in sweetness, the sour cream just takes a very slight edge off the sweetness which for my taste is great, but the sweet tooths out there might prefer the yoghurt !
Thank you thank you thank you. Found your site through a muffin search and I’m now going to hit on some of your other recipes. Also love the photography and writing.
Love, happiness and chocolate to all :-)
alexandra says
I’m so happy to hear that! I tend to think the sour cream just makes them a bit richer, which is why I like it here, but good to know that yogurt is a safe pick too! Thanks so much for your sweet compliments too. ♡
Jay says
I’ve been searching for the best chocolate muffins recipe for sometime now and when I stumbled upon these ones I just had to try them! I made these yesterday and oh.my.god they are delicious. So decadent, moist (yep I said it) and chocolatey. AND they look exactly like the ones in the photos which is freaking brilliant because these pics??? Beautiful!
Found the best chocolate muffins recipe at last!!! Will be making these again and again. THANK YOU.
alexandra says
Oh my gosh, that is so incredibly awesome to hear – every bit of it!! SO glad you loved them. :)
Jenny says
I just made these for a special Valentine’s Day breakfast. My chocolate-loving family loved them! I only had about 3/4 cup cocoa powder and a half of a bag of chocolate chips, but they turned out great. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
alexandra says
Awesome! So glad you loved them! :)
Katia Piera Gomez says
Hi! I just want to say that I will definitely pin this recipe into my collection as the best chocolate muffins I ‘ve ever made! Thanks a lot! I’ve improvised a bit with the filling, adding some dry plums, and I’m eating them now and the muffins are delicious! The ingredients are very well combined which creates inrresistible taste!
Thanks again!
alexandra says
Thanks so much for letting me know! I’m happy you loved them!
Sarah says
Hi! These muffins looks AMAZING. Can’t wait to make them! Can this recipe be turned into mini double chocolate muffins?
alexandra says
You should be fine baking them as mini muffins so long as you shorten the baking time accordingly! :)
Heather says
These were very tasty. Hoping they’d be a little sweter. My 9 and 11 year old daughters made them this morning. I was hoping to upload our picture of them.
alexandra says
I’d love to see a photo if you could share it on social media and tag me (@brighteyedbaker). You could try upping the sugar a bit next time if you want them sweeter… also if you used dark chocolate, try milk chocolate. :)
Kimberly says
I can’t wait to try this recipe! I was wondering though, have you ever tried substituting the vegetable oil with applesauce? I know it’s a common substitute for cakes to keep them moist and reduce fat… but I have honestly never made muffins before so I’m not sure if I should risk it?? Suggestions? Thank you!
alexandra says
I haven’t tried it with this recipe. It definitely does work for some muffin recipes so it might work here too, but I don’t want to say 100% either way. This is one of those recipes that took quite a bit of tweaking to get just right so I’m more tempted to suggest that you stick to it as written.
Natalie Ledeen says
I’m a little confused….in the ingredient list you have 8.5 oz as 2 cups and 3.5oz as 1 cup. If I converted correctly, 2 cups is 16 oz and 1 cup is 8. Which measurement should I go by the ounce descriptions or the cup measurements in parentheses?
alexandra says
Hi Natalie – the ounce measurements are by weight, whereas the cup measurements are by volume. One cup of water is 8 ounces, but one cup of flour, for example, weighs 4 1/4 oz, and one cup of cocoa powder weighs 3 1/2 oz. If you have a food scale, I always suggest using the weight measurements for better accuracy, but otherwise you’ll want to follow the cup measurements. :)
Alyssa says
Is the batter supposed to be super thick ?? I’m worried I’ve done something wrong
alexandra says
Yes! The batter is really thick. Hope they turned out alright for you!
Alyssa says
They turned out amazing… I just wanna cry and hug you!! THATS HOW GOOD!!!
alexandra says
Yay! Thrilled to hear that :D
shreya says
i want to use half a cup of cocoa powder.if i do that do i have to increase the amount of flour by 1/2 cup?
alexandra says
If you want to only use half a cup, I would suggest increasing the flour by about 6 tablespoons (flour weighs more than cocoa), but I really wouldn’t suggest decreasing the cocoa in the first place. It will make the muffins much less chocolate-y and change the overall flavor profile. As far as incorporating coffee, the best way to do that would be to add some espresso powder to the dry ingredients. Hope that helps!
shreya says
also i want to incorporate a little bit of coffee in it, can u tell how can i do that? do i just add some instant coffee powder to the dry ingredients?
