Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread - dairy free

Last week my brain was a little explod-y with details. For some reason there seemed to be a lot more to keep track of than usual. Mr Official Taster is, shall we say....not know for his attention to details, so there are always some extra things I need to remember and/or remember to remind him about. In addition, we have some big events coming up in October which require lots of logistical details to be taken care of. And for some reason, there are more details to juggle at work lately, too. 

Needless to say, by the end of the week I was ready to crash, and I did (I slept 12+ hours Friday night. delightful.) However, I also dedicated some time to baking, knowing that it would help me stop being distracted by the details and instead force me to focus on the task at hand. Making this chocolate chip pumpkin bread was not hard or time-consuming, but it took just enough concentration that I was able to forget about dates and times and menus and pen colors for a much-needed afternoon break. 

I hope you found some time to decompress this weekend, too! And more details+photos later on these "events" in October. promise.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread - dairy free
2 C flour
1 1/2 C whole wheat flour*
3 C sugar
2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
2 tsp cinnamon
4 eggs
1 C vegetable oil
2/3 C water
1 30-oz can pumpkin**
1 1/2 C high quality semi-sweet chocolate chips (I use Ghirardelli)
1 C nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour 2 large loaf pans***.

Mix together all dry ingredients except the chocolate chips and nuts together in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, beat eggs, and then combine well with oil, water and pumpkin. Add the liquid mixture to the dry mixture and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts, if using.

Divide dough evenly between loaf pans. Bake for 80-90 minutes (yes, really. it's a very wet dough) or until a cake tester/skewer/sharp knife come out clean. Cool completely before taking out of the pans an slicing.

Notes:
*Of course, you can use only regular flour if you'd like, or a different combination of all-purpose, whole wheat and/or white whole wheat. Just make sure it all adds up to 3 1/2 C flour.

**this is the large size can that you can find on grocery shelves this time of year. The small can is 15 oz, which is handy if you decide to go halvsies with this recipe.

***or 4 medium or 8 mini loaf pans. Cook times will vary with the sizes. I'm guessing that the medium or mini loaves will take 30-45 minutes, but I'm not certain since I don't have those sizes to play with. If you do, let us know, will you?

Since this recipe makes lots of bread, you'll be glad to know that it freezes well. Wrap each loaf you want to freeze tightly. Or you could just make half the recipe.