Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

There is a small window when pumpkin bread is at its best.

The loaf has cooled enough to hold together, but the chocolate inside is still soft. You cut a thick slice, pour the coffee, and decide that breakfast can wait another five minutes while you eat it standing at the counter.

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That is the kind of pumpkin chocolate chip bread we are making here.

It is moist without feeling wet, warmly spiced without overwhelming the pumpkin, and chocolatey enough to feel like a treat. White whole wheat flour and finely ground oats give the loaf a little more substance, but this is not one of those recipes that tries so hard to be wholesome that it forgets to taste good.

The recipe also uses one full 15-ounce can of pumpkin. No half-covered bowl of puree waiting to be forgotten in the refrigerator.

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If individual portions work better for school mornings or lunchboxes, our Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins are the better choice. This version is for thick slices, slower mornings, and the person who always returns to straighten the cut edge of the loaf.

🎃 Recipe at a Glance

Detail	What to Expect
🥄 Difficulty	Easy
🔪 Prep time	About 15 minutes
🔥 Bake time	55–65 minutes
⏱️ Total time	About 2 hours, including cooling
🍞 Yield	One 9 × 5-inch loaf, approximately 10 slices
🍫 Texture	Moist and tender with soft pockets of chocolate
💡 Best tip	Stop mixing as soon as the flour disappears
🏡 Best for	Fall breakfasts, brunch, snacks and casual desserts

💧 Why This Loaf Stays Moist

Pumpkin brings plenty of natural moisture to quick bread, which means we do not need an excessive amount of oil. It also means we need enough flour and baking time to give that moisture somewhere to go.

This recipe balances a full can of pumpkin with white whole wheat flour and oats that have been blended into a fine flour. The eggs provide structure, while maple syrup, brown sugar and oil keep the crumb tender.

Mini chocolate chips are helpful here. They spread more evenly through the batter than standard chips, giving us chocolate in nearly every slice without requiring an enormous amount.

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The result sits comfortably between breakfast bread and dessert. It is still a sweet loaf with chocolate in it—we are not pretending it is a salad—but the ingredient list is more balanced than many traditional pumpkin breads.

🛒 Ingredients You’ll Need

Dry Ingredients

• 1½ cups white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour
• ½ cup old-fashioned rolled oats, blended into a fine flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon fine salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves

Wet Ingredients

• 1 15-ounce can 100% pure pumpkin puree
• 2 large eggs, preferably at room temperature
• ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
• ⅓ cup packed light or dark brown sugar
• ⅓ cup mild olive oil, avocado oil or melted coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate and Optional Add-Ins

• ¾ cup semisweet or dark mini chocolate chips, divided
• ½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts, optional

🥫 A Quick Word About the Pumpkin

Use 100% pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling.

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The cans can look frustratingly similar on the grocery shelf. Pumpkin pie filling already contains sweetener and spices, so using it would make both the flavor and the texture of the loaf unpredictable.

Pumpkin butter is not a substitute either. It is more concentrated and already sweetened. Save it for spreading over a finished slice—or make a separate batch of our Healthy Pumpkin Butter.

👩‍🍳 How to Make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

Step 1 — Prepare the Oven and Pan

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat it to 350°F.

Lightly grease a 9 × 5-inch metal loaf pan. Line it with parchment paper, leaving enough overhang along the long sides to lift out the baked loaf.

💡 Super Tip: A smaller loaf pan creates a taller loaf and may require more baking time. If the pan looks uncomfortably full, hold back a little batter rather than risking an overflow.

Step 2 — Combine the Dry Ingredients

Blend the rolled oats until they resemble a fine flour.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the oat flour, white whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves.

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💡 Super Tip: Give this mixture a thorough whisk. Cloves and baking soda are both ingredients we want evenly distributed—not concentrated in one unfortunate bite.

Step 3 — Mix the Wet Ingredients

In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, eggs, maple syrup, brown sugar, oil and vanilla.

Continue whisking until the eggs disappear into the pumpkin and the mixture looks smooth.

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💡 Super Tip: If you are using coconut oil and it begins to form small solid pieces, your eggs or pumpkin were probably cold. Let the bowl sit at room temperature for a few minutes, then whisk again. Nothing has been ruined.

Step 4 — Bring the Batter Together

Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture.

Use a rubber spatula to fold the batter together, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl as you work.

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💡 Super Tip: Once the flour goes in, the batter only needs a few gentle turns. It may be tempting to keep stirring until it looks perfectly smooth, but a slightly untidy batter usually gives us a softer loaf.

Stop when only a few small flour streaks remain.

Step 5 — Add the Chocolate

Reserve approximately 2 tablespoons of chocolate chips for the top.

Fold the remaining chips into the batter, along with the pecans or walnuts if you are using them. Those final folds should take care of any remaining flour streaks.

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💡 Super Tip: The batter will be thick and spoonable rather than thin and pourable. That is exactly what we want.

If chocolate is the part that brings you to the kitchen, keep our Fudgy High-Protein Brownies nearby for another day.

Step 6 — Fill the Pan

Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan and spread it gently into the corners.

Smooth the top without pressing the batter down. Scatter the reserved chocolate chips over the surface.

💡 Super Tip: For a more defined center crack, run the tip of a knife in a shallow line lengthwise through the middle of the batter. The loaf will often split there naturally as it rises.

Step 7 — Bake

Bake for 55–65 minutes, beginning the doneness check at 50 minutes.