Izzie says
hey there! The muffins look so good! One q, i dont have vegetable oil, can i substitute it with olive oil? Will it change anything? Thanks!!
alexandra says
It could affect the taste. Otherwise (texture, etc.), it shouldn’t make a difference, but I personally don’t like using olive oil in baked goods because it contributes more of a flavor than canola or vegetable oil. If you bake with olive oil a lot and it doesn’t bother you, I would say give it a try, but otherwise I’d suggest just picking up some vegetable oil to make them. :)
Ivan says
I’ve made these four times now and each time they turned out superb. I wouldn’t now use any other recipe.
alexandra says
That’s so awesome! Thanks for taking the time to let me know! :)
Hema says
I made a batch of these on the weekend, and they were awesome!!
Just wondering if they would freeze well?
thanks,
alexandra says
So glad to hear that! I haven’t tried freezing them myself so I don’t want to give you a definite yes, but I do think they’d be just fine as long as you keep them in a freezer-safe bag or container.
raneem says
I would love to try this recipe but I don’t have an electric mixer do you think it’ll taste fine still if I just use a whisk?
alexandra says
You’ll need to do quite a bit of whisking by hand to get the eggs to the ribbon stage (where they ribbon down from the whisk as described in the recipe), but it is possible! It would be like whipping cream by hand; if you can do that, I’d say go for it. :)
alexandra says
On another note, handheld electric mixers are not very expensive, and you’ll find it comes in use for a lot of recipes!
raneem says
Thanks! I don’t do much baking but it definitely is a good thing to have to avoid that extra work!
Chelsa says
Hello! Can I confirm that we don’t melt the chocolate? We chop it up and add it in? That means it’s a chocolate chip muffin? :) Thanks!!
alexandra says
You don’t melt the chocolate; it’s double chocolate in that the muffin itself is chocolate (because of the cocoa powder), and there’s also chocolate chips/chunks in the muffin. :)
mylyne says
do i place the muffins at the lowest rack in the oven or just in the middle? thanks
alexandra says
Middle! :)
Pris says
hey! how do you suppose it’ll be substituting the oil with melted butter?
alexandra says
I believe I may have tried it at one point, but I went through so many variations of these muffins that I can’t say for sure… Anyhow I’m sure it will work just fine, although oil does tend to contribute a bit more moistness to baked goods than butter. Hope that helps!
Charlotte says
I tried making these muffins yesterday – WOW WOW WOW
I ate one and was instantly addicted! I love the flavor! Maybe my favorite chocolate muffin ever!
Have you ever tried something like this?
http://muffinparadise.com/white-choc-muffins/
Another of my guilty pleasures :)
alexandra says
I have made these Cranberry White Chocolate Muffins (which I love!), but that link gives me some more ideas too! And I’m so happy you loved these! They’re def a favorite!!
Jackie says
Wow these look soooo amazing:) I’m excited to try this recipe. Question though, do you think if I made this recipe a day or so in advance it’d be okay? I want to make these for breakfast, but I hate waking up early haha:). Thankss for the recipe!
alexandra says
Yup – you can definitely make them in advance! I’d suggest keeping them at room temp (in an airtight container of some sort) to keep the texture fresher.
Erin says
going to make a mini muffin version of these, have you tried it before? does anything need to be changed in order to do so? please write back quick!
alexandra says
I’m sorry I wasn’t able to respond earlier, but in case you’re still wondering, I haven’t tried it. You will need to bake the muffins for a shorter amount of time, however.
Danni says
can I substitute the vegetable oil for coconut oil? If so would it change the amount at all?
alexandra says
Coconut oil should work just fine substituted 1:1. I’ve noticed that with these muffins, the coconut flavor from the oil is noticeable, but if that doesn’t bother you, feel free to go for it. :)
Geeta says
They look so amazing! I want to make these for a friend and wanted to know if heavy cream can be used in place of the sour?
Also, you are a star!
Thanks
alexandra says
Thank you so much!
I’m so sorry to be getting back to you so late – I was out of the country and didn’t have good internet access. To answer your question however, cream will most likely yield different results since it doesn’t have the thickness or acidity of sour cream. I’d stick to sour cream!
marion says
Hi,
Thank you for sharing your recipe. They look fantastic. I tried to make them and they did look good went I took them out of the oven. But 5 minutes later the top went down like a well :( I think there were not ready maybe when i took them out of the oven, what do you think? Thanks anyway :)
alexandra says
It sounds like they definitely could have been a bit underbaked; did you use the toothpick test? My other thought would be that maybe you accidentally used too much baking powder/baking soda, or otherwise measured something incorrectly.
