Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Spiced pumpkin bread? Yes, please, and make mine chocolate. The mix of warming spices in Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread will fill your kitchen with a heady aroma of deliciousness.

Even better: it’s quick.

Quick Breads

Quick breads are just that. Most can be put together in 10 or 15 minutes and immediately baked. From mixing bowl to mouth, they take less than two hours.

Both quick and yeast breads use leavening agents to lighten the dough and cause it to rise. The most common types of leavening agents include:

• Biological: beer, sourdough starter, yeast
• Chemical: baking powder, baking soda
• Mechanical: whipped cream, whipped eggs, other whipped fats

What makes quick breads so quick? They include baking powder, baking soda, or both as leavening. Because they are fast and easy to make, they don’t require special skills or patience.

Quick breads include things like banana (pumpkin, zucchini) breads, biscuits, cakes, cookies, muffins, pancakes, and pie crust. All are delicious and adaptable to whatever flavoring and spices you want to include.

Like cayenne.

Cayenne

Cayenne peppers are skinny, red, and hot. They are spicier than jalapenos but not as hot as habaneros on the Scoville scale of heat. Most often they are dried and ground as a spice for savory dishes and hot sauces.

What about combining chili with chocolate? Both come from plants native to Central and South America. Many indigenous and Latin recipes feature a mixture of the two, like Mexico’s mole.

So what are they doing in this sweet bread? The citrusy, floral, fruity, earthy, and nutty notes of chocolate can be enhanced and brought to life by a smidge of pepper. Ground chili peppers don’t bring heat but add depth to whatever chocolate brownie, cake, or cookie you are making.

A secret: a little goes a long way. Most recipes only add ¼ teaspoon of ground pepper. The goal is complexity, not capsaicin burn.

Lessons Learned

• Any good quality dark chocolate chips can be used here. I used Lily’s Dark Chocolate Baking Chips that are stevia sweetened because that is what I keep on hand.
• Be sure to test the center of the bread for doneness with a toothpick or tester before pulling it from the oven. The dough is a soft one so underbaking will leave you with a soggy middle.
• This is moist and delicious enough without the glaze, so you can skip it if necessary. I wouldn’t, but you are an adult so you can do what you want.

Hat Tips

Many thanks to Bon Appetit for their spiced chocolate-pumpkin cake recipe, Elle Hughes on Unsplash for the pepper photo, and Serious Eats for their comprehensive article about pairing chiles with chocolate.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

• Author: Betty
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 60 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
• Yield: 10 slices 1x

Print Recipe

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

Bread:

• 2 large eggs
• ¾ cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup unsweetened pumpkin puree
• ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ cup buttermilk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp ground cayenne
• ½ cup dark chocolate chips

Glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• ¼ tsp cinnamon
• Pinch of cayenne
• 1 Tbsp unsweetened pumpkin puree
• 1 Tbsp milk

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F/176 C. Line a 9x5 inch loaf pan with parchment paper. 
2. Combine the eggs and brown sugar, whisking for about 1 minute. Add the pumpkin, oil, buttermilk, and vanilla. Whisk until thoroughly combined.
3. Place a large mesh strainer above the bowl. Dump the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt, and cayenne into the strainer and shake the contents. They will sift together as they drop into the egg mixture below. 
4. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet with a silicone spatula until fully combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
5. Pour the soft dough into the prepared loaf pan. Use the spatula to smooth the top. 
6. Bake for around 1 hour (start testing at 55 minutes to see if a toothpick comes out clean). Allow it to cool for 15 minutes on a wire rack before removing it from the pan. Use the parchment overhang to lift it out. Let cool completely before applying glaze.
7. To make the glaze, combine the powdered sugar, cinnamon, and cayenne in a small bowl. Add the pumpkin and milk, then whisk to combine. It should be thick but pourable.
8. Once the bread is cooled, pour the glaze over the top and allow it to run down the sides. Give the glaze 20 minutes or so to set before slicing.   

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Keywords: chocolate chip pumpkin bread