Chocolate Pumpkin Bread made in ONE BOWL, and so tender and flavourful that you’d never guess it’s naturally sweetened and made without butter or oil!
You know it’s Thanksgiving when there’s a city-wide pumpkin shortage.
I even went shopping earlier in the week to try and beat the crowds, but I still ended up having to go to three different stores to find a can of pumpkin… and the one I found isn’t even the brand I like. Womp, womp.
But we’re making it work. We are making it WORK because: a) I was craving chocolate, b) I needed something dessert-y to serve the fam for Thanksgiving, and c) the thought of making this one bowl chocolate pumpkin bread got me all sorts of excited (not in that way), which was so welcome after the creative funk that’s been hanging over my head for the last little while.
And if those weren’t reasons enough to make me adore it, the fact that it came out so ridiculously tender and chocolatey just sealed the deal.
Look at eeeeeeeet! That’s perfection right there.
Okay, so I might have been a tiny bit heavy-handed when it came to sprinkling the top with chocolate (mini chips for the win!), but still! Everyone agreed that it was one of the best chocolate breads they’ve ever had.
So a few things about this “chocolate” bread.
First, no one will believe you when you tell them it’s made with pumpkin. No one. I served it to my family for Thanksgiving (read: yesterday) without telling them what it was, and my mom asked me why I didn’t make something “a little more festive.”
Fair enough – it’s not exactly your traditional pumpkin pie. But no one in my family even likes pumpkin pie, and when I told her it was chocolate pumpkin bread, she was like “ohhhhhhh, well that’s perfect then!“… as if pumpkin had been part of our Thanksgiving tradition for generations and not including it was somehow blasphemous. I should probably note that pumpkin only made its debut appearance a few years back when I started reading blogs and discovered that it was actually edible…
Second, this isn’t a pumpkin spice bread… which is to say that there are no spices in it. I considered including some to make it more fall-ish, but I did that with the first loaf I made and did not like how it turned out. Granted, I’m not someone who likes spices anywhere near my chocolate in general, but I felt that the cinnamon and nutmeg overpowered the cocoa way too much and just gave off this weird flavour. You can add them if you’re feeling brave, but… no, on second thought, just don’t add them.
BUT! do use a good quality pumpkin puree* (only 1/2 cup, as per my Greek yogurt pumpkin bread), do mix all the ingredients in one bowl, and do enjoy a slice or two of this easy, healthy, and tasty chocolate pumpkin bread for when those chocolate cravings hit.
I mean… how could you say no to this?!?
I’d love to know if you make this recipe! Leave a comment and rating down below to let me know what you think, and subscribe to our mailing list to receive new recipes in your inbox!
Print
One Bowl Chocolate Pumpkin Bread
- Total Time: 50 mins
- Yield: 1 loaf, 12 slices 1x
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup (120 g) canned pumpkin puree
- 1/4 cup (55 g) plain 2% Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup (100 g) coconut palm sugar*
- 6 Tbsp (30 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup (120 g) whole wheat pastry flour**
- 1/3 cup (60 g) chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350ºF (176ºC), and lightly grease a 9 x 5 (23cm x 13cm) loaf pan or line it with parchment paper, leaving a few inches of overhang on the side to allow for easy removal. Set aside
- In a large mixing bowl, lightly beat the eggs until the yolks break apart. Whisk in the pumpkin, yogurt, sugar, cocoa, vanilla, baking soda, and salt, mixing until smooth.
- Slowly spoon in the flour and gently stir it in until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan, spreading it out evenly, and sprinkle the top with a few extra chocolate chips. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Remove the bread from the oven and let it cool in the pan for about 15 minutes before transferring it to a cooling rack to cool completely. Store the loaf in a sealed container for up to 5 days, or freeze it for up to 3 months.
Notes
* You can also use brown sugar. ** You can also use all-purpose flour, or use a mix of all-purpose and whole wheat. For all AP, use 1 cup (120 g). For a mix, I’d probably go 1/2 cup (60 g) AP and 1/2 cup (60 g) whole wheat. I’ve also had readers say that an all-purpose gluten-free mix works as well.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
Looking for more chocolate pumpkin recipes? Try one of these!
One Bowl Greek Yogurt Pumpkin Bread
Flourless Pumpkin Brownies
Flourless Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins
One Bowl Pumpkin Banana Muffins
Fudgy Flourless Pumpkin Pie Bars
*Disclosure: Some of the links included in this post may be affiliate links, meaning I’ll earn a small commission if you purchase through them, at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products I personally use and believe will add value to my readers. Thank you so much for helping support Spoons!
