Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread Recipe

Name: Healthy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread Recipe
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 85 min
Ingredients: 1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin purée ((not pumpkin pie filling)); 3 large eggs; ¾ cup maple syrup ((can substitute 1 cup sugar)); ¾ cup plain Greek yogurt; ⅓ cup water; 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract; 2 cups whole wheat flour; 1 ½ all-purpose flour ((white whole wheat flour can be substituted for either of the flours)); 2 teaspoons baking soda; 1 teaspoon baking powder; ¾ teaspoon salt; 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice; 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, extra for sprinkling on top if desired

Made in one bowl, healthy pumpkin chocolate chip bread is moist and decadent, full of whole grains and natural sweetness. This cozy pumpkin bread with chocolate chips is the perfect fall treat!

Recipe Overview

Why you’ll love it: This pumpkin bread with chocolate chips makes a great snack or lunchbox treat. Since this recipe makes 2 loaves, it’s fun to brighten up someone’s day with a gift of fresh-baked bread.

How long it takes: 15 minutes to prep, 1 hour to bake
Equipment you’ll need: mixing bowl, 2 loaf tins
Servings: makes 2 large loaves

Close up of a pumpkin chocolate chip bread loaf in a loaf pan.

Easy Pumpkin Bread With Chocolate Chips

Life Lesson: If you’re going to make one loaf of bread, make two. This homemade pumpkin chocolate chip bread is more than worth it. It’s soft, moist, fluffy, filled with fall flavor, and bursting with delectable morsels of melty chocolate. And the best part: it’s better for you!

Michigan is finally showing us what a beautiful fall looks like. Beautiful orange-hued pumpkins are turning up everywhere, and I can’t wait to enjoy a slice of this bread (slathered with gingerbread butter) alongside my coffee in the morning.

Why You’ll Love This Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread Recipe

Healthy ingredients. This recipe uses the whole can of pumpkin purée, so there’s no waste or leftovers sitting in your fridge. The bread is made with whole wheat flour and Greek yogurt so you can feel good about serving it to your family.
Naturally sweetened. This scrumptious healthy pumpkin chocolate chip bread recipe is based on my original healthier pumpkin bread. Instead of sweetening the bread with sugar, this recipe calls for maple syrup. Natural maple syrup adds a more subtle sweetness and the added bonus is the yummy maple flavor.
Bursting with chocolate. The extra “indulgence” is the chocolate chips. In my opinion, everything’s better with chocolate chips! My kids would agree. They think it’s a holiday anytime I give them anything with chocolate chips.

Two pumpkin chocolate chip bread loaves in loaf pans.

Is Pumpkin good for you?

My pumpkin chocolate chip bread is made with unsweetened pumpkin purée which is 100% pure pumpkin. According to Healthline, pumpkin, along with other winter squashes, is highly nutritious! It’s low-calorie, has lots of fiber, and boasts an impressive amount of antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins. It’s especially high in vitamin A.

Note: Not all pumpkin breads are created equal. Even though pumpkin is healthy, some recipes also contain generous amounts of sugar, oil, and white flour which can be detrimental to your health.

What You’ll Need

Below is a short overview of the ingredients you’ll need to make this delicious chocolate chip pumpkin bread. Be sure to scroll to the recipe card for the full amounts, recipe instructions, and nutritional information.

Pumpkin Purée: Make sure that you’re using cans of real pumpkin purée and NOT pumpkin pie filling. These aren’t the same ingredient, and they aren’t interchangeable.
Eggs: You’ll need 3 large eggs for richness, and to help bind the ingredients together.
Maple Syrup: I love sweetening this pumpkin bread naturally with real maple syrup. If you can’t find maple syrup where you are, you can substitute 1 cup of sugar instead.
Greek Yogurt: Plain Greek yogurt is a healthier alternative to oil and butter, and it makes this pumpkin chocolate chip bread extra soft and moist. Regular plain yogurt or sour cream will also work.
Vanilla
Flour: I make this recipe with a combination of whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour. This way, the bread bakes up nice and fluffy while benefitting from nutritious whole wheat. You can substitute both flours with white whole wheat flour if you’d prefer.
Baking Soda, Baking Powder, and Salt
Pumpkin Pie Spice: This is a pre-mixed spice blend that you can make yourself (see my tip below), or you can purchase store-bought pumpkin pie spice.
Chocolate Chips: I like to bake with semi-sweet chocolate chips, but feel free to use any kind that you prefer. Dark chocolate chips, milk chocolate, or even white chocolate chips would be delicious.

