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 are our favorite muffins! I’m curious, if you used flavored whole milk yogurt instead (all I have), would you reduce the amount of maple syrup you use? Thank you!
“Better Than [The Brand]!!!” – My 9 Year Old
These are amazing, easy, consistent, and cheap. Awesome recipe! Thank you!
I love this recipe so much!! We make it with 1/4 cup sugar and they are perfect! Not too sweet. Kids love making and eating them! Nice to have a healthier option than the store bought kind!
We love these muffins! So easy to put together, and a great way to spend time in the kitchen with my little guy. We’re going to have to start doubling our batch. One disappears too quickly.
Delicious! This recipe made 48 muffins for me but maybe my mini muffin molds are smaller? Not sure. Either way, a total hit!
SO happy I found you on Instagram! Just got your SOS book and made this recipe to big applause from my 5 year old. I subbed equal amount coconut oil for the butter and cut the flour 1/2 regular, 1/2 wheat pastry flour. Came out so good, I just think I need to go heavier on the avocado oil greasing of the pan for next time. Had to fight a bit to get them out. Thank YOU!
These are amazing! My whole family loves them!
But wondering how i can stuff with some Nutella on the inside for a nice little kick!?!
These are DELICIOUS and a true copycat, IMO. Amy’s recipes are the best tasting kid friendly options that I’ve come across online.
can you store the muffin batter overnight in the refrigerator ?
I haven’t tried that and it’s possible the leavening may not work the same if it goes into the oven very cold.
Best mini muffin recipe. So easy, quick and delicious.
I’ve been eyeing this recipe for so long I finally made it and it did not disappoint. The whole family loved them! Wondering if we wanted to replace the whole milk Greek yogurt for low fat or nonfat Greek yogurt, would that still be okay or would I need to add something to replace some of the fat? Thank you for all of your simple, delicious, and healthy recipes!
It should work the same with a lower fat version of the same yogurt. Enjoy!
These are delicious, my daughter and my husband both liked them. We will definitely be making them again. That being said, aside from the size of them, I don’t think they’re similar to the packaged ones. These to us taste more like pancake bites than they do a muffin bite.
Muffins were delicious , very moist. I just replaced yogurt with sour cream. Great recipe, definitely saving it. Thank you!
I made these 3 times. With brand new flour baking powder and baking soda on the final time thinking that would be why etc. following the recipe to a T they came out flat and a bit tough each time. Any idea why? The ONLY thing I went off recipe for was using parchment paper cups in the mini tins. Which I do with all the muffins recipes I make of yours. Please help I want to know what could be wrong!
Could you tell me which type of yogurt you are using? I cannot replicate this issue at home so I am unsure of what is causing this. Thanks!
I’m having the same issue! Have made this recipe several times, following the recipe exactly, and each time they spill over the edges of the muffin tin so the tops are all joined together and flat. Not sure why! In your video and pictures your batter looks thicker than mine. Should I add a bit more flour maybe?
My kids and I still eat them so that’s good!
Hi- I would try to make sure that the baking soda is evenly distributed throughout the batter, that you’re using a metal pan, not silicone, and that the baking soda is fresh. I hope that helps!
I used silicone molds and they definitely stuck to them–yikes. The taste was great although we used spoons to eat them. 🙂 Also, how can I make them round on top, they all sank in the middle.
I recommend trying the recipe with a nonstick metal muffin tin and nonstick spray as they will bake more evenly that way. Glad you ate them anyway!
These are great! My kids eat 3-4 at a time!
Anything I would need to change if I wanted to make regular size muffins?