Can’t wait to try this recipe out! I don’t have a loaf pan. Could I use a muffin pan instead?
Thanks!
Thanks for getting back to me.
Can you make this dairy free by leaving the yogurt out? Thanks. Looks so good.
Hmm, I’m not 100% sure on that one, but I don’t think so. The yogurt adds a little bit of extra moisture, which is what allows this bread to be oil-free. You could possibly try to replace the yogurt with an extra 1/4 cup of pumpkin, or even half a banana. Another option would be to use a dairy-free yogurt alternative like a soy, coconut, or almond based one.
I used an extra 1/4 cup of pumpkin and the bread is so moist. My kids liked it too.
Hi Amanda,
Thank you for the recipe. I followed it to a tea but it came out dry. I make a pumpkin loaf and it’s a hit because it’s moist. I tried this recipe and it came out dry. Added a cream cheese pumpkin spread to make it editable . Maybe it’s suppose to be like that? I’m not sure if I’m missing something
Hi Rolla, I’m sorry that the recipe didn’t work out for you. The only things I can really think of that might have caused this are differences in oven strengths/temps or possibly a different amount of cocoa/flour used. I use a food scale to measure out all of my ingredients since cups/spoons aren’t as accurate and might result in more/less dry ingredients added. If you wanted to try to make it again, you could also try decreasing the baking time to something like 30 minutes.
This is really very yummy and awosome bread love it.thanks for sharing dear .
Can u substitute the flour with Almond or Coconut flour?
This looks simply gorgeous, yes using the gorgeous word for a cake but it is Devine. I am about to bake it tomorrow, just a quick question , can I replace the canned puree with fresh. Asking as eg for pineapple it is best to use canned.
Just made with ricotta cheese instead of yogurt because I only had fat free. Turned out great. Used AP flour and brown sugar because that is all I had in the house. My only addition was one tablespoon of instant coffee to bring out the chocolate even more! Love.
Anyone tried this in a bundt cake? I have the cute “duet” pan two mini bundts. Thinking this would be a great addition to my cooking marathon for Thanksgiving. You know, snack for the chef and all…made once in loaf pan. Terrific.
Young moms craving chocolate, this is great…I used 2 small containers of baby puree (pumpkin) . Love that they can sit io the counter waiting to be used…no need to run to the store either. I also used demerarra cane sugar crystals, did not affect the texture , still yummy.
This turned out great! There were no pieces left by the end of the day. Not dry at all – the pumpkin and yogurt (I used labneh) worked together to make it super moist. I loved that other than the chocolate chips, there was no additional fat added. Not overly sweet either, just the right amount of sugar. Next time I might try sweetening with honey instead – see how that works. Thanks!
Forgot to add – I only baked mine for about 30-35 minutes.
I baked this for 40 minutes exactly and it turned out sure, super dry for me 🙁 Not sure what I did wrong; the only thing I swapped out was the flour – I used Bob’s Gluten Free All Purpose, which has never given me issues before. Any thoughts on what went wrong??
When you say you’d probably use 3/ all purpose flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat… do you mean if I’m using all purpose and that’s it to use 3/4? or do you mean use 3/4 all purpose with 1/2 cup whole wheat? Sorry, I’m just confused because I’m not sure what the “3/” means. I’m wanting to use only all purpose. do I still use just 1 whole cup?
Thanks for catching my typo, KE! You’d definitely still use 1 cup if you were only using AP. Otherwise it’d be 1/2 cup AP and 1/2 cup whole wheat. I’m going to change that right away.
Yay! Just popped it in the oven! 🙂 Thanks for the clarification
Okay, chocolate and cinnamon is vile- Case in point, I drank that cinnamon tea avec a cocoa induced concoction and it was terrible. Fedex me this.
Oooo, pumpkin + chocolate? It sounds so delicious! I cannot wait to try this recipe out. 🙂
xo, Melissa || http://www.greenpalatelife.com
Did someone already ask about using alternative flours?
Which kind of flour did you have in mind, Kara?
holyyyyyyy. i love how you made a pumpkin recipe, but not your classic type of pumpkin recipe. all those chocolate chips on top have me drooling
Heehee! That’s probably my favourite part as well, and it totally makes it feel like there’s some kind of chocolate glaze on top, so that first bite is heavenly.
