The chocolate chip muffins at Tim Hortons are one of my favorites. Making them at home is easy, and this is now my go-to recipe whenever I’m having a craving. I should give some satisfaction guarantee because these taste really close to the original.
Can't get enough of Timmies? Check out my other copycat recipes: Blueberry Muffins, Iced Capp, and French Vanilla.
🍫 About This Recipe
Some of my earliest memories were going to Tim Hortons with my dad. We would go almost every weekend, and he always got himself a medium coffee with two creams and two sugar and a chocolate chip muffin for us to share. My favorite thing to do was to spread a little bit of butter with each piece of the muffin I ate.
Lately, I haven't been eating out as much, so I wanted to try replicating them at home. They're surprisingly easy to make and I think they taste pretty close to the original. My dad tried one, and he couldn't get enough of it and demanded I make another batch for him to take home.
Using oil or butter
The debate of oil versus butter in cakes and muffins is as old as time. There are good arguments for both, but for this recipe, I suggest using butter as I think it tastes closer to what Tim Hortons offers.
Butter makes the muffins much richer, and most people will agree that the flavor is a lot better too. In my test batches, my family unanimously preferred the ones made with butter.
🧈 Ingredients
The ingredients are standard for chocolate chip muffins. I accidentally labeled the buttermilk as just "milk." Buttermilk gives a moister crumb, but you can substitute it with milk and 1 tablespoon of vinegar.
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Butter
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Buttermilk
- Vanilla extract
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips
🔪 Instructions
STEP 1: Preheat your oven to 425°F and prepare a muffin pan. You can grease the tray or use paper liners. I'm using paper liners today.
STEP 2: In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the chocolate chips.
STEP 3: In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sugar, eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Gradually add this mixture to the dry ingredients. Gently fold until they are just combined. Be careful not to overmix, the batter should be plenty lumpy.
STEP 4: Divide the batter among the 12 muffin cups. It's okay if they overflow a bit. Try to be as gentle as possible so as not to deflate the batter. Sprinkle some extra chocolate chips on top.
STEP 5: Bake at 425°F for 5 minutes, then lower the temperature to 375°F and bake for another 12-15 minutes until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. The toothpick is allowed to have some crumbs on it, but you should not see any wet batter.
Allow the muffins to cool for 5-10 minutes in the tray before transferring them to a wire rack to cool. They will keep for about one week in the fridge or five days at room temperature. I love eating these straight from the fridge because the chocolate chips get really crunchy.
📋 Recipe
Tim Hortons Chocolate Chip Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon coarse kosher salt (use half the amount if you're using table salt)
- ½ cup butter (unsalted, melted)
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 large egg
- 1 cup buttermilk (see notes for substitutions)
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425°F and grease a 12-cup muffin tray with non-stick cooking spray or use paper liners.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sugar, eggs, milk, and vanilla. Gradually add this mixture to the dry ingredients. Gently fold until they are JUST combined. There should be plenty of lumps.
- Divide the batter among the 12 muffin cups. Sprinkle some extra chocolate chips on top.
- Bake at 425°F for 5 minutes, then lower the temperature to 375°F and bake for another 12-15 minutes until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. The toothpick is allowed to have some crumbs on it, but you should not see any wet batter. Allow the muffins to cool for 5-10 minutes in the tray before transferring them to a wire rack to cool. They will keep for about one week in the fridge or five days at room temperature.
Denise Horn
Hi there, I'm getting ready to do your Tim Hortons chocolate chip muffins and I'm questioning the large amount of baking powder is it truly one TABLESPOON?
Grump
Yes its one tablespoon, but u can probably do two teaspoons instead if youre worried