Can it really be that this Gluten Free Healthy Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread is healthy??? Well, besides the dark chocolate chips, there ain’t an ounce of refined sugar. Eat all you want!
PUMPKIN!!!!!
Rarely do I ever get to spend time with Braelyn alone. With Emry it’s easy. Braelyn is at school during the day, so we have plenty of one on one mommy daughter time. Braelyn, on the other hand, rarely gets 100% of my attention.
Don’t get me wrong, she is plenty good at getting attention, it’s just usually not the undivided attention that she would like. Little sister is usually in the background chiming in on whatever conversation (or unfiltered random chain of thoughts) we are exchanging. It’s hard being the oldest, huh??? Wah, wah, WAH!
So it was quite a delight this past Saturday to take Braelyn to her swimming lesson all by herself. Just mama and Brae Brae.
I did feel slightly guilty afterward when I told her what a great job she did in her swimming lesson and she replied, “You weren’t even watching! You were like looking at your phone and talking to that dad the whole time mom.”
Uhhhhhh…I guess I did get a little distracted.
But I made it up to her by carting her around with me for a few errands. We hit up 3 different grocery stores. Yep, THREE. Ugh.
The first store was to buy staple produce, milk, and cereal. The next store was to buy an assortment of gluten free flours that I was running low on. Annnnnd, the third and final store was to purchase broccoli.
Okay, I didn’t really go to the last store just for broccoli. I was making a donation to Braelyn’s elementary school through the grocery store (they match your donation), but I had to make a purchase with the donation. I couldn’t think of what else to buy since I had already been to TWO other grocery stores. So, the broccoli looked fresh. What can I say?
Anyway, in each of the 3 grocery stores we walked into, Braelyn was fixated on the pumpkins. They had small pumpkins, big pumpkins, white pumpkins, orange pumpkins…you name it. Pumpkin galore. She wanted to buy a pumpkin from each grocery store.
Here’s the thing; just like everything else here in Hawaii, pumpkins are EXPENSIVE!
I allot my kiddos one pumpkin and ONLY one pumpkin for Halloween. And since produce rots within a week because of the heat and humidity, buying a pumpkin at the beginning of October would definitely not be a smart decision. Her jack-o-lantern would be straight moldy mush by the time the 31st rolled around. That means I would have to buy another pumpkin closer to Halloween.
So, I said NO about thirty times to her requests of buying pumpkins.
And now that I’m writing this, I’m realizing that this is probably one of those many situations where I overreacted instead of just living in the moment and having fun. I guess I could have at least bought one mini pumpkin for her.
Ah shoot! Now I’m feeling all kinds of mama guilt. Man, that kid is going to be lucky if she turns out the least bit sane growing up with a crazy mama like me. I better start saving up for some therapy.
Or maybe I can make her pumpkin-less days better by baking her a loaf of this Gluten Free Healthier Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread. It’s much more delicious and satisfying than a raw pumpkin that sits on your porch anyway. Plus, it’s healthy.
In all reality, I have made 3 batches of this bread in the past 2 weeks and both kids are begging me to bake more. Really, almost every morning Emry asks if I have made her some more muffins (I made these in muffin form the last time) and when I say, “No, not yet,” she slouches her shoulders, throws her head back, and grunts, “Ugh!!!”
It’s actually pretty hilarious.
This quick bread is the perfect Fall treat. It’s easy to make, it’s sweet, it’s soft and moist, it’s not overly dense, it’s PERFECT. And did I mention there is no refined sugar??? None! Wait, actually I take that back. Besides the dark chocolate chips, which are completely optional, there is NO refined sugar. This bread is sweetened with a mixture of coconut sugar and pure maple syrup which only enhances the flavors of Fall.
I’ve made this bread with both melted butter and coconut oil. Both options turn out great, so use whatever you have on hand. I’ve also replaced the sour cream with milk (and a second time with almond milk) and it turned out great. So again, use whatever you have on hand.
I shared this bread, sans chocolate chips, with a friend of mine that is doing a no refined sugar challenge and she was in love. Of course I went the extra mile and topped her bread off with a coconut sugar pecan caramel topping which I will have to share the recipe for soon. It was just as good as your regular refined sugar loaded caramel that we all love so much.
So if you have anyone in your life who needs to eat gluten free this holiday season, please, please, PLEASE make them this bread. I’m telling you, you will be their best friend for life. There’s nothing like a warm slice of chocolate chip pumpkin bread to get you in the mood for Fall.
And let it commence: the season of pumpkins. Pumpkin ALL the things and don’t ever look back!
What is your favorite pumpkin dish?
- ½ cup (1 stick) melted butter or coconut oil
- 1 cup coconut sugar
- ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup 100% canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
- ⅓ cup sour cream (I used light) or milk (I used 1%)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum (only if your flour blend doesn't already contain it)
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 cups high quality gluten free all purpose flour, or my preferred blend (1/2 cup brown rice flour, ½ cup white rice flour, ½ cup gluten free oat flour or sorghum flour, ½ cup potato starch)
- 1¼ cup dark chocolate chips, divided
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 3 mini loaves with parchment paper or spray with cooking spray and lightly flour with white or brown rice flour. Set aside.
- In a medium sized microwave safe mixing bowl, melt butter for 45 seconds to 1 minute until liquid. Remove from microwave and whisk in coconut sugar and pure maple syrup until dissolved. Add eggs, pumpkin, sour cream, and vanilla and whisk until smooth.
- In a smaller mixing bowl, sift together baking powder, salt, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, xanthan gum (if needed), cinnamon, and gluten free flour (or my preferred blend). Add dry ingredients to wet mixture and whisk until smooth.
- Fold in 1 cup of chocolate chips into batter and mix until evenly distributed. Divide batter between loaf pans and press remaining chocolate chips on the tops.
- Bake loaves at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until tops spring back at touch of a finger and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean with very few crumbs. Remove from oven and let cool on cooling rack for 5 minutes. Loosen edges with a knife and flip loaves out. Turn right side up and continue cooling until completely cooled.
- Serve bread slightly warm. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, in fridge for up to 5 days, or in freezer for up to 3 months.
