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.
Love these muffins! They turn out great every time even with gf flour. I have a question about the nutrition facts—is the sugar really 13 g for two mini muffins? Trying to figure out why it is double the other yogurt muffins that have the same amount of maple syrup. Is it the chocolate chips? Thank you!
Hi, yes, it’s the chocolate chips. Without them, it’s 6 g (and much of that is from the yogurt itself.) Hope that helps!
Yes, thanks!
LOVE this recipe! Made it with my youngest and they were eaten immediately as they cooled.
Hi! Would these taste funny if I used vanilla Greek yogurt? 🙂
No, but you can omit the vanilla extract.
Hi, can I use sour cream instead of yogurt?
Thank you so much
Hi- I haven’t tried that but my best guess is that it will work similarly. Enjoy!
Hi I tried it today and it came out fabulous. Next time I will try with yogurt.
Thank you for awesome receipe
These are AMAZING. They taste better than Little Bites. I love how spongey they are and so flavorful. My son and I are really sensitive to food flavors/textures (we’re both AUDHD) so I was a little nervous about the recipe having Greek yogurt in it since it’s something he and I don’t like. But shockingly we both haven’t had any issues devouring these!
How long would you recommend baking for 12 muffins instead of the minis?
About 14-16 minutes. Enjoy!
My 4 year loves them 🙂 he’s gluten free and I made them with great value gf flour and nonfat Greek yogurt ( it’s what I had) and I used 8 snack size Hershey bars chopped up because I didn’t have chips but they came out great! Honestly was skeptical that substituting gf flour would work but it did!
These turned out perfectly! The kids and I loved them. I have a feeling these will now be a staple in our household.
Can these be made in a regular 12 muffin tray? What adjustments need to be made with temperature/time? I don’t have a mini muffin tray to use.
Yes, same temp, just bake for 14-16 minutes.
Wow. These muffins are a winner! Both of my kids loved them and I thought they were delicious too! I added two tablespoons of a “digestive booster” (milled flax and chia) and they still came out beautifully. Once I made one batch, I turned right around and made another to freeze. Not only do I feel better giving them cleaner ingredients vs. the store-bought muffins, but the greek yogurt was a genius way to sneak in protein. Thank you so much for sharing! I’m so glad I found this recipe and can’t wait to try more.
10/10 my kids love these. I added a little apple sauce because my batter was a little thick (I ran out of regular flour and had to use half whole wheat) I also did half with choc chips the other with sprinkles.
These were fun to make with my three and he loved them. Way better than store bought!
these are so delicious! Making a second batch after two days
Love love love these! I refuse to buy Little Bites because of all the packaging and the uncertainty of my 4 year old actually eating the whole package. I love that I know what ingredients are in these muffins. They freeze and reheat so easily. I make a double batch every time and freeze them in my food saver then my child can have as few or as many as she wants that day. This is the 5th or 6th recipe I’ve tried from YummyToddlerFood and I have not been disappointed with any of them!
So glad to hear this and thanks for commenting!
These are delicious! I made them after bedtime for our zoo trip tomorrow and I could eat all of them in one sitting. Way better than the packaged ones! And just the right amount of sweetness! Can’t wait to try the sprinkle ones next!
These muffins are super delicious. My kids can’t stop eating them.
I greased my mini muffin tin very well and they still stuck at the bottom. How can I prevent this? Thanks!
You could try a different nonstick spray and see if that helps.