Great Harvest Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

Great Harvest Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread is a homemade version of your favorite bakery store loaf! This pumpkin bread is packed with spices and the perfect treat for fall!

“This was the absolute BEST pumpkin bread I’ve ever eaten!! It was my first time making it on my own, the recipe is very simple to follow and turned out perfectly! Definitely a new fall staple for my family. It was also a hit for our friends!! I’m not surprised though because ABK recipes never disappoint!” Allie

Great Harvest Pumpkin CHocolate Chip Bread

I’m not usually a fan of  store bought pumpkin bread. It always tastes like a mix (because it probably is) or it is: too airy, too dry, too much like a cake.  The one exception is Great Harvest Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread. If you’ve ever eaten a slice, you know that Great Harvest makes an amazing  loaf of pumpkin bread!  It has just the right amount of sweet and chocolate and it stays moist for DAYS… IF you can keep it hidden away!

How to make a homemade version of Great Harvest recipe

Nothing compares to homemade so I decided it was time to make a homemade version of our favorite store bought loaf! First, I purchased and ate several slices (maybe loaves) to make sure my copycat version was as close to the bakery version as possible in taste and texture. I compared the ingredient list on the Great Harvest  package to recipes online that claimed to be Great Harvest copycats. Hmmmm.  A lot of those recipes included ingredients not on the Great Harvest ingredients list?? Ingredients like: honey, brown sugar, wheat flour.  All good ingredients, but not accurate if you’re trying to recreate the bakery version…

testing recipes & method, tips for making Great Harvest Pumpkin Bread

After several test batches, and experimenting with different temperatures of baking, amounts and types of flour, spices, pumpkin, and eggs,  I think it’s a true-to-form copycat. Many of my taste testers declared it to be “Just like Great Harvest!”

Tips for making Great Harvest pumpkin bread:

1. Do not overmix. This causes the bread to have a spongy almost tough texture. Overbeating or mixing causes gluten to develop, which alters the texture of the bread.

2. This recipe is simple and can be mixed in one bowl. I start by beating the eggs in a mixing bowl and adding sugar, beating until smooth.

3. Slowly pour the oil into the bowl with the mixer on, which makes for no-splash and a smooth mixture leading up to adding the dry ingredients.

4. Mix all of the wet ingredients together until smooth and then add all of the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix just until the flour has disappeared.

5. The best loaf pan is this USA Bakeware 1 lb loaf pan. USA Bakewear is heavy duty, light in color (to prevent over browning) and bakes up the best loaves. USA sells a couple different styles, the pan linked is my favorite.

Great Harvest pumpkin bread copycat recipe reviews

This Great Harvest Chocolate Chip Bread is lightly spiced, super moist and has a rich pumpkin flavor.  At about $10 a loaf (2026 price) at the bakery, you’ll be saving a few dollars and your house will smell great too! I’d love to hear if you try this recipe and your thoughts on our copycat recipe!

Post updated with new content and photos October 2026, original publish date October 2014

Great Harvest Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

4.98 from 44 votes

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Author: Si Foster

Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 55 minutes mins

cool time: 30 minutes mins

Total Time: 1 hour hr 35 minutes mins

Servings: 2 loaves

Great Harvest Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread is the closest thing to buying a Great Harvest loaf! This make at home version includes all of the ingredeints listed at Great Harvest and costs less than buying at the bakery.

Ingredients 

• 4   large eggs
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/4   cups vegetable or canola oil
• 1-15 oz can Libby’s pumpkin* see recipe notes about Libby’s, not pumpkin pie filling
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

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Instructions

• Place the rack in the center of the oven, and generously grease and line the bottom of two loaf pans with parchment or wax paper. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Place eggs in a mixing bowl. Beat for about 1 minute on medium speed. Add sugar beat again for 1 minute. Scrape down sides of bowl.
• Add the oil to the mixture in the bowl while the mixer is on low. Add the pumpkin and vanilla and mix on medium until all wet ingredients are mixed well. This takes a few seconds. Turn mixer off.
• Place the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, spices and chocolate chips into the bowl with the pumpkin mixture. Mix just until the wet and dry ingredients are incorporated on low, scraping down sides of bowl a couple of times during process.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf pans.
• Bake for 50-60 minutes or until knife inserted in center of loaf comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. The center should not be shiny or wet looking.
• Remove from oven. Let sit for 5 minutes in pan. Loosen sides of loaf if necessary with butter knife. Remove from pan and cool completely.

Notes

• Important note regarding pumpkin. I prefer Libby’s pumpkin over other brands. Do not use organic pumpkin in this recipe if you want the rich darker color as pictured. I have experimented using a store brand “Organic Pumpkin” and was very disappointed in the finished product. The color is light orange, not the rich color you will get if using Libby’s. The texture is also slightly different when using organic pumpkin. Not quite as dense. Use Libby’s, trust me on this! If you want your loaves to look like Great Harvest, use Libby’s. 
• I make a liner for the loaf pan by placing parchment or wax paper under the pan and tracing around the bottom of the pan. Cut the paper on the line. Place the paper in the bottom of the loaf pan and spray sides of pan (only half way up) and bottom (on top of the paper liner) generously with cooking spray. If you spray the pan all the way to the top, your loaf will have an edge that rises above the center of the loaf. 
• I bake in  4 1/2 x 8 1/2 pans. When I place the batter in the pans, they fill the pans over 3/4 full. There is about a 1/2 – 3/4 inch space to the top of the loaf pan.  You may use any size of loaf pan, just fill about 3/4 full. 
• This recipe will easily yield 3 smaller loaves. Adjust the baking time to 45 minutes then check to make sure loaf is set. You may also make muffins. Fill the muffin tins lined or unlined about 3/4 full and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until the tops spring back when lightly touched! 

Equipment

• Kitchenaid
• loaf pans