Sara says
These muffins look amazing! Can’t wait to make them. I’m just wondering how long these can be stored because I want to make them in advance. Thanks :)
alexandra says
They should be fine for about a week. :)
Emily Wells says
Craving something chocolatey tonight so I made these. I followed the recipe to the letter except I was about 1/8 cup shy of having the full amount of cocoa powder. These are DIVINE!!
alexandra says
YAY! So happy to hear it :)
shreya says
i made these muffins yesterday and they came out amazing. it was just the texture i wanted. i got 18 muffins from the batter. though i didnot get the perfect round top that you got but it still was yummy. one thing that did happen was by the time it baked fully the top part got a little hard, more than i would want my muffins to be, do you have any suggestions how that could be avoided the next time. n by the way i also used yogurt and it was not overly sweet.
shreya says
one thing more i baked them in three batches because i had only a 6 cup muffin tin and keeping the batter to rest for sometime made the texture better. my 2nd and 3rd batch were better than the 1st one.
alexandra says
That’s interesting to hear that the 2nd and 3rd batches turned out better, but I guess that worked out perfectly for you! If the tops are getting harder than you want, I’d suggesting moving them down a rack in your oven when you bake them. Hope that helps!
Amanda says
I substituted applesauce in place of the eggs and it worked perfectly! Thanks for the yummy recipe – we all loved them!
alexandra says
Thanks for the tip – that’s good to know! Glad it worked out so well! :)
Amanda says
My daughter wanted choc chip muffins so I did a search and I was lucky to find your recipe. Being in Australia I had to convert some of your measurements to grams but apart from that the recipe was really easy to follow. I had half a block of white chocolate in the pantry so I threw that in as well. I didn’t know what sparkling sugar was so I spinkled on some Demerara sugar, it gave them a really nice crunchy topping.
Anyway thank you for your wonderful recipe, everyone in the house (including me) said they are the best they ever tasted :-)
alexandra says
Aww, that’s so good to hear – happy you all loved them!
Hopefully the ounce measurements made it fairly easy to convert the recipe to grams.:)
Also, sparkling sugar (like this) is essentially just a coarse-grained sugar that you can use to add sparkle and a sweet crunch to baked goods. Demerara serves a similar purpose, but I find sparkling sugar tends to stand out a little more with its coarseness and sparkle.
Jean says
This is a wonderful muffin recipe, It is super chocolaty, light and moist.
I added some instant coffee power to intensify the chocolate and omitted the yolk, only use 2 large eggs. It is super yummy! Thanks for sharing the recipe. definitely a keeper. :)
alexandra says
Thanks so much! Glad you loved it and happy to hear your adaptations worked well. :) The coffee powder is definitely an awesome idea – can’t believe I didn’t think of that!
Carolina Parra says
I just made the recipe and ate one muffin because Im pregnant and I have nauseas all day long( my husband ate two! ) so I felt a Little better and started to look for a recipe with chocolate, Found yours ……and they were absolutely delicious! Indeed best chocolate muffin ever :) and the looked exactly like yours too :) thank you for sharing.
alexandra says
Yay! Love hearing that; thanks for sharing Carolina! :)
A.T. says
I’ve now made these muffins around 8 or 9 times, been somewhat reckless with my exact proportions, subbed yogurt sometimes instead of sour cream and they’ve always turned out great except for the time I left out the chocolate chips and forgot to turn the oven heat down. My favorite version involves leaving out the extra 1/4 cup sugar, getting two kinds of chocolate chips (semi-sweet and dark, of course) and filling the center of the muffin with Nutella before it bakes. They freeze really well, and then when you microwave them warm, everything is super gooey and chocolatey rather than too sweet.
alexandra says
Ooh the Nutella sounds like an awesome idea! I’m glad you’re enjoying the recipe! :)
Rachela Messina says
I don’t have any sour cream, I thought I did until I started making them. Can I add normal thicken cream instead?
alexandra says
I would sub yogurt if you have that, otherwise cream would probably do the trick. Your batter will be a bit runnier though, so maybe cut back a tad on the amount.
Nichole says
These sound amazing! I want to make them using a jumbo muffin pan. Have you ever tried this? If so, how’d they turn out, how long, and what temp would I bake them? Thanks!
alexandra says
I haven’t tried it, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. I would keep the baking temp the same and just increase the time slightly. Test it with a toothpick to know when they’re done baking.
