These chocolate cream cheese muffins start with a rich chocolate-chocolate chip muffin base that’s topped with dollops of cheesecake to create a black and white tuxedo muffin fit for a party!
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I already have a chocolate muffin recipe that I love, so I used that as a base for my muffins. Then I combined that with my Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Brownie recipe for the fun white cheesecake part of the recipe.
So the tops of the muffins have chocolate chips on them, I liked to add 1 ¼ cup of the chocolate chips to the batter. Then I’ll sprinkle the remaining ¼ cup of chocolate chips on top of the muffins. It just makes them look a little bit more irresistible when you can see the chocolate chips on top as well.
If you’re a chocolate lover, I know you’re going to love these muffins!
Jump to:
Why You’ll Love These Chocolate Cream Cheese Muffins
- Perfect Balance of Flavors: The rich chocolate muffin with creamy cheesecake center creates an irresistible flavor combination that satisfies both chocolate lovers and cheesecake fans in one delicious bite.
- Freezer-Friendly: Make a double batch and freeze some for later! They thaw beautifully, giving you a special treat ready whenever you need one.
- Versatile for Any Occasion: They work equally well for breakfast, after-school snacks, lunchbox treats, or dressed up with a dusting of powdered sugar for dessert.
- Kid-Approved: The fun “tuxedo” name and dramatic two-tone appearance makes these a hit with children, while the sophisticated flavor keeps adults coming back for more.
Recipe Ingredients
- Cream cheese
- Sugar
- Salt
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Butter
- Cocoa powder — unsweetened
- Baking powder
- Milk
- Sour cream
- Chocolate chips — I use semi-sweet in this recipe.
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How To Make Chocolate Cream Cheese Muffins
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a muffin pan with paper liners.
Step 2: Prepare cream cheese topping: In a small mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese, sugar and salt until smooth. Add egg and vanilla and beat until incorporated. Add flour and beat just until smooth. Set aside.
Step 3: Prepare muffin batter: In a large mixing bowl beat together butter, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, salt and vanilla until fluffy. Beat in eggs, then stir in milk and sour cream. Mix in flour, then chocolate chips.
Step 4: Divide batter equally between the muffin cups. Put a dollop of cream cheese mixture on top of the muffin batter.
Step 5: Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out without crumbs on it – chocolate is ok. Remove from oven, cool on wire racks 10 minutes, remove from pan to wire racks and cool completely.
Recipe FAQs
Absolutely! These muffins stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days. For longer storage, refrigerate for up to a week or freeze for up to 3 months. The cream cheese center makes them even more moist the day after baking!
While full-fat versions provide the best texture and flavor, you can substitute low-fat cream cheese and sour cream. Just avoid using fat-free versions, as they can affect the texture and moisture level of your muffins.
The tulip-style baking cups aren’t just pretty—they serve a practical purpose! They allow you to fill the muffin cups higher without worrying about overflow, giving you those gorgeous bakery-style domed tops. If you don’t have tulip liners, standard liners work fine, but you may need to make a few extra muffins.
Expert Tips
- Paper Liners: The tulip papers let you fill the muffin cups more full than you normally would. If you don’t want to buy the tulip papers, you can make the muffins in jumbo size muffin pans, or make 18 smaller muffins.
- Good Leftovers: These muffins are great to eat hot from the oven, but I like them even better the next day. The next day the chocolate chips have hardened and the muffin is even more moist.
- Perfect Cream Cheese Texture: Allow your cream cheese to soften naturally at room temperature for about an hour before mixing. Microwaving can create hot spots that affect the final texture.
- Chocolate Chip Trick: Reserve about ¼ cup of chocolate chips to sprinkle on top just before baking. This creates beautiful melty chocolate pockets on top while ensuring plenty of chips throughout the muffin.
