Chocolate Buttermilk Muffins

Chocolate buttermilk muffins made with buttermilk.  You’ll love this copycat Costco chocolate muffin recipe!

Chocolate Buttermilk Muffins from JensFavoriteCookies.com - These taste similar to the giant muffins from Costco and are guaranteed to satisfy your chocolate cravings!My husband recently put us on a cash diet.  Which is worse than a regular diet, if you ask me.

I’ve been fighting his cash diet idea for years, but I finally gave in this year and decided to embrace it.  I put all my cash in neat little envelopes and planned out all my grocery shopping, and headed to Costco.

I don’t know if you know this… but standing in Costco with nothing but cash to spend?… Sucks.  Big Time.

It’s a proven fact that it is impossible to leave Costco having spent less than $100.  It’s also a proven fact that 9.5 out of every 10 people who enter Costco leave with a case of toilet paper.

This week I was purchasing around $20 worth of fruit, and $20 worth of ground beef, (and by the way, $20 worth of fruit takes up WAY more space than $20 worth of meat!) both of which are right next to the famous Costco baked goods section of the store.

Chocolate Buttermilk Muffins from JensFavoriteCookies.com - These taste similar to the giant muffins from Costco and are guaranteed to satisfy your chocolate cravings!

You know what I’m talking about.  It’s the section where you buy those giant chocolate muffins that are loaded with chocolate chips, so that you can eat dessert before noon and pretend it’s breakfast.  If I were a conspiracy theorist, I would believe that Costco wanted me to be carb addicted.

Well, I have news for you, Costco.  I was carb addicted long before I met you.

The aforementioned cash diet forced me to part with my beloved chocolate muffins, but I figured there was no reason on earth I couldn’t recreate them with ingredients I already had on hand at home.  Happy Dessert-Breakfast to me.

Chocolate Buttermilk Muffins from JensFavoriteCookies.com - These taste similar to the giant muffins from Costco and are guaranteed to satisfy your chocolate cravings!

And, I know I’ve said this a million times, but I have a hard time letting an opportunity go by to describe my love affair with buttermilk.  I recently made these Coconut White Chocolate Buttermilk Scones, which were beyond delicious, and I’ve been dreaming of my great-grandmother’s Chocolate Frosted Buttermilk Cookies lately, and oh, I’ve been dying to share my Vanilla Cupcakes with you.  Because they’re made with buttermilk.

I made my batch late at night, after the kids had gone to bed.  This turned out to be a brilliant idea, because I got to eat a warm muffin right out of the oven, totally alone and undisturbed.

Also, I think this is the first batch of muffins I’ve made in a year that has lasted longer than 6 hours.

Chocolate Buttermilk Muffins

A rich chocolate buttermilk muffin with chocolate chips.
Cook Time18 mins
Author: Jen @ Jen's Favorite Cookies

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/4 cup dark cocoa powder (I used Hershey's Special Dark)
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup chocolate chips

Instructions

  • Combine vegetable oil with sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
  • Add salt, soda, baking powder, cocoa powders and mix well.
  • Add buttermilk and flour, and mix just until combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
  • Fill muffin cups about 2/3 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes.
  • Prepare a muffin pan with paper liners. Preheat oven to 350F.

48 thoughts on “Chocolate Buttermilk Muffins

  1. Miss Kitty

    Yes, Jen, you ARE my super hero for making such a decadent “breakfast” delight (which I think I could eat all day long). I always take my husband to Costco so HE can pay…that way I get to buy more. I saw this fabulous post over at “Metamorphosis Monday” blog party.

    Reply
  2. Nancy @ gottagetbaked

    I ALWAYS overspend at Costco, which is why I generally refrain from going. I love baking with buttermilk too and I’m so excited to print out all your buttermilk recipes because I’ve got a carton of it sitting in my fridge as we speak. It was fate that I’d read this post today. These muffins look glorious – who needs to buy them when you can make them?

