Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread with White Chocolate Ganache

I am not one of those people who wants pumpkin versions of everything this time of year.

The same cannot be said for my two daughters, one of whom has been begging me to make pumpkin bread since, oh... about June. They are pumpkin-bread-eating, pumpkin-latte-drinking, kind of people.

I kind of get it. There's something about cool, crisp Fall weather that makes me want to eat things with warm flavors and rich spices - like Caramel Apple Pie and Gingerbread. 

But, the craving for all things pumpkin spice mostly eludes me. For the most part, a slice of pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving and a bowl of pumpkin bread pudding on a cold fall day just about does it for me. Also, I am 100% in love with this savory sausage and apple stuffed pumpkin. So good and no pumpkin spice required.

So, it goes without saying that if you're one of those pumpkin spice people, you are going to LOVE this super soft and tender pumpkin chocolate chip bread.

But, the people I really want to speak to are those like me. If you're not one of those pumpkin spice people, this pumpkin bread recipe is ESPECIALLY for you because I'm super duper confident that you're going to love it as much as I do. Which is to say, a whole heckofa lot.

Key ingredients

In addition to the white chocolate ganache glaze, these pumpkin loaves include some melted white chocolate in the batter. If you're one of those people who don't really care for white chocolate, stay with me here. The baked loaves taste of pumpkin, spices, and chocolate - not white chocolate. 

As I discovered when developing the recipe for Gluten Free Caramel Cake, adding some melted white chocolate to the batter adds an amazing richness to the finished product that no one would ever attribute to white chocolate. It's a handy little trick that I find myself coming back to time and again.

This recipe also calls for a decent amount of butter and a small amount of vegetable oil. Many quick bread recipes rely on vegetable oil to create a bread that is very moist. This works quite well, except that vegetable oil does not add any flavor.

By using mostly butter (Mmmmmmmm, butter) and just a bit of vegetable oil, these pumpkin chocolate chip loaves are both super moist AND rich and buttery.

Even if it's not true in the rest of life, when it comes to pumpkin bread we really can have it all. 😊

Bake in a standard loaf pan, mini loaf pan, or muffin pan

This recipe includes instructions for baking chocolate chip pumpkin bread in a standard 9-inch loaf pan, a mini loaf pan, or a muffin pan.

How to bake a standard 9-inch loaf of pumpkin bread

Most of what we call "sweet bread" or "quick bread" is simply cake baked in a loaf pan. Loves of Pumpkin Bread and Banana Bread are not really bread at all. They are loaf cakes.

This distinction matters very little to me. Call it what you like, quick bread or loaf cake. The only thing that matters is that it's sweet, moist, tender, and delicious.

In many ways, loaf cakes are my favorite type of cake to bake because they are generally casual affairs, simple to make, serve, transport, and store. This pumpkin chocolate chip bread is no exception. It's perfect for breakfast or dessert, bake sales, pot lucks, and afternoon snacks.

How to bake pumpkin mini loaves

A while back, I baked up batches of Cinnamon Streusel Mini-Muffins and mini Double Chocolate Muffins and suddenly I wanted to make mini versions of everything.

After baking mini Bundt Cakes and mini Cupcakes, mini eclairs, and mini upside down cakes, I ordered a mini-loaf pan and baked mini pumpkin bread loaves. That was all it took to fall in love with the whole idea of mini loaves.

Besides this pumpkin bread recipe, I use my mini-loaf pan to make Lemon Ricotta Olive Oil Loaves and Mini Lime Pound Cakes.

This recipe makes 9 mini-loaves. The loaves bake up into individual serving sizes that are the size of a large cupcake. In other words, they are a generous single serving or easily sliced up into adorable mini-slices to share.

How to bake pumpkin muffins

This recipe can also be used to make 12- 18 pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. And, if you'd rather, call them cupcakes, so be it.

I'd happily call them muffins while eating one with my morning coffee and cupcakes later in the day when I needed an afternoon snack.

More white chocolate recipes

For all you white chocolate lovers, these brown butter white chocolate chip cookies, raspberry white chocolate cookies.

If you're looking for something utterly decadent and impressive, soft and buttery white forest cake filled with amaretto-spiked Cherry Sauce and frosted with the most luscious White Chocolate Ganache Buttercream is going to knock your socks off.

And these malted white chocolate sandwich cookies filled with creamy halva buttercream and drizzled with white and dark chocolate are, in my opinion, the perfect holiday cookies. But, of course, don't let that stop you from making them any time of the year.

More fall baking recipes

Fall means apple season and this list of 10 of the best apple recipes includes things like mouthwatering apple pies, warm cider-infused cake, and apple butter muffins.

Fall also means the start to the holiday season which, in my mind means pie season. Here are a few of my favorite fall pie recipes:

• Maple Pumpkin Pie
• Pecan Pie Without Corn Syrup and Skillet Maple Pecan Pie (also without corn syrup)
• Salted Caramel Apple Pie
• Chocolate Cream Pie and No Bake Chocolate Mousse Pie
• Pear Tart with Wine Poached Pears and Frangipane

If you give this recipe a try, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it, or take a picture and tag it #ofbatteranddough on Instagram.

Happy baking!