Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Delicious super moist oil free pumpkin bread that is grain free and gluten free. Made from a combination of homemade pumpkin puree, spices with cassava flour, almond flour, dairy free chocolate chips with a zesty orange twist. 

One thing I love about the autumnal season is the abundance of pumpkin that myself and my family always receive from our family friends.

We get a lot of calabaza pumpkin (Caribbean pumpkin with the dark exterior). For us, this is the perfect time to make pumpkin based recipes such as rice or use it in our traditional Saturday soup.

With the first batch of pumpkin that I got I decided to share one of our favourite autumnal baked goods which is pumpkin bread.

After testing this recipe several times, tweaking it just to get the right taste and texture. I'm confident enough to share it with my loyal readers.

This bread is incredibly tasty and the moisture levels are off the chain. I promise, if you follow the recipe to the tee, that you won't be disappointed.

Some of the ingredients and steps are very similar to that of my beloved Plantain Bread, another recipe that was so impressed with, that I decided to do a spin off and take it from there.

Pumpkin puree

Pumpkin puree is popular especially during pumpkin season. It is one of the most important ingredients for sweet or savoury recipes.

Here in the UK canned pumpkin puree isn't very easy to find, so I often end up making my own instead.

What I like to do is chop up some pumpkin, add it to my steamer basket which is suspended in a saucepan with boiling water and steam the pumpkin until it is tender.

Once it is tender I use either a fork or my blender (depending on the quantity) to breakdown the pumpkin pieces into a puree.

This is by far the cheapest and more efficient way to make homemade pumpkin puree. It's fuss free and very easy to do, even a novice can make this ahead of time.

Steaming the pumpkin

• Chop the pumpkin into small pieces.
• Fill a medium sized saucepan (about ¼ full) with water and place the steamer basket inside the saucepan.
• Bring the water to boiling point.
• Once boiled reduce the heat to medium-low and place the pumpkin in the basket.
• Steam the pumpkin until tender (this will take several minutes).
• Once cooked, allow to cool down before breaking down the pumpkin with a potato masher to make a soft puree then set aside.

The steps

• Preheat the oven to 180C/356F/Gas mark 4.
• Line a loaf pan with a liner and set aside.
• Position the rack third down in the oven (this prevents the bread from browning too much).
• In a medium sized bowl, add the wet ingredients - pumpkin puree, eggs, orange juice and vanilla extract.
• Whisk until a smooth consistency is formed.

• In another bowl, add the dry ingredients - almond flour, cassava flour, cane sugar, the spices, pink salt, baking soda and mix together to combine.
• Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet bowl while stirring (using a hand or stand mixer) until a smooth batter is achieved.
• Stir in the mixed nuts and chocolate chips.
• Spoon the batter into the loaf pan.
• Sprinkle on the pumpkin seeds and additional chocolate chips on top.

• Bake for roughly 50-60 minutes or until a tooth pick/knife/skewer comes out clean.
• Around 25 minutes into the baking time, cover the loaf pan with aluminium foil, this will stop it from becoming too brown.
• Once baked, remove the loaf from the pan and transfer to a cooling rack to completely cool down before slicing with a serrated knife (it is best to leave the bread for several hours or overnight if possible).

Notes and tips

• Use a serrated knife (knife with jagged edges) to slice the bread as it reduces the chance of it crumbling/falling apart.
• You can use tapioca or arrowroot starch instead if you cannot get hold of cassava flour (I have only experimented with these 3 flours).
• Be sure to cover the top of the pumpkin bread with foil at the stated time as this will allow it to bake without becoming too brown.
• It is normal for the bread to be darker in appearance then other pumpkin bread recipes.
• Feel free to add any additional dried fruit/nuts or seeds to the recipe.
• Baking time will vary, mine took an hour to bake in its entirety, yours may differ in time. Just as long as the knife/tootpick/skewer comes out clean.
• For best results, store any leftover bread in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
• This isn't a freezer friendly recipe.
• A vegan version of this bread hasnt been tested.
• Keep in mind, you will need ALMOND FLOUR NOT ALMOND MEAL to make this recipe.

More baked goods to try

• Jamaican Ginger Cake
• Plantain Bread
• Gluten Free Butternut Squash Bread
• Sweet Potato Pudding
• Orange and Almond Cake
• Jamaican Toto (Coconut Cake)
• Coconut Rum Cake

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