This gluten-free pumpkin chocolate chip bread is soft, fluffy, and full of fall flavors. It's made with single ingredient flours like oat flour and almond flour and is naturally sweetened. It's sure to become your new favorite fall baked good.
This bread is melt-in-your-mouth goodness and full of all the crave-worthy fall spices. Oh, and those chocolate chip morsels… swoon! Plus, it’s made with all real/whole food ingredients so you can feel good about eating more than one slice.
Fall screams all thing homemade baked goods! From my Gluten-Free Pumpkin Granola, gluten-free apple crisp, Paleo pumpkin muffins, apple baked oatmeal, pumpkin scones, and Gluten-free Apple Cinnamon Oat Muffins, you can be sure to find me baking something during these autumn months.
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Why You'll Love This Bread Recipe
- Made with clean ingredients. No refined flours or sugars in this healthy pumpkin bread recipe.
- No gluten-free flour blends. I love baked goods that use single/whole food ingredient flours – not the gluten-free blends that can result in a different end product pending which blend you are using.
- Is great as a snack or after-dinner treat!
- Added benefit of flaxseeds. Flaxseeds are one of the richest plant-based sources of omega 3's and are high in fiber and antioxidants. This bread has ½ cup of flaxseeds in the loaf, so you're getting a fair amount in each serving.
Ingredient Notes
A complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below. Here are some specific notes and tips:
- Oat flour – I highly recommend making your own oat flour. It’s way cheaper than store bought, and it’s SO easy. Make sure your oats/oat flour is certified gluten free as oats can become contaminated with gluten during processing.
- Almond flour – You will want almond flour and not almond meal.
- Tapioca starch – Helps the gluten-free ingredients bind together – you cannot skip this. However, you can use arrowroot starch as a substitute.
- Baking Powder – Because this pumpkin chocolate chip bread is gluten free, double acting baking powder (meaning it reacts out of the oven AND in the oven) is recommended as it gives the bread an extra boost to rise. If you don’t have double acting, regular works just fine.
Tip: If using double acting, try to use one that doesn’t contain aluminum. Sometimes it can leave an aftertaste in the final baked good (I don’t notice, but some do).
- Milk – Because I am mainly dairy free, I use almond milk, but any kind of milk will work in this recipe.
Clean food tip: If using non-dairy milk, look for one that contains just the source of the milk, water, and/or salt or vanilla. At a minimum, make sure it doesn't have any added sugars. I like Malk, Simply Almond Milk, and Elmhurst.
- Canned Pumpkin – Make sure you are using canned pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling (pumpkin pie filling has added sugar and spices).
- Coconut Oil – This bread uses coconut oil, which is considered a clean oil. You can use refined or unrefined, but typically unrefined is cleaner. I typically buy Nutiva Virgin Coconut Oil.
- Chocolate Chips – I use semi-sweet chocolate chips, but you can use semi sweet, milk chocolate, or dark chocolate chips.
Clean food tip: Look for chocolate chips that have no more than cane sugar, chocolate liquor/chocolate/cocoa powder and cocoa butter. Brands that are Fair Trade certified and/or organic are even better! And for a fully refined-sugar free chip, try Hu chocolate chips.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Just a few easy steps and you're on your way to enjoying this gluten-free pumpkin chocolate chip bread!
Step 1: In a large bowl, combine the oat flour, almond flour, ground flaxseeds, starch, baking powder, salt, pumpkin spice, and cinnamon.
STEP 2: In a small bowl, whisk together canned pumpkin, eggs, and all of the wet ingredients.
Step 3: Add the wet ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix until combined.
Step 4: Fold the chocolate chips into the batter.
Step 5: Transfer batter to either an 8.5x4.5 or 9x5 loaf pan that has been greased and lined with parchment paper.
Step 6: Bake at 350-degrees F for 45-50 minutes, or until a knife entered in the center comes out clean.
Allow the bread to cool for about 5 minutes in loaf pan and then transfer to a cooling rack or cutting board to finish cooling.
Expert Tips for the Best Gluten-free Pumpkin Bread
Allow bread to fully cool before slicing. This pumpkin chocolate chip bread will continue to set as it cools. It will be tempting to dig right in, but it slices better when it has cooled down. And if you just can’t take it and want a piece, just know it will be a little more crumbly when it’s fresh out of the oven.