Jhuls says
I love this kind of muffin – jumbo and so chocolatey. I don’t know why I haven’t thought of making this and it feels insane. :D These look absolutely amazing. I am saving the recipe and going to make the soonest. Thank you for sharing. :)
Nina says
Alexandra,
Oh Lord, your recipe made my day!! Thank you so much for sharing it, I’ve tried bunch of other chocolate muffin recipes, but yours tops every single one so far.
Friends went crazy after them…
THANKS A LOT!!!! <3<3<3<3
:)))
alexandra says
Aw thank you so much!! That’s awesome to hear :)
Ashley S. says
I made these for a housewarming brunch over they weekend and they were a huge hit with everyone. They were moist and full of chocolatey goodness. Just be sure to spray your pan well. I may have let them cool too long and I had some trouble getting them out. Either way this recipe is a winner. Thank you!
alexandra says
So happy to hear it! :)
Regina says
Finally!!! Finally!!! I managed to make the hugh dome choc muffins that are moist, chocolatey and tender. Thanks to you and your recipe. Yummo to the next level. ☺☺☺
Suzanne says
This is the 2nd time I have made these muffins and they are just absolutey delicious! I don’t know what it is about muffins but I am (and my mom too)a total addict! The 1st time I made them I followed the recipe to a T. Today, not so much…I had to improvise to keep from making a grocery run. I didn’t have any sour cream so I used 2 containers of Yoplait light Greek yogurt (5.3 oz)..one was Boston cream pie flavored and the other was Vanilla Chai Tea. I also ran short on cocoa powder…I had about 3/4 of a cup of regular cocoa so I had to make up the difference by using some Hershey’s special dark cocoa. I also threw in some chopped white chocolate along w/the chocolate chips. None of these changes seemed to affect the batter…except for the color due to the darker cocoa I used. The batter still had a mousse-like consistency like the 1st time I made them. Best scratch muffin recipe I have made yet!
suzanne says
I just pulled a batch of these out of the oven moments ago….this is the 2nd time I have made them. The first time I made them I followed the recipe to a T. (Except for the sparkling sugar–forgot it when I made a grocery run) Today I had to improvise a bit..didn’t have sour cream so I subbed 2 5.3 oz containers of Yoplait light Greek yogurt…I ran short on cocoa so I had to make up the difference with Hershey’s special dark cocoa and I threw in some chopped white chocolate. They look just like they did the 1st time I made them except they are somewhat darker due to the darker cocoa. This is by far the best scratch chocolate muffin recipe I have made. And I have made a lot…I am a total muffin addict!
alexandra says
Yay! So glad you’re loving them :)
Jonathan says
Just made this and it was delicious!! Thank you so much for this recipe :)
alexandra says
Yay! You bet :)
elizabeth says
Alexandra,
may I use a 6 cup jumbo baking tin instead of a 12 cup baking tin? And if so how many minutes shall they bake for? Thank-you and I wish you a wonderful 2016!
Elizabeth
alexandra says
You can use a jumbo baking tin, but you may need more than one tin depending on whether you can fit all the batter in one. I’m not sure exactly how long you’d need to increase the baking time, but as long as the muffins pass the toothpick test, they should be ready. I’d start by adding on another 5-10 minutes.
Beth says
I made these muffins in hopes to give them as teachers gifts. Sadly, the muffins are dry! Too bad because the flavor is good, just too dry to eat.
alexandra says
Plenty of people have made these muffins without that being an issue, so I’m surprised that happened to you! My thought is that you might have accidentally mis-measured something – that or you somehow overbaked them. I hope you give them another shot! They should be super moist. :)
Dannielane says
Hi! Can I substitute the sour cream to milk? Will be trying this tonight :)
alexandra says
Sorry for the late reply! Milk will make the batter runnier so you may wind up with flatter muffins. If anything, yogurt would be a better substitute.
joy says
i wonder if it might be a good idea to maybe fill these with some peanut butter cream of sorts. anybody out there try it yet. Today is national chocolate cake day but family would rather muffins for the a.m. but needs something to offset all that muffin.
alexandra says
I’m sure you could plop some peanut butter in the middle of each one but you’ll wind up with more muffins (and therefore you’ll need a second pan) since the batter pretty much fills each tin to the brim as-is.
wendy says
I made these over the weekend and they were fabulous! Very moist, and they hold up well–I just at one this morning two days later and they are still just as good. I made them gluten-free (just subbed GF flour, but reduced by 1-2 T). Seriously, couldn’t tell they were GF at all. My kids raved, which earned me a few stars on the mom scale. Well done!
alexandra says
That’s awesome! I’m psyched to hear they can easily be made gluten-free – my boyfriend has celiac’s so it’s nice to know I could still make these for him! Did you add xantham gum?
