Super Soft Double Chocolate Muffins Like at the Café
These double chocolate muffins have been my favorite muffin recipe for over ten years. I love them so much that when I see them displayed at the café, I can’t resist! I’ve been making them for a long time, and over the years, I’ve made some adjustments, now adding even more chocolate chips and a splash of vanilla extract for an even richer flavor. The muffins are incredibly chocolatey and full of chocolate chips in every single bite. The sour cream or yogurt ensures a soft and moist texture, perfect for a chocolatey muffin.
These double chocolate muffins are perfect for chocolate lovers. The recipe calls for unsweetened cocoa powder and chocolate chips, with the optional addition of vanilla extract for extra flavor. Unlike cupcakes and chocolate cake, these muffins have a denser and more compact texture, similar to bakery muffins. The recipe is very simple to follow and uses common kitchen ingredients, without the need for a stand mixer
Key Ingredients for Double Chocolate Muffins
Below you will find the entire written recipe, but first, I want to explain the importance of some key ingredients. This will be helpful if you want to look for substitution options.
Cocoa Powder
Use unsweetened cocoa powder. For the best taste and texture, prefer the natural kind. Much of the flavor comes from the cocoa powder, so choose a quality one!
Sour Cream or Yogurt
Sour cream is an important ingredient in making chocolate muffins because it helps keep the cake’s texture and moisture. If replaced with milk, the muffins become flat and wet. You can also use yogurt instead of sour cream.
Oil
Butter and sugar are usually used in muffin recipes, like blueberry muffins. However, cocoa powder is a very drying ingredient, so it is better paired with oil to keep the muffins moist. If replaced with melted butter, the muffins dry out. You won’t miss the butter flavor because the chocolate overwhelms it.
Avoid Overmixing and Use Ingredients at Room Temperature.
Do not overmix and use ingredients at room temperature. The process consists of mixing the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another. The dry ingredients include sugar and chocolate chips. This way, you only mix the ingredients once: dry + wet, instead of dry + wet + incorporating the chocolate chips.
The reason you mix the chocolate chips with the dry ingredients is to avoid overmixing the final batter. Overmixing muffin batter can lead to a tough and dense baked product. Although these chocolate muffins are certainly denser than soft and fluffy chocolate cupcakes, they will turn out quite light.
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- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 12-14 muffins
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons
- Energy 290.14 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 28.08 (g) of which sugars 10.43 (g)
- Proteins 5.40 (g)
- Fat 18.86 (g) of which saturated 4.79 (g)of which unsaturated 8.46 (g)
- Fibers 3.31 (g)
- Sodium 77.71 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 100 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
Avoid Overmixing and Use Ingredients at Room Temperature.
- 8.8 oz all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1.4 oz unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- A few teaspoons hazelnut crumbs (for decoration)
- 315 dark chocolate chips
- 2 eggs (large at room temperature)
- 6.5 oz sour cream (or plain yogurt, at room temperature)
- 4.2 oz vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup whole milk (at room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or a sachet of vanilla sugar)
Tools
To make the chocolate muffins you will need these ingredients:
- 1 Muffin Pan
- Cupcake Liners
- Mixing Bowls
- Whisk
- Wooden Spoons
- Cooling Racks
Steps
1. Preheat the oven to 428°F (220°C). Spray a 12-count muffin pan with non-stick spray, use this pan release or use muffin liners. This recipe yields about 14 muffins, so prepare a second muffin pan in the same way or bake in batches and keep the leftover batter at room temperature for when the first batch is done.
2. Mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and chocolate chunks in a large bowl. Set aside.
3. Whisk the eggs, sour cream or yogurt, oil, milk, and vanilla extract together until well combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until completely combined. (The batter is quite thick, so I recommend a spatula or spoon rather than a whisk.) Avoid overmixing. The batter will be thick and sticky.
4. Pour the batter into the muffin molds, filling them to the brim. Bake for 5 minutes at 428°F (220°C), then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the temperature to 350°F (180°C). Bake for another 15-16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total baking time for these muffins is about 20-21 minutes, give or take. (For mini muffins, bake for 13-14 minutes at 350°F for the whole time.
5. Bake the muffins for 10 minutes in the pan, then transfer them to a rack until they are ready to be eaten.
6. Cover leftover muffins and store at room temperature for 5 days or in the fridge for 1 week.
Notes
Use room temperature eggs, milk, and sour cream before you start. As a shortcut, place eggs in a glass of warm water for 10 minutes and heat the sour cream and milk in the microwave for 10-15 seconds to remove the chill.
Freezing Instructions: For longer storage, freeze muffins for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge, then reheat in the microwave if desired.
Giant Muffins: If you want to make about 6 larger muffins instead of standard-sized ones, follow the recipe through step 3 using a 6-count muffin pan greased. Pour batter into the liners, filling them to the brim. Bake for 5 minutes at 428°F, then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the temperature to 350°F. Bake for another 25-28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Sour Cream: Use full-fat sour cream. If necessary, you can substitute it with plain yogurt. (Whole Greek yogurt or regular yogurt would be best.)
I always draw inspiration from Salli’s baking recipes
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