Chocolate Pumpkin Bread

‘Tis the season to bust into the back of the pantry and discover all of your canned pumpkin hiding from last year… Oh, just me?

Okay but seriously, I did find 3+ cans of pumpkin in my pantry that were most definitely left over from the last holiday season.

With fall just around the corner, let’s kick things off with this healthy chocolate pumpkin bread recipe. It’s basically the best of both worlds. Pumpkin AND chocolate? Yes, please.

Pumpkin Bread Ingredients

For this Chocolate Pumpkin Bread we’re using some simple ingredients – most you might even have in your pantry ready to go. If you don’t already, make sure to get Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour for this recipe – it’s the perfect baking flour that can easily make this quick bread effortlessly gluten free.

Here’s a list of what you need:

• Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1:1 Baking Flour – Using this flour blend from Bob’s Red Mill is an easy way to keep this recipe gluten-free. It’s also great because if you don’t need to follow a gluten-free diet, you can swap it with whole wheat pastry flour.
• unsweetened cocoa powder – for chocolate bread, of course.
• pumpkin pie spice – I didn’t want to overpower the chocolate loaf with pumpkin spice flavor, so we’re just using 1/2 teaspoon. You can use my homemade mix, or store-bought. If you don’t want any spice, feel free to omit or sub in espresso powder for a more chocolate-y flavor.
• baking soda & baking powder – We’re using both leavening agents to get a good rise for this quick bread recipe.
• fine sea salt – adding salt to baked goods balances sweetness and enhances flavor. Make sure to use fine sea salt or kosher salt (versus table salt, which is much finer).
• maple syrup – using real maple syrup to naturally sweeten this pumpkin bread, without over-doing it. If you DO want a sweeter bread, add up to 1/2 cup granulated sugar in addition to the maple syrup.
• light olive oil – oil adds nice moisture to this recipe. Make sure to use a neutral oil like light olive or avocado oil.
• eggs – for structure and lift. I haven’t tested this recipe using flax eggs, so please be mindful of that substitution if you’re looking to change things.
• canned pumpkin purée – Use canned pumpkin, if possible, for this recipe. If using homemade pumpkin puree, you’re going to want to strain it through some cheese cloth to remove excess liquid. Also, make sure it’s not pumpkin pie mix.
• vanilla extract – to enhance the flavor of the chocolate.
• unsweetened non-dairy milk – I used cashew milk but you can also use almond milk, soy milk, coconut milk, or something similar. Just don’t use a protein based milk, as it tends to be thicker than the other non-dairy milks. If dairy isn’t a concern, feel free to use conventional milk.
• chocolate chips – I like to use mini chocolate chips in my quick bread recipes, for chocolate in every bite. You can also use regular morsels. And then chocolate chunks or dark chocolate chips on top is always a good idea.

Step-by-Step How to Make It

Here’s a brief overview of how to make this pumpkin chocolate bread. Keep scrolling for the full recipe card with ingredient amounts and full written directions, with an option to print below.

First make sure to gather all of your ingredients and preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a 9×5 loaf pan with parchment paper for easy cleanup. Now you’re ready to get started.

Mix dry ingredients

In medium bowl combine the flour, cocoa powder, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking power and salt. Whisk this well and make sure no clumps of flour or cocoa powder remain.

Mix Wet Ingredients

In a large mixing bowl whisk together the oil, maple syrup and eggs. Then whisk in pumpkin and vanilla until smooth.

Combine

Begin adding in half of the flour mixture to the large bowl of wet ingredients, give it a stir a few times then add in the rest of the flour mixture and gently stir in milk. Before you fully stir everything together, fold in the mini chocolate chips.

Bake

Now it’s time to bake! Transfer the batter to your prepared loaf pan and bake uncovered for 25 minutes. Then you’re going to want to tent the loaf with aluminum foil to prevent the top from browning too much. Bake the loaf covered for another 20-25 minutes. My bread took 50 minutes.

Storing

This chocolate pumpkin bread is fairly moist, so it will keep wrapped tightly in plastic wrap or in an airtight container on the kitchen counter for up to 3 days. If you think you will enjoy it for longer, store it in the fridge for up to 5 days.

To freeze, cool completely (you can slice or keep whole), wrap tightly in parchment paper, then transfer to a freezer plastic storage bag, seal tight, label and date, then you can freeze it for up to 3 months.

STORAGE TIP: I like to slice the bread before freezing and wrap each slice individually, then store in the plastic storage bag as noted above. This way, I can defrost individual slices by letting them defrost to room temperature or warming them through in the microwave or toaster oven.