Tessa's Recipe Rundown
Taste: These muffins have so much more flavor than any store-bought muffins I’ve ever tasted.
Texture: The muffins are soft with bits of melty chocolate chips throughout – but the best part is definitely the crunchy toffee topping. It adds a whole new layer of texture to muffins!
Ease: Super easy.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe: So much fun and flavor packed into an easy homemade muffin.
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Don’t you just love the crazy fun name of these muffins? They’re almost as fun to say as they are to eat!
I was inspired by my best friend Ashley who posted a recipe for Toffee Coffee Chocolate Chip Blondies.
The name is what caught my attention at first, but the flavor concept sounded too delicious not to try!
I’m happy to report that these muffins are not only moist and tender, but loaded with cocoa and coffee flavors. Plus that crunchy toffee topping is just to die for. So much better than most boring, bland, and dry grocery store muffins.
I can’t even think about muffins without thinking about Jenna Maroney from 30 Rock and her Muffin Top song. Try not getting that stuck in your head all day long!
These easy, crazy-delicious muffins are sure to become your new favorites. I hope you love them!
Sprinkle of Science
How to Make Chocolate Coffee Toffee Crunch Muffins
How to Make MOIST Muffins and Prevent DRY Muffins:
- Do not over-measure the flour or cocoa powder: I recommend using a digital kitchen scale to measure your ingredients, but if you don’t have one, use the spoon-and-level method. Learn more about the importance of measuring flour correctly here.
- Buttermilk: Buttermilk also brings even more moisture to these muffins (as well as a ton of flavor!). More on buttermilk just below.
Do I Have to Use Real Buttermilk?
- Buttermilk brings a wonderful flavor to these Chocolate Coffee Toffee Crunch Muffins, as well as making them beautifully tender and moist.
- If you’re unable to find real buttermilk, you can use whole milk in its place (1:1 ratio) but note that your resulting muffins won’t be quite as flavorful or tender.
- I don’t recommend using 2% or skim milk, and I haven’t tried any milk alternatives here.
- Learn more about the science of buttermilk, and buttermilk substitutes, here.
Do I Have to Use Brown Sugar?
Brown sugar brings depth of flavor, moisture, and richness to these Chocolate Coffee Toffee Crunch Muffins. I used light brown sugar, but you can use dark brown instead (1:1 ratio). Whatever you do, don’t reduce the sugar in these Chocolate Coffee Toffee Crunch Muffins. Sugar does so much more than simply sweetening your baking. Learn more about sugar’s role in baking here.
What Type of Cocoa Powder do I Need?
Use natural unsweetened cocoa powder in these Chocolate Coffee Toffee Crunch Muffins. Learn more about Natural vs. Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder here.
How to Prevent Muffins From Sticking to the Liners
These are my favorite muffin liners that won’t stick. If sticky liners are a common problem for you, check out my full post on How to Prevent Cupcake/Muffin Liners from Sticking.
How to Bake TALL Muffins
I recently experimented with the science of muffins and how to achieve beautiful, TALL muffins that look like they belong on the shelf of a fancy bakery. Check out my 3 tips for baking tall muffins here!
Hint: Chilling your muffin batter overnight makes for the BEST ever muffins!!
How to Store Chocolate Coffee Toffee Crunch Muffins
Chocolate Coffee Toffee Crunch Muffins are best served the day they’re baked. If you have leftovers, store them for up to 1 day in an airtight container at room temperature. Refresh in a 300°F oven for 5 minutes or reheat in the microwave for 10 seconds. To store longer, see freezing instructions just below.
How to Freeze Chocolate Coffee Toffee Crunch Muffins
Freeze leftover Chocolate Coffee Toffee Crunch Muffins in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight at room temperature or reheat in the microwave for about 1 minute.
More Recipes You’ll Love:
- Double Chocolate Banana Muffins (perfectly chocolatey!)
- Pumpkin Muffins
- Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Muffins
- Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
- Espresso Martini Cookies
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Ingredients
For the muffins:
- 2 cups (254 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup (133 grams) packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (43 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
- 1 tablespoon instant
espresso powder * - 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk**
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (170 grams) semisweet chocolate chips
For the toffee crunch topping:
- 1/4 cup (32 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/2 cup toffee bits (such as Heath brand or
homemade ) - 1 tablespoon butter, at room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a standard muffin tin with paper muffin cups.
For the muffins:
- In a large bowl combine the flour, brown sugar, sifted cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a small bowl combine the melted butter, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla. Pour the butter mixture into the flour mixture and stir until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Do not overmix.
- Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.
For the toffee crunch topping:
- In a small bowl combine the flour, sugar, and toffee bits. Cut the butter into the mixture using the back of a fork until it is coarse and crumbly. Sprinkle about a tablespoon of the mixture over each unbaked muffin.
- Bake for 20 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes before removing the muffins to the rack to cool completely.
Notes
This post was originally published in 2013 and recently updated with weight measurements and new photos by Ashley McLaughlin Photography.
This looks amazing!! What is espresso powder? Brand name? I went to my local grocers and they don’t carry it.
Sometimes it can be hard to find, but Walmart and Target both carry it near me! There’s King Arthur and Medaglia D’oro. Hope that helps!
The pictures alone made me want to try this muffin recipe. I love chocolate and toffee. These were delicious muffins! I followed the recipe except for adding the espresso powder, since I don’t drink coffee. These are a definite keeper! Thanks for the recipe!
Glad you made it work for you, Kristin!
I love muffins but haven’t made any in a while!! I think I may have to get back in the muffin groove and whip up a batch of these! I mean, toffee streusel, you can’t go wrong!! I can’t wait to try them!!
Can freshly brewed coffee be substituted for espresso powder? Can’t wait to try this recipe!
Substitute for egg or I can make without egg follows the recipe
Any substitute for egg or I can make without egg follows the recipe
I was so excited when I saw this recipe it sounded amazing. So for a party three of us all made this recipe three different homes. They all turned out the same and all three of us were disappointed. Flavor was nothing what the name would lead you to believe it tastes like. :0( hope the next recipe I try of yours is better.
Hi Sally, I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy the recipe. I’m not sure what makes you say the flavor wasn’t like the name, there is plenty of each namesake ingredient in the recipe!
These muffins look mouth-watering good! I can’t wait to try them this weekend.
WOW. this look phenomenal! just pinned this recipe to try…thanks so much for sharing. I love toffee flavored things! Have you ever had the hersey nuggets? its like milk chocolate + almonds + toffee? so good!
These muffins look amazing Tessa!! And they look like the perfect thing to use the buttermilk that is sitting in my fridge!!
I am loving every single thing you have in these muffins! I could definitely go for a few of these with my coffee this morning!
Love every word of this recipe title! Wish I had that basket in front of me for breakfast tomorrow.