Chocolate Chip Muffins for 24p Each — Easy Budget Recipe (Aldi Ingredients)

Budget Desserts Budget Recipes Easy Baking UK

24p	£1.48	30 min	6
Per muffin	Total batch cost	Prep + bake	Muffins per batch

✅ Tested by Vinod Pandey — March 2026  |  Prices verified at Aldi UK  |  Tested 3 times before publishing

⚡ Quick Answer

Cost: £1.48 total / 24p per muffin  |  Time: 10 mins prep + 20 mins bake  |  Makes: 6 muffins
Rich, moist chocolate chip muffins made with basic Aldi own-brand ingredients — no stand mixer needed, no special equipment. The two-temperature oven method (start hot, drop the heat) is the one technique worth learning here; it's what gives you the domed top and moist centre at the same time.

Contents

1. Homemade vs shop-bought: the actual numbers
2. Full cost breakdown by ingredient
3. Ingredients
4. Method — step by step
5. What if it goes wrong?
6. Common mistakes to avoid
7. Is this worth making from scratch?
8. Storage and freezing
9. FAQ

Tesco's own chocolate chip muffins are 42p each. Asda's come in at roughly 42p as well. This recipe makes six for £1.48 total — that's 24p each, using Aldi own-brand ingredients throughout.

I made these for the first time on a Sunday when I wanted something chocolatey and couldn't quite justify paying £1.69 for a supermarket four-pack. The recipe came together in about ten minutes of actual hands-on time, and honestly I wasn't sure they'd be any good. They were. Rich, moist, properly chocolatey — and I had two left over for Monday morning.

The one thing this recipe asks of you is patience with the oven temperature. You start it high (210°C) for the first five minutes to get the rise going, then drop it to 170°C for the rest of the bake. It sounds fussy but it really isn't — and it's the difference between a flat muffin and a properly domed one. Everything else is straightforward.

Last updated: March 2026

🔬 Why This Recipe Works

The combination of baking powder and bicarbonate of soda gives these muffins a reliable rise without requiring any creaming of butter. Vegetable oil keeps the crumb moist for longer than melted butter would — oil stays liquid at room temperature whereas butter firms up, which is why oil-based muffins stay softer on day two. The initial blast of heat at 210°C sets the crust quickly and forces the rise upward before the structure firms up, producing the classic muffin dome.

You might be wondering whether homemade muffins are genuinely worth the effort when a supermarket four-pack costs under £2. Here's the honest answer: if cost is your only measure, you save roughly 18p per muffin making them at home — or about £1.08 on a six-muffin batch. That's meaningful over time. But the stronger reason to make them is that you control what goes in them. No modified maize starch, no emulsifiers, no flavourings listed without explanation. Just flour, cocoa, egg, milk and oil.

Homemade vs shop-bought: the actual numbers

These are the current prices for supermarket chocolate muffins checked in March 2026, compared against this homemade recipe:

Option	Pack Size	Total Price	Per Muffin
Tesco Chocolate Chip Muffins	4 pack	~£1.69	42p
Asda Bakery Triple Choc Muffins	4 pack	~£1.69	42p
Co-op Triple Chocolate Muffins	4 pack	~£2.15	54p
This recipe (homemade)	6 muffins	£1.48	24p ✅

💡 Price note: Supermarket prices checked at Tesco.com and Trolley.co.uk in March 2026. Homemade cost calculated using Aldi UK own-brand ingredient prices, March 2026. Prices vary by region and store — check your local supermarket for current prices.

Full cost breakdown by ingredient

All prices are Aldi UK own-brand, checked March 2026. I buy the full-size packs and use what the recipe needs — the "cost used" column shows exactly what this recipe spends:

Ingredient	Amount Used	Pack Price	Cost Used
Plain flour (Aldi own-brand)	200g	55p / 1.5kg	7p
Caster sugar	80g	89p / 1kg	7p
Cocoa powder	40g	£1.19 / 200g	24p
Baking powder	2 tsp	45p / 170g	3p
Bicarbonate of soda	½ tsp	45p / 200g	1p
Chocolate chips	30g	£1.10 / 100g	33p
Vegetable oil	70ml	£1.09 / 1L	8p
Whole milk	130ml	£1.09 / 2L	7p
Vanilla extract	1 tsp	89p / 38ml	6p
Egg (medium)	1 egg	£1.39 / 10 pack	14p
Total for 6 muffins			£1.48

💡 Price note: All costs verified at Aldi UK, March 2026. Cocoa powder is the most expensive single ingredient — if you buy a larger 400g tin it drops to around 18p for this quantity. Prices vary by region and store.

