Chocolate Walnut Pumpkin Bread

There is nothing like the smell of pumpkin bread baking in your oven. Honestly, it’s the most heavenly aroma. Cinnamon & pumpkin are staples of the holiday baking season, so I knew that once fall hit, I’d be baking these pumpkin bread loafs all the time. I’ve used this recipe a couple of times, normally tossing in raisins at the end. But this time I decided to add a bit of decadence that I am known for: chocolate.

See, I believe that you can never go wrong with mixing in chocolate. I even think adding chocolate to meat could be good… Okay, no that’d be disgusting, but you get my drift. I threw in some chopped walnuts to, just to give it a nice crunch.

I used a can of Trader Joe’s organic canned pumpkin and I think this caused the bread to come out not as sweet as my previous loaves. But in my opinion, since I used chocolate in teh bread, it wasn’t a big issue for me. If you are going to use organic pumpkin and not add chocolate though, I’d recommend upping the sugar.

The only issue I had this time around with this recipe was my pan size. I used an extra big loaf pan, which of course makes one big delicious loaf that can be slightly undercooked in the middle. So I had to leave it in the oven a bit longer, probably around 75 minutes as opposed to the recommended 55 minutes. And once it was done, the edges were a bit brown but I didn’t care.

The mix of chocolate with the pumpkin and walnuts was extremely tasty. A great late night snack or special breakfast treat I think. It’d be great with coffee too.

Makes about 2 big loaves. Enough for you to enjoy in the morning and one to give to a loved one!

Chocolate Walnut Pumpkin Bread

adapted from Better Homes & Garden cookbook

Ingredients:

• 3 cups sugar
• 1 cup cooking oil
• 4 eggs
• 3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 15-ounce (organic) can pumpkin
• 2 cups of chocolate chips
• A handful of chopped walnuts

Directions:

1. Grease the bottom and 1/2 inch up sides of two 9x5x3-inch, three 8x4x2-inch, or four 7-1/2×3 1/2-x2-inch loaf pans; set aside. In a very large mixing bowl beat sugar and oil with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add eggs and beat well; set aside.

2. In a large bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add flour mixture and water alternately to sugar mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined. Beat in pumpkin. Toss in mix-ins like chocolate and walnuts and mix until roughly blended. Spoon batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 55 to 65 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near centers comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove from pans. Cool completely on wire racks. Wrap and store overnight before slicing.