    Reply
    1. Jen Post author

      Thanks Donna! He loved the cash envelopes before he knew anything about Dave Ramsey, but you’re right, he’s a big fan! (So am I!)

      Reply
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  4. Jess

    omg, i have been looking for a recipe for costco chocolate muffins for like EVER! i made some a few years ago and they didnt compare, so i gave up hope 🙁 question….would it be ok to just use regular cocoa powder? i have had a love affair with hershys dark chocolate cocoa powder but in the last year have been unable to find it at any of my local stores (which arent many) thanks!

    Reply
    1. Jen Post author

      Jess, I’m sure the regular cocoa powder would be fine. Let me know how they turn out, this is my favorite muffin ever!

      Reply
  5. Rory

    These were not as good as I was expecting unfortunately and I think people should only leave a comment if they have made the recipe not on ow it looks…

    Reply
  6. Koreena

    I just baked these muffins I added more choc chips I used white and dark turned out amazing ! Best recipes ! Thanks for sharing !

    Reply
  7. Jayne

    Oh, I so want this. It wouldn’t be sacrilege to use just regular cocoa powder, right? We haven’t got the dark cocoa powder variety here. I’ll be overloading these with so much chocolate chips they’ll come out of my hears. 😀

    Reply
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  10. Miriam

    I stumbled upon this when browsing Pinterest.

    This is THE BEST Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffin recipe I’ve tried, and I’ve tried a handful while looking for the perfect one!
    Thanks so very much for sharing, this preggo lady really appreciates a “healthy” chocolate fix. 🙂

    Reply
    1. Jen Post author

      Miriam, Thanks so much! It really is one of my favorite recipes ever, and it’s a good one for those days you need a chocolate fix!

      Reply
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  13. Meghan

    I just made these and I am so bummed to report that these were horrible, dry muffins! I followed the recipe exactly and these are nasty! I’m going to make a fudgy chocolate buttercream frosting to throw on top and pray that makes them taste better…then they’ll be muffin cupcakes. Fingers crossed…

    Reply
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  15. Gen

    I’ve just made these and WOW! They are delicious! They are moist and chocolatey and the right mix of dense and fluffy. I didn’t have dark cocoa powder so used half cocoa and half cacao. I also used half grapeseed oil and half macadamia oil after having had a good experience using macadamia oil in muffins previously. When I mixed my muffins together I first prepared all the dry ingredients and had them mixed together in a bowl and then added the mixed wet ingredients into the dry until they were just combined. I had enough mix for 12 medium sized muffins and 12 mini muffins. I added extra choc chips to the tops of the minis. I preferred the bite-sized mini muffins overall. Great recipe – thank you!

    Reply
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  17. sophie

    Hi 🙂

    A few questions…
    1) How man muffins does this make?
    2) Are they regular-sized or Jumbo-sized like the Costco ones?

    Can’t wait to make these for my family/friends!

    Reply
    1. Jen Post author

      Sophie, I don’t know why I didn’t include a yield in the recipe card. It’s been quite a while since I made them, so I don’t remember exactly, but I’m assuming it makes 12-18 regular sized muffins. If you want something extra large, like they sell at Costco, you will need to find a muffin pan with extra large cups, and then both increase the baking time and decrease the temperature. Next time I make a batch, I’ll update the recipe card!

      Reply
  18. Squeaky

    These are super duper! And I don’t even like muffins, I just make them for the kids. But I want to inhale all of these.

    I used spelt flour so we can pretend they are super-super healthy, right? 😉 and slightly less sugar because I was out of brown sugar. Instead of adding more white I just skipped that amount.

    Betting the kids and husband eat all of these today. And now I’m out of cocoa!

    Reply
    1. Squeaky

      Still making these! Half the recipe makes 24 cute little mini muffins. Just made some whilst everyone is still asleep. I suspect they will not last long! They take about 10-12 minutes to cook the smaller sized mini muffins. Yum.

      Reply
  19. Ange

    I made these yesterday and then again today because they were so good that I needed more. Thanks for sharing such a great recipe.

