Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins
These brown butter chocolate chip muffins are incredible! A bit more rich and decadent than your average muffin, they have amazing flavor.
If you’ve never added brown butter to your muffin batter, now is the time to start! These simple muffins are made extra special thanks to the flavor-loaded brown butter.
How to Brown Butter
We can’t launch into a discussion about these muffins without first addressing the most important part: brown butter!
Browning butter can level up your cooking and baking game like nothing else. And it’s so easy and fast. In fact, it’s so fast, that you don’t want to walk away, because butter can go from deliciously golden to burned in a matter of seconds.
It helps to use a light-colored skillet so you can easily tell when the butter is starting to brown. Dark-colored or nonstick skillets can still be used, but just keep in mind that the darker color can make it difficult to judge when the butter is done (and it’s a bit easier to burn it).
To brown butter, simply melt butter in a skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it bubbles and foams and the milk solids in the butter turn a golden, nutty color. It’s going to smell fragrant and caramel-like. Once it is sufficiently browned, immediately remove the skillet from the heat and pour the butter into a bowl so it doesn’t continue to cook.
Using Brown Butter in Muffin Batter
For this recipe, you can use the butter pretty quickly after it has been browned. No need to let it cool all the way.
- Mix the sugars with the warm brown butter.
- Add the eggs, sour cream and vanilla. (You can add them all together, despite what my pictures show 😉)
- Add the dry ingredients and mix just a few times before adding the chocolate chips and mixing until just combined.
This batter is thick and luscious. In fact, at first glance, it almost looks like chocolate chip cookie dough.
But upon closer inspection (ahem, and tasting), it is very much a batter that is begging to fulfill the measure of its existence as a cute little muffin bringing joy to the hearts of any who partake.
A Few Notes
- While definitely soft and moist, these muffins are bit sturdier compared to other super light and fluffy muffins. (I love the texture of the crumb!)
- Before the muffins are baked, you can sprinkle the tops with a bit of coarse or raw/turbinado sugar. While optional, it adds the most delightfully sweet crunch to the rich brown butter muffins. I highly recommend it.
- The recipe makes anywhere from 12 to 16 muffins, depending on how full you fill the muffin cups and the brand of muffin tin you use.
One bite of these brown butter chocolate chip muffins, and you’ll know why they are so irresistible.
Set apart by the decided brown butter flavor, sugary topping, and cookie-like flair, they are perfect for everything from an after school snack to a fancy brunch spread.
These are muffins that deserve to be relished. To be appreciated. To be praised. They are exceptional.
P.S. I think they would transition quite well into mini muffins for a bite-size brown butter treat!
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Nine Years Ago: Amazing Key Lime Cheesecake
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Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (12 tablespoons, 170 g) salted butter
- ¾ cup (160 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (106 g) packed light brown sugar
- 2 large (100 g) eggs
- ¾ cup (170 g) sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups (284 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 to 1 ½ cups (170 to 255 g) milk, semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
- Coarse or raw/turbinado sugar, for sprinkling (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. You may need to bake a second batch or use two liners, depending on how full you fill the muffin cups.
- For the brown butter, cut the butter into pieces and add to a 10-inch skillet (preferably light-colored so you can see easily when the butter has browned). Heat over medium heat, stirring as the butter melts so that it cooks evenly.
- As the butter continues to cook, constantly and slowly stir with a silicone spatula. The butter will foam, sizzle, bubble, and after a few minutes (anywhere from 5 to 8 minute), the solids in the butter will begin to turn golden. Brown butter can burn easily, so don't walk away!
- When the butter solids are browned and golden and it smells caramelly and fragrant, immediately remove the skillet from the heat and pour the butter into a bowl. Let the butter cool for a few minutes.
- For the muffins, add the granulated sugar and brown sugar to the brown butter and mix to combine well.
- Add the eggs, sour cream and vanilla, and mix until evenly combined.
- Add the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Mix a couple of times to begin combining the batter, but don't mix all the way.
- Add the chocolate chips when there are still plenty of dry streaks in the batter. Mix until just combined and no dry patches remain (don't over mix).
- Portion the batter into the prepared muffin tin, filling the muffin cups 2/3 to 3/4 full. Sprinkle the tops with coarse sugar, if using.
- Bake for 17 to 20 minutes until the tops spring back lightly to the touch. Remove the muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.
Recipe Source: Mel’s Kitchen Cafe
Delicious! Our family loves these! I made these for my son to take to school for a cross country breakfast…just had to multiply the recipe times 6!
Can these muffins be frozen?
Yep!
Could I make these without the sour cream? If so, what do you recommend I use to replace the sour cream?
You could try plain Greek yogurt.
Just made these, and WOW! They turned out so soft and tender with crispy edges (I overfilled the tins a bit and don’t regret it)! Another hit from Mel.
PS I got my gorgeous cookbook and THANK YOU for making the pages matte instead of getting fingerprints all over them the second I touch it. It’s a pleasure to hold and use!
Thank you so much, Heather!!
