Fresh Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread Recipe

Its still a week until Thanksgiving but the Martha Stewart in me could not wait to chop off one of my pumpkins from the front door step and try something that I never did before. Make Pumpkin Bread !Shared it with a few friends and if they are not just being polite, it did turn out to be great. I went online to find recipes but ended up making a concoction of my own. A friend wants the recipe and I guess it makes sense for me to record it too so here we go -

Ingredients -

• 1 and a half cups white granulated sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup olive oil
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 cups fresh pumpkin puree
• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• Pumpkin spice - I used 2 sticks of cinnamon, 2 teaspoons of cardamom seeds and 1 teaspoon of cloves to grind them together. Usually pumpkin spice has nutmeg. I did not have it in hand and used cardamom seeds instead. You have to grind it fresh to believe the incredibly delicious aroma this mix produces
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• Chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour two 9 by 5 loaf pans. Stir together sugar and oil. Stir in eggs and pumpkin puree . Combine dry ingredients in separate bowl. Blend dry ingredients and water into wet mixture, alternating. Stir chocolate chips in the end, save some for putting on top of the batter.  Divide batter between two loaf pans. Sprinkle some chocolate chips on top.  Bake for  about 40 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool.

Tips - I did not grate my pumpkin, instead chopped it and cooked it for around 20 minutes and then pureed it in the blender . It was easier for me than grating. Some recipes use raw grated pumpkin. I had an instinct to cook it first and then use it.

My house smelled already like Thanksgiving at the end of the day and my family and friends loved the bread.