Last Updated on April 6, 2021 by Chenée Lewis
What's better than a batch of muffins on a weekend morning, or as an afternoon snack on a busy weekday? I'll tell you what's better: a batch of adorable little mini muffins. Especially these lovely orange chocolate chip mini muffins topped with turbinado sugar!
As you'll see below, these orange chocolate chip mini muffins are the perfect mini muffins, upgraded with the classic flavor combination of orange and chocolate! This is one of my all-time favorite flavor pairings -- I feature it in my Chocolate Orange Slice-and-Bake Shortbread Cookies and also in my No-Bake Cannoli Tart! They're so perfect together, and in these mini muffins the orange zest just takes the flavor to another level!
Ingredients
You'll love how easy these mini muffins are! Just a few ingredients with a bowl and a whisk and you've almost got these delectable orange chocolate chip mini muffins! Here's what you'll need to gather together:
- all-purpose flour - Measured using the spoon-and-level method, but ideally measured by weight using a food scale -- you'll need 160 grams
- baking powder - gives the muffins a lift for that perfect domed top!
- salt - in addition to using salted butter, adding a little salt helps bring out the flavors in these muffins and cut the sweetness a bit.
- semi-sweet mini chocolate chips - I love mini chocolate chips! They're such cute little bursts of chocolate flavor! For this recipe I used Tollhouse Semi-Sweet Mini Morsels.
- butter - I like to use salted butter because, along with the salt in this recipe, it helps cut the sweetness a bit and bring out the flavors. But if you prefer to use unsalted butter, just add an extra ⅛ of a teaspoon of salt.
- granulated sugar - gives our muffins a little sweetness!
- light brown sugar - adds a rich sweetness and helps our muffins stay moist.
- orange zest - my favorite ingredient! It adds so much orange flavor that you can taste, smell, and see in these orange chocolate chip mini muffins!
- eggs - binds our muffin batter together!
- turbinado sugar - my favorite muffin topping! It easily takes any muffin recipe to a more elevated level, adding sparkle, crunch, and sweetness. The perfect finishing touch!
Equipment
This is a mini muffin recipe, so you definitely need a 24-cup mini muffin pan! I like this one from Wilton -- it's super easy to clean! But to make clean up even easier, I like to use these mini muffin pan liners brushed with a little cooking oil. Also, as you'll see below, I have an easy trick to get neat, evenly filled muffin cups that involves a pastry bag!
Step by Step
- Whisk together flour, baking powder and chocolate chips.
- Cream together butter and sugars, then mix in orange zest, vanilla, and egg.
- Alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk, mixing just until everything is combined!
- Fill your muffin cups and bake!
Tips for the best mini chocolate chip muffins
Use a food scale to measure your flour. I am fully converted to using a food scale for as many ingredients as possible. You may know that precision is so important in baking, and getting the precise amount of flour, or baking soda, or any other ingredient is essential. In these cupcakes, too much flour will make them dense and chewy, while too little will make them flat and mushy. In this recipe, as in all my recipes, the flour is listed in grams so that you can be sure you're using the right amount. I'm working on getting all my ingredients in metric measurements as well!
Spray or brush your muffin cups with oil. This is not required, but I like how easily the muffins come out of the muffin cups when they're brushed with a little oil. It's hard to get cooking spray into such small liners, but a little cooking oil on a pastry brush is perfect!
Use a pastry bag to pipe batter into muffin cups. This is the best tip! Just grab the pastry bag you normally use for decorating cakes and cupcakes and pipe, swirling batter to the top of each little liner! It's so neat and easy, and helps to keep the mini muffins evenly filled!
Don't overbake. These chocolate chip mini muffins cook in about 10-12 minutes. The first time I made them, I cooked them for 14 minutes, and they were a little dry. Learn from my mistake! Your results may vary slightly, but be sure to check them after 10 minutes and take them out once a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean!
Related Recipes
This orange chocolate chip mini muffins recipe is a favorite of mine because of that unforgettable flavor combination, orange and chocolate! It's one of my all-time favorites, and I love to use it in my baking! If you like this recipe, you'll enjoy my No-Bake Cannoli Tart, a take on the Sicilian pastry in a no-bake tart with a graham cracker crust!
