Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

As fall continues to set in and the weather cools down by the day, all I want to do is make comforting fall dishes and satisfying baked goods. With my constant craving for sweet treats, I decided to knock another dish off my pumpkin list - chocolate chip pumpkin bread! The combination of sweet and spice makes for a perfect fall treat, especially with a cup of tea to start your morning.

This recipe makes two loaves of bread, but unfortunately I only own one loaf pan, so this turned into a long baking endeavor. Lucky for me, I had twice the time to enjoy the great smells coming from my oven. Once the first loaf was baked to wonderful golden brown perfection, I couldn't wait to try a slice!

The pumpkin and mix of fall spices balances really well with the sweet, melting chocolate embedded throughout the bread. I was a little worried that the chocolate would overwhelm the bread, but it was just the right amount to satisfy my sweet tooth.

Although Matt and I definitely could have eaten a whole loaf between the two of us, I tried to practice some self control and brought almost a loaf and a half to work to share with my coworkers. I love sharing baked goods with my friends and coworkers, especially as it's getting closer to the holidays. Who doesn't love an unexpected sweet treat to make it through the work day? Let me know some of your favorite baked goods to make during the fall so I can try them too!

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

It was a very pumpkin filled weekend (don't forget about our really fun pumpkin ale blind taste test!) and even more pumpkin loving this week! For our four year wedding anniversary, we took off last Friday to celebrate, kicking it off by making a delicious breakfast at home. Along with bacon (some of the best bacon I've had!) and eggs, we made the pumpkin spice pancakes I included in my list of pumpkin recipes to try. Boy, were they delicious!

Based on the proportions listed in the recipe, the batter was definitely too thick. I thinned it out a bit with some more milk, but not enough in the end as the pancakes were a bit denser than we would have liked. Despite the density, they had a delicious pumpkin flavor and the spices used in the recipe really came through. I was so happy with the punch of flavor these pancakes packed.

Since we had such a filling breakfast, there was batter left over for the next day. How lucky is that? After thinning it out some more, which required quite a bit more milk, the batter was a perfect consistency and the second batch on Saturday was even better!

We had a great anniversary day, going on a sailboat ride down at South Street Seaport. The weather was absolutely perfect, 80 degrees and sunny with some beautiful puffy clouds in the sky. We then headed to Park Slope, where we lived our first year in New York, and ate at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant, Hanco's, to chow down on some delicious and incredibly flavorful bánh mì sandwiches and wash it down with a refreshing Thai iced tea. If I only I could have this meal every day! Well....we may have eaten at their other location the following day because it was so good. Don't judge me - you would do the same if you tried it!

If you love pumpkin and the flavor of all the spices that come along with pumpkin pie, you'll love these pancakes. Just make sure to thin out the batter to make them nice and fluffy! I also made a few loaves of pumpkin chocolate chip bread yesterday so stay tuned!

Blind Taste Test: Pumpkin Ales

One of my favorite things about fall is the selection of pumpkin ales I can try throughout the season. I've come to realize that I'm fairly picky, and rightfully so, wanting a beer with full pumpkin and spice flavor. It's always disappointing ordering a beer that is just so mild that you can barely taste the delicious pumpkin and mix of spices (cinnamon, allspice, cloves, ginger, nutmeg) that you fully expect out of it. 

Matt and I decided to put a selection of six pumpkin ales to the test, trying each one blindfolded and ranking them from the best to the worst. Who knew this could be so fun (and make you feel so bloated)? After browsing the awesome selection of 15 to 20 different pumpkin beers available at City Swiggers, these are the six pumpkin ales we chose for our tasting, from left to right:

      

• UFO Pumpkin
• Blue Point Pumpkin Ale
• Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale
• Ithaca Country Pumpkin Ale
• Cisco Pumple Drumkin
• Captain Lawrence Pumpkin Ale

Since I've tried my fair share of pumpkin ales in the past, I always considered Blue Point one of my favorites, so I knew I had to include it in the mix. I chose some of the others based on reading about recommended pumpkin ales. The definite wild card was Pumple Drumkin, mainly because of the name and the adorable picture on the label. Well, here it goes, blindfold and all!

Matt and I both sampled all six beers, going through the first tasting to put them in a rough order of best to worst. We sampled them all again a second time, starting with our least favorite, and working our way up to our favorite pumpkin ale. As we tasted each one, we made adjustments to the order before solidifying our final lists! 

The first impression

Initial tasting

Palate cleanser between beers

Here are our final lists (brewery name only) after the delicious, but very filling, blind taste test:

Emily's List

• Ithaca
• Captain Lawrence
• Shipyard
• UFO
• Blue Point
• Cisco

Matt's List

• Ithaca
• Shipyard
• UFO
• Captain Lawrence
• Cisco
• Blue Point

Ithaca was the clear winner for both of us. It had a very well rounded pumpkin and spice flavor (a bit more of the spices than pumpkin itself) and a touch of brown sugar. I haven't really seen this as a pumpkin option in bars, but I'll definitely be on the lookout this fall.

Winner!

My second choice was Captain Lawrence, which had a really spicy smell before the first sip, which had a good kick of pumpkin and spices with a little hoppy note to it as well. I love IPAs so I'm not surprised that I ranked this one so highly. Shipyard had a major punch of cinnamon and raisin flavor, more reminiscent of a Christmas beer/cocktail (I had an amazing gin cocktail at Gin Palace that reminded me exactly of the flavor of this beer), without really tasting any pumpkin. I personally loved the flavor, but couldn't rank it higher because it didn't scream pumpkin to me at all. UFO also had a well rounded pumpkin spice flavor, but could have been a little stronger and have a longer lasting flavor. Both Blue Point and Cisco were very disappointing, both having very little flavor at all. Who knew that Blue Point would rank so low when I thought it was one of my favorites?

We had so much fun trying a range of pumpkin ales! I think in the future, we'll be doing other blind taste tests of other types of beers. IPAs are by far my favorite (not so much for Matt) so I would definitely want to try a variety. However, IPAs can taste drastically different whether they are more on the bitter side or have a lot of floral notes. It would definitely make for an interesting taste test! I think our next set of seasonal beers will be around the holidays so stay tuned for Christmas ales!

What are your favorite pumpkin ales? Let me know in the comments section so I can try them myself!