More Muffin Recipes to Consider
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Tuxedo Chocolate Cream Cheese Muffins
Ingredients
Cream Cheese Topping
- 1 8- ounce package cream cheese room temperature
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup flour
Chocolate Chip Muffin
- ½ cup butter room temperature
- ⅔ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- ¾ cup milk
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with tulip paper liners. If you don’t have tulip papers, grease or line 12 jumbo muffin cups or 18 regular muffin cups.
- Prepare cream cheese topping: In a small mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese, sugar and salt until smooth. Add egg and vanilla and beat until incorporated. Add flour and beat just until smooth. Set aside.
- Prepare muffin batter: In a large mixing bowl beat together butter, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, salt and vanilla until fluffy. Beat in eggs, then stir in milk and sour cream. Mix in flour, then chocolate chips.
- Divide batter equally between the muffin cups. Put a dollop of cream cheese mixture on top of the muffin batter.
- Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out without crumbs on it – chocolate is ok. Remove from oven, cool on wire racks 10 minutes, remove from pan to wire racks and cool completely.
Notes
- Save about ¼ cup of the chocolate chips to sprinkle on top of the chocolate muffin batter.
- Use a 2-ounce ice cream scoop (size 16) for perfectly portioned muffins every time. This helps distribute the batter evenly and prevents messy overflow.
- When testing with a toothpick, some melted chocolate chips might make you think the muffins aren’t done. Look for actual batter on the toothpick, not just melted chocolate.
- Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for exactly 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. This timing prevents them from becoming soggy on the bottom while making sure they release easily from the pan.
Eloise
This is my favorite muffin recipe. I make a batch every other month. Thank you for sharing!
Can I bake this into a bread or cake? Do you have an approximate cooking time and cooking temperature for a bread and cake?
Melissa Griffiths
I bet it would be 45-55 minutes in a loaf pan!
Cynthia Beasley
I made these twice. Threw out the first batch thinking I left out an ingredient.
Second batch is just as dry and tasteless as the first. Such a waste of time and precious ingredients. They are pretty to look at.
Susan
How does it end up looking like you put cream cheese mixture in each side instead of on top?
Barbara Schieving
Hi Susan – you put a dollop of the cream cheese mixture on each side – side the photos of the batter above.
Elaine Crain
It looks like you put a dollop of cream cheese on each side of muffin! Do I need to refrigerate over nite if I made them ahead?Thank you!
Barbara Schieving
Hi Elaine – if you’re serving them the next day, you don’t have to refrigerate them. If you know you won’t be eating all of them the next day though, you may want to refrigerate or freeze them. I would let them warm to room temperature before serving.
Elaine Crain
Thank you! So much!
Elaine Crain
Can I make them a day ahead?
Barbara Schieving
Hi Elaine – yes, you can make them a day ahead. Enjoy!
Elaine Crain
Thank you so much! I’m making them for birthday party!
It looks like you put dollop of cream cheese on each side of muffin top! Do they need to be refrigerated over nite?
Betsy
What size tuxedo muffin liners are these please? Medium? Or large? Thank you.
Barbara Schieving
Hi Betsy – they’re the large – there is a link to them above.
Foodiewife
I used to make these a very long time ago, and I lost the recipe. Yay! You brought these back into my life. Chocolate and cheesecake are decadent and fabulous. I’m so making these! Thank you!
nicole (thespicetrain.com)
These look so pretty!! I always love the cream cheese/chocolate combo and it sounds perfect in these muffins. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
2sisters recipes
Oh boy we love chocolate and I bet we’ll love these tuxedo muffins ! Thank you Barbara!
Barbara Schieving
Definitely give them a try!
Laurel
Did you spray the tulip liners with nonstick spray?
Barbara Schieving
Hi Laurel – no, there’s no need to spay the liners. The muffins peel easily away from the liners.
Carol
Holy mackerel those look AMAZING! What a treat for breakfast or any time. I think I have some of those muffin liners lurking around here somewhere-what a perfect recipe to use them for. Looks like you nailed this copy cat recipe spot on-yours look even better than the ones in the bakery case in Maui!
Barbara Schieving
Thanks so much Carol!