Chocolate Pumpkin Bread
Updated April 09, 2020
Chocolate Pumpkin Bread is rich and chocolaty with a hint of pumpkin and spices. It is the perfect quick bread recipe for fall.
I just shared our all-time Favorite Pumpkin Recipes, check them out, you will want to make them all. Hooray for pumpkin season!
Well, I have one more pumpkin recipe to add to the list, Chocolate Pumpkin Bread. You guys know I am obsessed with chocolate quick bread recipes.
- Chocolate Banana Bread
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread
- Chocolate Zucchini Bread
- Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Banana Bread
Yeah, all of these recipes are AMAZING and have gone viral. I am so glad you are loving my chocolate bread recipes as much as I do. And I am SO excited for you to try my Chocolate Pumpkin Bread recipe next. I know you are going to love this one too. It is the perfect quick bread recipe for fall!
I make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread and Pumpkin Cinnamon Swirl Bread every fall, but this year I wanted to add a chocolate bread version to the mix. This Chocolate Pumpkin Bread is SO decadent and delicious. It is going to be on my fall baking list from now on.
So let’s get down to the details. This bread is made with cocoa powder and chocolate chips so it is very chocolaty. It has 1 ½ cups of pumpkin puree in the recipe so the bread is super moist. You can taste the pumpkin, but it isn’t that strong. The bread is more chocolate with a hint of pumpkin, which is kind of nice since most everything in the fall is ALL pumpkin. I like the chocolate pumpkin twist.
There is pumpkin pie spice in the bread too and the spices will keep you coming back for more. It adds a nice warmth to the decadent chocolate bread!
Bake a loaf of Chocolate Pumpkin Bread this fall. It is sure to be a fall favorite! Enjoy! And make sure you try my classic Pumpkin Bread recipe too, it is the BEST!
Chocolate Pumpkin Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie filling
- 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup canola oil or vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup buttermilk at room temperature
- 2 large eggs at room temperature, slightly beaten
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips divided
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and sea salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, oil, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla extract. Stir until smooth and combined.
- Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, don’t overmix. Stir in ¾ cup of the chocolate chips.
- Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle the remaining ¼ cup of chocolate chips over the top of the bread. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out mostly clean, you might have some melted chocolate chips on the toothpick and that is fine. You just don’t want a lot of gooey batter. Oven times will vary so make sure you check it at 50 minutes to be safe.
- Remove the pan from the oven and set on a wire cooling rack. Let the bread cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the bread and carefully remove from the pan. Let the bread cool on the wire cooling rack until slightly warm. Cut into slices and serve.
- Note-the bread will keep on the counter, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 4 days. This bread also freezes well. To freeze, cool the bread completely and wrap in plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 1 month. Defrost before slicing.
Have you tried this recipe?
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This is LITERALLY a slice of heaven!!
This looks SO decadent! Chocolate is the way to my heart for sure!
i love this combo! I bet the buttermilk makes it even more decadent. Can’t go wrong with the cocoa and chocolate chip combo. Pumpkin bread perfection!
Whoa !!! Chocolate and Pumpkin 😀 What a great idea?!
Cada vez que me gusta una receta, voy al contenido y no esta traducido, razon por la cual les pido me digan como pasar otra vez a la traduccion, gracias.
Wow, it looks soooo moist!!
YUM! Have you ever tried to substitute anything else for the buttermilk?
You can use regular milk or almond milk.
I used full fat plain yoghurt. I decreased oil to 1/3 cup. Delicious loaf and good way to use up pumpkin purée.
I make buttermilk with one cup of almond milk and one tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice
Chocolate and pumpkin belong together. This looks so moist and delicious!
Omg yum! You had me at chocolate and pumpkin!
The best combo!
This looks incredible! Any recommendations on what the baking temp/time should be in order to make muffins instead of bread?
Bake at 350 but reduce the time. I would check them at 18 minutes to be safe! It might take a little longer.
Do you need to use Dutch process cocoa powder or would regular cocoa powder (i.e. Hershey’s) be fine?
You can use regular cocoa powder, that is fine too!
Looks amazing! What could I substitute for the oil? Thanks!
unsweetened applesauce or melted and cooled butter should work!
This looks so delicious!
Making this tomorrow, can’t wait to try it!!!!
I made this and its heavenly…yummiliciously soft!! Could I use wholewheat flour instead of all purpose? I personally prefer not to use all purpose. Please advise!
Yes, the texture will be a little heavier.
I just pulled 4 loaves of this delicious chocolate pumpkin bread out of the oven. The smell is divine and the crumbly moist cake-like texture is sublime. It is an easy recipe that has a very sophisticated taste. I love your blog!
