Blue Ribbon Pumpkin Bread
Ingredients
- 1-¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp. ground cloves
- ¼ tsp. ground ginger
- ¾ tsp. salt
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup light or dark brown sugar, packed
- 1-½ cups pumpkin puree, canned or fresh
- ½ vegetable oil, canola oil or melted coconut oil
- ¼ orange juice
- ⅔ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Adjust the oven rack to the lower third position and pre-heat the oven to 350°F; lowering the oven rack prevents the top of your bread from browning too much, too soon.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and salt together until combined.; set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, granulated sugar and brown sugar together until combined.
- Whisk in the pumpkin, oil and orange juice.
- Pour these wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently mix together using a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon; there will be a few lumps; do not over-mix.
- Gently fold in the chocolate chips, if including.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
- Place in the pre-heated oven and bake for 60 to 65 minutes, making sure to loosely cover the bread with aluminum foil halfway through to prevent the top from getting too brown.
- The bread is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean with only a few small moist crumbs; this may be before or after 60 to 65 minutes depending on your oven, so begin checking every 5 minutes around the 55 minute mark.
- Remove from the oven and allow the bread to cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before removing and slicing.
- Cover and store leftover pumpkin bread at room temperature for up to 3 to 4 days, or in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Notes
Baked pumpkin bread can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving.
Oil is a better choice than melted butter in this recipe. The bread is not as moist and soft if using butter.
If desired, try using milk chocolate, white chocolate, dark chocolate, or even chopped pecans/walnuts instead of the semi-sweet chocolate chips. You can leave the pumpkin bread plain, too.