Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Fall Baking is only second, in my mind, to Christmas Baking. But there is something wonderful about baking in the fall when the air first starts to get cold.
This fall recipe is new for me. I tried it for the first time, but it was a hit around here.

In fact, Little Miss Pink couldn't get enough. She barely talks, but was pointing and barking for this stuff as soon as she saw it. Smart cookie.

The recipe is adapted from Cooking Light, so it can't be too terrible for you! If you are like me and always have pantry staples in the house (which includes canned pumpkin), you should be able to whip this up right away.

Team Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread contains sugar, pumpkin puree, oil, non-fat yogurt, egg whites, vanilla, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, baking soda and chocolate chips! Easy peasy.

To start out, fire your oven up to 350. You'll have to separate your eggs and whisk them up a bit. I'll let my professional hand model show you how it's done. She's sadly underpaid and needs a manicure.

A word about ingredients. I am, in no way, a cooking snob. I don't think my cooking is better than your cooking and, generally speaking, don't use fancy pants ingredients or expensive items like cream fraiche or eau de blah blah blah (that last one is a doozy). If my recipes call for silly expensive things, I try to find a reasonable substitute. I do, however, draw the line at some spices and my vanilla. I categorically refuse to use "imitation" anything, particularly in the vanilla department.  I buy my most important spices here at The Spice House in Milwaukee, just like my mom. Their vanilla is amazing. It has a vanilla bean in it and comes in a brown bottle. I take things that come in a brown bottle very seriously.

I will not use anything else. And their cinnamon is crazy good, too. I also don't use pre-ground nutmeg unless I'm so lazy that I forget my principles, which does sometimes happens.

You get it. I like my good spices. They make a difference. Okay, off of my spice soapbox. Back to the recipe.

Add the vanilla (please, not imitation!) to your mixture of pumpkin, oil, eggs, and sugar.

Isn't it pretty?

My secret ingredient here was to use non-fat plain vanilla yogurt. It keeps the loaf moist and still low fat! You could use full or low-fat sour cream though, if you'd prefer to keep the calories in there!

Once the first six ingredients are mixed well, the dry ingredients need tending to. Make sure to spoon your flour lightly into the measuring cups or you'll get too much and the bread will be dry. The dry ingredients look pretty, too!

I like to whisk them together, then sift them with a sieve. I never use a sifter because it's too much work to clean. And we all know how I feel about too much work. I just can't do it.

So, now, combine the dry with the wet gently. I fold the ingredients so the bread comes out moist and not too dense, since it is low in fat and has a propensity for dryness.

I like that word: propensity. After you say a big word of your own choosing, go ahead and mix in the chocolate chips. Add a few extra. And eat four. But just four.

Mix that gently and toss 'er into a bread pan you've sprayed with Pam. Bake and enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Adapted from Cooking Light

1 cup sugar

1 cup pumpkin pure

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup non-fat plain yogurt (could use sour cream or non-fat sour cream)

2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat an 8 or 9-inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Combine the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl and stir briskly with a whisk. In a separate bowl, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups. Combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and baking soda with a whisk and sift into dry ingredients using a sieve or sifter. Fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients until just moist. Do not over mix. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake for 45 minutes-1 hour, until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack, then remove from pan. Cool completely on a wire rack, or eat when still warm. Enjoy!