Mom's Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

So, I'm going to just do us all a favor and not pretend that I'm going to be more regular with this blog... but let's hear it for the stereotypical "New Year, New Me!"

Who are we kidding? Anyways, I haven't forgotten about this blog at all! However, I am hoping to post more regularly than I have (um, one time in the past three years sets the bar pretty low) now that I have a job that supports my creativity time-wise.

With that, I thought I'd start with a legendary recipe, my Mother's Pumpkin Bread.

Okay, so it's not completely her recipe. I mean, she probably got it out of the Sacramento newspaper over a decade and a half ago. Anyways, I took the recipe she had and tweaked it. As I tend to do.

I do cringe at the thought of making my dear readers (and you are all dear. And patient as time itself.) read through a story before I give you the recipe. But here we go!

The Story

I obviously got my knack for baking from my mother. She always seemed to be the person who people came asking for dessert for a gathering. Not to mention she lived with the three cookie monsters we'll call myself, my father, and my older brother. She was always keeping the cookie jar stocked, hiding cakes from a frosting thief (*cough* Guilty...), and making treats for road trips.

On one of several occasions, we loaded up my father's Tundra with our camping essentials (let's face it; the parents did the work. My brother and I were useless) and our dog, Sarie, and set off for MacKerricher Park in Fort Bragg, CA.

My mother had made for the trip these scrumptious, melt-in-your-mouth pumpkin muffins to enjoy. She often made a double batches because we were like crazy coyotes in that house. Mom divvied out the muffins, one each, on the way there. That was all we had out of the entire double batch.

We hit our sleeping bags that night, having left the majority of our food in the larder--whatever you might call those cabinets at campsites. The next morning, we awoke, excited for pumpkin muffins for breakfast. But they were gone.

My mother sort of freaked out because she couldn't figure out what happened to them. She swore she remembered putting them "right here!"

Accusations flew. Who ate the muffins? Who ate the muffins and didn't leave any of the muffin liners?? Finally, my mother found the plastic bag in which she had been storing them, all torn up. We discovered one of the boards in the back of the larder cabinet was loose and easily flipped. With deep claw marks added to the evidence pile, we realized a few things: One, we would not be savoring lightly spiced, rich pumpkin muffins until we got home. And two...
raccoons are pretty smart, aren't they?

The raccoons kept coming back every night, looking for more spoils, but my father decided to leave most of the food in the truck after that first night. That was also the trip we found out that, like skunks, raccoons have a similar defense of spraying. Poor Sarie, loyally trying to protect her family and the food got herself sprayed right in the face, and folks... she stunk to high heaven. Fun trip overall!

Anyways, the point of that story is that this recipe, whether you use the batter to make pumpkin bread or muffins, is worth stealing. Pumpkin spice is popular for a reason. This recipe produces moist, sweetly spiced, brown sugary goodness popping with nuggets of dark chocolate. Luckily, I'm here sharing it for free! Wahoo!

The Recipe

The process is pretty standard for any quick bread. Mix the sugar, melted butter, pumpkin puree, and eggs until smooth. Sift together the dry ingredients and slowly add to the wet ingredients until everything is just combined.

This is important! You don't want your bread or muffins to be tough or chewy. We want moist, flavorful pumpkin goodies.

Look at all of the spice flecks!

Lastly, fold in the chocolate chips until evenly distributed.

Before baking, I give a generous "sprinkle" of brown sugar. You can always make a streusel if you'd like. Just cut together 1 parts each of cold butter, flour, and brown sugar.

But guys, check out that glaze. You can't get that gorgeous caramelized sugar crunch without that brown sugar!

I tend to prefer pouring the batter into loaf pans, but muffins are totally an option here. No matter how you bake this recipe, you are guaranteed a soft, pumpkin-spiced quick bread that is perfect for spreading with butter or cream cheese come breakfast time.

Mom's Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread
Yield: 1.5 loaves or 2 dozen muffins

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 cups of brown sugar (use dark for more flavor!)
15 oz. pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ginger
2 tsp. vanilla extract (or 1 tsp vanilla bean paste)
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup dark chocolate baking chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9.5 in. by 5 in. loaf pan, or line muffin tins with baking cups.

2.Sift flour, salt, baking soda, and spices in a bowl and set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or in a bowl using a whisk), combine the brown sugar, eggs, melted butter, and pumpkin. Whip on medium speed until smooth, about two minutes.
4. On a low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients. Mix until just incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips.

5. Pour batter into the prepared pan or baking cups until 3/4 full. Generously cover the tops of the loaf/muffins with brown sugar.

6. Bake at 350 F for approximately 50 minutes for a loaf, or 20-22 minutes for muffins, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Thank you all for reading. Food is so important to us in so many ways, but the memories we share around food are even more significant. I hope this recipe brings you and your family as much comfort and gratification as it does me and my family. I also hope you can make some good (if not hilarious) memories!

Enjoy, all, and happy baking!

~Red