Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread
A soft, deeply spiced pumpkin loaf packed with chocolate chips and cracked open down the middle. One bowl, no mixer, and it keeps for days.
By Hanan · Salt & Hearth
Published August 18, 2026
Full quantities, times and temperatures · How we make this site
Prep
15 min
Cook
60 min
Total
75 min
Serves
10
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A one-bowl pumpkin loaf, heavily spiced, made with oil rather than butter so it stays soft for days, and studded throughout with chocolate chips. It cracks open along the top the way a good quick bread should, and the crumb stays moist well into the third day — which is unusual and is entirely down to the oil. There is no mixer, no creaming, and no technique beyond stopping when the flour disappears.
Why you'll love this recipe
- One bowl, a whisk and a spatula. No mixer at all.
- Stays soft for days rather than drying out overnight.
- Pumpkin and chocolate is a better pairing than pumpkin and nuts, and this is the argument for it.
- Freezes well in slices for quick breakfasts.
- Fifteen minutes of actual work; the oven does the rest.
Ingredients
For the loaf
- 1 3/4 cups (220 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 cup (240 g) pumpkin puree
- 3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100 g) light brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) neutral oil
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup (170 g) semisweet chocolate chips, plus a handful for the top
Ingredient notes & substitutions
- Pumpkin puree:
- Pure pumpkin, not pie filling. One cup, which is about two-thirds of a standard 15 oz can.
- Neutral oil:
- Vegetable, canola or light olive oil. Oil is liquid at room temperature where butter is solid, which is exactly why this loaf stays soft.
- Two sugars:
- Granulated for structure, brown for moisture and a faint caramel note. Using only white sugar gives a drier, plainer loaf.
- Chocolate chips:
- Semisweet balances the spice best. Dark chocolate chunks work if you prefer something less sweet.
- Pumpkin pie spice:
- Two full teaspoons, which is more than most recipes use. Pumpkin is mild and needs it.
Method
- 1
Heat the oven to 350F. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan and line it with a parchment sling so you can lift the loaf out cleanly.
- 2
Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice and salt together in one bowl.
- 3
In a larger bowl, whisk the pumpkin, both sugars, oil, eggs and vanilla until completely smooth and slightly glossy.
- 4
Tip the dry ingredients into the wet and fold with a spatula only until the last streak of flour disappears. Stop there — overmixing develops gluten and turns the loaf tough and tunnelled instead of tender.
- 5
Toss the chocolate chips in a teaspoon of flour, then fold them through. The flour coating stops them sinking to the bottom during the long bake.
- 6
Scrape into the pan, level the top and scatter the extra chips over the surface.
- 7
Bake 55-65 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out with a few moist crumbs but no wet batter. Tent loosely with foil at 40 minutes if the top is browning fast.
- 8
Cool in the pan 15 minutes, then lift out onto a wire rack and cool completely before slicing. Cutting it warm compresses the crumb and drags the melted chocolate through it.
- 9
bon appetit
Tips
- Fold, do not beat. This is a quick bread, and overmixing is the only reliable way to ruin it.
- Toss the chocolate chips in flour first so they stay suspended instead of sinking.
- Use oil rather than butter. It keeps the loaf moist for days where butter would firm up overnight.
- A skewer with a few moist crumbs means done. A completely clean skewer means slightly overbaked.
- Cool it fully before slicing, however tempting it is not to.
Variations to try
- Swap half the chocolate chips for chopped toasted pecans or walnuts.
- Add a cream cheese swirl: beat 4 oz cream cheese with an egg yolk and 3 tablespoons sugar and marble it through.
- Sprinkle coarse sugar over the top before baking for a crunchy crust.
- Bake as 12 muffins instead, at 350F for 20-24 minutes.
Storage & make-ahead
Wrap tightly and keep at room temperature for up to 4 days — it genuinely improves on day two. Refrigeration dries quick breads out, so avoid it unless your kitchen is very warm. To freeze, wrap the whole cooled loaf or individual slices in plastic and then foil, and freeze up to 3 months; thaw at room temperature, or toast slices straight from frozen.
Frequently asked questions
- Why did my chocolate chips sink?
- They were not floured. Toss them in a teaspoon of flour before folding them in and they stay suspended.
- Why is my loaf dense and tough?
- Overmixed. Fold only until the flour disappears — a few lumps in the batter are completely fine and better than a smooth, overworked one.
- Can I use butter instead of oil?
- You can, melted and cooled, but the loaf will firm up noticeably once cool and will not stay soft as long.
- Can I halve the sugar?
- Reduce it by a quarter at most. Sugar is doing structural and moisture work here, not just sweetening.
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