I alluded to this recipe a while back and am now finally posting it. I made it the first time for Josh’s birthday and was unable to photograph it. Heck, I barely managed to keep the kids away from it to use for his birthday. By the way, it makes fabulous french toast!

I love this time of year with the cooler air. Much better for baking, especially here in the south! I truly love pumpkin. It is wonderful with cinnamon and chocolate. I figured why not put all of them together.

Then the idea for this bread came to me. I did some research and didn’t find what I was looking for so I had to create my own. I found a bread recipe at Cooking Classy that looked good. I made some changes to make it my own. The filling recipe I had to completely leave to my imagination.

For the filling my imagination screamed chocolate cinnamon gooey goodness! I think it is safe to say that I accomplished this. If you can stand to let it cool before cutting into the bread you will be rewarded with a wonderful pumpkin bread swirled with a melted chocolate gooey cinnamon filling. Hope you enjoy as much as we did!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Chocolate Swirl Bread
1 pkg. yeast
1/4 c. water, warmed to 110 degrees
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/4 c. milk, warmed to 110 degrees
2 Tbs. honey
1/4 c. sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. butter, softened
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. cloves
1 egg
1 c. pumpkin purée, fresh or canned
2 1/4 c. flour
1 1/4 c. white whole wheat flour
For the Filling
2 Tbs. butter, very soft or melted
1/4 c. dark brown sugar
2 Tbs. sugar
1 Tbs. dark chocolate cocoa powder
1 Tbs. cinnamon
Pinch of salt
1/4 c. mini chocolate chips

Pour the yeast and 1/2 tsp. sugar into the warm water, stir and let rest for 5 minutes. Once the yeast is active pour into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add in the milk, honey, sugar, salt, butter, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, egg and pumpkin. Whisk to combine. Put the dough hook on the mixer and start gradually adding the flours. Once all the flour is in knead the dough on high speed for about five minutes until the dough becomes elastic and forms a ball. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about an hour.

Grease a loaf pan. In a small bowl combine the brown sugar, sugar, cocoa, cinnamon and salt for the filling. Punch down the dough once it has doubled in size. Turn the dough onto a floured surface. Roll it into a rectangle approximately 8×22 inches. Brush the soft/melted butter onto the dough, leaving about a half inch border all around. Sprinkle the filling all over the butter, careful not to get too close to the edges. Sprinkle the mini chocolate chips on top. Roll up the dough starting on the short side. Place in the loaf pan, cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

Once doubled in size bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. If it seems to get dark quickly cover with a foil tent about halfway through the baking time. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes and then put on a cooling rack. If you can, allow the bread to cool completely before cutting!

Yields one loaf
Bread recipe adapted from Cooking Classy