Wendy says
No, I didn’t add xantham gum. i stopped adding it to my quick breads as the gf flour quality has stepped it up and it sometimes changes the texture into too gummy. I used the namaste brand, which isn’t my favorite gf brand because if the strong flavor, and it still was amazing. The chocolate masks the funky flavor that brand can give off. My fave is cup for cup and I just directly sub that in for quick bread and non-rising recipes And it works great (but it’s expensive).Namaste is a bit thicker so I reduce it a bit. More info than you probably wanted but hope it helps!
alexandra says
Actually that’s super helpful, thank you! And by the way – I started using Pamela’s GF flour and I love it – no funky taste like some of them have and it works really well. :)
Kausar says
Lovedd it!!! First try was a success thankyouu
shoham says
hello! just made them yesterday and everyone loved it..
althogh, i would like to add more sweetnes to the batter. do you recommend adding more suger or maybe less cocoa powder?
alexandra says
You could try adding a bit more sugar. Glad you guys liked them!
Mark says
Turned out amazing, as a Brit I get lost with American all purpose flour, we have plain & self raising. And Baking soda, we have baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. So baking soda kinda looks like both.
If I wanted regular choc chip muffins would I just remove the coc powder and add and equal weight of all purpose flour?
alexandra says
Baking soda would be the same as bicarbonate of soda. It’s different than baking powder, which we have here too. And if you don’t want double chocolate muffins, using an equal weight of all-purpose flour to sub for the cocoa would be fine I’d think. Hope that helps!
Alice says
I am just about to make these this week! But I’m from Northern Ireland (UK) and am wondering if sour cream is the same as soured cream – as that is what we have here?! :)
Alice says
OR perhaps creme fraiche?
alexandra says
I believed soured cream is the same as sour cream – I would go with that. Creme fraiche is a bit different.
Sam says
I made these this morning. I managed to get 17* medium-ish muffins. I had to sub some of the sour cream (I can only buy them from the shop as 300ml tubs, which is /just/ a bit short, gah!), but the muffins still came out absolutely DIVINE. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS DELIGHTFUL RECIPE.
*Weird number, but still good. 1 muffin for every year of my age.
Leah says
Oh….My….Chocolate Heaven! I have searched years! For the perfect chocolate indulgence that comes in the form of a moreish muffin. This is hands down the BEST chocolate muffin recipe. So much better than the bakery stores. These are decadent, rich, and moist; the true chocolate flavor that I have been searching for. Thank you so much!!!
I put broken white chocolate pieces in half the mixture as my husband prefers sweeter flavors. I used 50% dark chocolate in mine as I prefer a darker chocolate. Both were divine.
alexandra says
Yay! So glad you liked the recipe :)
Jenna says
I’ve been looking for a chocolate muffin recipe on and off over the last several years that could mimic what my high school used to make. They were super dark – I’m talking basically black – and had a cracked, hard top to them. They look a lot like yours here, so I’m super psyched to try this recipe! :) But I was hoping you could give me a bit of advice…I was wondering how I could make them so they didn’t have actual chips of chocolate in them. I’m not crazy about the chunks of gooey chocolate you can get. I still want them super rich, though, so I’m worried about leaving the chips out and losing the darkness/richness. What would you suggest?
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe! Those muffins look delicious, and compliments on your photography skills. I like the setup of the photo. :)
alexandra says
Thank you so much for the compliments! Anyhow, you should still get a pretty chocolatey muffin without the chunks of chocolate added, since the batter itself is quite rich and the muffins are pretty moist. You could up the sugar a bit since you’re losing the sweetness of the chocolate chunks, but I wouldn’t say that’s absolutely necessary.
