Light Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

If you're a fan of pumpkin bread, but also trying to watch your calories or eat a bit healthier, then this light pumpkin chocolate chip bread is the perfect solution. It's moist, delicious, and has a fraction of the calories and fat of traditional pumpkin bread recipes.

Making Healthy and Light Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

I hesitate to even post this recipe because this time of year, our recipe for Kneaders Pumpkin Bread starts to go crazy! If you don't live in Utah than you have no idea what I'm talking about. Kneaders is a bakery here in Utah that has some of the most amazing recipes. The pumpkin bread is a yearly favorite. It is one of the most moist bread recipes you will ever eat. It is the perfect pumpkin bread recipe.

However, I've had a few people ask if I had a lighter version that I make. Since I make a lot of pumpkin chocolate chip bread over the holidays, I do have a light version that I use too.

Ingredients

It's such a simple and easy ingredient list! All you need is:

• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups canned or pureed pumpkin
• ½ cup milk
• ½ cup greek yogurt (plain or vanilla)
• 4 egg whites
• 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (can do a mixture of whole grain flours too)
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• ¼ tsp ginger
• ⅛ tsp cloves
• 1 ¼ teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup semisweet or dark chocolate chips

Instructions

To make the pumpkin bread, start by:

1. Preheating the oven to 350°.
2. Combine the sugar, pumpkin, milk, yogurt and egg whites in a large bowl. Stir well with a whisk to combine. In a separate bowl combine the flour, spices, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Slowly add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture, stirring just until batter is moist. Fold in the chocolate chips.
3. Pour batter into two lightly greased loaf pans Bake at 350° for 60 minutes to an hour and fifteen minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the bread from the oven and allow to cool for approximately ten minutes in pans on a wire rack, then remove from pans to finish cooling completely on wire rack.

Tips and Tricks for Making the Perfect Light Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

• If you don't have whole wheat flour, you can use all-purpose flour instead. You can even use gluten free flour. (Just make sure it includes xanthum gum!)
• I've substituted natural sugars like coconut sugar in this recipe, and it turns out great!
• For a nutty flavor, you can add ½ cup of chopped walnuts or pecans to the batter.4

Variations

1. Gluten-free light pumpkin chocolate chip bread - Replace the all-purpose flour with a gluten-free flour blend and use gluten-free baking powder and baking soda.
2. Vegan light pumpkin chocolate chip bread - Replace the eggs with ½ cup of unsweetened applesauce and use vegan chocolate chips.
3. Paleo light pumpkin chocolate chip bread - Replace the all-purpose flour and granulated sugar with almond flour and coconut sugar, and use coconut oil instead of vegetable oil.
4. Low-carb light pumpkin chocolate chip bread - Replace the all-purpose flour and granulated sugar with almond flour and a low-carb sweetener, such as erythritol, and use coconut oil instead of vegetable oil.