Mini Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

This Mini Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread is soft, moist, perfectly spiced and absolutely loaded with mini chocolate chips. It has all of the cozy pumpkin flavor you want in a fall recipe, with tiny pockets of chocolate throughout every single slice. If you’ve made my Mini Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins, this is basically their loaf cake cousin. And if you’ve made my Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Bread, you’ll recognize the base of this recipe too! I used that same soft and moist pumpkin bread but skipped the cinnamon sugar swirl and topping and instead added a ridiculous amount of mini chocolate chips. Because apparently I have decided that the appropriate amount of mini chocolate chips is always more.

The pumpkin keeps this bread incredibly moist, sour cream gives it a soft and tender crumb and the cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice add just enough warm fall flavor without overpowering the chocolate. I fold mini chocolate chips throughout the batter and then generously cover the top with even more before it goes into the oven.

It’s easy, cozy and exactly the kind of recipe I want sitting on my counter all fall long.

Why You’ll Love This Mini Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Soft & Moist: Pumpkin purée and sour cream give this bread an incredibly soft, tender texture that stays moist for days.

Loaded With Mini Chocolate Chips: There are mini chocolate chips throughout the entire loaf plus plenty more sprinkled over the top.

Easy to Make: This is a simple quick bread recipe that comes together quickly without any complicated steps.

Perfect for Fall: Pumpkin, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and chocolate are pretty much everything I want in a fall dessert.

Chocolate in Every Bite: Mini chocolate chips distribute throughout the batter much better than regular sized chips, so you get little pockets of chocolate in practically every bite.

Recipe Tips For The Best Mini Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin Purée: Make sure you’re using 100% pure pumpkin purée and not pumpkin pie filling. I typically use a thicker canned pumpkin like Libby’s and don’t blot it at all. The moisture from the pumpkin is part of what makes this bread so soft. If the pumpkin you’re using seems unusually watery, you can lightly blot away some of the excess moisture with a paper towel.

Use Mini Chocolate Chips: I really recommend mini chips instead of regular chocolate chips for this recipe. Since they’re smaller, they distribute much more evenly throughout the batter. That means you get chocolate in every bite instead of a few larger pockets throughout the loaf.

Don’t Be Shy With The Chocolate Chips On Top: Before baking, generously sprinkle additional mini chocolate chips all over the top of the batter. This is one of those situations where more is definitely more. Besides adding extra chocolate, it gives the finished loaf that loaded bakery style look.

Don’t Overmix: Once you add the dry ingredients, mix only until everything is just combined. Overmixing can make quick breads dense instead of giving you that soft and tender texture we’re looking for.

Room Temperature Ingredients: If possible, let your eggs and sour cream come to room temperature before making the batter. This helps everything combine more evenly.

Line Your Loaf Pan: I like to grease my loaf pan and then line it with parchment paper, leaving some overhang on the sides. Once the bread has cooled slightly, you can use the parchment to easily lift the entire loaf out of the pan.

Check For Doneness: Because this is such a moist bread, make sure you’re checking the very center before removing it from the oven. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out mostly clean or with a few moist crumbs. Just remember that if you hit a melted chocolate chip, your toothpick is obviously going to have chocolate on it!

If The Top Is Browning Too Quickly: Every oven is a little different. If you notice the top getting darker than you’d like before the center is finished baking, loosely tent the loaf with foil for the remaining bake time.

Why Mini Chocolate Chips Work So Well

I use mini chocolate chips in a lot of my recipes, but I especially love them in pumpkin bread. Pumpkin bread has such a soft, moist crumb that the tiny chips seem to melt right into it.

Regular chocolate chips absolutely work if that’s what you have, but mini chips give you a much better chocolate to pumpkin ratio in every bite. Instead of getting one giant chocolate chip and then a bite without any chocolate, you get tiny bits scattered throughout the entire slice.

And obviously we’re putting more on top because I want you to know exactly what kind of bread you’re getting before you even slice into it.

Storing Mini Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Store the bread tightly covered or in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Pumpkin adds so much moisture that this bread stays incredibly soft even after the first day.

You can also freeze the bread for up to 2 months. Let it cool completely before wrapping the entire loaf or individual slices tightly and placing them in a freezer safe container or bag. Individual slices are especially convenient because you can pull one out whenever you want something sweet.

Let frozen slices thaw at room temperature or warm one slightly before eating. A warm slice when those mini chocolate chips get a little melty again is especially good.

There are plenty of pumpkin bread recipes out there, but adding an unreasonable amount of mini chocolate chips is a very easy way to make me choose one over the others. This bread is incredibly soft, has just the right amount of pumpkin spice flavor and is loaded with chocolate without losing the pumpkin flavor underneath it.

It’s perfect with coffee in the morning, as an afternoon snack or warmed up slightly when you need something sweet after dinner. And because pumpkin keeps it so moist, it’s one of those recipes that might actually be even better the next day.

If you’re looking for an easy pumpkin recipe to add to your fall baking list, this Mini Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread needs to be on it!