I collect cookbooks and was delighted to receive yours. Hands down the BEST I have seen( and I have more than 300). Our favorite recipes have always been”Mel’s” and the recipes interspersed with the adorable pictures are amazing! Thanks!
Such an honor that you feel that way, Martha…THANK YOU!
These sound delicious!
Just had to comment and say my Christmas gift of your cookbook arrived yesterday and I am so in love! Congratulations on a job well done! I like that it has some of my staple recipes in a nice book, as well as new ones. I’ve followed your blog since 2010 or 2011 and you’re my go to source.
Thank you so much, Monica – so happy and honored you are still here after all these years!
These are like a chocolate chip cookie in muffin form. So DELICIOUS! The little bit of sugar on top gave them a little crunch, which added to their overall yumminess. We doubled the recipe and our family devoured them! Thank you so much for the yummy recipes.
Also, THANK YOU for the amazing cookbook! We have been making at least one recipe out of it a day since we got it in the mail! Pretty much every thing we eat comes from one of your recipes. EVERYONE should have your cookbook!!!!
Thank you for your enthusiasm, Natalie!!
I made these with the brown butter streusel from the Cinnamon Crumb Cake Muffins from the NYT (the streusel is fantastic but the actual muffin there is quite bland) and the result was glorious. It was a perfect example for my muffins > cupcakes argument.
I substituted plain yogurt for sour cream just to make myself feel better and they taste amazing.
I made these as mini muffins and they were delicious, even without the sugar on top. More of a fancy, deluxe muffin. A fun change from our usual whole wheat muffins. The only problem with mini muffins is you always feel like you can eat just one more!
haha, isn’t that the truth??
Made these last night and they turned out really well. Everyone loved them. I used the flour weight measurement and was surprised how much I had left in my second cup (1/4 c or so). I imagine they would have been dry had I not weighed the flour. Wish I would have weighed the other ingredient as well, but didn’t think of it in time. Although they did sink a little in the middle, so maybe I should have added a little extra flour to compensate for my high elevation. Do you have thoughts on that?
I baked them in a pampered chef stoneware and needed 24 mins. With the left over batter I used a mini muffin tin and I think they were 15 mins. Thanks for the recipe, I’ll be adding it to my Prepear.
The sinking in the middle is likely due to high elevation. I don’t live at high elevation so I can’t test my recipes that way, but I’ve seen recommendations online that when baking at high elevation, adding a few tablespoons extra flour (or dialing back on the leavening agents) can help baked goods turn out better.
I have followed you for years and have never left a comment, but I just wanted to thank you for the AMAZING cookbook! I got it last weekend and looked through every page. I have made most of the recipes, and it is SO fun and convenient to have them all bound in a beautiful book! I immediately ordered more because I think everyone needs one! Thank you, thank you!!
Oh my goodness, Chelsie – thank you!! Reading that made my day in a big way!
These are really good warm from the oven. Chef kiss and mini chef kiss (I made them with my sweet kindergartner).
Ah thanks, Marjorie!! Love the image of you baking with your cute little helper.
We saw this recipe pop up today and decided it was a perfect afternoon treat. WOW!!! The brown butter makes these truly exceptional. They taste like chocolate chip cookies to me. lol. They are a little sweeter than I would probably make for a regular breakfast but they will definitely be on repeat for snacks and treats. Thank you Mel for making our Monday a little less Monday and much more delicious!
We saw this recipe pop up today and decided it was a perfect afternoon treat. WOW!!! The brown butter makes these truly exceptional. They taste like chocolate chip cookies to me. lol. They are a little sweeter than I would probably make for a regular breakfast but they will definitely be on repeat for snacks and treats. Thank you Mel for making our Monday a little less Monday and much more delicious!
I agree with you, Jen! These muffins have a definite chocolate chip cookie vibe. Glad you loved them!
These are amazing! I’m pretty sure at this point we should just be browning all the butter all the time! It makes such an incredible difference in a recipe like this!
amen and amen to browning more butter!
Hi Mel. My cookbook arrives in two days and I am crazy with excitement. This muffin looks amazing but these days I’m trying to watch the saturated fat a little more closely. I am wondering how these compare to your other one bowl chocolate chip muffins, which I saw in the link. They look like they just have oil and no butter or sour cream. I’m sure they’re not quite as rich but maybe they’re a little fluffier and lighter? What do you think? I’m really wanting to make some chocolate chip muffins!!! Also, I think the yield on the brown butter ones has a typo in it.
I’m so excited for you to get the cookbook, too, Teresa! And thanks for the typo heads up. I fixed it. The other chocolate chip muffin recipe would be fantastic if you are wanting to avoid butter. They’re even a bit lighter and fluffier than this more-rich recipe.
Made them the second I saw the recipe. So easy and delicious. I am 1000% sure they’ll be gobbled up when the kids get home from school. I made them in my mini muffin pan. I used my smallest cookie scoop and baked for 11 min and they are perfect! Thanks for the Monday pick me up Mel!
Love this, Mickie! Thanks for including your details on mini muffins!
Do you think this muffin base would work with wild blueberries?
Most definitely!