You should also definitely check out my Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins! They use the same base muffin recipe as these chocolate chip mini muffins, but they're bursting with fresh blueberries and lemon zest! The perfect morning snack.
Equipment you may need
- 24-cup mini muffin pan
- mini muffin liners
- pastry bag and tips
Ingredients
- 1 cup plus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour - 160g
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips - plus more for topping
- ¼ cup unsalted butter - room temperature
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoon orange zest
- 1 large egg - room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup buttermilk - room temperature
- ¼ cup turbinado sugar – for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F and line a 24-cup mini muffin pan with liners. If you like, spray or brush the liners with cooking oil.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda,
- In a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugars until fluffy. Add orange zest, egg, and vanilla, mixing well after each addition.
- Add ⅓ of flour mixture and gently fold into batter. Follow with ⅓ of buttermilk. Repeat alternating until all flour mixture and buttermilk is added, mixing gently after each addition.
- Using a piping bag or mini cupcake scoop, fill lineers to just above ¾ full. Drop pan onto counter once or twice to eliminate air bubbles.
- Bake in preheated oven for 10-11 minutes, or until a toothpick in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool slightly and remove from pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.
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Notes
Nutrition
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Jean
I've made these many times, always good, always popular.
Can I use gluten free flour instead?
Chenée Lewis
Great to hear that! I haven't tried them with gluten-free flour, but I imagine a 1-to-1 flour blend with xanthin gum would work well. Let me know how it works for you!
Jean
Hi. Do I need to change anything if I do the below:
1. sub half of the AP flour for wholemeal flour?
2. sub chocolare chips for walnuts?
Thanks!
Chenée Lewis
Hi! I haven't tried this recipe with whole wheat flour, but I would think that subbing up to half of the flour should work out fine! You may want to increase the granulated sugar to 1/3 cup if you're skipping the chocolate chips, or if you prefer your muffins less sweet then just leave it at 1/4 cup. Let me know how they come out! 🙂
Jean
Just baked, very good! I only used 1/4 cup sugar as wanted them less sweet. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Chenée Lewis
Wonderful! I'm glad you liked them!
Britney
I was so excited to make this when I saw it on your instagram and it was better than I could have ever imagined!! So fluffy and delicious!
Chenée Lewis
I'm so glad they worked out for you!! Thanks 🙂
Marta
These muffins made me long for the winter! They reminded me so much of Christmastime when I'd get those chocolate-covered oranges in the foil wrappers. I doubled the batch and froze half for later.
Chenée Lewis
I used to get those too! Takes me back to every Christmas morning when I was a kid.
Chef Mireille
chocolate and orange are always a great combo - and the tang from the buttermilk increased the flavor so much!
Chenée Lewis
I'm so glad you enjoyed them! Yeah I love what buttermilk adds to muffins 🙂
Tamara
Such a delicious muffin! They were easy to make, and the kids and hubby devoured them! Definitely gonna be making these again!!
Chenée Lewis
I'm so glad they were a hit! 🙂
Adri Ruff
Chenee, I'm pretty sure I've said this before, but all of your recipes are winners! These muffins were easy and delicious. It was fun to make these with my baby over the long weekend!
Chenée Lewis
Aww you're too sweet!! That's so awesome that you two were able to spend time together making these! 🙂
Samantha
I love orange and chocolate together! These muffins are super moist!
Chenée Lewis
Thank you! Orange and chocolate are SO great together!!
Capri Lilly
The orange flavor in this recipe was just right! Paired with the chocolate, this dessert was THE BEST! I've been enjoying these muffins for breakfast 🙂
Chenée Lewis
Me too!! Breakfast of champions 🙂
Kate
These look sooo yummy!
Chenée Lewis
Thank you!! They're so tasty!
Renia
I typically don't like orange anything but these muffins were tasty. I used carob instead of chocolate and it worked well!
Chenée Lewis
Thanks for giving them a shot! Glad they worked out for you! 🙂