Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients

This pumpkin pie spiced loaf is a classic favorite during the holidays and your entire family will surely love it as much as mine.

• Salted Butter - or use unsalted butter and add ¼ teaspoon of salt to compensate.
  
• Light Brown Sugar - pack it into your measuring cup to get the right amount. I use the palm of my hand to push it down to ensure the correct amount.

• Canned pumpkin - I love that this recipe uses one whole can of pureed pumpkin. No need to save a tiny bit in the back of your fridge.
  
• Large Eggs - bring them to room temperature (I like to place them in a bowl of hot water for a few minutes if I forget to take them out early. This gets them room temp really fast.)
  
• Vanilla Extract - flavor booster!

• Gluten-Free Flour Blend - my favorite is King Arthur Measure for Measure, 
  
• Almond flour - finely ground is best (I like Bob's Red Mill or Blue Almond)
  
• Baking Powder - this heavy loaf needs lots of lift
  
• Baking Soda - more lift

• Ground Cinnamon - here comes the flavors of fall
  
• Ground Nutmeg - more fall flavor
  
• Ground Ginger - and more
  
• Ground Cloves - and even more fall flavor, because there's no such thing as too much.
  
• Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips - these are optional, but of course, make this pumpkin bread really amazing (and a favorite for the kids).

See the recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

This pumpkin loaf comes together really fast! Just a handful of simple ingredients and you're looking at about 15 minutes of hands-on time. See the pictures below for a step-by-step guide to making perfect pumpkin bread.

Combine brown sugar and melted butter.

Whisk by hand until the mixture gets lighter.

Add pumpkin, room-temperature eggs, and vanilla.

Add dry ingredients to wet and mix gently.

Halfway through mixing, add the chocolate chips.

Gently mix until no flour streaks remain.

Prepare

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a 9.5" x 5.5" loaf pan with parchment paper (the parchment paper is important for easy removal) and spray lightly with nonstick spray. Set aside.

Mix

In a large microwave microwave-safely butter in 30 seconds or 30 seconds until just melted. Allow to cool for a few minutes. I like to pull all of my ingredients and measuring cups out while I wait for the butter to cool.

Add light brown sugar to the butter and whisk until light and fluffy (see the picture above for how it should look). It'll take about 2 minutes by hand, or if you want to use a stand mixer, mix it up for about 1 minute. I love this open-ended whisk, it's cleaner and just as effective as a balloon whisk.

Add pumpkin, eggs, and vanilla extract and whisk until evenly combined.

In a separate bowl mix together gluten-free flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. Stir until evenly combined.

Add dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until mostly mixed. Add ¾ cup of chocolate chips (save about ¼ cup for the top) and finish stirring gently until no flour streaks remain.

Bake

Spoon batter into prepared loaf pan and smooth top. Sprinkle the remaining ¼ cup of chocolate chips on top.

Place on the center rack of the oven. Bake for 60-70 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a skewer into the center of the loaf. It is done when it has a few or no crumbs stuck to it.

Once done, remove from oven and remove loaf from loaf pan by pulling the edges of the parchment paper. Allow to cool on a cooling rack for 1 hour. It really needs time to sit and cool off. Don't slice while too warm or it will crumble too much.

Slice and enjoy!

Substitutions

I love that this recipe is specifically created to be tasty as a gluten-free bread, but if you have more dietary needs, check out these options below.

• Dairy Free - swap the butter with vegan butter or vegetable/canola oil. Substitute it 1:1. Be sure to grab dairy-free chocolate chips, like the ones from Trader Joe's. Easy!
  
• Vegan - use the dairy free swaps above and replace the egg with a flax egg or similar.

If you are strictly gluten-free or have Celiac disease, please read all ingredients and be sure to use equipment that has not been used with regular flour foods. Especially if you bake for someone with allergies, just check with them for suggestions before starting.

Equipment

This recipe does not require any special equipment, except a good loaf pan. I recommend having two quality loaf pans since we often want to bake more than one and we don't want to wait an hour while one bakes.

If you're unsure if your oven is cooking at the correct temperature, I have found that using an oven thermometer can be very helpful. Simply hang this little thermometer off a baking rack and never guess again if you're baking at the perfect temperature!

Storage

Room Temperature

To store pumpkin bread at room temperature, simply wait for the bread to cool completely then wrap tightly it in plastic wrap, or place it in a zip-top bag. Slice as needed and return to its storage. Bread will stay fresh for up to 5 days at room temperature.

Refrigerator

Again, wrap in plastic wrap or store in a large zip-top bag and place in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. Do not slice bread before storing, just slice as needed for optimum freshness.

Freezer

Storing pumpkin bread in the freezer is the best way to be preprepared holidays, in my opinion. To freeze pumpkin bread, be sure bread is fully cooled to room temperature then wrap tightly in foil and then place foil-wrapped bread into a zip-top freezer bag.

Pumpkin bread will stay fresh in the freezer for up to 2 months. Remember to label and date the bags.

How to Thaw Pumpkin Bread

Remove the bread from the freezer bag. Then, place it on a wire cooling rack before loosely opening the foil layer. Partially unwrapping the bread helps eliminate any condensation from forming, making the outside of the bread soggy.

Let the bread stand at room temperature until thawed, about two to three hours. Rewrap the bread after it’s completely thawed, and store it in its ritefrigeratorroom temperature, following the directions above.

Servings: 8 slices

Nutrition