Thanksgiving is of course all about food, I mean giving thanks of course. When there is family in from out of town and a bounty of food to make it’s nice to have a breakfast snack on hand that you can make ahead of time and doesn’t require many dishes the day of. This pumpkin chocolate swirl bread is the answer to an easy make ahead breakfast that requires no prep the day of. It is even better when made the day before and rested over night to set it’s shape before being cut in the morning and snacked on alongside a cup of coffee and tea. Thanksgiving does not call for a heavy breakfast, but a tad of indulgence and festive pumpkin flavor sure fits the bill.
There are 3 key steps to quick bread success that if followed will yield a tender fluffy crumb.
- Make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature so that they can combine easily and the batter doesn’t break.
- Do not over mix! This is most important once the flour is added since over working the gluten will make the bread tough and chewy or dense.
- Remove the bread from the pan right after it come out of the oven. To do this loosen both ends of the loaf where there is no parchment with a flexible knife and then gently lift the loaf out of the pan with the excess parchment on the sides. Cool on a wire rack or cutting board completely before wrapping or slicing. I find that this loaf in particular slices better when baked the day before so that the chocolate layer doesn’t blend.
If your not using our cocoa powder you may not need to add the full amount of liquid to the cocoa mixture. Since Match cocoa is made of freshly roasted, pressed and ground cocoa it has a higher cocoa butter percentage and is more fibrous than store bought dutch cocoa, this means it will absorb more liquid when becoming paste. Always remember to sift cocoa powder to break up any large clumps of cocoa butter.
This quick bread has a chocolate surprise but is big on festive pumpkin flavor. Bake the day before and serve sliced alongside a cup of coffee or tea. Your guests will be happy to have a homemade treat to wake up to and you will be happy that all the work was done the day before.
This recipe makes a big loaf and it easily filled my 11 inch loaf pan, if you have smaller pans you will need to use two or cut the recipe in half.
- 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 3 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon all spice
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt for table salt use less
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup dark brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter cubed, at room temperature
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 15oz can pure pumpkin puree
- 1 cup buttermilk room temperature
- 4 tablespoons Match cocoa powder sifted
- 2 tablespoons brewed coffee
- 1 bar dark chocolate, chopped we used Match Cacao South
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Preheat oven to 350 and grease one large loaf pan or two smaller loaf pans. Line the pan(s) with a piece of parchment so that there is paper sticking out of both long sides to help you pull out the finished loaf.
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In a small bowl, mix the cocoa powder with the coffee adding warm water if needed until it forms a smooth paste, set aside.
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In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt. Set aside.
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In a mixer bowl cream the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy. Slowly add one egg at a time until combined and then slowly add the pumpkin and buttermilk, mix until completely combined.
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Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix together just until combined, do this on low so that flour doesn't fly all over your kitchen. If you over-mix the batter the bread may become dense. Remove approximately 1 cup of the pumpkin batter and add it to the cocoa mixture, stir just until combined folding in the chopped chocolate at the end.
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Pour half of the pumpkin batter into the prepared pan forming an indentation along the middle. Scoop on top of that layer the chocolate mixture and then top with the remaining pumpkin batter. Lightly swirl the batters together with a butter knife. This requires much less swirling than you think, be careful not to mix the two batters together.
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Bake at 350 for about an hour or until a knife or toothpick comes out clean. This largely depends on the size of your loaves so start checking it once the top appears to be set.
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When the loaf comes out of the oven immediately run a flexible knife or spatula around the sides to loosen it and lift it out of the pan by the parchment. It is best to let it cool out of the pan to avoid the crust from becoming soggy.