Patricia says
Hi! I’m from Romania, if you know where that is, and muffins and cupcakes are becoming more am more popular here too. I came across your recipe a few months ago and tried it. Di-vi-ne!!! But then i lost it and i tried others but kept dreaming of those absolutely perfect pieces of heaven. And today…tha-dam! Only reading your introduction makes me drull! And of course i’m not gonna wait for the weekend, i’m doing them today. Can’t wait! My mouth is already watering :)))
Cher says
Hi! I’d love to make it today however i only have special dark cocoa, should i use 1 cup or less? If you advise to use less cocoa, should i add more flour and how much? I hope to hear from you soon! Thanks a lot!
alexandra says
Is it Hershey’s special dark? Since that’s a blend of natural and dutch cocoa, I think it should probably work fine. Use the same amount called for in the recipe. Sorry to have not gotten back to you sooner!
Maisarah says
Hi, your recipe and the pics are so tempting and I can’t wait to try them out… just a quick question, I always see salt in baked goods like this one can I know what type of salt should we use as different type of salt has different size thus will it affect the overall taste/texture?
alexandra says
In this recipe I just use regular table salt. Typically when a recipe calls for salt, that’s what’s intended unless otherwise stated.
Pwr says
Just pulled them out of the oven. Amazing. Thank you for this recipe. It’s absolutely perfect. I used chocolate and peanut butter chips btw.
alexandra says
Ooh, sounds like an awesome twist! :)
Laura Nickel-Sandig says
I noticed that you said to wipe the top of the muffin tins to get the excess cooking spray off. I am concerned that the muffins will stick to the pan.
alexandra says
They shouldn’t. You’re just wiping it off with a paper towel so you’ll probably still have enough residue left on the pan to prevent sticking. The idea behind this is that you don’t want the top surface to be very ‘slippery’ and cause the muffins to spread too much on top rather than dome.
Haley says
Hi there! First of all, what a delicious recipe – mine are in the oven presently! I was craving chocolate muffins and found your recipe from Pinterest. I need these, like…right now (ok, I suppose I can wait about 20 more minutes!) I subbed applesauce for the sour cream as I did not have any in the fridge, and I think they’ll be just fine (also a good non-dairy sub, not that I need non=dairy…totally going to drink a giant glass of milk with these! I think it’s necessary for chocolate baked goodies!) Also…I had more than 12 muffins worth of batter – my first batch is still baking, but I’m guessing it’s going to make about 18 muffins. It did say regular sized muffin tin, and not jumbo, correct? Just wondering if that’s happened to you with this recipe before! (and I definitely did measure everything correctly, this isn’t my first baking rodeo ;) ) Thank you so much for a lovely recipe!
alexandra says
It could be that you didn’t fill each one as much as I did. They do get filled pretty full (to give them those bakery-style domes). But yes, you do use a regular muffin tin. :)
Shelly says
Staying up super late tonight to make these to surprise my little sisters in the morning! A local coffee shop makes some extremely similar to the sounds of these, but they don’t have them everyday. Every time I go, my sisters ask me to bring them back a muffin but they rarely have them! So I’m super excited to see how these turn out! They’re baking now! I thought I had enough cocoa powder but ended up only having about 3/4 of a cup. Also ended up about two ounces short of yogurt (substituting for the sour cream), but the batter seems to have made up just fine! I also only had vanilla yogurt this time instead of plain, so I just omitted the vanilla extract to make up for it.
alexandra says
I hope they turned out well and you all enjoyed them! P.S. Even with vanilla yogurt, you can feel free to add the extract. You can never go wrong with vanilla extract!
Rachel Carrier says
Would it be okay to sub plain yogurt for sour cream? I don’t have any sour cream at the moment, but I have a need for one of these muffins in my belly.
alexandra says
Yeah, it should be fine!
Rana says
Hi so how many cups of just chocolate chips would i need to add?
alexandra says
10 1/2 ounces would be 1 3/4 cups chocolate chips. :)
Nicole says
Hi Alexandra! That is the first recepie of yours that I have tried and they turned really well. I put mayonaise instead of the sour cream though because I didn’t have any at hand, also a spoonfull of nutela in the middle instead the chocolate chips. Great recepie!
alexandra says
Happy to hear it! The Nutella sounds like an awesome idea. :)
Sabrina says
If I don’t have sour cream will it affect the taste or batter?
alexandra says
You can use yogurt. One reader also used mayonnaise without an issue, although I haven’t tried that myself.
Hamotron says
These were fairly easy to make, and they look absolutely beautiful. The texture of the tops is excellent, but the bottoms are too dry. The taste is lacking. The sour cream adds a bit of an odd tang to them, and despite the large amount of cocoa powder the muffin itself is bland rather than chocolate-y.