If you notice the top of the bread is browning too quickly, you can tent the top of the bread with some tin foil. Gluten-free flours tend to brown quicker than their gluten containing friends. If needed, place a piece of tin foil that’s been folded in half over the bread about 30-40 minutes into baking time.
Add ½ cup of some pecans and/or walnuts to the batter for some gluten-free pumpkin chocolate chip nut bread.
For decoration, and that extra pretty look, sprinkle some additional chocolate chips on top of the bread before baking.
Recipe FAQs
No, you cannot sub different flours. The amount and combination of each flour plays a different role in the final bread. Using different flours would not return the same results.
Yes! Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin pan (or line with liners) and evenly spoon batter between muffin cups. Reduce baking time to about 25 minutes. When a toothpick entered in the center of the muffins comes out clean, they are done.
While I have not tried making these with flax eggs, or any other egg substitute, I think it would work. Be sure to use dairy-free milk in addition to an egg substitute to make vegan.
While oats (which are ground down to make oat flour) are gluten free, they can become contaminated with gluten during processing. To ensure there are no traces of gluten in your oats and/or oat flour, you need to make sure they are certified gluten free.
How to Store
Room temperature: This gluten-free pumpkin chocolate chip bread is best eaten within 48 hours. To prolong shelf life, place in an airtight container and place in the fridge. It will stay fresh for up to 5 days in the fridge.
Freezing: This bread also freezes extremely well. I recommend slicing first, and then placing in a freezer safe container. It will stay good in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let it thaw on the counter, or put individual slices in microwave for 20-ish seconds.
Other Fall Recipes You'll Love
If you make this recipe, please let me know what you think! I would so appreciate you leaving a star rating and/or comment below. And don't forget to share a photo on Instagram or Facebook and mention @CleanPlateMama!
Eat Clean.Be Well!
-Sara
Gluten-free Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread
Equipment
- 8.5x4.5 or 9x5 loaf pan
- 2 mixing bowls
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups oat flour
- ½ cup almond flour
- ½ cup ground flaxseeds (also called flaxseed meal)
- ¼ cup tapioca starch/flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
- ⅓ cup milk (diary free or regular)
- ½ cup pure maple syrup (room temp)
- ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
- 2 eggs (room temp)
- 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Prepare a 8.5x4.5 or 9x5 loaf pan by lightly greasing and lining the long way with parchment paper. The parchment paper will help with removing the cooked bread from the pan.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the oat flour, almond flour, ground flaxseeds, tapioca starch, baking powder, salt, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon. Mix to combine.
- In a separate small bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, milk, maple syrup, coconut oil, eggs, and vanilla.
- Add the wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until just combined (do not overmix). Fold in the chocolate chips, reserving a few to sprinkle on top of the batter before baking.
- Pour the batter into prepared loaf pan and evenly spread in pan. Sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips.
- Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Allow bread to cool slightly and move to a cooling rack or cutting board to fully cool.
- Slice and enjoy!
Notes
- You can use arrowroot starch/flour in place of the tapioca starch if needed.
- To quickly get eggs to room temperature, run them under hot water for 30-60 seconds.
- Make sure the wet ingredients are at/close to room temperature so the coconut oil doesn't solidify when you mix everything together.
- Let the bread fully cool before slicing. I know it will be tempting to dive right in, but allowing it to cool helps the bread to settle and will be easier to slice.
This pumpkin bread is delicious! My family can’t stop eating it. In fact, my daughter told me this is the best healthy recipe I’ve made to date! That’s a win in my book! I look forward to making this clean treat again, especially for my gluten-free friends!
Ah, thanks Tera! So glad to hear you and your family love this bread as much as we do 🙂
Can you make this as muffins?
Absolutely! Just divide the batter among 12 muffin cups (greased or lined) and reduce baking time to 20-30 minutes - I would start checking around 20 minutes to see if they are done by inserting a toothpick into the center.
I was told I was sensitive to coconut so I've been trying to avoid it. Do you think avocado oil would work just as well?
Yes, you could for sure replace the coconut oil with avocado oil or extra-virgin olive oil. Hope you enjoy!
Simply delicious! Thank you!
So glad to hear you like it! Thanks for letting me know.
This is a delicious recipe! I made it into muffins instead, and they turned out wonderfully! A new favorite go-to breakfast item for me!
Oh yum... this bread as a muffin sounds amazing! Thanks for letting me know.
Hi Sara,
I can hardly wait to try this recipe as I love pumpkin bread. In this recipe, what would be the best 'eggs' substitute?