Pumpkin season is upon us and I am so excited to bring you this Scrumptious Chocolate Pumpkin Loaf using which is super easy to make and utterly delicious! The subtly sweet pumpkin flavour go so well with the richness of the chocolate and create the fluffiest of the loaf. For this recipe I have used Califia Farms Coconut Almond Blend which is so wonderful as a hot or cold drink but also perfect to make any baking recipe extra delicious and decadent! 

Ingredients:

220g of spelt flour 

50g of ground almond 

50g of cocoa powder 

150g of coconut sugar 

200ml of Califia Coconut Almond Blend

3 tbsp of melted coconut oil or sunflower oil 

1 tsp of bicarbonate of soda 

1 tsp of baking powder 

1 tsp of vanilla extract 

250g of pumpkin puree 

60g of dark chocolate chips (optional)

If you are making your own pumpkin puree, peel and chop abut half of a butternut squash/ small size pumpkin – around 400g. Steam the pumpkin pieces until soft and mushy. Drain them and let them cool down slightly. Using a hand blender blend the pumpkin until you have a fairly smooth puree. Let it cool down completely.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Line a loaf tin with some parchment paper. In a large bowl mix together the flour, ground almonds, cocoa powder, coconut sugar, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder. 

In a separate bowl add the pumpkin puree, the melted coconut oil, Califia Coconut Almond Blend and vanilla extract and mix well. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and gently mix until everything is well combined. If using fold in the chocolate chips. Don’t overmix the batter. Just mix until you don’t see anymore dry flour. Pour the mixture into the tin and bake the loaf in the oven for 50 minutes until it has a firm crust on top.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes. Remove from the tin and place on a cooling rack for another 2-3 hours or even better overnight.
Cut into slices and enjoy!