The search for the perfect double chocolate muffin continues, but if what you’re after is presentation rather than taste these are a fine choice.
alexandra says
Hmm, I’m stumped! But you’re the first to have this complaint, so I’d hate for you to give up after one bad attempt! I’m really not sure what might have gone wrong, but it’s always helpful to use good quality cocoa and chocolate, which makes a HUGE difference. And if the muffins weren’t overcooked they really shouldn’t be dry on the bottom; if nothing else, maybe you need a pan that cooks more evenly? I’m not suggesting you did anything wrong or have bad tools/ingredients – these are just a few things that come to mind.
Hamotron says
To be fair, everyone else who tried them liked them, so perhaps it’s just me. :)
I have a bit of a cold at the moment, and everything’s tasting a little off, so it might be I wasn’t totally fair. I’ll try to give them another chance once I’m better. The dry bottoms could well have been an extra minute or two of baking. The only cocoa powder I have in the house is the Trader Joe’s brand- and the brownies I made with that weren’t great either, so that could also be the cause. I think I might also have overmixed them a bit, which could have added to the dryness. The pan should be fine; I’ve been using it for years. I might have overdone the sour cream- I had a little bit of trouble measuring it, but I don’t think by very much. I might try these again with yogurt (I’m wondering if chocolate yogurt might help) or buttermilk (although I’m worried that would affect the texture).
I was in a bit of a mood when I wrote the first comment, apologies for any offense. They really did look wonderful, and the taste was by no means bad- just not exactly what I was looking for just then. Thank you for the quick response.
alexandra says
Yogurt would work just fine. :)
Cecilia says
Made these yesterday, very moist and chocolatey!! Definitely a keeper ;)
Alice McCullough says
These are amazing! I’m wondering if you’ve tried putting blueberries in these instead without the cocoa powder and if you can advice me on doing this? These would be amazing as blueberry muffins too! Thanks!
alexandra says
I suppose you could try replacing the cocoa powder with another cup of AP flour and using about 1 1/2 cups blueberries in place of the chocolate. I would coat the blueberries in a bit of flour before adding them to the batter as well. The sour cream could also be replaced with yogurt, if you prefer.
Bakieee says
Muffin is so moist and chocolatety. Luv it.
Cynthia says
Thanks for your recipe! These were definitely chocolatey! Unfortunately, mine did not come out moist as so many others have said. Instead they’re more thick, but not exactly dry. The type that feels like it sticks to your throat. I made substitutions with what I had on hand: creme fraiche in stead of sour cream, half & half instead of milk, turbinado sugar instead of sparkle sugar. I also used just 1 egg since I halved the recipe and I didn’t want to half a yolk. I made mini muffins and baked for a total of 16-mins. (At 14-mins the toothpick did not come out clean.) Could you think of why it didn’t turn out moist? My muffins are kind of like a cake-y fudge, which sounds good but isn’t what I’m looking for.
alexandra says
Creme fraiche is heavier than sour cream and half&half is heavier than milk, so my guess is you might have added to much fat and richness to the recipe causing the thick, fudgy texture rather than the moist, cakey texture you were looking for. The extra egg yolk is also there to help add to the moistness, so that could be a factor as well.
Visa says
First time visiting your site! This is a great recipe! My other half requested chocolate muffins so I decided to give these a try. I accidentally forgot the salt so I will have to make again to taste them in all their glory(oh darn ;). In my oven they ended up taking an extra 12 min (32 min total) the first round. Second round I left the temp at 375° for 22 mins and they were perfect! I also substituted coconut oil for vegetable oil for health reasons. These are decadent and delicious. The perfect treat for my hard working hubby. I will definitely use this recipe again! Thank you :)
alexandra says
I’m glad you guys liked them! The only reason I didn’t use coconut oil in them is because chocolate seems to bring out the coconut flavor, and that’s now what I was going for with the recipe, but if it’s definitely a great substitute if you don’t mind having the coconut flavor. :)
Theresa Meehan Currie says
This would make a great cake. Would this do 2 8 in. layers, and if so how long to bake. I’m baking my own birthday cake Friday and have been looking for something rally chocolatey.
alexandra says
I’m really not sure how the recipe would translate as a cake. There should definitely be enough batter, but I don’t know texture-wise if it would work well. Plus the layers might dome more than you’d want a cake to dome. That being said, if you want to try it out, I’d start at about 20 min baking time and use the toothpick test to gauge when it’s fully baked.
