These bakery-style, Double Chocolate Muffins are best day-of. However, they refresh beautifully with a short layover in the microwave.
Bakery-Style Double Chocolate Muffins
6
jumbo muffins15
minutes40
minutes55
minutesAllow all ingredients to come to room temperature before beginning.
Ingredients
225.5g all-purpose flour (~1½ cups)
1¼ tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
132g semisweet chocolate chips (~3/4 cup)
47g butter (~3½ Tbs)
62g unsweetened chocolate (~2 oz), chopped
248g brown sugar (~1 cup)
140ml buttermilk (~1/2 cup)
16ml safflower oil (~1 Tbs)
2 large eggs
1¾ tsp vanilla
2 Tbs turbinado sugar
Directions
- Line a 6-cup jumbo muffin tin with paper liners. Set aside. If using a traditional oven, preheat to 375ºF (see Steps 5 and 6).
- In a large mixing bowl, thoroughly hand-whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together. It should seem light and airy. Add the chocolate chips, and stir until all the chips are coated in the flour mixture. (The flour won’t exactly cling to the chips, but that’s OK.) Set aside.
- In a 1-cup measure, melt the butter and unsweetened chocolate together gently in the microwave in 20-second bursts followed by rigorous, prolonged stirrings. Ideally, the mixture will finally become perfectly smooth during a stirring phase, not a microwave phase. In a 4-cup measure or small mixing bowl, thoroughly whisk by hand the brown sugar, buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla until it seems completely blended. Whisk in the chocolate until well blended. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold gently with a spatula just until no raw flour remains. Do not worry if the batter’s texture seems uneven or lumpy.
- Use a large disher scoop to divide the batter evenly among the 6 cups. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar, about 1 teaspoon per muffin.
- To bake these muffins in a traditional oven, bake until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the highest part of the largest muffin comes out clean, 25-30 minutes. After the first 15-20 minutes, check on the muffins periodically – through the glass, preferably. If they’re muffins are getting too dark, cover loosely with foil. Let the muffins cool in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes, then transfer them to the rack to cool completely.
- To bake these muffins in a smart oven or toaster oven, place the rack in Position 6 (the “bake” position) and use the PHASE COOK function. First phase: BAKE, 375ºF, 16 minutes, convection. Second phase: 350ºF, 10 minutes, all other setting stay the same. Once the oven is preheated, bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the largest muffin comes out clean. (Perform your first check when the muffins have been in the oven for 22 minutes. They’ll probably be done at 24-25 minutes.) Let the muffins cool in the pan on a rack for 5-10 minutes, then transfer them to the rack to cool completely.
Notes
- I developed this smart-oven portion of this recipe using a Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro, BOV900. Adapting the directions to another oven make or model may require modifications.
Elevated Chocolate Muffins
The chocolate flavor is absolutely beautiful. The texture feels at first to be light and airy, but it is deceptively and opulently rich. The sugary crunch on top is perfect. It’s an elevated step up from the typical home-baked muffin.
The muffins are best same-day, but leftovers, briefly microwaved, they’re pretty damn good.
Ingredients
- You might think that there aren’t enough chocolate chips. There are. Their distribution throughout each muffin is perfect.
- You’re going to think that there isn’t enough unsweetened chocolate. There is. Once the batter comes together, you’ll see that it’s quite chocolaty.
- You’re going to think that there isn’t enough flour. There is. As you stir the wet into the dry, at first it may look too liquid, but soon enough, it will thicken right before your eyes. By the way, once it does thicken, you should probably stop stirring, unless you’re still sure you’re seeing dry flour.
Baking Tips & Tricks:
- Don’t think to yourself, “I can skimp on chopping the chocolate. It’s going to melt regardless.” Chocolate is somewhat delicate. If you chop it, the chocolate will melt quickly; the more you chop, the faster the melt. If you try to melt large pieces, you risk that two-thirds of the way in, the chocolate that has already melted will begin to boil before you can get all the remaining pieces melted. If this happens, you risk the chocolate taking on a burnt taste.
- Mixing the brown sugar into the wet ingredients instead of the dry allows the sugar crystals to dissolve, rather than allowing the sugar to clump with the dry flour. This helps emulsify the wet ingredients, and to inhibit gluten formation. It also helps the muffins hold onto moisture while baking.
Leftover Chocolate Muffins
If after a few days the muffins seem to have dried out, try this: break one into large-but-bite-size pieces and place it in a bowl. Microwave to get the pieces warm but not hot. Smother them in chocolate pudding. Enjoy.
By the way here’s my favorite chocolate pudding hack: Buy a large box of instant chocolate pudding. When measuring out the milk, first add 1/4-cup of Greek yogurt to the measuring cup, and then add milk until you get the measurement you’re looking for. Whisk until fully blended, then continue with package directions. The pudding will have body like you won’t believe; you’ll swear it was well-made from scratch. This won’t affect the flavor – if anything it’ll deepen it.
Social Learning
According to The Joy of Cooking, most muffins batters, once scooped into the tin, can be refrigerated overnight – or even frozen – and baked in the morning. I have a feeling that’d adversely affect the rise. I’ve never tried it, but it does sound interesting.
Bakery Style Double Chocolate Muffins
Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man! This content was not solicited by anyone, nor was it written in exchange for anything. Make It Like a Man! has no connection to Breville or any outlet that sells its applicances, and this post was not sponsored in any way. References: Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker, “Mixing Methods: The Muffin Method,” “About Muffins,” and “Double Chocolate Muffins,” in The Joy of Cooking (New York: Scribner, 1997), 771-772, 782-83, 786. Thank you, Kesor. Thank you, ⌘+C. Make It Like a Man! is ranked by Feedspot as #2 in the Top 30 Men’s Cooking Blogs.
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