Whoops! Posting from phone. I meant to rate this 5 stars but goofed! You won’t goof if you follow this recipe as it is perfect. Five stars all day.
This tastes amazing! I just made it and I left in the oven for slightly over 50 mins and it was slightly burnt on top when I took it out of the oven. I was so afraid it was going to be overdone, but when I cut it, it was still so perfectly moist! I was incredibly happy and fell in love with the richness of the chocolate and pumpkin combo! Will definitely be making this again, and hopefully not burning it the next time! Haha
If the top is getting to dark, lightly cover it with foil and continue baking. So glad you liked the bread!
OMG! This bread is awesome. I did not have the Dutch processed cocoa or semi sweet chocolate chips so I used the Special Dark Cocoa and dark chocolate chips. It came out fantastic! I was pleasantly surprised that the banana flavor still shines through. Will be baking this again and again. Thank you
Made this as 4 smaller loaves, extreme chocolate flavor but didn’t notice much in the way of the pumpkin spice. Is this normal? Wasn’t sure what to expect with the chocolate/pumpkin combo. Love the texture, would make again. Didn’t have sea salt, just used pinch table salt, and the Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa. Didn’t top with chocolate chips but added in mixture as directed.
I just made this tonight for a party and it was absolutely amazing- a total hit! Seriously, it’s like my new favorite dessert. I decided to make it into more of a cake and used an 8×8 in square pan oiled with coconut oil and it cooked 40 min. A few changes I made: used all Trader Joe’s white whole wheat flour, coconut sugar in place of brown sugar, coconut oil in place of oil, a mix of 60-70% dark choc chips, & unsweetened vanilla almond milk instead of buttermilk. So moist, fluffy and delicious! Like a chocolate cake with a nice hint of pumpkin spice. Will make this one again and again! Thanks for an awesome recipe!!
WOW! This is even better than it sounds! I think the dutch processed cocoa makes a world of difference, so don’t skimp on that ingredient. (I used skim milk rather than buttermilk.)
Try this combo as pancakes for a special breakfast or brunch! Everyone will be happy!
Whoa. You just blew my mind.
This bread is delicious!! I like to make it as muffins. I bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. So yummy!
I made this and it was delicious – I doubled the quantity as I thought I had lots of cooked squash – in fact I only had enough for one batch but went ahead anyway with less than the squash required. It still worked . Thank you for such a good recipe. I used Greek yoghurt as that was what I had to hand.
I wasn’t sure about liking the spice so I put ground ginger in instead. Wonderful taste.
Delicious!
Just made this tonight! We baked it in a 9X13 pan, to make brownies, so added an extra egg. So chocolate-y and so delicious!
I made this recipe X’s 4….made 5 small loaves but I substituted 1c. of banana for 1 of the cup of pumpkin. I was tasty and moist. I would definitely make this again.
Thank you
MERRY CHRISTMAS
This was tasty! I’m curious how it would taste with real butter and sweetened with maple sugar. I rant out of time and baked in muffin tins for 25 minutes instead of a loaf pan.
Can I just use regular cocoa powder I do not think we
have Dutch processed cocoa powder here in. West Virginia
anywhere. I am not going to go shopping for it on
amazon.com . Eggs at room temperature, I don’t
know about that. Maybe 10 minutes on the counter top
But that is it . I will not leave the eggs out any longer than
that. I will use olive oil with this recipe, and leave the buttermilk
Out for 10 minutes as well. I do not want the eggs and
buttermilk to warm. I do not want the recipe ruined..
Please let me know by e-mailing me .
You can use regular unsweetened cocoa. 10 minutes is fine.
Excellent excellent recipe. made it for work and it was a hit. Great flavour combination. Full 5 stars
If I did mini loaves, how many would this recipe make and how long do I bake them? Can I bake them all together at the same time
This turned out a bit of a bummer for me. There was zero pumpkin spice or pumpkin flavour and I believe the pumpkin spice could be doubled. I might try this again, with double the spice. Anyone tried this?
I used coconut oil in place of the other oil (didn’t have any apple sauce or would have used this)
I used almond milk + a touch of vinegar for the buttermilk
I used almond flour rather than white all purpose flour
– consistency was lovely. I did have to bake it for well over 50 minutes in a convection oven.
I am not a pumpkin fan myself but my husband loves pumpkin pie. However, this was AMAZING!!!
This looks amazing!!! Wow! What can I substitute if I don’t use canola or vegetable oil?
Could i replace the regular flour with cassava flour and coconut sugar for the brown sugar? Making it more Paleo?
