Category Archives: quick bread

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

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Every week in my classroom we have Baking Fridays, when some tiny helpers and I whip up a baked good concoction for us to have for snack. Sometimes we bake bread, other times it’s muffins, and on special Fridays we make chocolate chip cookies. You wouldn’t believe what excellent chefs these four-year-olds can be when you give them a job. “Chocolate chip taste-tester”? Done.  “Cinnamon-smeller”? You betcha. “Flour and/or floor sweeper”? Gotcha. “The one who gets the garbage can so we can throw eggshells away”? Handled.

If there’s leftover goodies, we prance them around the school to share and everyone wants to be our best friend. Then, we have a dance party. Just another day at the ol’ j-o-b.

Most Fridays, we have baking successes. But sometimes? Sometimes, we have baking fails.

Last year we attempted to make a loaf of pumpkin quick bread from scratch and it ended up as the saddest baking fail of all sad baking fails. After getting the kids SUPER pumped up about how delicious the bread smelled and would taste, we went to the oven and discovered a charred brick of pumpkin goo. Not one to disappoint, I decided to salvage a couple pieces to give the kids for snack, because really, would they even know the difference?

Big. Mistake. Some kiddos took one look at the burned pumpkin goo disaster and promptly threw it in the trash. A couple kids laughed, like, AS. IF. Others attempted a bite and then looked at me with the saddest eyes all, “WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME???” Those poor munchkins.

I vowed never to make pumpkin bread from scratch again. I owed it to my students not to.

That is, until, Mike’s coworker shared the easiest (most successful!!!) pumpkin quick bread recipe with me. Glory hallelujah!!

Thank you, Lisa, for helping me redeem my status as “favorite teacher that bakes”. That IS what they call me…

…right??

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread (recipe adapted from Lisa Z.)

yield: one loaf

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1- 15 ounce can of pumpkin puree
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup oil
  • 1/2 cup + 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Coat an 8×4 loaf pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, whisk flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt.
  2. In a separate bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, mix pumpkin puree, sugars, and oil on medium-low. Add the flour mixture and 1/2 cup chocolate chips; mix on low or fold in with a rubber spatula until just combined. Pour the batter into prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips on top. Bake for 1 hour and 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool for about an hour in the pan, then turn onto a wire rack to finish cooling completely. Cut into slices to serve, or store tightly wrapped at room temperature.