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.)
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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.
Incredible muffins
I had a lot of trouble understanding what to do and all the measurements are in decimals. I used the 24 muffins and it made 48. The good things are the tased good and they were simple to make
Were you using the metric measurements? What was the issue with knowing what to do?
I’m obsessed with these muffins! They are so delicious. The whole family loves them! I’ve already made them twice. Yum! Question – if I were to use sugar instead of maple syrup, do I need to replace that amount of liquid somehow? Thanks!
Delicious! These came out amazing and I will def be making again. Maybe with blueberries next time!
Love these! Made them again with my 2 year old. It’s a forgiving recipe as I’m pretty sure a lot of the flour made it to the floor instead of the bowl. Delicious. We added chocolate and dried cranberries.
Can these be made into a cake?
We loved these!! So easy and delicious, and fun to make with our four year old.
These were so good. Would they bake okay in regular muffin tins for a little longer cook time?
I have sour cream can I use that instead of the yogurt?
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure, but consistency-wise it’s similar so it may work
Sour cream worked for us! They were so good!
I have now learned to make a double batch every time because we devour these things! So delicious, my husband is as bad as the kids popping one almost every time he walks through the kitchen lol. Love that they have a little Greek yogurt protein as my 3 yr old isn’t into meat at the moment. Such a fun recipe to make together abs feel good about! We used to buy the little bites which were speedy so these are awesome and we all prefer the taste too!
I’m so glad!
Made them for my two-year-old used blueberries instead of chocolate chips. One question how do I stop eating them. They are so good.
These are wonderful! Easy to make… my 3 year old loved helping bake these. We’ve never had the store bought version so I’m not sure the comparison, but I do know my kids have devoured them! 🙂
So delicious! My 4-year-old loves the store bought ones, and couldn’t tell the difference – he devoured them! Mine made 36 mini muffins? not sure if I did something wrong somewhere along the way, but they tasted amazing and I wasn’t mad that there were more than I was expecting!
Made them 2 hours ago and already half are gone! Such a good recipe!
The best recipe and so easy and quick to make. Love the chewy but fluffy texture!
These were fantastic! I made them for a play date and everyone loved them.