Chocolate Pumpkin Bread

This pumpkin chocolate bread is fantastically full of Fall flavors, super moist, and delicious!

As we move along to the colder days and evenings of October, my kitchen is taken over by a storm of pumpkin recipes- this bread being one of them.

From our family favorite cream cheese filled pumpkin muffins to baked pumpkin oatmeal for breakfast, we fill our tummies with lots of pumpkin. We also roast a bunch of whole pumpkins at the beginning of the season and turn them into puree to use in our favorite recipes!

And since sweet snacks and desserts taste better with a little chocolate, we're mixing real pumpkin with chocolate chips. You pick- white or milk chocolate!

And while I make this most times in a loaf pan, it can be made festive by baking in Fall-themed cakelet pans or an Autumn Harvest loaf pan.

If you're a chocolate lover, you might also enjoy these recipes:

• Chocolate Orange Hazelnut Fruit Pizza with Almond Crisp
• Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
• Chocolate Banana Bread Bites

Ingredients and Substitutions

To make chocolate pumpkin bread you need:

• Pumpkin puree: canned or homemade- there is a lot of it in this recipe!
• Fall spices: a mix of nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves compliment pumpkin flavor perfectly.
• Chocolate chips: milk, white, or semisweet chocolate chips all work beautifully.
• Coconut oil: adds moisture and a bit of flavor.
• Almonds: use chopped or slivered, or omit to keep it allergy-friendly.

Plus baking classics: egg, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and baking powder.

While pumpkin is not very flavorful on its own, it is highly nutritious and deletable when combined with the classic Fall seasonings and chocolate, of course! Combined with nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, and ginger, the pumpkin flavor exponentially increases.

Ingredient Substitutions

• Sweeteners: in place of the light brown sugar, use dark brown sugar or coconut sugar.
• Spices: use a store bought pumpkin spice mix instead of separate spices. Don't worry if you're missing one of the four- you can simply substitute it with one of the others. A dash of allspice tastes great too!
• Moisteners: butter, apple sauce, mashed banana or another flavor oil can be used instead of coconut oil, in the same amount.
• Almonds: substitute with pecans or walnuts.

You'll also need a 9x5 inch loaf pan, a good whisk if mixing the batter by hand or an electric hand or stand mixer. I use KitchenAid appliances and am pleased with their durability and longevity.

You can also use the quick bread cycle on your bread machine- it'll do all the mixing and baking for you! Check out my bread machine pumpkin bread to see how to make it in the bread machine.

First, preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan with butter and dust with a small amount of flour.

In a small bowl, combine the all purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and cinnamon. Mix until the dry ingredients are combined.

In a separate large bowl, beat the olive oil and sugar on medium speed (or with a whisk) for 1 minute. Add the eggs and beat for 1 minute more. Now add the pumpkin puree and beat until the mixture is smooth, about 1 minute more.

Pour the small bowl of dry ingredients into the large bowl of liquid ingredients and beat until thick, creamy, and combined well. This takes about 2 minutes.

Coat the almonds in a small amount of flour. Gently fold the almonds and chocolate chips into the batter using a spatula.

*Coating the almonds in flour helps to keep the finished bread in tact where there are larger almond pieces, rather than falling apart when sliced.

Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake in the preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. You can add a small amount of chocolate chips and/or almonds to the top after about 10 minutes of baking.

Let the pumpkin bread rest in the pan for 15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Before slicing, let it rest for about 30 minutes more. Bread slices much better when it's completely cooled.

If not serving immediately, wrap in plastic or keep in an airtight container (see more about storing bread below).

*If you're using a Fall-themed cake pan, be sure to let the bread rest until it's completely cooled before removing it from the pans. The bread will be fragile!

Enjoy!

I hope you enjoy this recipe!

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