What's Pumpkin Pie Spice?

In this recipe, I use my homemade pumpkin pie spice. It’s a blend of warm spices: cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg, ginger, allspice, and cloves.

Certainly you use store bought spice but you all know how much I love my homemade spice blends!

How to Make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

This pumpkin chocolate chip bread recipe makes two large loaves of bread. Why not make two loaves, taking the same time you would spend to make one? Same amount of time, twice the return! I love that math for sure.

Prep. While your oven preheats to 350ºF, coat two large loaf pans with cooking spray.
Make the batter. Whisk the pumpkin purée together with the other wet ingredients in a bowl. Next, mix the remaining dry ingredients (along with the chocolate chips) separately, and then add them to the bowl with the wet batter, stirring to combine.
Bake. Divide the bread batter between your two prepared pans, and bake at 350ºF for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes. Baking times will vary a bit depending on the size of the loaf pans you’re using.
Cool. Once your loaves are out of the oven, leave the pumpkin bread to cool in the pans for 10-15 minutes. Afterward, remove the bread from the pans and let it finish cooling on a wire rack.

Sliced pumpkin chocolate chip bread on a cutting board.

Tips for Success

Prepare to be as obsessed with this healthy chocolate chip pumpkin bread as we are! Here are some tips for the best homemade pumpkin bread with chocolate chips:

Don’t overmix the batter. The ingredients should be well combined, but don’t get too carried away when mixing. Overmixing the batter will result in uneven baking and dense, tough quick bread.
Check the loaves for doneness using a toothpick stuck into the center of the bread. If it comes out clean or with a few crumbs attached, your pumpkin bread is ready to come out. If it comes out with batter on it, the bread isn’t done yet and you should return it to the oven to continue baking.
Cool the loaves completely on a wire rack before storing them. A warm loaf in a sealed bag produces condensation which results in a sticky, gummy surface on the bread.

FAQs

Why is my pumpkin bread gummy?

Correctly measuring the flour is key to balancing the moisture of the pumpkin purée in this chocolate chip pumpkin bread recipe. When you measure flour, lightly spoon the flour into a dry measuring cup, leveling off the top with a straight edge, such as a table knife.

How can I keep the chocolate chips from sinking?

Coating with flour helps to prevent the chocolate chips from sinking to the bottom of the pumpkin chocolate chip bread. This is why you’ll toss the chocolate chips with the dry ingredients before mixing everything into the batter.

Pumpkin chocolate chip bread in a loaf pan.

Make This Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread Your Own

Instead of chocolate chips, try white chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, or butterscotch chips. Mini chocolate chips are wonderful, too.
Love nuts? Substitute 1 cup of chopped pecans or walnuts for the chocolate chips.
Like a streusel topping? Try my pumpkin streusel bread.
If you don’t have maple syrup, a cup of granulated white sugar can be used in place of it.
Short on time? Pumpkin chocolate chip muffins bake in only 20 minutes or so. You’ll get all the flavor and yummy smells in only half the time!
Pumpkin not your thing? You may enjoy my whole wheat banana bread or zucchini bread instead.

Storage Tips

To Store. Once the bread has cooled completely, slice it and store it in a resealable bag or tightly sealed container. It will keep for a few days on the counter or for a week in the fridge.
Freezer. Quick breads freeze well. I happen to have a loaf of pumpkin bread in the freezer at this very moment. I usually slice the loaf before freezing it. You can take out as many slices as you need; the slices thaw much more quickly than the whole loaf.