Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

                                                     Chocolate chip pancakes=good,

Chocolate covered strawberries=better,

Chocolate, chocolate chip muffins =great way to start the day

Whoever thought of adding chocolate chips to an already chocolate treat=genius

So why not add chocolate to pumpkin bread? That's what I asked myself last year when I brought out my mom's pumpkin bread recipe to make. I didn't have a good answer, and so I present you with...
                                          Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread
                 (as pictured in yesterday's post. And it's not even a tutorial tuesday. Act surprised)

This bread is what I refer to as a "one bowl wonder" and is a must-have in your recipe collection of a quick make and even quicker clean-up

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

These are the ingredients you need--plus sugar. I forgot to put my sugar in the picture.

Side note: Let me tell you that assembling all the ingredients before you start baking is really handy!

So, in no particular order, put the following stuff in your mixing bowl--and mix:

1 can pumpkin (reg-size, not the big one)

3 1/2 cups flour

3 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 cup oil

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp salt

When it's all mixed, add about 1/2 bag chocolate chips (mix by hand) and eat the other half of the bag.

Disclaimer: this recipe does not come with a cute little boy to mix in your chocolate chips for you

Oh-- Did you preheat your oven? If not, set it for 350 degrees and when it's preheated put your filled bread pans in for about 50 minutes to an hour. Just keep checking the center with a toothpick and you'll know it's done when all that comes off is the melted chocolate from the chips.

Aren't you glad your adventure in pumpkin bread making didn't start here? In the pumpkin patch? I always smile when I open up a can of pumpkin because it reminds me of my newlywed days. I was sitting with a group of other new wives and we were talking about all the treats we were making for our new hubbys to celebrate our first Thanksgiving together. One of them said, "Pumpkin pie, though, that's the worst. It took me all day and I'm never making one again!"

Um... awkward moment of silence until one of us asked what was so hard about making pumpkin pie.

"Well, first it was all about picking the right pumpkin, and then cooking it for, like, hours, and then scraping out the nasty stuff......." First we congratulated her on a job well done and then sheepishly informed her of the modern-day shortcut known as "canned pumpkin." Too funny. You have to wonder where she       even found that recipe?!

When you make this bread for your family (and maybe even some to give away?) you don't need to make an impressive meal. Just do what I did and open up 4 cans of soup, pour them into a pot, heat it up, and call it dinner. Who cares about what's for dinner when you've got yummy bread with chocolate chips in it for dessert?