Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

No matter how hard I try, I can never out-bless my parents.  They truly are one of the great blessings in my life. 

When they found out that Ben and I were planning a trip to Hawaii, they offered to travel 700 miles to our house in Georgia and dog sit our crazy Weimaraner for the week and a half that we were gone.  That in and of itself is a full time job but while they were here, they also tackled house and yard projects that had been on our to-do list for quite a while.  At the end of our fabulous trip, we came home to a sparkling clean home (and driveway) and an extremely exhausted pooch.

In preparation for their house/dog sitting visit, I put together a couple of simple casseroles and soups for my parents and put them in the freezer.  I had no idea that while we were away, my mom would restock our freezer with her own amazing food for us.   There's nothing like coming home from vacation to a well stocked refrigerator and a homemade apple pie and homemade spaghetti sauce and meatballs in the freezer.  Did I mention that it's impossible to out-bless my parents?  

Even when I'm not expecting house guests, I like to make quick breads to keep in my freezer.  One of my favorites is this Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread.  I love this bread because it's dairy free but it's rich in wonderful warm Fall spices and flavors - and chocolate chips!   

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread
14 ounce can pumpkin
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups light brown sugar
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups mini semisweet chocolate chips

Whisk together pumpkin, baking soda, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt.  

Whisk in eggs, sugar and oil.

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Fold in flour and chocolate chips. 

Spoon batter into a greased loaf pan. 

Bake for 1 hour at 350. 

Transfer to a wire rack to cool. 

This recipe made one big loaf and two mini loaves of breed.  My large loaf of banana bread sunk in the middle as it cooled.  That is usually an indication it's underbaked and could have used a few more minutes in the oven.  That certainly didn't stop us from eating it though.  

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To my parents: I can never thank you enough for sacrificially taking over our dog and house responsibilities for a couple of weeks so that we could enjoy a much needed vacation.  You are such a blessing to all of us.  We love you.


Ciao!

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