hello, lovely

let me start off by apologizing to your favorite skinny jeans.

this pumpkin bread is pretty decadent- what with it's 4 eggs, 2 cups of sugar, 1 cup of oil, butter and two (2!) different types of chocolate.

maybe give your skinny jeans a break, just for a couple days, and slip into those comfy yoga pants.

i used a recipe from brown eyed baker as a starting point and just added a couple things. her recipe asked for only nutmeg, but i like a hit of cinnamon and a touch of cloves in my pumpkin bread, so i added a bit of each. i also cut the oil down by 3T and added 3T of melted butter in its place, because we all know that everything is better with buttah.

i couldn't stop at adding just 1 type of chocolate to the recipe, so i went ahead and added 2. you can't stop this train.

just a little tip- i always crack my eggs, one at a time, into a small bowl or measuring cup first. that way, if any wayward shells get in there, they are easy to scoop out.

hello, lovely, luscious, creamy pumpkin puree.

now, don't do what i did and make one loaf and one dozen muffins, bake them together and completely forget that the muffins are done at 20-25 minutes (and not 60-80 minutes like the loaf) and accidentally cook the sh#% out of them. i saved the muffins by opening them up, scooping out the perfectly cooked insides, and putting them in the freezer. those precious little morsels will be turned into cake pops another day.

learn from my mistakes, friends.

recipe, slightly changed, from brown eyed baker

pumpkin chocolate chunk bread

3-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1½ teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1 cup vegetable oil (minus 3 T)
3T melted buttah
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
2 cups (15 ounces) canned pumpkin
2/3 cup water
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups chocolate chips or roughly chopped dark and/or milk chocolate (i used newman's own milk and dark chocolate)

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees F. lightly grease and flour two 8½x4½-inch loaf pans.

2. in a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg; set aside.

3. in a large bowl, whisk together the vegetable oil, butter and sugar until combined. add the eggs, pumpkin, water and vanilla and whisk until thoroughly combined and smooth. add the dry ingredients and mix gently until combined. using a large spoon or spatula, stir in the chocolate.

4. divide the batter evenly between the two pans and bake for 60 to 80 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

5. remove the bread from the oven and place the pans on a cooling rack. once the breads are completely cool, turn out of the pans. you can serve immediately or, for even better flavor and moistness, wrap the loaves in plastic wrap and store at room temperature overnight.