High Altitude Pumpkin Bread
Welcome to time of year where I pumpkin-fy all the things. First it was a basic pumpkin muffin recipe and today it’s High Altitude Pumpkin Bread. With chocolate chips no less because shouldn’t all pumpkin bread come standard with chocolate chips? Me thinks so.
You’re welcome.
HIGH ALTITUDE PUMPKIN BREAD
A few weeks ago I shared with you my favorite recipe for pumpkin muffins so today I giving you the same recipe but this time in bread form and loaded with mini chocolate chips. You had to see it coming, right?! I truly believe that all pumpkin bread should have chocolate chips so that’s how you’ll find me making it. I did, however, want to let you know that you can easily omit the chocolate chips if you’d rather it plain jane. You do you, boo.
TIPS FOR BAKING QUICK BREADS AT HIGH ALTITUDE
Baking quick breads at high altitude can be fickle. It takes a lot of trial and error but if you follow these few tips, I think you will find that it really helps!
1. Add a little extra liquid to compensate for the extra baking time that baked goods require at altitude. Dry ingredients tend to be, well, more dry at higher attitude as well. The liquid will help.
2. Decrease the sugar by just a tad. I usually minus a heaping tablespoon from each cup called for. Too much sugar caramelized too quickly and creates a less stable baking environment.
3. Decrease the leavening but 1/4 teaspoon for each 1 teaspoon called for. Start there and decrease a little more if you live even higher than 7000 feet.
This recipe is already adjusted so you’re good to go!
PUMPKIN BREAD WITH CHOCOLATE CHIPS
My kids like their pumpkin baked goods with nothing. No chocolate, no nuts, nada. Sometimes my little one wants his with a smear of butter but the other kiddo wants it as is. I’m all for it most of the time but I absolutely love pumpkin and chocolate together. They’re made for each other, am I right? So this pumpkin bread gets a generous amount of mini chips stirred in ala Mountain Mama style. I like to use mini chips vs regular sized chips as I think they distribute better but do what you like. Chocolate chunks are a great option, too!
CAN I FREEZE PUMPKIN BREAD?
This particular recipe makes one large loaf + a handful of muffins or it makes two regular sized loaves. I usually opt for two regular sized loaves. Once they cool I leave one out for eating and freeze the other. The best way to freeze the loaf is to first wrap in plastic wrap, then in foil, and lastly I put the pumpkin bread in a ziplock baggie. The triple threat- it works every time. Simply pull the bread out of the freezer and let it defrost on the counter for a few hours and it will be perfect! The muffins also freeze beautifully and are perfect for the lunch box!
OTHER PUMPKIN RECIPES YOU’LL LOVE
I have so many pumpkin recipes already on the blog however here a few of my favorites!
High Altitude Pumpkin Muffins
High Altitude Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Slow Cooker Pumpkin Spice Latte
Cast Iron Pumpkin Cranberry Cake
Have a wonderful holiday! I hope this week is filled with loved one and lots of delicious food! As always, thanks for reading. I’m so glad you’re here. xo, Kelley
recipe by Mountain Mama Cooks/ photos by Deborah DeKoff
PrintHigh Altitude Pumpkin Bread
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Pin RecipeDescription
A reliable high altitude recipe for pumpkin chocolate chip bread.
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup neutral tasting oil- I like avocado or vegetable oil
- 4 eggs
- 1– 15 oz can pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips + more for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
- Butter and flour two standard (9 x 5) loaf pans; set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the flour, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar, granulated sugar and oil. Add the eggs and whisk until eggs are fully incorporated. Add the pumpkin puree and orange juice and stir until smooth. Gently stir in the dry ingredients and mix just until combined. It’s ok if there are still a few lumps. Stir in chocolate chips.
- Fill pans about 2/3 full. Bake in a preheated oven for 45-55 minutes or until bread is done. The sides will be golden and when you insert a toothpick into the center it will come out clean.
- Remove bread from oven and place on cooling rack. Let cool for 15 minutes before taking bread out of the pans and letting cool completely on rack.
- Slice and serve still warm with a smear of butter. Or cream cheese and a drizzle of honey…..it’s sooooo good!
Notes
This recipe makes two standard loaves OR one large loaf plus 4-5 muffins. I have a large loaf pan and I bake the bread for an extra 10 minutes or so. If you do muffins, bake them for 18-20 minutes.
17 Comments
Can I make this bread in not living in high altitude?
CT?
Looks delicious
You sure can but not sure how I’d adapt it…..what’s your altitude?
Can I sub almond milk for the OJ?
I’d sub water if you don’t have OJ
Oh yum! I was kind of banana-breaded-out, so I tried this recipe today (particularly since I bought a flat of pumpkin puree at the beginning of the lockdown!). It was a huge hit, particularly with a little sin of a dab of softened Kerrygold butter.
About the pan size. I did not have enough batter for two standard pans. I could only get half of each pan filled. So I scooped out the batter from the second pan to bring the first to 2/3 level. Then I prepared a muffin tin for the remaining batter. I was able to make one loaf and six nice-sized muffins (baked for 19 minutes).
I absolutely love the chocolate chips in it. If you prefer not to have the chocolate, as a child of the South, I would recommend a cup of toasted chopped pecans. Needless to say, this recipe is a keeper. I’m glad I have so much pumpkin to use!
I slab mine with butter, too! Glad you liked it!
Hi Kelly, I’m so glad I found your site! Having all the high-altitude info has been great! We are loving all your recipes! I was wondering if I could use 1/2 whole wheat flour & 1/2 regular flour?
Thanks! Kristin
For sure! I use a mix of all-purpose and whole wheat all the time when I’m baking! I do think it can dry whatever you’re baking so keep a close eye on baking time and/or add a tablespoon more of liquid to compensate!
Hello I’m a huge fan of all ur recipes but I want to make the chocolate pumpkin bread but use FRESH PUMPKIN. it’s almost Halloween and we have 3 pumpkin just sitting around the house. My husband and I are not handling out candy this year and my mother in law got us them to carve. But want to put them to great use. Do you have a recipe that uses FRESH PUMPKIN?
Roast your pumpkin, discard the skin, puree the pulp and use as directed in any of my pumpkin recipes!
To roast: preheat oven to 400 degrees, cut pumpkin in half and remove the innards (save the seeds to roast later if you want), place flat side down on a cookie sheet and roast for an hour. Let them cool, peel off the skin and puree about 3-4 minutes in a food processor. This usually makes about 8 cups of pumpkin with a small cooking pumpkin. Might want to add a little water if it looks too thick. This works great! We had a bumper crop of pumpkins in the garden this year, so we have frozen pumpkin puree falling out of our ears!
I’d like to make it without the chocolate chips. Do I need to substitute something else? I’m glad I found your site. Thank you.
You can just omit the chocolate chips!
Excited to try! I was wondering if I could use a standard Bundt pan for this recipe?
For sure! Though you’ll want to use a smaller bundt pan. The recipe as written will only fill about 1/2 the bundt pan. You’ll need to adjust the baking time, too. Happy baking!
Wow, this bread looks amazing. I would love to try this soon. Thanks a lot for sharing the recipe.
I made small loaves (about 3×5) to add to Christmas goodie plates for my neighbors. The recipe made about 6 loaves of that size. Baked for about 30-35 minutes. Very easy to follow recipe. Baking in the mountains can be tricky, so thanks!