Pumpkin Bread with Chocolate Chips - Moist, Spiced, and Scrumptious

This bread is delicious. It's moist and spiced and studded with decadent little chocolate chips that make short days and long nights easier to bear. 

Although this is technically a pumpkin bread, you can use other winter squash in place of the pumpkin. I used a butternut squash that I cut in half, de-seeded and roasted in a pan, cut-side down in about a quarter inch of water for about an hour at 350 degrees, then let it cool, scooped out the flesh and mashed it. I appreciated that it's both a bit easier to deal with than a pumpkin (they're also not typically for sale in my neck of the woods after October) and also because it has sweeter flesh.

This recipe is lightly adapted from the one by Sally's Baking Addiction. I admit to being a bit skeptical about the inclusion of orange juice but decided to follow Sally's instructions and was glad I did as it makes the flavor richer and the bread moister. 

The chocolate chips are optional, of course. You could also either add or substitute a half cup of chopped walnuts to your loaf if you like. Enjoy!

-- print recipe --

Pumpkin Bread with Chocolate Chips

Lightly adapted from the great recipe in Sally's Baking Addiction - makes one loaf

Ingredients

Dry ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsps ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 3/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 1 tsp baking soda

Wet ingredients

• 2 large organic, pasture-raised eggs, ideally at room temperature but don't sweat it if you forget to take them out to warm up
• 1/4 cup cane sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups pureed pumpkin or butternut squash
• 1/2 cup neutral oil like canola oil or you can use melted coconut oil
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/2 tsp orange zest
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips or chunks of your choice

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and generously grease a 9"x5" loaf pan (I favor glass - do NOT use nonstick, they're coated with toxic chemicals) with butter and set aside.
2. Combine your dry ingredients in a large bowl, whisking the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and salt until combined then set aside.
3. Prepare your wet ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and the white and brown sugars together until combined then whisk in the pureed squash, oil, orange juice and zest.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently mix together using a large wooden spoon or a spatula until mostly consistent then fold in the (optional) chocolate chips, if you're using them.
5. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake on a lower rack for an hour to an hour and 5 minutes. If the top starts to get too brown, you can loosely cover it with aluminum foil.
6. After an hour, test for doneness by inserting a clean, dry skewer, toothpick or knife into the top of the loaf - it should come out clean with only a few small crumbs clinging to it. Continue cooking longer, if needed. Then allow the bread to cool in its pan on a wire rack before removing it and serving.

This bread store well at room temp for several days or well covered in the fridge for about a week. It also freezes well for months if you want to make a double batch and save one to enjoy later.

You might also like:

Spiced Butternut Squash Waffles

Winter Squash & Pear Soup with Sage

Maple Pecan Scones