Pumpkin bread with chocolate

I have a beef about pumpkin breads that aren’t very pumpkiny. We live for a pumpkin chocolate chip loaf – super moist, with rich pumpkin flavor and generously studded with chocolate – from a little bakery in Ohio, Beehive Bread. We make this in California when we can’t get our Beehive fix.

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 cup neutral-flavored cooking oil or melted butter
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup plain yogurt (regular or Greek)
• 1 1/2 cup pumpkin puree (almost all of a 15 ounce can)
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips (1/2 cup for batter; 1/4 cup for sprinkling on top)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 9-inch loaf pan (or 8″x8″ baking dish, see note below). If you want to be able to remove the whole loaf from the pan, dust the pan with flour and tap out any excess, or line the bottom with a piece of parchment paper.
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and spices.
3. In a separate bowl, combine oil, yogurt and eggs and mix well. Make a well in the center of dry ingredients and stir in the wet ingredients and pumpkin puree. Stir until just mixed and pour into prepared loaf pan.
4. Bake 60-70 minutes, until the loaf is no longer jiggly and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool before removing from pan (and run a knife along the sides first to loosen).

Notes

• Instead of a loaf pan, I’ve starting making this (as well as banana bread) in a baking dish (an 8-inch square or 11″x7″, 2-quart Pyrex). It cooks faster (about 45-50 minutes), and it’s easier to cut in snackable squares.
• Non-chocolate alternatives: Add raisins and/or toasted nuts instead of chocolate chips, or leave plain. Top with 1 tablespoon sugar mixed with 1 teaspoon cinnamon.
• Yogurt substitutions: milk or orange juice, or cognac/bourbon/whiskey.
• Don’t worry if you don’t have all the spices. Cinnamon is the main one; the others you can do without. Or just use a pumpkin pie spice blend if you have it.
• Bread will keep for about a week, well-wrapped, at room temperature. It freezes very well also.

Here’s a link back to the post and pictures.