If you have to keep only one pumpkin bread recipe, this is the one. Truly this is definitely the best and easiest pumpkin bread I ever tried! Not only is it incredibly moist, with this unique pumpkin flavor, but it has loads of large chunks of chocolate throughout. Not to mention that it’s ridiculously simple to make at home with a few staple ingredients. I made it countless times for family and friends, and it has always been a big success! No doubt you gonna love it.

The easiest healthy and vegan pumpkin bread

I think there are different kinds of loaf cake persons. But if you’re like me and love moist, fluffy and tender cakes, I’m pretty sure you gonna love this one so much that you’ll never come back to an other recipe! This. Pumpkin bread is extra moist, loaded with chocolate chips and topped with crunchy pumpkin seeds.

I wanted this recipe to be super simple, so I kept only a few basic ingredients to ensure the right texture and flavor. No special flour, no coconut oil or expensive sweeteners, this pumpkin breads only requires staple ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen. But if you feel creative or if you prefer to use different ingredients, please refer to the Ingredient Substitution section down below.

As always, this pumpkin bread is made with only natural ingredients. It’s vegan, so dairy free, but also refined sugar free and can be made gluten free. Pumpkin purée is definitely a key ingredient to make the pumpkin bread moist and flavorful. I recommend to make your own pumpkin purée by steaming and mixing pumpkin. It’s super quick and easy to make at home!

Ingredients for pumpkin bread

• Flour — to keep this recipe as simple and accessible as possible, we use all-purpose flour in this pumpkin bread. All purpose flour is white wheat flour you can find everywhere, that is perfect for cake and breads. In France, it’s called T55 flour. I didn’t try it, but you should be able to replace all-purpose flour by a special gluten free flour mix for cake.
• Spices — it’s not a pumpkin bread if it doesn’t have a lot of spices! And as you probably know, I love spices! To create this warm and cozy fall feel, we use a mix of cinnamon, ginger, clove and nutmeg. Make your own mix by using ground spices or you can use an already made pumpkin
• Pumpkin purée — it’s the key ingredient that makes this pumpkin bread so moist, and with this unique pumpkin flavor. I recommend to make your own pumpkin purée by blending cooked pumpkin. You can also use canned pumpkin purée, but make sure it’s 100% pumpkin and not a pumpkin pie preparation.
• Vegetable oil — I recommend to use a neutral flavor vegetable oil, like grape seed or canola oil.
• Cane sugar — we use granulated light brown cane sugar for it light taste. You can also use coconut sugar.
• Apple cider vinegar — the addition of vinegar increases the acidity of the batter, which reacts with the raising agents to liberate more gaz that makes the cake exceptionally airy and moist.
• Maple syrup — in addition of sugar, maple syrup bring more sweetness, moisture and a delicious flavor.
• Chocolate chips — I recommend to use large chips of dark chocolate to bring more relief in the tasting experience. You can also use chocolate chunks or smaller chocolate chips.
• Pumpkin seeds — sprinkle some pumpkin seeds on top of the batter to add crunchiness!

Watch how to make Pumpkin Bread

How to make pumpkin purée

Pumpkin purée might be the most important ingredient in a pumpkin bread! You want your bread to be moist, fluffy, and with this delicious unique pumpkin flavor. So it’s very important to use the right pumpkin purée. The best pumpkin purée should be smooth, moist, not too thick, and obviously with a good taste. The best way to meet all these criteria is to make your own pumpkin purée. And it’s actually the easiest solution, as canned pumpkin purée can be very hard (sometimes impossible) to find in some countries, including France.

I tried different ways to cook the pumpkin for pumpkin purée, but I found steaming the pumpkin is the best option for pumpkin bread as it leads to a very moist purée. You can follow this recipe from BBC good food that is super quick and easy!

Different varieties of squash make different purée textures and flavors. While it said « pumpkin » purée, you can actually use any other varieties of winter squash like butternut or kabocha squash.

Ingredient substitutions

• Flour — I didn’t try it, but you should be able to make this pumpkin bread gluten free by replacing the all-purpose flour by gluten free flour. I recommend using a special gluten free mix for cakes, or make your own gluten free flour mix.
• Cane sugar — you can replace light brown sugar by coconut sugar, which is one of my favorite granulated sugar as it’s not refined and as a low glycemic index. Coconut sugar can make the pumpkin bread a little darker in color, and add more flavor.
• Maple syrup — you can replace it with agave syrup.

Tips for baking pumpkin bread

This pumpkin bread recipe is ridiculously easy to make. I made it countless times at home and for events, and it has always been a success! A common issue with baking pumpkin bread is to get the right moisture in the batter. Else, the cake might sometimes not bake all the way through. Here are a few things to know to help you bake the perfect pumpkin bread.

