Melty chocolate chips and spicy pumpkin flavor all wrapped up into one delicious loaf, this Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread is the perfect fall treat for any pumpkin lover.
How does the holiday season sneak up on me every year? All too often, they come on fast and then, in the blink of an eye, they are gone.
After pumpkin season, I always think of the recipes I didn’t make or the new ones I didn’t get a chance to try in all the hubbub.
This year I am home alone the week before Thanksgiving, but I’m actually looking forward to taking advantage of that time in the kitchen. Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread is one of those recipes that is at the top of my baking list.
While it is super quiet this week, next week will be absolute madness between friends and family coming and going. I like to stock the kitchen with readily snackable recipes.
Homemade Pumpkin Bread Recipe
This quick bread recipe is just the thing to serve guests for breakfast, as an afternoon snack, or for dessert. Heck, it might even be a midnight snack.
Pumpkin chocolate chip bread is based on my banana walnut bread, which is one of my most popular recipes. Think of it as a banana bread for sweater weather. Sweet, moist, and a hint of the season.
The only things you may need to buy at the store are pumpkin puree and chocolate chips. You will most likely have the rest of the ingredients in your pantry and the fridge already.
Pumpkin is a fantastic ingredient for bread much like bananas. Both offer up a huge amount of moisture, both give a great amount of flavor, and each has enough sugar to sweeten things up without making them too saccharin.
Leftover Pumpkin Puree
This recipe is ideal for when you have just a little pumpkin puree leftover from your pumpkin cheesecake or pumpkin sugar cookies. Spread the pumpkin wealth around!
Only one cup is needed to give this loaf a beautiful orange hue. If you are feeling really ambitious, you could use homemade pumpkin puree as well.
Ingredients
- Sugar – You can’t make a classic pumpkin bread without sugar! This is what makes it deliciously sweet.
- Shortening – Rather than use vegetable oil, I like using shortening. It helps to create a tender end product.
- Eggs – Always assume that a recipe calls for large eggs. And it’s always best to bake with eggs that are at room temperature.
- Pumpkin puree – Make sure you are using canned pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling. Your bread will be way to sweet and the consistency will be all wrong if you use the latter.
- Flour – All purpose flour works great for this recipe. Whole wheat flour makes the texture turn out to be a little too grainy.
- Baking powder – This acts as a leavening agent, as well as provides the perfect rise and fluffiness to this moist pumpkin bread recipe.
- Salt – We just need a touch of salt here to really bring out the flavors. I like to use fine sea salt.
- Baking soda – This releases gas in the form of bubbles when baked. This provides the light and airy texture we love in a slice of pumpkin bread.
- Chocolate chips – The measurements are given in the full list of ingredients in the printable recipe card, but I say measure these with your heart.
How to Make Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread Recipe
- Prepare oven and pan. Preheat oven and lightly coat a 9-inch bread pan with cooking spray and line bottom with parchment paper for easy removal.
- Wet ingredients. In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream shortening and sugar, then add eggs and pumpkin puree. Blend on low until just mixed, over blending or beating will result in tough bread, so keep it slow and just until it comes together.
- Dry ingredients. In a separate bowl sift together flour, baking powder and baking soda. Gradually add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture until combined.
- Chocolate chips. By hand, fold in chocolate morsels with a spatula.
- Bake. Transfer batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake until top is lightly brown and it passes the toothpick test. If the top starts to brown too fast, loosely cover with a leaf of aluminum foil.
- Cool. Let bread cool on a wire rack and then remove from pan by gently turning upside down.
Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread Variations
The fall flavors of this bread are great as is, but there are plenty of ways you can spruce it up to your liking.
- Extra chocolate chips – As I’ve seen stated many times, measure those babies with your heart. Add as many or as little as your heart desires.
- Cream cheese frosting – This pumpkin chocolate chip bread recipe is already fairly sweet, but feel free to add a slathering of frosting on top.
- Pumpkin muffins – Want to make individual servings? Add the batter to a muffin tin rather than a loaf pan.
- White chocolate chips – White chocolate and pumpkin is another one of my favorite combos, so feel free to make the switch. You can also use dark chocolate chips if you’d like.
- Mini loaves – Just like the muffins, you can bake this batter into a mini 5-inch loaf pan as well. Just adjust the baking time accordingly.
- Vanilla extract – Add a little bit of vanilla to the batter for another dimension of flavor to your pumpkin chocolate chip loaf.
- Nuts – Chopped walnuts or pecans would give a nice crunch when mixed into the batter.
Storage and Freezing
Storage: Nearly all breads are best within the first one to two days of baking, but if you keep this chocolate chip pumpkin bread tightly wrapped at room temperature or in an airtight container, it will stay moist for up to five days.
Freezing: To freeze, wrap the loaf tightly in plastic wrap. Then add to a plastic freezer bag and freeze for up to two months.
Reheating: When you are ready to enjoy the Pumpkin Bread, take it out of the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature for an hour or two on the counter. Slice and serve!
More Easy Pumpkin Recipes
- Pumpkin Butter
- Homemade Pumpkin Puree
- Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice
- How to Fix Cracks in Pumpkin Pie
- Pumpkin Brownies
- Pumpkin Cheesecake
Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread
Equipment
- Heat Resistant Rubber Spatula
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup shortening
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- Cooking Spray
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream shortening and sugar, then add eggs and pumpkin puree. Blend on low until just mixed, over blending or beating will result in tough bread, so keep it slow and just until it comes together.
- In a separate bowl sift together flour, baking powder and baking soda. Gradually add to wet mixture until combined.
- By hand, fold in chocolate morsels with a spatula.
- Lightly coat a 9-inch bread pan with cooking spray and line bottom with parchment paper for easy removal. Transfer batter into bread pan.
- Bake for 50 minutes or until top is lightly brown and it passes the toothpick test. If the top starts to brown too fast, loosely cover with a leaf of aluminum foil.
- Cool for 15-20 minutes and then remove from pan by gently turning upside down.
- East immediately or wrap well and freeze.
The color of this bread is incredible! Perfect way to enjoy the quiet before the storm.
Way to make great use of your time alone and Bake up a storm! This bread is perfect!
Chocolate and Pumpkin and so great together!
Ohhhhhhhh, it looks so good! So moist and delish. It would be perfect to make this weekend and then enjoy throughout the entire next week!
Chocolate and pumpkin sounds amazing!!!
Pumpkin bread is so yummy – love the addition of choc chips!