Easy Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

A good pumpkin bread should be moist enough to eat plain, spiced enough to smell like October from the next room, and sturdy enough to slice cleanly for a lunchbox. This one is all three, with chocolate chips folded through the batter so every slice carries a little melted chocolate against the warm spice. It mixes in one bowl with a whisk and a spoon — no mixer to wash — and it keeps its texture for days, which makes it as practical as it is seasonal.

Use plain canned pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling, which is already sweetened and spiced and would throw the whole balance off. The other quiet decision in this recipe is oil instead of butter. Butter tastes lovely in a fresh cake, but an oil-based loaf stays softer at room temperature and on day three, and the pumpkin and spice are the flavours doing the work here anyway. If you enjoy this loaf, our Easy Pumpkin Dump Cake is its simpler cousin in our Desserts collection.

Toss the chocolate chips in a spoonful of the flour before folding them in. It takes ten seconds and it is the reason the chips stay distributed through the loaf instead of sinking into a single layer at the bottom of the pan. Reserve a small handful for the top as well — a loaf that shows its chocolate before you slice it always disappears faster.

Do not overmix, and do not overbake

Quick breads go tough for two reasons, and both happen in the last minutes before the pan goes into the oven. Once the flour meets the wet ingredients, stir only until no dry streaks remain — every extra stroke develops gluten and tightens the crumb. Then bake until a tester in the centre comes out with a few moist crumbs and melted chocolate, not wet batter. An overbaked pumpkin loaf looks fine and eats dry, and because the crumb is dark, colour will not warn you. Start checking five minutes before the timer ends.

Slice it tomorrow for the cleanest cuts

Pumpkin bread is one of the few bakes that is genuinely better the next day. Overnight, the crumb sets, the spices settle into each other, and the loaf slices without tearing or crumbling at the edges. If you can, cool it completely, wrap it whole and uncut, and slice it in the morning. When you do slice, use a serrated knife with a gentle sawing motion and cut generous slices, about 3/4 inch thick — thin slices of a moist loaf tend to break as you lift them.

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (220 g), plus 1 tablespoon for the chips
• 1 teaspoon baking soda (5 g)
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (4 g)
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (3 g)
• 1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree (425 g), not pie filling
• 1 cup granulated sugar (200 g)
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar (110 g)
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup neutral vegetable oil (120 ml)
• 1/4 cup whole milk (60 ml)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (5 ml)
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (170 g), plus a handful for the top

Amounts are for the yield below. US customary measures first, grams in brackets for scale users.

Step-by-step instructions

1. Heat the oven and prepare the pan. Heat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease a 9x5 inch (23x13 cm) loaf pan and line it with a strip of parchment paper across the long sides, leaving an overhang you can lift the loaf out by.
2. Mix the dry ingredients. Whisk the flour, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice and salt together in a medium bowl until evenly combined and no spice streaks remain.
3. Mix the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk the pumpkin puree, both sugars, eggs, oil, milk and vanilla together until smooth and glossy. The mixture will look loose at this stage, which is correct.
4. Combine without overmixing. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and fold with a spatula just until no dry flour shows. Toss the chocolate chips with the extra tablespoon of flour, then fold most of them through the batter in just a few strokes.
5. Fill the pan and top. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and scatter the reserved chocolate chips over it. The batter will be thick and should sit just below the rim of the pan.
6. Bake, cool and slice. Bake for 50 to 58 minutes, until a tester in the centre comes out with moist crumbs and melted chocolate but no wet batter. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, lift the loaf out with the parchment, and cool completely on a rack before slicing — ideally overnight, wrapped, for the cleanest slices.

Nutrition estimate

Nutrition figures are estimates calculated from standard ingredient data for the yield stated. Your actual values will vary with brands, substitutions and portion sizes — treat them as a guide, not a guarantee.

Storage & reheating

Wrapped tightly, the loaf keeps at room temperature for up to 4 days and stays moist throughout — refrigerating it dries quick breads out, so keep it on the counter. Individual slices freeze well for up to 3 months in an airtight container; thaw at room temperature or warm a slice in a 300°F (149°C) oven for 8 minutes. Nutrition figures are estimates from standard ingredient data and vary with brands and substitutions.

Easy Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Recipe by Shahid Imran, FryDaily editor · Published 18 October 2026

Moist, spiced and studded with chocolate — fall baking in one bowl.

Yield: 10 servings  ·  Scale: 1x2x3x

Prep15 minutes

Cook55 minutes

Total1 hour 10 minutes

Servings10 servings

Calories340 kcal

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (220 g), plus 1 tablespoon for the chips
• 1 teaspoon baking soda (5 g)
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (4 g)
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (3 g)
• 1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree (425 g), not pie filling
• 1 cup granulated sugar (200 g)
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar (110 g)
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup neutral vegetable oil (120 ml)
• 1/4 cup whole milk (60 ml)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (5 ml)
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (170 g), plus a handful for the top

Tick ingredients off as you prep, and tap a step below to mark it done as you cook. Scaling adjusts the listed amounts - seasoning to taste stays your call.

Instructions

1. Heat the oven and prepare the pan. Heat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease a 9x5 inch (23x13 cm) loaf pan and line it with a strip of parchment paper across the long sides, leaving an overhang you can lift the loaf out by.
2. Mix the dry ingredients. Whisk the flour, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice and salt together in a medium bowl until evenly combined and no spice streaks remain.
3. Mix the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk the pumpkin puree, both sugars, eggs, oil, milk and vanilla together until smooth and glossy. The mixture will look loose at this stage, which is correct.
4. Combine without overmixing. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and fold with a spatula just until no dry flour shows. Toss the chocolate chips with the extra tablespoon of flour, then fold most of them through the batter in just a few strokes.
5. Fill the pan and top. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and scatter the reserved chocolate chips over it. The batter will be thick and should sit just below the rim of the pan.
6. Bake, cool and slice. Bake for 50 to 58 minutes, until a tester in the centre comes out with moist crumbs and melted chocolate but no wet batter. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, lift the loaf out with the parchment, and cool completely on a rack before slicing — ideally overnight, wrapped, for the cleanest slices.

Calories: 340 kcalProtein: 4 gCarbohydrates: 52 gFat: 14 gSaturated fat: 4 gSodium: 270 mgFiber: 3 gSugar: 34 g

Recipe by Shahid Imran · FryDaily. Printing? This card is designed to print cleanly on its own.

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