Name: Marbled Chocolate Pumpkin Bread
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 1 h 5 min
Total time: 1 h 25 min
Yield: 2
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted; 1 cup sugar; 2 eggs; 1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree; 2 3/4 cups flour, divided; 1 cup whole milk; 1 tablespoon lemon juice; 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder; 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda; 3 teaspoons cinnamon; 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves; 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg; 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/2 cup cocoa powder

Jump to Recipe

This marbled chocolate pumpkin bread recipe is perfect for fall! It's so delicious and flavorful with all the spices, pumpkin, and cocoa powder.

It's easier to make than you'd think and swirling it to create the marbled pattern is actually quite fun!

The flavor of this pumpkin bread is the best. It's got pumpkin, cocoa, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg...so, you know it's going to taste great.

Best Fall Pumpkin Recipes

Whether it’s fresh or canned, pumpkin is one of the most versatile ingredients in fall recipes! These are some of the best fall pumpkin recipes - both savory and sweet:

How do you make pumpkin bread?

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the butter and sugar in a large bowl. Stir briskly till combined. Add the eggs and stir till combined. Then add the pumpkin and again stir till combined. Combine the lemon juice and milk in a small bowl.

Reserve ½ cup of flour (to be used later with cocoa powder). Add the remaining flour and milk/lemon, by alternating between the two and stirring in gradually. Then add the baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Stir till fully combined.

Add half the batter to another large bowl. Eyeballing this is okay. Stir in the remaining flour in one bowl and add the cocoa powder to the other bowl, mixing till fully combined.

Butter two, 1 pound (8 ½" x 4 ½") loaf pans. Add spoonfuls of alternating batters to each pan. Then add a second layer on top, again alternating the pattern.

pumpkin bread and chocolate batter in baking pan

Using a small spatula or knife, run it through the batter in a figure 8 pattern twice to add marbling.

Bake for 65 to 75 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, before removing bread from the pan.

Tips for this Marbled Chocolate Pumpkin Bread

I've got loads of photos above outlining the steps, but make sure to really carefully read this recipe - it's not particularly hard, but there are some specific steps to follow.
Make sure this bread is fully cooked through before removing it from the oven. Test it with a toothpick (it should come out clean) before taking it out of the oven.
This recipe yields 2 loaves of bread - eat one now, freeze one for later! Or share with your neighbors - they'll love you!

Yield: 2 loaves (20 slices)

Marbled Chocolate Pumpkin Bread

This marbled chocolate pumpkin bread is so delicious and flavorful!

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 5 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes

Ingredients

1 stick (½ cup) butter, melted
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree
2 ¾ cups flour, divided
1 cup whole milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
3 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup cocoa powder

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine the butter and sugar in a large bowl. Stir briskly till combined.
Add the eggs and stir till combined.
Then add the pumpkin and again stir till combined.
Combine the lemon juice and milk in a small bowl.
Reserve ½ cup of flour (to be used later with cocoa powder). Add the remaining flour and milk/lemon, by alternating between the two and stirring in gradually.
Then add the baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Stir till fully combined.
Add half the batter to another large bowl. Eyeballing this is okay.
Stir in the remaining flour in one bowl and add the cocoa powder to the other bowl, mixing till fully combined.
Butter two, 1 pound (8 ½" x 4 ½") loaf pans.
Add spoonfuls of alternating batters to each pan. Then add a second layer on top, again alternating the pattern.
Using a small spatula or knife, run it through the batter in a figure 8 pattern twice to add marbling.
Bake for 65 to 75 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, before removing bread from the pan.
Store in a covered container. Can be frozen as well.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 126Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 20mgSodium: 197mgCarbohydrates: 25gFiber: 1gSugar: 11gProtein: 3g

Megan

Wednesday 27th of October 2021

Am I missing something? How much coco powder do you use

Emily

Hey! You use 1/2 cup of cocoa powder (it’s the last ingredient in the list, so may have gotten lost in the wall of text ☺️)

Ellen

Sunday 26th of September 2021

We absolutely love this recipe! Beautiful, full of autumn, and not too sweet! Thank you!

Monday 27th of September 2021

So glad you liked it, Ellen!

Jennifer

Sunday 12th of September 2021

Where in the steps does the pumpkin get added?

Hi Jennifer - you add the can of pumpkin in step 4. Stir it into the already mixed butter, sugar, and eggs. Please let me know if you have any other questions!

Wednesday 3rd of February 2021

Hi Emily, my loaf pan is 9 1/4 by 5 1/4. It seemed done at around 45 mins so took it out. It passed the toothpick test. Make sense to you? It looks great

Hi Ellen, Yes! If it passes the toothpick test, I'd take it out. :) Hope you love it

Isabelle

Sunday 4th of October 2020

HEllo! I’m confused bY step #9. Can you please clarifY what bowl you are Referring to when you say to “add rest of flour to one bowl”. Do you mean add the floUr To the original bowl of just pumpkin?

Monday 5th of October 2020

Hello! Sorry this is tricky. Essentially you are making a batter that's the base for the bread that you'll half, then you are adding cocoa powder to half of it (to make the chocolate part). Because the cocoa is a powder and changes the consistency of the dough, you need to reserve 1/2 cup of flour to add to the OTHER part of the batter (the non-cocoa half). So for the recipe you need 2 3/4 cups of flour (remove 1/2 cup of this and set it aside), then make the batter (steps 2-7), halve the batter. For one half of the batter, add the remaining 1/2 cup of flour and to the other add the 1/2 cup of cocoa. Does that make sense?