Chocolate Pumpkin Bread
Submitted by Dayana Sarkisova on Nov 06, 2019

An unabashedly chocolatey pumpkin bread is your next baking project

Servings:
10

Complexity:   
Medium

Total Time:
1 hour 45 mins

Ingredients:
2/3 cup (120 milliliters) vegetable oil, plus more for greasing the pan
1 1/2 cups (270 grams) semisweet or dark chocolate chips
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (85 grams) lightly packed light brown sugar, or more as needed
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (220 grams) pumpkin puree
Generous 1 3/4 cups (225 grams) flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, or more as needed
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions:
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees with the rack in the middle. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with
vegetable oil.
Chop about 1/3 of the chocolate chips into small bits, then return them to the remaining chocolate.
Step 2
With a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a flat beater attachment, combine the granulated
and brown sugars, eggs and vanilla. Mix on low speed until smooth, about 1 minute.
Add the pumpkin puree and 2/3 cup of oil and mix on low until thoroughly combined, about 1
minute.
Step 3
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt, ginger,
allspice and cloves until combined.
Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix on medium-low speed until just
incorporated and no bits of flour mixture remain. Fold in the chocolate chips.
Step 4
Pour the batter into the loaf pan and smooth out the top. Sprinkle extra brown sugar and cinnamon
on top, if desired.
Bake for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until the top of the bread is firm to the touch and springs
back when lightly pressed with your finger, and a cake tester or wooden pick produces only
chocolate when inserted into the bread.
Step 5
/
Transfer the loaf pan to a wire rack and let cool completely. To unmold, run a knife around the
perimeter of the loaf pan and invert the pan. Slice the bread and serve at room temperature.

Cook's Notes:
Fall is my favorite season, and the moment temperatures begin to drop, I find myself craving the
pumpkin flavor and aroma that define autumn. It seems pumpkin is everywhere you turn this time
of year — on every porch, in every latte. That popularity extends to baked goods, too, with plenty of
recipes spotlighting everyone’s favorite gourd.
So it came as a surprise to me that when I set out to find my perfect pumpkin bread formula as a
college student, I was unable to track down a version that had everything I desired.
I was looking for a bread with prominent pumpkin flavor in every bite, a blend of fragrant spices to
fill my home, and a dense and chewy interior with a crackly crust — one accomplished in this recipe
with bites of caramelized sugar and cinnamon that make for a satisfying crunch. I wanted the
recipe to be simple enough for my sad college kitchen with minimal counter space and baking
tools.
And, finally, I wanted chocolate. Lots of it.
After scrolling through dozens of recipes to no avail, I set out to create this elusive treat myself. My
roommates, always eager to eat pumpkin and chocolate, were willing participants as I worked
through dozens of iterations until I landed on the equation that follows. It has been a staple of my
chilly-weather baking ever since.
Though I graduated from college years ago and left that dilapidated kitchen firmly in the past, I still
prefer my baking projects to be relaxed and require minimal cleanup. That’s why this recipe
requires only two bowls. While I now use a stand mixer to make this bread, it can also be made
with a hand mixer or simply mixed by hand.
If you think chopping a portion of the chocolate feels like an unnecessary extra step, trust me when
I say it’s worth it. The finer pieces, speckled throughout the batter, melt into the bread, while the
bigger chips retain their shape to provide texture and an addictive chocolatey bite.
But perhaps my favorite thing about this bread, as with other quick breads, is that the spice
measurements are so customizable.
Not a fan of cloves? Leave them out. Want to add some nutmeg? Feel free. Love cinnamon? Go
crazy! And while you’re at it, sprinkle some more over top before popping the bread into the oven
— then sit back and enjoy the pumpkin-spice bliss.