Moist tender Mini Chocolate Chip Muffins that taste as good as store bought, but have a little extra nutrition? Sign. Me. Up. These muffins are seriously delicious and are a must-make if you have fans of Little Bites in your house!
Mini Chocolate Chip Muffins
Every time I go to our local big box store, I always walk by a giant stack of Little Bites muffin boxes. And while I almost never have the urge to do copycat recipes, this one stuck with me—because I just knew I could make an equally tender little muffin that the kids would love.
And with the inclusion of yogurt and a little less sugar, and a super simple method, these are exactly the kind of homemade snack that makes me excited. (Especially since I love to snack on these too!)
My three kids all adore these muffins. They’re a great preschool snack, after school snack, or snack to go with lunch and are one of my all-time most popular kids muffin recipes.
(Know that you can swap in blueberries for the chocolate chips if your kids prefer blueberry mini muffins, or check out my Sprinkle Muffins.)
Table of Contents
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Ingredients You Need
Here’s a look at what you’ll need to make this recipe so you know what to pick up at the store and have on hand for baking.
- All purpose flour: I use regular all-purpose flour here to ensure that the muffins are light and fluffy after baking.
- Baking powder and baking soda: A combination of both of these ensures that the muffins are tender and rise properly.
- Maple syrup: You can use maple syrup, honey, or granulated sugar to sweeten these muffins just a smidge for the kids.
- Plain Greek yogurt: I love baking with yogurt and like the consistency of the muffins using Greek yogurt. If you only have regular style yogurt, that is totally fine. You’ll just want to add a smidge more flour. See the Notes at the end of the recipe for the details.
- Eggs: Large eggs help to hold the ingredients together and bake tender muffins.
- Unsalted butter: I prefer to bake with unsalted butter so that I can control the amount of added salt.
- Vanilla extract: Vanilla extract adds that classic vanilla flavor that pairs so well with chocolate chips.
- Chocolate chips: I prefer to use mini chocolate chips in these mini muffins, but regular size ones will work too.
TIP: See the Notes at the bottom of the recipe for allergy variations to make these without eggs, dairy, and gluten.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here’s the general process for making this recipe so you know what to expect. Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full how-to on the timing and amounts.
- Stir together the wet ingredients.
- Stir together the dry ingredients, then mix in the wet. Add the chocolate chips.
- Divide among a greased mini muffin pan.
- Bake! These muffins bake quickly, so set that timer and avoid over baking for the best results.
Use a small knife to help transfer the cooked muffins to a wire rack to cool fully. (Note that I do not recommend using paper cupcake liners with these as they will likely stick. Nonstick spray is a better option.)
Frequently Asked Questions
You can store them, once cooled, in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature. They hold well for up to 5 in the fridge, but you may want to warm them briefly to serve from the fridge as they firm up when cold.
They have less sugar, twice as much protein, and you have the ability to control more of the ingredients.
We usually have them for breakfast or snack with cut up fruit, though they’d also work with a smoothie, a cheese stick, and a smoothie—among other lunch snacks.
How to Store
- Once cooled, store in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature. Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Warm slightly to serve from the fridge as they will firm up when cold.
- You can also freeze the muffins in a freezer bag with as much air removed as possible for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature or in 15 second increments in the microwave.
Best Tips for Success
- I like using whole milk Greek yogurt in this recipe. You can use regular style yogurt if you prefer. If using regular yogurt, add 2 tablespoons additional flour to ensure that the muffin batter isn’t too runny.
- You can use an equal amount of sugar instead of maple syrup if that’s what you have.
- Dairy-free: Use a nondairy Greek style yogurt like the plant-based options from Siggis and a neutral oil like canola in place of the butter.
- Egg-free: Omit the eggs. Add ½ cup milk and use ¾ teaspoon baking soda.
- Gluten-free: Use cup for cup style of gluten-free all purpose flour like the one from King Arthur Flour.
- Note that I do not recommend using paper cupcake liners with these as they will likely stick. Nonstick spray is a better option.)
Related Recipes
I’d love to hear your feedback on this recipe if you try it, so please rate and leave a comment below!
Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins (Little Bites Copycat)
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup whole milk plain Greek yogurt
- ⅓ cup maple syrup (or sugar)
- ¼ cup unsalted butter (melted and slightly cooled)
- 2 eggs (lightly beaten)
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ¾ cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 24-cup mini muffin pan with nonstick spray.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In another bowl, stir together the yogurt, maple syrup, eggs, butter, and vanilla.
- Gently stir the yogurt mixture into the flour mixture.
- Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Divide batter among the prepared muffin tin, filling about to the edge. (You'll use about 1 ½ tablespoon in each mini muffin cup.)