Ingredients

Makes 6 muffins

Dry ingredients:
200g plain flour
80g caster sugar
40g cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

Wet ingredients:
130ml whole milk
70ml vegetable oil
1 medium egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Add-in:
30g chocolate chips (mix some in, scatter rest on top)

On the cocoa powder: I use Aldi's own-brand cocoa at £1.19 for 200g. It works well here — the flavour is rich and the colour is a deep dark brown once baked. If you have a cheaper source, use it; the quality difference between budget and premium cocoa in a muffin is genuinely hard to detect once it's combined with chocolate chips.

Method — step by step

Preheat your oven to 210°C (190°C fan). You want it fully up to temperature before these go in — this is more important than it sounds.

Step 1: Mix the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, combine the milk, egg, sugar, vegetable oil and vanilla extract. Whisk everything together until it looks smooth and slightly creamy. This takes about a minute. I add the oil before the vanilla — the oil coats the bowl slightly and stops the vanilla sticking to the base when you pour it in.

Step 2: Prepare your muffin cases. I don't use bought paper cases — I cut 6 squares of greaseproof paper, roughly 16cm x 16cm each. Press each square into a muffin tin hole using the base of a glass to push it in and fold the sides up. The batter holds them in place once it's added, and they actually look nicer than standard cases once baked.

Step 3: Sift the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, sift together the plain flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and bicarb. Give it a quick stir. Sifting matters for the cocoa — it goes lumpy in the bag and those lumps don't break down easily once you add liquid. Any lumps that won't push through the sieve, just crush them against the mesh with the back of a spoon.

Step 4: Combine wet and dry. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients bowl. Stir until just combined — stop as soon as there's no dry flour visible. This is the point where most first batches go wrong: overmixing develops the gluten in the flour and produces tough, dense muffins instead of a soft crumb. A few small lumps in the batter are completely fine.

Fold in most of the chocolate chips now, keeping about a third aside for the tops.

Step 5: Fill the cases. An ice cream scoop is genuinely the best tool for this — one scoop per case, then distribute whatever remains equally. If you don't have a scoop, a large serving spoon works. Scatter the reserved chocolate chips over the tops of each one.

Step 6: Bake using the two-temperature method. Bake at 210°C for exactly 5 minutes. Then, without opening the oven door, reduce the temperature to 170°C (150°C fan) and bake for a further 12–15 minutes. Test with a skewer — it should come out clean from the centre of a muffin. If it comes out with batter on it, give them another 3 minutes and test again.

Leave to cool for at least 10 minutes before eating. They're genuinely better at room temperature than piping hot — the flavour deepens as they cool.

What if it goes wrong?

🛟 What If It Goes Wrong?

Flat muffins with no dome: Your oven wasn't hot enough at the start, or you opened the door during the first five minutes. The initial blast of heat is what forces the rise — if the temperature drops before the structure sets, the muffin won't dome. Make sure the oven is fully preheated before the tray goes in.

Dense, rubbery texture: The batter was overmixed. Once liquid meets flour, gluten starts developing — the more you stir, the tougher the muffin. Next time, stop mixing the moment no dry flour is visible. Lumpy batter bakes out fine.

Muffins sticking to the greaseproof cases: The cases weren't pressed tightly enough into the tin, so they moved during baking. Make sure you use the glass to push them right down and fold the sides up neatly — the tin walls need to support the paper or the batter leaks under.

Common mistakes to avoid

⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid

❌ Skipping the sieve on the cocoa powder

Cocoa powder clumps in the tin and those clumps don't dissolve once liquid is added — you end up with dry pockets of powder in the finished muffin. A 30-second sieve is the simplest step in the recipe and the one most people skip.

❌ Filling the cases more than two-thirds full

Muffin batter rises significantly, especially with the two-temperature method. Overfilled cases spill over the sides and lose the dome shape entirely. Two-thirds full is the maximum — one ice cream scoop per case is usually exactly right for this recipe.