Vicky says
Hi! Thank you so much for sharing your recepie!!! Just have a question, is it possible to substitute sour cream for something else? Or can we just omit it? It is not available in our country…
alexandra says
Yogurt would be a good substitute. :)
sue booth says
these taste absolutely delicious but was disappointed because they sunk in the middle. any idea why? (I have a farenheight gas cooker, tried to use a converter, no use so had to guess temperature at Gas mark 6, could this be the problem)
alexandra says
Could be that the oven temp was off, or you might have under-baked, measured the baking powder/baking soda incorrectly, or used old baking powder/soda that wasn’t as effective. It could also be that you over-mixed the batter. Lots of factors come into play, so it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what went wrong without being there!
Catharina says
Made these today. Just like you promised…..moist, soft, tender and chocolatey. Thanks for the recipe!!
alexandra says
Yay! You’re welcome!
Marie says
I made these last night and WOW! Absolutely delicious! Very chocolatey and soft. My mother was not a huge fan of the strong cocoa taste though, she said she didn’t like the slight bitter taste to it (more for me then! lol I personally loved it). I was wondering if to appeal to her taste, if I could use dutch processed cocoa powder with this recipe? Would it mess anything up? I’d like to be able to make her a batch that she can enjoy too.
alexandra says
Hi, sorry for the late reply! Swapping natural cocoa out for dutch usually isn’t a great idea when it comes to baked goods because natural cocoa has an acidity that dutch lacks. However, in this case, since there is another source of acidity in the recipe (the sour cream), it might work fine. You could also try Hershey’s Special Dark, which is a blend of natural and dutch cocoa. Hope that helps! :)
Emily says
Loved these cupcakes!!! Made them this morning and had to go into another room before I ate them all. Will make them again!
Leslie says
Hi, how will I get that perfect cupcake top?
alexandra says
The recipe is designed to create a nice domed top based on the consistancy of the batter and baking time/temp, so if you follow the instructions carefully you should be good to go!
Nadya Ahmad says
I tried making them today…and I must have done something wrong because even though the flavor was great, but they were TOO moist and couldn’t come out of the rubber muffin tray I used and the one that I put in a muffin cup to bake inflated and then sank in the middle like a big hole. :( I’m sad.
alexandra says
Hmm, it might have something to do with baking in a rubber tray. Silicone doesn’t conduct heat as well, so perhaps baking them a bit longer would help. When you say you put one in a muffin cup, what type of muffin cup was it?
Ana says
I must give credit where credit is due and Damn! These were good, great recipe!
alexandra says
Haha thanks! :D
Jusine Mower says
Just to say, I used this recipe in an office baking competition today and came first! They went down a storm in our office in the U.K.!
alexandra says
Omg how cool! Love it – thanks so much for taking the time to share. :)
Andrea Ayala says
Hi, your recipe looks wonderful I can’t wait to try it! One question though – can all the dry ingredients be sifted together or only the cocoa powder?
alexandra says
You can sift them all; it’s not necessary but definitely won’t hurt. :)
David Hartley says
Don’t usually comment on recipes but these are truly superb,lovely lingering after taste. Had to use crème fraiche last time and it worked fine, this morning’s are sour cream so any difference will be interesting. Thanks for my favourite muffin recipe.
alexandra says
So happy you liked them! I can imagine crème fraiche would have worked just as well!
Jo says
OMG I have just made these are they are amazing,
slightly worried that they might need longer to cook, but they cooked perfectly.
Thank you
alexandra says
Aw SO happy to hear that! :)
Denise says
I substituted g/f flours, honey for sugar, carob for cocoa, and flax-chia mix for egg – they turned out great! Cooking time varied slightly as reduced temp for honey substitution .. also good with walnuts
alexandra says
Awesome! So glad the substitutions worked well for you!
Gabriella says
Would bake time change at all if I used baking papers instead of greasing the muffin tin? And is the quality compromised at all?
alexandra says
You should be able to use muffin liners instead without any issues/modifications
Maggi says
I made some chocolate chocolate chip muffins (not your recipe) yesterday, and they came out horribly. I wish I’d just made your recipe to begin with, because we made them tonight, and they were amazing! So chocolately, with a perfect “muffin-y” texture. I wound up using 3 whole eggs (because I didn’t want to waste the extra egg white). Made 16 beautiful muffins. Took about 22 minutes in my oven. LOVE.
alexandra says
YAY! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed them. :)
Eva says
Will never need another chocolate muffin recipe! Those are the best muffins ever!