This Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread is an easy way to celebrate fall. Baking up soft and fluffy with little bursts of sweet chocolate, it’s a fun dessert recipe to add to your holiday baking.
Is there anything that celebrates fall quite like pumpkin? You’ve got pumpkin pie, pumpkin spice lattes, and this bad boy – pumpkin bread.
While I don’t typically love pumpkin, if you add chocolate chips to it I’m just about a fan of anything. And you will be too because this bread turns out SO good.
You are sure to enjoy this classic fall treat. And if that didn’t convince you, here are a couple more reasons…
Why you’ll love this recipe
- The bread turns out perfectly – not too dense, not too wet, not too dry. It’s soft and fluffy and super delicious.
- It is really simple to make – combine wet ingredients, combine dry ingredients, add them together, pour in some chocolate chips, bake them in a pan and voila! You’ve got perfect pumpkin bread.
- The flavors are spot on for fall – warm pumpkin spice mixed with gooey, sweet chocolate. It’s autumn in food form.
Ingredients
- Gluten free flour – I like to use Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Baking Flour. You can use other flours, just be sure they’re branded as a cup for cup substitute for regular flour.
- Pumpkin puree – this should just be canned pumpkin puree without any spices or sugar. Make sure you don’t accidentally get pumpkin pie filling as that will be way too sweet for this recipe.
- Spices – this recipe uses ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. The fresher your spices are, the better the bread will taste. If you haven’t replaced your spices since the previous year, you may want to think about getting new ones.
- Baking soda & baking powder – the same goes for these: if you haven’t replaced them in awhile, get new ones otherwise you risk the bread not turning out well.
- Maple syrup – any type will work here, though I recommend a dark maple syrup for a richer flavor.
- Butter – you can use salted or unsalted, I tried this recipe with both and the bread turns out just fine. Make sure it’s softened though as it won’t mix well with the maple syrup if it’s straight out of the fridge.
- Eggs – when adding eggs to this recipe, it’s best to warm them up closer to room temperature. To do this, place the eggs in a bowl of warm water for 5-7 minutes before adding them to the recipe.
- Vanilla extract – A high quality extract is really going to make a difference. Try and avoid ones that use imitation vanilla flavor and go for a pure vanilla extract instead.
- Chocolate chips – I use semisweet in this recipe, but you could also use dark chocolate chips.
I’ve written condensed directions here including pictures so you can see how to make this recipe. The full set of detailed instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
Before you scroll through, there is important information throughout this post.
How to Make Gluten Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, then combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spice in a bowl. Stir together to combine.
- Whisk the pumpkin puree, eggs, vanilla extract, maple syrup, and softened butter together using a stand mixer (or handheld mixer and bowl).
- Pour the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture, stirring until just combined.
- Add the chocolate chips and stir to incorporate.
- Cover the inside of a loaf pan with a piece of parchment paper (see process shots below).
- Pour the bread batter into the lap pan, leveling it out with a spatula or wooden spoon.
- Sprinkle additional chocolate chips on top of the batter, pressing them into the dough so they don’t fall out when baking.
- Place the loaf pan in the oven and bake for 55-60 minutes, turning halfway through for even baking. Once done, let cool outside of the pan 10 minutes before serving.
FAQs
Before you make the recipe, check out the answers to some common questions about pumpkin bread.
Yes, you can freeze pumpkin bread, including this one. It can either be frozen in loaf form or you can slice it ahead of time and wrap each slice. Just be sure to wrap everything well otherwise the bread will get freezer burn.
Pumpkin bread will stay fresh without refrigeration for about 1-2 days. If you keep it wrapped and in the freezer, it should keep for up to a week.
I would recommend using a cup for cup type of flour. I like to use Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1, but you could also use the Cup 4 Cup brand or Pamela’s All Purpose Gluten Free Flour.
You’ll know the pumpkin bread is done by inserting a toothpick into the center of the bread. If it comes out clean, the bread is done. If it still has wet batter on it, then you need to keep baking your bread.
Recipe tips & substitutions
- Make this pumpkin bread dairy free by substituting 1/2 cup melted coconut oil for the butter.
- If you don’t have all of the spices, you can use 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice to replace them all.
- Don’t worry if you don’t have a stand mixer, just use an electric hand mixer and a large bowl instead.
- You can easily make this pumpkin bread into muffins by using a muffin tin instead of a loaf pan. Spoon the batter into the tin, then sprinkle chocolate chips on top of each muffin, making sure to press them into the muffins so they stay in place. The muffins will likely take less time to bake, so start baking them for 20 minutes, then test one or two with a toothpick to see if they’re baked all the way through. If the toothpick comes out with wet batter, continue baking in 5 minute increments until the toothpick comes out clean.
Try making one of these other recipes with fall flavors:
- Gluten Free Maple Pecan Banana Bread
- Baked Apples with Ginger, Dates, & Pecans
- Gluten Free Apple Cinnamon Muffins
- Oven Roasted Kabocha Squash Soup
- Gluten Free Pear Crisp
If you try this Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread recipe then don’t forget to rate leave a positive review and let me know how it went in the comments below. Seriously, I love hearing from you!
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Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread
Equipment
- Scissors
- A loaf pan
- A Spatula or Large Wooden Spoon
- A stand mixer or large bowl with a hand mixer
- Toothpicks (to check bread for doneness)
Ingredients
- 2 cups gluten free flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp powdered ginger
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1.5 cups pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie filling
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1 stick butter softened
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips plus more for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Cut a piece of parchment paper large enough to cover the inside of the loaf pan and place it inside the pan. Set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices. Stir with a wooden spoon or spatula to combine. Set aside.
- In the stand mixer, whisk the pumpkin puree, eggs, vanilla extract, maple syrup, and softened butter until well combined, making sure there are no large lumps of butter and scraping the sides with a spatula as necessary.
- Pour the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture, stirring until just combined. Add the chocolate chips and stir until well incorporated.
- Pour the bread mixture into the loaf pan with the parchment paper in it. Level it out across the pan with the spatula. Add a handful of chocolate chips to the top of the bread, pressing each chip into the mixture slightly.
- Place the loaf pan into the oven and set the timer for 30 minutes.
- Check the bread after 30 minutes to see how it’s cooking. You may need to rotate the pan 180 degrees if your oven cooks unevenly.
- Place the loaf pan back in the oven and cook for another 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the bread comes out clean.
- Once cooked, take the bread out of the loaf pan and let cool at least 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
- If you don’t have all the spices on hand, you can sub them from 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice.
- Make this pumpkin bread dairy free by substituting 1/2 cup melted coconut oil for the butter.
Made this and my daughter and I Loved it! I subbed vegan butter and it turned out perfect!
Hi, I am wanting to make more gluten free recipes because a family member has recently found out that they should be on a gluten free diet. I really want to try your pumpkin bread, but I am a little nervous because I had recently made a pumpkin banana bread with gluten free flour and the inside of the bread came out slightly mushy. I am wondering if you can help me figure out what I had done wrong? I was thinking because of the banana there may have been too much liquid. Thank you for your help and I look forward to trying more gluten free recipes!
Hi Jennifer! It’s hard to tell what may have gone wrong with the bread you made. Possibly it needed to bake longer. I can tell you I’ve made my GF Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread many times and each time it turns out great! I prefer to use Bob’s Red Mill gluten free flour (the 1 to 1 baking flour) and that hasn’t steered me wrong. I hope that helps!