Chocolate Chip "Fresh Pumpkin" Bread

Chocolate Chip "Fresh Pumpkin" Bread (also with vegan substitution)

At the request of a friend I am finally writing up this recipe. This recipe has been floating around my recipe book on a piece of paper for over a year. That piece of paper spent all of last winter stuck to the side of the fridge. I easily made over 10 loaves of this bread last year.

The original recipe

Personally, I prefer to use fresh puréed pumpkin. What is that you might ask? A lot of work! Basically I cut a pumpkin in half, scoop out the guts, slice the halves into manageable sections, peel the skin off with a potato peeler, dice the meat, and steam it in my bad ass steamer pot that I love. Then I take that steamed pumpkin meat and throw it in the food processor and blend until smooth. In my opinion Cinderella pumpkins are tastier than the typical sugar pie pumpkins. I will try to get up a post on this process soon. Oh yeah, and when using fresh pumpkin purée you need to know that there is a much higher water content to it than the canned stuff, so keep that in mind. If you really want I suppose to you can used the canned stuff, just add about 1/4 to 1/3 c of water to compensate.

The Bad Ass Steamer Pot that I love!

The following recipe will yield 2 loaves of  scrumptious, mouth-watering chocolate chip pumpkin bread. My only request when using this recipe is share your bread. Keep one for yourself and give the other away. It makes a great holiday gift (waaaay better than fruitcake)! Maybe make it and share at Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, New Year's, Martin Luther King Day, or even Valentine's Day. Hell, make it just because it is Tuesday, I make this stuff all winter!

There, now that I got that out of my system, here you go:

Preheat Oven to 350
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3.5 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 Tb cinnamon (Yes Tablespoon!)
1 Tb nutmeg (Yes Tablespoon!)
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2 c sugar
4 eggs
1 c vegetable oil
2 c fresh pumpkin (if using one of the 15 oz cans of pumpkin purée also add 1/4 to 1/3 cups of water)
1 tsp vanilla extract (I like to overflow the tsp over the bowl, so probably more like 1.25 tsp)
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1 c semi-sweet choc chips
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2 greased loaf pans (I do a thin coat of shortening then dust with flour)
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Bake at 350 for 60+ minutes

Vegan Substitute: mix 1 Tb ground flax seed + 3 Tb water per egg and allow it to gelatinize before using, this will make bread a bit denser and add a little nutty flavor to it.

Here is how I do it:

Mix dry ingredients in one bowl, mix wet ingredients in another. Slowly add dry mix into the wet bowl and mix thoroughly until smooth. I suggest a hand mixer, trying to do it with just a wire whisk is a bitch... trust me, I'm a glutton for punishment and will use a whisk even though I have a hand mixer. Okay, usually I just forget to use the hand mixer until it is too late. Once the batter is smooth, fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula. Pour into greased loaf pans and fill about 2/3 of the way to allow ample room for rising. Throw them in your preheated 350 degree oven for 60+ minutes until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the bread comes out clean. I start checking at about 55 minutes. I would say in reality it takes closer to 1 hour 15 minutes but it really just depends on the water content of your pumpkin. Once the toothpick comes out clean, take bread out and cool on wire rack in pans for 10-15 min (my toaster oven rack fits 2 loaves perfectly). Remove bread from pans and continue to let cool on rack until you can't stand it anymore and just need to eat some of it! EAT SOME! While you are eating it, think of someone who you know that will appreciate this pumpkin-tastic flavor extravaganza in your mouth so you can give them the other loaf.

Okay, so now what you need to do is wrap up that other warm loaf in some foil and go find that person. They will taste this amazing bread and profess their eternal love for you...until they eat all the bread. Then they will go into a downward spiral of anguish and longing over the loss of such a tasty treat. They will come find and beg you for more. You will direct them here and say "go make it for yourself, the rest of this is MINE," as you lovingly stroke the last crumbs of what is left of your loaf mumbling "my precious" to yourself over and over. If you're lucky, they will find their way over here, make some of this amazing bread, and give you their extra loaf. If not, you can always just make another batch yourself and give it to someone else. Share the love!

ENJOY!