Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Unfortunately the bread didn’t turn out as well as I would have liked back in 2012. It could have been my random addition of buttermilk. I don’t know. Here’s what else I said about this bread:

I’m sorry but I just have to say this. Every single dessert bread recipe that I’ve ever tried is wrong. Blatantly wrong. It takes longer than 55 to 65 minutes to bake two loaves of bread. One? Maybe. Two? Most definitely not. Plan on 65 minutes minimum, but in reality more like 75 or 85 minutes. I continuously have to tack “just five more minutes” onto the baking of these kinds of breads and eventually seem to lose count.

Instead of using water, as suggested, I used buttermilk. I don’t understand why you would use water in place of milk in most recipes so I usually substitute. Also, I added the chocolate chips as the original Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook does not include chocolate chips.

My last trick that I’m going to impart on you is this: you don’t need an electric mixer. I used a huge bowl (not even two bowls just dumped all the ingredients in), a wooden spoon and a little bit of elbow grease and you’re good to go. No need to make extra dishes if you don’t have to!

My coworker, Matthew, who won top honors over the weekend in a local barbecue competition, recommended the following method for adding chocolate chips (or berries) to breads:  Layer the batter with the extra ingredients so everything doesn’t sink to the bottom.

I did just that. I took the time to pour the batter artfully into the pans, then sprinkle with chocolate chips, then repeat about four times. To no avail. The chocolate chips still sank almost all the way to the bottom. My recommendation? Use mini-chocolate chips or teensy-tiny berries.

Despite all the additional five-minute increments I had to talk on when baking this bread, it turned out perfectly moist and the perfect combination of spices, according to Matthew.

In 2021, I decided to update the recipe since I was a bit displeased with the results from the recipe I had used in 2012. So I turned to the internet for inspiration and, I’m not joking you, combed through recipes until I came to Sally’s Baking Addiction recipe for Pumpkin Bread. My recipe is adapted from hers for several reasons: 1) I don’t like all that spice in pumpkin anything so I cut down on the spice. If you like spice, bump it up a bit. 2) I didn’t have any oil so decided to sub with melted butter – that option is always a winner, in my mind 3) Apparently I wasn’t paying attention to the sugar amounts and, because of that, I also had to adjust the baking soda amount. With all the adjustments I made, and checking the bread every 5 minutes until it was finally cooked through, it ended up being one of the best quick breads I ever made.

I recommend using fresh pumpkin puree instead of anything canned because canned pumpkin is gross, IMO. I mean look at the difference in color between canned pumpkin and fresh pumpkin puree. If that’s not enough to get you to start using fresh pumpkin puree, I don’t know what is.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees; arrange the racks to be on the lower third of the oven. This will insure the top doesn’t get too dark too fast. Grease the bottom and sides of a loaf pan; set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl whisk eggs and melted butter together. Add pumpkin, milk and vanilla and whisk to combine. Add sugars and stir to incorporate. 
3. In a smaller bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Add flour mixture to wet mixture and stir to combine. Fold in chocolate chips. Spoon batter into prepared pan.
4. Bake for 55 to 75 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with a few moist pieces attached. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely on wire racks. 

Recipe rating: 