If I could pick one flavor combo to eat every single day it would be orange chocolate. These orange chocolate chip muffins are my favorite muffins of all time! Full of orange flavor, huge sugary tops, and loaded with all the melty dark chocolate chips, and they don't require any special steps. Perfect for weekend brunch!
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Why you'll love this recipe
FLAVOR- Intense orange flavor paired with rich dark chocolate.
EASE- No need to cream butter and sugars!
TEXTURE- Super fluffy with crunchy bakery style tops.
Equipment
You have to use a microplane zester for the orange zest, it produces the finest zest making it easy to melt into the sugar.
A muffin pan for perfectly sized muffins.
Ingredients
- Butter- you need butter for flavor, texture, and moisture
- Orange- this is the key flavor in these muffins, you need a microplane to zest the oranges. I do not recommend using a cheese grater.
- Chocolate Chips- dark chocolate is the best chocolate to use in this recipe, its not too sweet and pairs well with orange
- Turbinado sugar- I love using raw sugar for topping pastries, it is course and doesn't melt in the oven. It adds an amazing crunch you can't get with granulated sugar
- Milk- you can really use any milk you like, if you have buttermilk on hand I recommend that being your number one choice
See recipe card for quantities.
Substitutions
- Chocolate- milk chocolate would be delicious if you don't like dark chocolate.
- Serving these orange chocolate chip muffins with salted butter is pure bliss!
This recipe has not been tested with other substitutions. These are just suggestions.
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 430F. Line a muffin pan with 8 muffin liners. Whisk together the dry ingredients
Using a microplane, zest the oranges. Whisk the orange zest and sugar until it resembles wet sand, you want to release the oils. You can also use your fingers to rub the sugar and zest together.
- Add the melted butter and wet ingredients. Whisk until fully combined
- Add in the dry ingredients, stir with a rubber spatula or big spoon until combined
Add the chocolate chips, the batter will be thick.
- Divide the batter between the 8 muffin cups, it will look like a lot of batter for one cup, it’s not. Top with a little more sugar (I like turbinado raw sugar) to just coat the top
- Place in the oven and immediately reduce the temperature down to 400F. Bake until toothpick comes out clean, about 22-26 minutes
Hint: Spray the top of the muffin pan so the muffin tops don't stick.
Pro tips
- make sure you use the zest of 2 oranges, you really want that orange flavor to shine
- make sure you add the zest to the sugar first and beat vigorously or use your hands to rub the sugar and zest together until it resembles wet sand, you don't want that precious zest to go to waste
- make sure your oven temperature is at 430F to start with, don't forget to turn it down to 400F right after placing the muffins in the oven. The high temp to start is the key to achieving that perfect crown
- this recipe only makes 8 muffins, it will look like too much batter but you want the liners to be completely full
- don't forget to add granulated sugar or raw turbinado sugar on top, it makes a huge difference in texture
FAQ
What is the key to achieving large crowns?
Baking powder and starting with a high oven temperature and then reducing it to a lower temperature. Once the batter hits a high temp, they rise really quick, you have to turn the temp down or else they will burn before they bake all the way through.
Do I have to use muffin liners?
I highly recommend it, its easy cleanup and keeps the muffins moist.
How do i avoid my muffins from being dense?
Do not over work the gluten! Stir the flour in and do not over mix, just until the flour is absorbed.
Storage
Never refrigerate muffins, refrigerating baked goods dries them out. I like to freeze the orange chocolate chip muffins the same day they were made in a freezer bag, they will be good up to 2 months.
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📖 Recipe
Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins
Grocery List
- Oranges
- Granulated sugar
- Salt
- Flour
- Baking powder
- Dark chocolate chips
- Butter
- Eggs
- Milk
- Vanilla Extract
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup sugar, plus more for tops
- zest of 2 oranges
- 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup milk any milk will work
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 430F. Line a muffin pan with 8 muffin liners.Whisk together the dry ingredients
- Using a microplane, zest the oranges. Whisk the orange zest and sugar until it resembles wet sand, you want to release the oils. You can also use your fingers to rub the sugar and zest together. Add the melted butter and wet ingredients. Whisk until fully combined
- Add in the dry ingredients, stir with a rubber spatula or big spoon until combined, add the chocolate chips, the batter will be thick
- Divide the batter between the 8 muffin cups, it will look like a lot of batter for one cup, it’s not. Top with a little more sugar (I like turbinado raw sugar) to just coat the top
- Place in the oven and immediately reduce the temperature down to 400F. Bake until toothpick comes out clean, about 22-26 minutes
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