• Measuring — I say it again, but one of the main reason why most recipes fail is that the ingredients are not properly measured. Put too much flour in the batter and the cake will turn out dry. Add too much pumpkin purée and it will be too moist and the cake won’t bake. To ensure the exact amount of each ingredient, I strongly recommend to use a food scale to measure all the ingredients.
• Mixing — Once you add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, switch your whisk for a rubber spatula, and carefully mix the batter with a circular movement. Stop when the ingredients are combined and you get an even batter. Don’t over mix the batter or it can lead to a chewy, tough and dense cake.
• Sifting — Sifting your flour is an important step that could result in a dry cake if skipped. It helps to loosen up the flour that has been sitting for a while and squeezed into bags. Sifting will break up any lumps in the flour and add more air into it, so that it actually takes up more volume than it did, which means you can get a more accurate measurement. Sifting also makes the flour much lighter and airier, that results in better cake texture.
• Pumpkin purée — The texture of the batter can vary depending on the pumpkin purée. This recipe uses homemade pumpkin purée, but you can also use canned pumpkin purée, not pumpkin pie filling or other related product. Again pumpkin purées can differ by their humidity and their thickness. The batter should be thick but not still smooth and pourable. Is you feel the batter is too dry, add 1 teaspoon of milk and mix.
• Choosing the pan — An other key factor to ensure your cake is perfectly baked is the size of your pan. This recipe asks for a standard 1 pound loaf pan, that refers to a 9×5 inch pan. This is the right size to make sure the batter will bake through properly. You can absolutely use an other size of pan, but in this case make sure to follow the « 2/3 full » rule: the batter should fills the pan 2/3 full.
• Cooling — This pumpkin bread contains a big amount of humidity, so it’s very important to allow it to cool before trying to move it, to slice or to store. First, allow the pumpkin bread to cool in the pan for about 15 minutes or until barely warm to the touch. Then remove it carefully from the pan, transfer to a cooling rack and leave to cool completely.
• Splitting — a very simple way to get this perfect split on top of your loaf cakes is to place a very thin line of butter on top, down the center of the batter. That creates a weak point so as the cake bakes it naturally splits at that point.

How to store chocolate chips pumpkin bread

Once baked, leave the pumpkin bread to cool completely. To store the pumpkin bread, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap or place in an airtight container. It will keep for up to 4 days in the refrigerator. If possible, don’t slice the loaf in advance to avoid it to dry.

I found this pumpkin bread like most of loafs and breads to be even better the day after. So I recommend to make the pumpkin bread the day before and wrap it in plastic wrap to keep it moist and fluffy. In this case just leave the bread on the countertop at room temperature.

Whenever you want, cut a slice of pumpkin bread and heat it up quickly before digging in! 15 seconds in the microwave or 30 seconds on each side in a pan over medium heat are enough to make the pumpkin bread soft and fluffy again!

Fore more delicious vegan breads and cakes, check out my:

• Easy healthy Banana Bread (GF)
• Mini chocolate Loaf Cakes (GF)
• Apple Cinnamon Bread with Tahini Glaze (GF)
• Carob Cake with Tahini Caramel Frosting
• Gluten free pumpkin bread

I love to see your creations! Don’t forget to tag me @alicepages on your photos on Instagram and give your feedback in the comments below if you make this recipe at home! Your opinion is my best reward.

Easy Chocolate Chips Pumpkin Bread

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• Author: Alice Pagès
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 60 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
• Yield: 8–10 slices 1x
• Category: Breads
• Method: Oven
• Diet: Vegan

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Description

This is truly the BEST and easiest pumpkin bread! It is incredibly moist, with this unique pumpkin flavor, has loads of chocolate chunks throughout and crunchy pumpkin seeds on top. It’s ridiculously easy to make at home with a few simple and natural ingredients.

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Ingredients

Units MUS Scale 1x2x3x

• 260g all-purpose flour
• 11g baking powder
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground clove
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 400g pumpkin purée
• 115g vegetable oil (grape seed or canola)
• 100g light brown cane sugar (or coconut sugar)
• 11g apple cider vinegar
• 60g maple syrup
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 100g chocolate chips
• 60g pumpkin seeds

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F / 180°C and grease and line a standard 9×5 inch loaf pan with parchment paper. Allow the paper to hang off the sides to make it easier to remove.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, being powder, cinnamon, ginger, solve, nutmeg, and salt.
3. In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together the pumpkin purée, oil, vinegar, maple and vanilla.
4. Pour in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. The batter should be pretty thick but pourable. See the notes for more precisions about getting the right texture.
5. Add the chocolate chips and mix to incorporate.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread it evenly. Add a thin stick of vegan butter on top of the batter to help the split. Sprinkle with pumpkin seeds.
7. Bake for 60-70 minutes in total, turning the pan halfway through the cooking. Check if the cake is baked by inserting the tip of a knife into the center. It must go out clean.
8. Allow the pumpkin bread to cool for 15 minutes. Then remove the pumpkin bread from the pan and allow to cool completely.
9.  

