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These Chocolate Chunk Cake Mix Muffins are quick, easy, and full of chocolate chunks. This semi-homemade muffin recipe uses convenient pantry ingredients, like a cake mix, to make these deliciously rich cake-like muffins.

For another family favorite muffin recipe try these Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins.

Table of Contents

Cake Mix Muffins Recipe – Chocolate Chunk Muffins

Delicious and super chocolatey muffins are so simple to make thanks to this cake mix muffin hack. These chocolate chunk muffins start with a chocolate cake mix plus a few additional ingredients like chocolate chunks, milk, eggs, and cocoa powder.

You’re going to love the chunks of chocolate throughout these cake-like, moist, and delicious muffins.

Top photo of the cooked muffins with chocolate chunks on top.

Ingredients Needed & Substitutions

Devil’s Food Cake Mix – Use a Devil’s Food cake mix or any other chocolate cake mix you want. Milk chocolate, dark chocolate, chocolate fudge, etc.
Chocolate Baking Chunks – If you can’t find the chunks then buy a semi-sweet baking bar and chop it up.
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
Baking Powder
Large Eggs
Half and Half – There really is no substitute for this milk. You want the fat and richness of the milk in the muffins. If necessary, you can use whole milk and maybe 2% milk (I do not recommend using anything lower in fat).

How to Make Chocolate Chunk Cake Mix Muffins

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare two muffin pans (12 muffin tins each) and spray with cooking spray or line with paper liners. I recommend using the paper liners.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cake mix, 2 cups of the chocolate chunks, cocoa powder, and baking powder.
Stir in the eggs and half and half, and mix everything together just until combined. Use a spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure that you are getting all the batter mixed in.
Scoop the muffin batter into the prepared muffin tins, filling each one about 2/3 of the way full. Sprinkle a few remaining chocolate chunks over the top of each muffin.
Bake for 16-20 minutes. The muffins should be rounded & puffy, when lightly touched they should bounce back, and a toothpick inserted comes out clean or with moist crumbs on it.
Cool the muffins for 5 minutes in the warm pan before removing them to a cooling rack to cool completely to room temperature . Or eat them warm!

Process photos showing how to make this muffin recipe with a cake mix.

How To Store Cake Mix Muffins

Allow the muffins to cool to room temperature and then store them at room temperature. I like to store extra muffins in a gallon size Ziploc bag but you can also store them on a plate covered with plastic wrap. If the muffins are stacked they may stick together slightly.

If you want to keep these muffins for longer, keep them in the fridge, covered, for up to 1 week. They will dry out slightly when stored in the fridge so I recommend reheating the muffin in the microwave before eating.

Can I Make Any Changes to This Muffin Recipe?

This recipe is really versatile – meaning that there are several ways you can switch it up. Here are some ideas.

Vanilla Chocolate Chunk Muffins : Use a vanilla cake mix and use flour instead of cocoa powder. This makes for a chocolate chunk vanilla muffin. So less chocolate but it still has those chocolate chunks in it.
Mint Chocolate Chunk Muffins : Add a little peppermint extract into the muffin batter. Use mint baking pieces instead of chocolate chunks.
Pecan Chocolate Muffins : Use 1 cup chopped pecans + 1.5 cups chocolate chunks for a nutty chocolatey twist.
Glaze : Trying making a simple glaze of powdered sugar and evaporated milk and drizzle it over the muffins.
Chocolate Chunks : If you can’t find the bag of chocolate chunks then buy a unsweetened baking bar ad chop it up. You could also use chopped up milk chocolate baking bar or candy bar, or whatever other chocolate you want.

Recommended Supplies For Making Muffins

I love making muffins! In all my years of baking and experimenting with muffin recipes I have found that the products you use, make a big difference in the final outcome of the muffin. Here is what I recommend using.

Muffin Pan : This USA Bakeware Muffin Pan is one of my favorites. Another really good one (that I own and use) is the OXO Muffin Pan.
Parchment Paper Liners : These are the “secret” to really great muffins that bake up evenly and don’t burn on the sides or bottom. Just like parchment paper is great for cookies, it’s also great for muffins. I swear by these Parchment Paper Muffin/Cupcake Liners.
Cookie Scoop : A Large Cookie Scoop is an easy way to evenly distribute the muffin batter between the muffin liners. It makes it mess-free also.

Overhead shot of the muffins on a cutting board.

Recipe Tips

Don’t Substitute Half and Half : It may be tempting to substitute with another milk (like 2% or whole) but it’s best to use the half and half. It provides a richness and moist texture to the muffins. If you must use something else, whole milk would be a great option.
Parchment Paper Liners : I recommend lining the muffin cups with paper liners. This helps the muffins bake evenly and prevents the bottom and sides from getting overly browned.
Bakery Quality Tip : Make sure to reserve some chocolate chunks for the tops of the muffins. This makes them look really pretty, bakery quality when they come out of the oven. You can even use a little extra than what you reserved… I won’t tell 😉

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