    Reply
  20. Sasha Bliss

    I just made those and they were wonderful! They were very moist and dense! My kids loved them! I will definitely make them again. Thank you!

    Reply
  21. SenoraHB

    Just made these yesterday and they were DELICIOUS. So close in flavor/texture to the Costco chocolate chip muffin. I baked mine in dark muffin tins, so I probably should have put them in for 16 minutes to start. Even though they’re just the teensiest bit dry, I think the recipe is a real winner!

    Reply
  22. BakerK

    These were sound, flavor-wise, but I got the same results as Meghan above – ridiculously dry. They’re too ‘muffiny’ for icing, so it’s wash this batch down with lots (and lots) of milk and see if I can find another copycat Costco muffin recipe.

    Reply
  23. Glory K.

    I made these for my family and they just love it! My sister’s and Dad will not stay out of them! Very Yummy!:)

    Reply
  24. Adrienne

    I was looking for a recipe for buttermilk muffins as I also like to use it a lot in baking. This popped up and although I didn’t have all the ingredients I went ahead and they turned out smashing. I had no baking soda so just left it out, and also I’m in Ireland so we use Cadburys Bourneville Cocoa powder for baking,I used one quarter cup its quite dark and it worked lovely. I left the white sugar at one third cup. Lastly we were low on chocolate chips so I chopped up about 75g of dark chocolate instead. They were lovely and light but not dry, rich chocolatey flavour and not too sweet. Thanks so much I’ve saved your page and will return for more inspiration very soon.

    Reply
  25. Elizabeth

    5 stars
    Delicious! My son loves the Costco chocolate muffins and he thought they were great. My yield was 14 muffins, which I’d guess is about equivalent to 6 really large muffins baked in the “Texas-sized” muffin pan.

    Reply
  26. susan

    5 stars
    I have been baking muffins for 45 years..and its my go to quick bread…These were a delight…dusted them with powdered sugar…key with muffins is NEVER overmix…..can even have some dry ingredients visible. I used coconut oil and added abit of strong coffee to the buttermilk

    Reply
  27. susan

    3 stars
    My 12 year old was asking to buy choc chip muffins at Costco recently and I didn’t want to buy 12. Looked on line and found this recipe! I had almost everything on hand but had to use 1 c milk and 1 TBSP vinegar bc I didn’t have any buttermilk. I looked up Hershey’s dark cocoa powder online and it’s a mixture of dutch process and natural cocoa powder so I used 1/4 c dutch process instead of dark cocoa powder. The muffins are just okay – a bit dry and not really tasty. Will try again using buttermilk and cocoa powder. I baked 18 cupcakes for 16 min. Anything longer in my oven would have overbaked them.

    Reply
  28. Kathleen

    5 stars
    These were delicious! Everyone loved them. I made them with mini chocolate chips and in my oven had to bake for 20 mins. The batch I did at 18 mins collapsed like souffles. These are almost like little lava cakes and so easy to make in the one bowl, no sifting. Thanks for the recipe.

    Reply
  29. Paula

    5 stars
    I came across this looking for a way to use buttermilk. My kids love them–close to Costco muffins. I filled 12 regular muffin cups almost to the top of the paper and they turned out great–they cook up and according to my 13 year old son “look like Costco muffins” since the tops really plumped up. My oven cooks really fast so I would cut the baking time a little more next time and take out before they seem totally done to improve the moistness. This is a keeper recipe and the one bowl prep is a plus in my book!! Vanilla Buttermilk cookies are on the schedule for tonight!!

    Reply
  30. Tin2

    5 stars
    I made them today with added extra egg and turned out really good. I find the bottom a little dry but otherwise it’s soft and delicious. I ate two while it’s still warm. I will try it next time with the exact recipe shown and see which one i like best. I also used 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1/4 cup milk chocolate and 1/4 cup of chopped milk chocolate. Shared this recipe to a friend who also loved the costco muffin! Thanks for sharing the recipe! My yield is 18 muffins with using an ice cream/cookie dough scooper.

    Reply

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