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out cleanly. Do not over bake.
- Remove from oven, and let cool in the pan for 2 minutes. Run a paring knife around the edges to loosen, if needed, then carefully transfer muffins to a wire rack to cool fully.
Video
Notes
- Once cooled, store in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature. Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Warm slightly to serve from the fridge as they will firm up when cold.
- You can also freeze the muffins in a freezer bag with as much air removed as possible for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature or in 15 second increments in the microwave.
- I like using whole milk Greek yogurt in this recipe. You can use regular style yogurt if you prefer, just add 2 tablespoons additional all-purpose flour to ensure that the batter isn’t too runny.
- I prefer mini chocolate chips since they are more evenly distributed through the muffins but you can use regular ones if you prefer. If you use regular size chocolate chips, I would use 1 cup.
- Dairy-free: Use a nondairy Greek style yogurt like the plant-based options from Siggis and a neutral oil like canola in place of the butter.
- Egg-free: Omit the eggs. Add ½ cup milk and use ¾ teaspoon baking soda.
- Gluten-free: Use cup for cup gluten-free all purpose flour.
Nutrition
This post was first published April 2021.
These came out so wonderfully. My 2 year old asked for more and more! 1/2 c of mini chips was perfect for anyone wondering.
My muffin tops were on the flatter side. What can I adjust to round them out a bit if possible?
Thank you!
The whole family loves these muffins! I have been making them for a couple years now since they were perfect for snacks and little kid school lunches. We make both the chocolate chip ones and wild frozen blueberries. I do have a question about freezing them. I have done it multiple times but when we thaw them the tops of the muffins are sticky and a layer will come off on your fingers when you pick it up or it touches the top of a lunch container. Is there a way to keep the top from getting moist and sticky after freeze/thaw?
Hi- I am not sure! The only thing I can think of is to make sure they are totally cool before freezing in case they’ve gone in a little warm and have made steam that has caused this to happen.
I love these muffins but I have a question on the nonstick spray. I feel like it leaves the muffins a little greasy. Yours look so dry (in a good way) and not greasy. I am using PAM, is there a better spray to use? I don’t want them to stick to the pan…
That’s what I find works best and what I used here. You can pat them with a paper towel if needed?
If I wanted to do bananas instead of chocolate chips would I replace the sugar with the banana and reduce the amount of Greek yogurt or just add more flour, I’m just afraid it might get too runny if I just add it….
If you want to add mashed banana, I would replace half of the yogurt with it. So half yogurt and half mashed very ripe banana. Then omit the chocolate chips. Hope that helps!
My kid LOVES these (and so do my husband and I). They’re soft and fluffy and just sweet enough. I added about half the amount of chocolate chips since my kid doesn’t like getting chocolate everywhere, and it was perfect for us.
These are amazing! I made a batch on Sunday evening and they were done by Tuesday afternoon (and I got more than 24 mini muffins out of the batter). My children have been asking me to make chocolate chip muffins for ages but none of the other recipes I’ve tried were good. They LOVED these ones though, and they will certainly be a staple in our house moving forward. Thank you!!!
Made these today. So soft and fluffy. Kids loved them!
We are cutting out seed oils in our house and trying to be more cognizant of what we are consuming. I found your recipe and I have to say with a few tweaks it is fantastic. Instead of using all purpose flour, I used organic barley flour and instead of butter I used ghee. I took regular size, dark chocolate chips and ground them up in my food processor since I didn’t have any more mini chocolate chips I had just used those cookies. The batter was a little bit thicker because of the ghee so I spooned the batter into the muffin tin, which I’d sprayed with avocado oil. For a little added sweetness, I sprinkled just a tiny bit of sugar on the top of each muffin before putting it into the oven.
Any reason mine would come out spongy?
Just made these after recieving your email today. Happened to have all the ingredients available…kind of! I only had honey Greek yoghurt and maple syrup is too expensive for me to bake with so I substituted it for honey instead. What a fantastic recipe! So easy and the muffins are delicious. Recommended!
any recs for chocolate chip alternatives since my toddler is still 16mo and we are supposed to minimize or avoid added sugar?
Frozen wild blueberries work great here.
Just baked these and they are amazing!
Just made these muffins, this is the absolutely best recipe for mini muffins! They came out so fluffy and moist, amazing! My kid approved 100% thank you so much!!!
Is the cook time different if I make 12 standard size muffins instead of mini?
Yes, it would be 2-4 minutes longer.
Weekly staple in our house for snacks and quick breakfast. We freeze most of them! I’ve used almond yogurt and typically use coconut oil and still turns out great