I AM looking at eeeeeeeet! And girl, you are so not kidding – THIS sure is perfection indeed! I’m not a fan of spiced chocolate so glad there aren’t any spices in this – but I do adore pumpkin pie – though I might give it up for a slice of this! Only one word comes to mind as I torture myself by scrolling and re-scrolling through your photos – PHENOMENAL!
You’re the sweetest! And the best is when we don’t have to give up a slice of anything because there’s multiple desserts at the table 😉
It’s amazing how versatile pumpkin can be. This bread looks so chocolatey, moist and scrumptious!
It definitely is! Thanks Casey 🙂
This looks positively delightful and I love you can’t even tell it’s made with pumpkin. Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
Punk 😛 Watch Ave grow up to be a pumpkin lover just to spite you.
Hi Amanda, looong time reader but haven’t commented much…just made this with bob mills gf flour and it came out great! It was supposed to be for me as I’m the only one that’s gf in our home but everyone polished it off! thanks for the awesome recipe.
Thanks so much for saying hi, Mona! And that’s so awesome to know that it works with a GF flour. Thank you for letting me know!
I definitely should have been born American because I love pumpkin pie! Pumpkin sweet things are not a thing in New Zealand. They should be though because pumpkin is amazing.
Aww yeah. But hey! At least you can always make it a thing at home anyways 🙂
This looks incredibly delicious! I wanted to reach into the photo and take a bite!
They seriously need to make that a thing! Apple – get on it!
Yum!! This looks amazing! I want to make it so badly, but my days are pretty crammed right now in preparation for vacation. Which is a good thing, but kind of sad because I don’t know when I will be able to make it. I did have one question, though, you say to use 2% Greek yogurt, and I was wondering if you thought that fat free would also work? It’s just that we buy that all the time, and I’m not even sure we can get 2%. Maybe? I think it’s usually full fat or fat free where we shop, but maybe I’m wrong. I can imagine that the fat in the yogurt would make it extra moist, but I was wondering what your thoughts were. Love ya! ❤️
Omg have a BLAST on your vacation! And no worries – the bread will always be here when you get back 🙂 For the yogurt, I think it’d be totally fine to just use fat free. I didn’t do it with this one, but I’ve used 0% in other bread recipe in the past with no problem.
Ok, thanks Amanda! I’ll try that. I know it’ll be here, but it just looked so good, I wanted to have it ASAP. 😋 I might make it on vacay if I have the time/chance. I will definitely have a blast. 😜 Thanks again! 😙❤️
I tried the fat free yogurt, works fine…
Oooh pretty! I agree that leaving the spices out is probably best. I like spicy Mexican chocolate, but not chocolate with typical pumpkin-y spices, if that makes sense.
Lol I think so. I’ve actually never had spiced hot chocolate – only in bar form. I wonder if it makes a difference.
THIS IS AMAZING Amanda; it’s so beautiful. I would love to have this as part of Thanksgiving dinner. And I’m totally in love with the fact that you did it in one bowl. 🙂
Thank you, Emily! The one bowl thing is one of my favourite parts of it as well… probably because I just really don’t like mess 😆
I don’t think it’s possible to be too heavy handed with chocolate chips 😉 can’t wait to try this recipe!
Haha! Those are my thoughts exactly.
OMG girl this is PERFECTION. I can’t even. Totally making this for my dad and bro when they come over next Sunday for football!
Woop! I hope they like it 😀
if only I had greek yogurt in the house I would make this tonight for yom kippur!
Nooo! I have like three tubs at home. You’re welcome to come over and borrow some 😀
Just when I thought your one-bowl recipes couldn’t get any better…;) This bread looks divine Amanda! I absolutely LOVE both spiced chocolate and pumpkin pie, so this is basically the bread of my dreams.
Also, would white whole wheat flour work for this recipe?
Woohoo! I hope you like it lady! And yup! I think white whole wheat would work just fine.
It is foggy and cold out here; perfect for pumpkin choco bread in serious quantities ! Thank you !
With hot coffee. Or… ooo! Hot chocolate 🙂
That looks so rich and delicious. I love pumpkin bread so I definetely wouldn’t mind making and trying this.
It’s definitely a nice little twist if you’re tired of pumpkin spice. Or just really craving chocolate.
I can stand a little bit of cinnamon with my chocolate but that’s about it. It’s perfect as is! And this bread looks perfect too! Happy belated Thanksgiving 🙂
Thanks lady! It honestly felt more like Christmas though 😆