If the top is becoming darker than you would like, loosely cover it with aluminum foil. This gives the middle time to finish without allowing the chocolate or edges to burn.

Insert a toothpick near the center. It should come out with a few moist crumbs but no raw pumpkin batter.

💡 Super Tip: If the toothpick comes out covered in melted chocolate, you probably found a chocolate chip. Try another spot before deciding the loaf needs more time.

The top should feel set, and the center crack should no longer look wet. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the middle should register approximately 200–205°F.

Step 8 — Let the Loaf Cool

Let the bread rest in the pan for 15–20 minutes.

Lift it out using the parchment paper and place it on a wire rack. Give it at least another 45 minutes before slicing.

This is usually the most difficult part of the recipe because the kitchen smells wonderful and the chocolate is right there. But the loaf is still setting while it cools. Cutting it immediately can compress the center and make a properly baked loaf appear gummy.

💡 Super Tip: Slightly warm is lovely. Straight from the oven is too soon.

🛠 If Your Pumpkin Bread Does Not Look Quite Right

Quick breads are forgiving, but they can also hide what is happening in the middle. The dark pumpkin-colored surface may look finished before the center has fully baked.

If the top is browned but the middle is wet, cover the loaf loosely with foil and continue baking in five-minute increments.

If the finished bread feels unusually heavy or gummy, it may have been underbaked, sliced too soon or mixed too vigorously after the flour was added.

A naturally moist crumb is what we want. A shiny or paste-like line through the center means the loaf needed more time.

The long crack across the top is not a mistake. It happens as the outside sets and the center continues rising. That rustic split is part of the loaf’s personality.

🔄 Practical Substitutions

You can make a few adjustments without turning the recipe into a baking experiment.

All-purpose flour: Replace the white whole wheat flour and ground oats with 2 cups of all-purpose flour.

Less sugar: Reduce the brown sugar to ¼ cup. The bread will be noticeably less sweet, especially if you also reduce the chocolate.

Less oil: Replace 2 tablespoons of the oil with 2 tablespoons of plain Greek yogurt or unsweetened applesauce. Replacing all the oil will produce a tighter crumb.

Regular chocolate chips: They work, although they will not spread as evenly as mini chips. Toss them with a teaspoon of the measured flour before folding them into the batter.

Nuts: Add up to ½ cup of toasted pecans or walnuts. Their slight bitterness balances the sweet chocolate nicely.

Change one or two things at a time. When we replace the flour, sugar, fat and chocolate all at once, the finished loaf can lose the tenderness that made us want pumpkin bread in the first place.

For a more celebratory pumpkin dessert with frosting and walnuts, try our Spiced Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.

✨ Simple Ways to Change the Flavor

Replace half the chocolate with dried cranberries for a sweet-tart version.

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Add toasted pecans for crunch, or use cinnamon baking chips for a loaf that leans even further into fall. The cinnamon-chip combination also works beautifully in these Pumpkin Cinnamon Chip Oatmeal Bars.

For a chocolate-pumpkin loaf, replace ¼ cup of the flour with unsweetened cocoa powder.

You can also leave the chocolate out entirely. Add another tablespoon or two of brown sugar if you still want the bread to feel dessert-like.

🥗 Bringing It to the Table

Pumpkin chocolate chip bread does not need a glaze, frosting or complicated presentation. A thick slice and a cup of coffee will do nicely.

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For brunch, let the bread be the sweet part of the table and balance it with something savory, such as our Spinach and Bacon Egg Quiche.

Fresh fruit and plain Greek yogurt are enough to round out a quieter breakfast. For a larger family spread, Baked Blueberry Oatmeal gives everyone a fruit-forward option beside the chocolate and pumpkin.

When you want the same warm fall flavors in a smaller treat, these Air Fryer Pumpkin Spice Donut Holes are ready much sooner than a full loaf.

🧊 Storing the Bread

Let the loaf cool completely before covering it. Wrapping warm pumpkin bread traps steam, which can leave the top damp and sticky.

Store it in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. It can also be refrigerated for approximately 5 days, although the crumb will feel firmer when cold.

For longer storage, cut the cooled loaf into slices and place parchment between them. Wrap the slices well and freeze them in a freezer-safe container for up to 2 months.

That small amount of preparation means you can remove one slice at a time rather than thawing the entire loaf.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use homemade pumpkin puree?

Yes, but homemade puree may contain more water than canned pumpkin. If it looks thin or releases liquid while standing, let it drain in a fine-mesh sieve before measuring.

Can I make this gluten-free?

Replace the white whole wheat flour and ground oats with 2 cups of a reputable 1-to-1 gluten-free baking flour containing a binder such as xanthan gum.

Why did my chocolate chips sink?

Large, heavy chips sink more easily through moist batter. Mini chips are more dependable. If you use standard chips, toss them with a small amount of the measured flour first.

Can I make muffins with this batter?

A deep loaf and individual muffin cups bake differently. For the most predictable texture and timing, use our tested Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins recipe.

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Can I leave out the chocolate?

Yes. Leave the loaf plain or replace the chocolate with chopped nuts or dried cranberries.

🍞 One More Slice

This is not a loaf that needs decorating before it can come to the table.

Let it cool, cut the slices as thick as you like, and leave the loaf where people can find it. Someone will take a piece with their morning coffee. Someone else will call it an afternoon snack. By evening, the neat slices may have turned into a collection of uneven little cuts.

That is usually how you know a recipe belongs in the kitchen rather than only in a photograph.

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