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Notes

1. Storage: wrap the whole pumpkin bread in plastic wrap or keep it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Enjoy at room temperature or quickly reheat a slice before eating.
2. This recipe is for a standard 1-pound loaf (8-inch x 5-inch x 2.5-inch). If you use a different size of pan, or if in doubt, make sure the batter fills the pan 2/3 full.
3. The texture of the batter can vary depending on the pumpkin purée. This recipe uses homemade pumpkin purée, but you can also use canned pumpkin purée, not pumpkin pie filling or other related product. Again pumpkin purées can differ by their humidity and their thickness. The batter should be thick but not still smooth and pourable. Is you feel the batter is too dry, add 1 teaspoon of milk and mix.

Recette version française

Cake à la courge et pépites de chocolat

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• Author: Alice Pagès
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 60 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
• Yield: 8–10 tranches 1x
• Category: Gâteaux
• Method: Four
• Diet: Vegan

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Description

Ce cake vegan à la courge a tout pour plaire: une texture incroyablement moelleuse, un délicieux parfum de courge, de gros morceaux de chocolat et des graines croustillantes. En plus il est super facile à réaliser avec seulement des ingrédients simples et naturels.

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Ingredients

Units MUS Scale 1x2x3x

• 260g de farine de blé T55
• 11g de levure chimique
• 2 cuillères à c. de cannelle
• 1 cuillère à c. de gingembre
• 1/2 cuillère à c. de clou de girofle
• 1/2 cuillère à c. de muscade
• 1/4 cuillère à c. de sel
• 400g de purée de courge
• 115g d’huile végétale neutre (pépin de raisin ou colza)
• 100g de sucre de canne complet (ou sucre de coco)
• 11g de vinaigre de cidre
• 60g de sirop d’érable
• 2 cuillères à c. de vanille liquide
• 100g de palets ou pépites de chocolat
• 60g de graines de courge

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Instructions

1. Préchauffer le four à 180°C. Huiler et chemiser un moule à cake standard avec du papier cuisson. Laisser dépasser le papier des bords du moule pour en faciliter le démoulage.
2. Dans un saladier, tamiser la farine, la levure, la cannelle, le gingembre, le clou de girofle, la muscade et le sel.
3. Dans un grand saladier, mélanger la purée de courge, l’huile végétale, le sucre, le vinaigre, le sirop d’érable et la vanille.
4. Verser les ingrédients secs dans le saladier et mélanger sans trop travailler la pâte. La pâte obtenue doit être assez épaisse sans être trop sèche. Voir les notes pour plus de précisions.
5. Ajouter les pépites de chocolat et mélanger pour les incorporer.
6. Verser la pâte dans le moule et lisser la surface. Déposer un fin baton de margarine le long du cake au centre pour créer une jolie fente. Garnir de graines de courge.
7. Enfourner pour 60 à 70 minutes, en retournant le moule à mi-cuisson. Vérifier la cuisson en plantant la pointe d’un couteau au milieu du cake. Elle doit ressortir à peu près sèche.
8. Retirer du four et laisser refroidir 15 minutes. Puis démouler le cake et laisser refroidir complètement sur une grille.

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Notes

1. Conservation: envelopper le cake entier dans du film alimentaire, ou conserver dans une boite hermétique au réfrigérateur jusqu’à 4 jours. Déguster à température ambiante ou réchauffer une tranche quelques instants.
2. Cette recette permet de réaliser un cake de taille moyen, pour un moule de dimensions environ 25 cm. J’utilise ce moule à cake. Si vous utilisez un moule de taille différente, ou en cas de doute, assurez-vous simplement de remplir le moule de pâte jusqu’aux 2/3.
3. La consistence de la pâte peut varier en fonction de la purée de courge utilisée. Dans cette recette j’utilise de la purée de courge maison, mais vous pouvez également utiliser de la purée de courge en conserve. Là encore, leur taux d’humidité et leur fluidité varie significativement. La pâte doit avoir une texture de pâte à gateaux assez épaisse mais lisse, humide et facile à verser. Si la pâte parait trop sèche, ajoutez un peu de lait végétal, 1 cuillère à le fois, et mélanger.