❌ Not checking the skewer in the right place

Test from the centre of the tallest muffin, not the edge — edges always cook faster. If the skewer passes through a melted chocolate chip it will look wet even when the muffin is done. Test two or three spots in the centre before deciding they need more time.

Is this worth making from scratch?

⚖️ Is This Worth Making From Scratch?

✅ YES — if:

You regularly buy supermarket muffins and want to reduce that spend. You have 30 minutes and basic baking ingredients already in the cupboard. You want to know exactly what's in them — no emulsifiers or modified starches. You're batch baking for the week and want six for the freezer.

❌ SKIP IT — if:

You need muffins in the next 20 minutes — this recipe genuinely needs a full 30 minutes and proper oven time. You don't have cocoa powder in the house and would need to buy it just for this recipe — at £1.19 for a tin you'd use a fifth of it, which narrows the saving considerably on a first batch.

Storage and freezing

These muffins keep well at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days. The texture on day two is actually very similar to day one — the oil in the recipe keeps the crumb moist longer than butter-based versions would.

For freezing: cool completely, then wrap each muffin individually in cling film and place them in a freezer bag. They keep for up to 3 months. To defrost, leave at room temperature for about 2 hours — or give them 20 seconds in the microwave if you're in a hurry. I usually freeze four and keep two for the same day; it means I always have something decent in the freezer for a quick breakfast.

⚠️ Allergen & Food Safety Info

Contains: Gluten (wheat flour), Egg, Milk. May also contain traces of nuts depending on your chocolate chips — check the packaging. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 3 months. Do not refreeze once defrosted.
For UK allergen guidance, visit food.gov.uk.

👨‍🍳

Written by Vinod Pandey

Vinod is the founder of Baking on Budget, a UK-based food blog dedicated to proving that delicious home cooking doesn't have to cost a fortune. He personally tests every recipe in his home kitchen before publishing — prices verified at UK supermarkets.

About Vinod  |  All Recipes

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make these without chocolate chips?

Yes — and you save 33p per batch by doing so. The cocoa powder gives enough chocolate flavour that the chips are more of a texture addition than a flavour one. Alternatively, chop up a small piece of a standard chocolate bar — a 35g bar from Aldi costs around 25p and works just as well.

Can I use self-raising flour instead of plain flour?

Not directly — self-raising flour already contains baking powder, so combining it with the additional baking powder and bicarb in this recipe would cause the muffins to rise too quickly and collapse. If self-raising is all you have, omit the baking powder from the recipe and just use the half teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda.

Why does the oven temperature change during baking?

The initial five minutes at 210°C creates a rapid burst of heat that pushes the batter upward before the crust sets — this is what produces the domed top. If you bake at a lower temperature throughout, the crust sets too slowly and the muffin rises sideways rather than up. Dropping to 170°C for the rest of the bake allows the centre to cook through without burning the top.

Can I double the recipe to make 12 muffins?

Yes — just double all the ingredient quantities. Baking time stays the same: 5 minutes at 210°C, then 12–15 minutes at 170°C. The total cost for 12 would be approximately £2.96, working out at just under 25p each. A good batch to freeze half of.

Can I swap the milk for a plant-based alternative?

Oat milk or soya milk both work as a direct substitute in the same quantity. The texture may be very slightly different — oat milk tends to produce a marginally denser crumb — but the difference is minor. Aldi's own-brand oat milk is around 69p per litre, so the cost per batch barely changes.

How long do these keep, and is it worth freezing them?

Three days at room temperature in an airtight container, up to 3 months in the freezer. Freezing is absolutely worth it — these defrost well and the texture holds up better than most baked goods. I usually freeze four and keep two for the day they're made. Defrost at room temperature for 2 hours or 20 seconds in the microwave.

Six muffins for £1.48. The cocoa powder is the one ingredient where you have the most room to save further — a larger tin drops the cost per batch by around 6p, and if you bake muffins regularly that adds up quickly.

One thing I've been thinking about since making these: the greaseproof paper case trick works surprisingly well, but I've never tested whether parchment paper produces a different result to greaseproof. The texture at the base might be slightly different given how the two papers handle moisture. If you've tried both and noticed a difference, I'd genuinely like to know.

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