Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Chocolate chip pumpkin bread is loaded with warm spices, pumpkin and – of course – chocolate chips! This delicious recipe will become a family favorite in no time. 

I am a big fan of recipes that you can bake and share with others. 

Cookie recipes are an obvious one, but I also love sharing baked goods like zucchini muffins and glazed apple scones and saltine toffee. 

Quick breads that make 2 loaves are also perfect for sharing. It’s easy to keep one loaf for your family to enjoy and wrap up the second one for a friend or neighbor or your kiddo’s teacher. 

Coconut rum banana bread, chocolate cinnamon bread, and this chocolate chip pumpkin bread are all big favorites for this.

The best chocolate chip pumpkin bread

Every year my classic pumpkin bread is one of the most popular recipes on My Baking Addiction along with my homemade pumpkin pie spice, pumpkin roll and pumpkin crunch cake. Notice a theme here?

I’ve been making pumpkin bread for years – long before my blog and it shows up countless times in my kitchen throughout the season. 

Over the years I’ve made some variations on it, from streusel-topped pumpkin bread and pumpkin muffins to this chocolate chip pumpkin bread.

This chocolate chip pumpkin bread is sweet, perfectly spiced, chocolatey and incredibly moist. I know, I know – moist isn’t my favorite word either, but there is really no way to adequately describe this recipe without mentioning that word.

I also know that there are many people who don’t think chocolate belongs in or on any pumpkin recipe, but trust me on this one – the combination is quite delicious!

(And if you’re like me and don’t mind the two together, you’ve gotta try my mini pumpkin cheesecakes and pumpkin brownies, too!)

Just like the original recipe, this chocolate chip pumpkin bread gets better with time, so make it a day or two in advance of when you plan on eating it or gifting it.

How to make my chocolate chip pumpkin bread

This chocolate chip pumpkin bread is seriously easy to make. It takes a bit of time to bake, but I bet you can pull together the batter in about the same amount of time it takes for the oven to preheat.

Ingredients you’ll need

To make this recipe, you will need:

• 1 (15-ounce) can pure pumpkin puree
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• ⅔ cup water
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 ½ cups granulated sugar
• 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
• 2 cups chocolate chips

Before you start baking, make sure you know how to measure flour correctly. Nailing this simple step will help your chocolate chip pumpkin bread turn out perfect every time.

Make sure you buy pure pumpkin puree for this recipe, not pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin pie filling has extra ingredients that would mess up the ratios in this bread.

If you aren’t a fan of cooking with vegetable oil or canola oil, you can substitute your preferred neutral-flavored oil, such as avocado oil.

If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice or the ingredients to make it yourself, you can swap it out for ground cinnamon. Add in a pinch of ground ginger too, if you have it!

I typically use regular-size chocolate chips in this recipe, but feel free to use mini chocolate chips if you want to be extra cute! They’re my favorite in my chocolate chip cheesecake and would be adorable here, too.

Making this bread

Like all quick-bread recipes, mix together the wet ingredients – the pumpkin, eggs, oil, water, and vanilla – in one bowl. You can do this with a mixer or simply use a whisk.

In another bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients – the flour, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. 

Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just combined, then fold in the chocolate chips.

This recipe makes 2 loaves of chocolate chip pumpkin bread, so divide the batter between 2 greased 8×4-inch loaf pans. 

Bake at 350°F for 60-70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. 

Let the loaves cool on a wire rack before slicing and enjoying.

Storage and freezing

As I mentioned above, this chocolate chip pumpkin bread is actually even better a day or two after baking it, so it stores beautifully.

Wrap the loaves tightly and store them at room temperature for up to 3-4 days. If your home is really hot and humid, store them in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Since this recipe makes 2 loaves, it makes sense to enjoy one now and freeze another for later. Wrap the bread in plastic wrap followed by heavy-duty foil. Place it in a zip-top freezer bag for extra protection if you’d like and freeze for up to 3 months.

Thaw the bread at room temperature for a couple of hours before slicing and enjoying.