Name: Chocolate muffins recipe
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: Serves: 12
Cuisine: Baking
Ingredients: 250g self-raising flour; 25g cocoa powder; 2tsp baking powder; 175g golden caster sugar; 175ml milk; 2 large eggs, beaten; 100ml mild olive oil (or you can use sunflower oil if too strong-flavoured); 75g plain chocolate chunks; 1-2tsp vanilla extract

By Jessica Ransom

last updated 7 November 2023

in Recipes

Our chocolate muffins recipe takes 40 minutes to make from start to finish and each muffin is under 330 calories.

There are only nine ingredients in our chocolate muffins, many of which you probably already have in the cupboard.

Our tester Rebecca told us: ‘I make muffins for a living and this is how I would make chocolate ones. I’ve tried this recipe and it's really delicious.’ The secret ingredient of olive oil and a splash of milk makes them extra spongy and moist.

Ingredients

250g self-raising flour
25g cocoa powder
2tsp baking powder
175g golden caster sugar
175ml milk
2 large eggs, beaten
100ml mild olive oil (or you can use sunflower oil if too strong-flavoured)
75g plain chocolate chunks
1-2tsp vanilla extract

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Method

Heat the oven to 170C (150C fan, Gas 5). Line a 12-hole deep muffin tray with paper muffin cases.
Sift together the flour, cocoa and baking powder. Stir in the caster sugar.
Whisk the milk, eggs and olive oil in until you have a smooth batter. Fold in the chocolate pieces and vanilla extract until evenly distributed.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared cases. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until golden and springy to the touch. Cool for 10 minutes; transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

Watch how to make our chocolate muffins recipe

Top tips for making this chocolate muffins recipe

Our chocolate muffins are delicious as they are but you could top them with some melted white chocolate for a nice decoration or some chocolate frosting if you’re feeling indulgent. They are also excellent served with ice cream or warm chocolate custard.

How do you make chocolate muffins extra moist?

In this recipe we've used olive oil instead of butter - using olive oil makes a much softer, silkier muffin mixture so once baked it leaves you with moist, spongey muffins. We've also used milk in this recipe, which again is a wet ingredient which increases the moisture of the batter as well as the sponge of the muffins after cooking.

Are muffins better made with oil or butter?

In our opinion, muffins are better made with olive oil, however they can be easily made with butter if you don't happen to have enough olive oil. We would recommend melting the butter and cooling before adding the wet muffin mixture, so its the same consistency as olive oil. In this recipe we've used 100ml of olive oil, this can be substituted with 100g of butter.

How much sugar is in a chocolate muffin?

One of our chocolate muffins contains around 22g of sugar. Our recipe specifies caster sugar but if you would like to achieve a subtle caramel-like flavour, you could use a combination of 125g caster sugar and 50g muscovado sugar.

If you’re new to baking and feel worried about where you’re going to store all the equipment and bowls needed, we recommend this space-saving set from Joseph Joseph.

Try these chocolate chip muffins next time you want to bake a little treat. Alternatively, if you want a sharing cake then Mary Berry’s chocolate cake is always a winner. We also have an easy chocolate cupcakes recipe you might like.

Jessica is a freelance food writer, stylist and recipe tester. She previously worked as Senior Food Writer at Future. While at Future Jessica wrote food and drink-related news stories and features, curated product pages, reviewed equipment, and developed recipes that she then styled on food shoots. She is an enthusiastic, self-taught cook who adores eating out and sharing great food and drink with friends and family. She has completed the Level 1 Associate course at the Academy of Cheese and is continually building on her knowledge of beers, wines, and spirits.