Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chip Bread
This here pumpkin spice bread is a staple in my family’s diet.
Along with being exceptionally tasty, this breakfast cake is vitamin-rich thanks to chocolate chips and pureed pumpkin. Of course you don’t have to add chocolate chips. You can add walnuts or pecans instead. I hear they're nutritious too. Also: my version errs on the side of spice, so if you want to make it just like I do, heap the teaspoons of spices you like. If you want the pumpkin flavor to shine through more, be more chaste in your spice usage.
This recipe makes two, count ‘em, two loaves. This is good because 1. You won’t be left with half a can of pumpkin in the back of the fridge that you will find in 6 weeks; 2. The loaf freezes well— and as opposed to the shock of moldy old pumpkin you might find if you didn’t make two loaves, you will be happy to discover this tucked away in your freezer.
My daughter thinks it’s important you know this bread toasts really well. And that salty butter on top makes it even better.
a note on flour: I use a blend of whole wheat and white flour here. You can use all of one or the other, it will still turn out okay.
Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chip Bread
Makes 2 loaves!
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon nutmeg (I grind mine fresh. Aren’t I special?)
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
3 cups sugar (don’t freak out, this is makes two cakes)
1 cup vegetable oil
1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
Zest from one orange
2/3 cup water
6 to 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
How to:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 9 x 5-inch loaf pans with baking spray (or use butter and flour).
In a small bowl, whisk together the flours, salt, baking soda, baking powder and spices.
In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar and oil until it looks like wet sand. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking between each addition until the eggs are well-blended. After the four eggs are added, give the mixture a good whisking for about a minute or so. Marvel at your rippling biceps. (Or the promise of rippling biceps.)
Whisk in the pumpkin puree and orange zest.
Alternate folding in the flour blend with the water, starting and finishing with the flour. Fold in the chocolate chips. Don’t overmix.
Divide the batter evenly between the two loaf pans. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean and the cake springs back when touched.
Cool on a wire rack. Turn the cakes out of the pans after 10 minutes to continue cooling.
If you insist on eating this cake right away, remember that very warm cakes still often taste flour-y and the spice flavors have yet to bloom fully. This won’t diminish your enjoyment. It will just teach you the lesson that aging has its benefits. If you’re a cake.