Looks so good! Could you use a whole can of pumpkin here?
A 15 oz can has 2 cups of pumpkin and you only need 1 1/2 cups.
I understand that! I’m just looking for a more pumpkin-y flavor here as you mentioned that it wasn’t too overpowered pumpkin flavor. Would a whole can help?
Increase the spices if you want a stronger pumpkin flavor.
I imagine this bread taste overwhelmingly like chocolate bread with the pumpkin adding moisture as well as nutrition. I wonder if the pumpkin pie spices are weird in chocolate bread. Wondering how they work or should I leave them out
I like pumpkin spice and chocolate together. If you want plain chocolate, you can leave out the spices, but they are really good!
Do I really need to use baking soda in this?
I really think baking powder would work just as well. Please let me know.
I have only tested it with baking soda.
you are a brave woman; how did it taste with the Baking soda?
i made a moist chocolate cupcakes recipe from another blog that the author used
3/4 teaspoon of baking soda but a skimpy amount of baking powder, and i tasted the batter
and it had a chemical taste from the 3/4 teaspoon of baking soda. i did not like it at all. the baked cupcakes did not taste good to me either,
the frosting did not help save them for me much either. however the guests i had over liked them though and so did my husband, so i sent the rest home with our guests. i will try it with the same measurement of Baking powder in place of the Baking soda and i will let you know.
If you don’t have an acid in the recipe to balance out the baking soda then you will taste it…in this recipe there is buttermilk (which is an acid) so you shouldn’t have any baking soda taste! That’s baking chemistry for you!
I make this all.the.time as muffins! They turn out delicious every time. I wanted to say that I have used butternut squash, delicata squash and even one giant sweet potato when I am out of pumpkin and every time they have turned out fabulous! Thanks for a great recipe! I also use butter/coconut oil instead of veg oil. 🙂
That’s great to know because all I was able to find at the store today was canned squash.
Good to know it works with muffins as sometimes it does not always work well. Thank you!
just made this and it is DELICIOUS! thank you so much for the recipe!
Glad you loved it!
Hi,
I wonder if your readers really made this loaf? The second amount of sugar has been left out. It should include 1/2 cup of granulated sugar. Your plain pumpkin loaf has both. The chocolate chips don’t make up for the extra sugar. Otherwise a good receipe.
This recipe only has brown sugar. The recipe is correct. It is different than my classic pumpkin bread.
Can this be made with something other than buttermilk?
You can use milk or you can make buttermilk with milk and lemon juice and vinegar.
I’ve also used homemade yoghurt both times so far because I don’t feel like making 1/4 cup of buttermilk. Works great.
Yum!! Definitely a chocolate lover’s bread!
Yes, so rich and SO good!
Absolutely delicious!!! Nice soft texture and perfect amount of sweetness. My whole family loves it! Definitely going to be making this regularly at my home.
How can I make this vegan ?
Substitute the egg for a flax egg or other egg substitute.
You can make a vegan version of butter milk by mixing apple cider vinegar or lemon juice with a dairy free milk. I like oat milk best for baking.
Loved this quick and delicious bread! My family gobbled it up in less than a day
Looks like I’m the odd man out, but I was not blown away by this recipe. Couldn’t really taste the pumpkin pie spices, and not quite sweet enough. Perhaps my spices in the cupboard were old, but there’s too many recipes out there to bother tinkering with this one.
It is very good. I let it sit in the pan for 15 minutes and when I tried to get it out I turned it over and let it fall on my hand and it fell to pieces. I made 2 so I think I am going to let the second one cool a little longer before I try to take it out of the pan. Very tasty though. Yummy.
we love this chocolate pumpkin bread! so decadent yet easy to put together.this recipe is easy to follow and turns out great!
Omg sooo good
These are fantastic! I made 36 mini-muffins (w/ mini chocolate chips) baked for 15 minutes. My kids think they’re having chocolate cupcakes for breakfast 🙂
Wow it is so good how did you do that
As with every recipe we have made from here, the cake was spectacular. Incredibly moist and flavorful, it’s like a molten lava cake without the mess and with seasonally appropriate spice. In my permanent repertoire! Thank you!!
I am so glad you loved the recipe. Thanks for letting us know!
I couldn’t find a good recipe for chocolate gingerbread and this did the trick! I reduced the cocoa powder to 1/4 cup (increased that amount of flour) so the spices would come through, with extra ginger. I added 2 tbsp molasses, and a cooked sweet potato instead of pumpkin. It was delicious and I got rave reviews! Will be my go-to holiday chocolate bake.
Thanks for sharing!