Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake — This easy pumpkin cake is loaded with chocolate chips and drizzled in rich and decadent chocolate ganache. It’s one of the best pumpkin cakes I’ve ever had!! An EASY no-mixer fall favorite cake that everyone just LOVES!
Table of Contents
- Easy Pumpkin Bundt Cake … with Chocolate Chips!
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake Ingredients
- How to Make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake
- Recipe FAQs
- Tips for the Best Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bundt Cake
- The Best Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake with Chocolate Ganache Recipe
- More Easy Pumpkin Desserts:
Easy Pumpkin Bundt Cake … with Chocolate Chips!
I originally posted this recipe in the fall of 2012. I had a little girl in the kitchen that day who was just 5 years old helping me. She’s now a freshman in high school. I feel like I remember more about this cake than I sometimes do about the last 9 years that have seemingly passed by in the true blink of an eye.
If you’re lucky enough to have small kids underfoot, bake a pumpkin cake with them! You will thank yourself when they’re in high school and far too busy to be baking cakes with you.
The last decade of blogging hasn’t been like the first few years when I started and (over) shared about my personal life, but I wanted to at least share that memory.
I went on to write a cookbook dedicated to only pumpkin recipes, published in 2014. It’s called Cooking With Pumpkin and I’d love it if you wanted to buy or download a copy! I included this pumpkin chocolate chip bundt cake in my cookbook because it’s just THAT good!
The pumpkin puree keeps this chocolate pumpkin bundt cake moist and dense and the spices, including pumpkin pie spice, allspice, cinnamon, and cloves, complement the pumpkin puree and are a reminder that fall is here.
Being the chocaholic that I am, I used chocolate in two ways. Chocolate chips are woven throughout the cake and chocolate ganache is poured over the top.
The ganache is so easy to make and comes together in about 1 minute in the microwave. Chocolate chips, cream, and vanilla. It’ so simple to make but tastes so decadent.
The ganache stays a bit soft and silky, even over time, which is very different from a chocolate buttercream which hardens and dries out after it’s exposed to the air. I love buttercream but not when it gets crunchy.
Between the chocolate chips in the cake and the chocolate ganache on top, if you like your pumpkin with a side of chocolate, this cake will make you happy.
It made me very happy.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake Ingredients
To make this pumpkin bundt cake with chocolate chips, you’ll need:
- Eggs
- Pumpkin puree
- Granulated sugar
- Canola oil
- Sour cream
- Vanilla extract
- Butter extract
- Spices
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Cream or half and half
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
Can the Butter Extract Be Omitted?
I added a bit of butter extract to the batter and if it’s not something you keep on hand, don’t worry about it. From time to time, I use butter extract as a flavor enhancer and flavor booster in cookie dough and cake batter.
I wouldn’t necessarily say it makes things taste ‘buttery’. Rather, it rounds out the flavors, complements the existing flavors, and gives food that homey quality, and although you can’t exactly put your finger on what it is, it just makes you want to have seconds.
Just like adding brewed coffee to chocolate cake batter does not make the chocolate cake taste like a chocolate-coffee-flavored-cake and instead intensifies the chocolate flavor, the butter extract principle is similar. It enhances without making you think you just swallowed a stick of butter or anything.
Butter extract is only about $2.99 for a little vial, compared to about $6.99+ for vanilla extract of the same size, and it’s a fun little bargain extract to keep around. I add a few drops of it to the melted butter to be poured over popcorn for really buttery-flavored buttered popcorn.
How to Make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake
Making a pumpkin bundt cake with chocolate chips couldn’t be easier! Here are the basic recipe steps:
- Whisk together the wet ingredients in a large bowl, then mix in the dry ingredients.
- Gently fold in the chocolate chips.
- Turn the batter into a greased and floured 12-cup bundt pan.
- Bake until the top has set and is golden, or a toothpick comes out clean (due to the chocolate chips, you may hit some chocolate patches with the insertion test).
- Let the cake cool for 15 minutes before inverting it.
- Once the pumpkin chocolate chip bundt cake is mostly cool, top with chocolate ganache.
Recipe FAQs
I baked this pumpkin chocolate chip cake in a 12-cup Bundt pan, but it can be baked in a 10-cup Bundt, and you’d probably have success dividing the batter among two 8-by-4-inch loaf pans.
Or, follow this classic pumpkin chocolate chip cake recipe so you don’t have to worry at all about pan conversions!
I love cake as much as the next person, but many of us are cooking for ourselves or small families and we don’t necessarily need ginormous Bundts just laying around and this one isn’t extreme.
This pumpkin chocolate chip cake will keep for up to 5 days in an airtight container at room temperature.
In an effort to duplicate that springy yellow-cake-mix-cake quality, I added sour cream. Sour cream, or Greek yogurt, gives cakes a spongy and springy quality, tenderizes them, and keeps them soft and moist. There is nothing worse than dry cake and I’d rather have nothing than a piece of dry cake.
I didn’t actually use butter in the cake and used oil instead. Oil makes cakes moister, springier, and softer than butter.
I do love the flavor of butter in cookies and pie crust, but in recipes where the butter flavor would get lost anyway, such as this one with the pumpkin, the spices, and all the chocolate going on, may as well use oil to keep the cake moister. Plus, the butter extract makes up for any lack of real butter.
Tips for the Best Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bundt Cake
I used a mixture of cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, all spice, and cloves in this pumpkin cake recipe. If you don’t have all of these spices on hand, mix and match with what you do have. It will probably turn out fine!
Once the dry ingredients are mixed into the wet, don’t over mix! This is a thicker cake batter, and you can easily over-develop the gluten and create a dense cake.
The pumpkin chocolate bundt cake MUST cool in the pan for at least 15 minutes before it can be inverted. If you try to invert the cake right away, you run the risk of the cake sinking.
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The Best Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake with Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup canola or vegetable oil
- ¼ cup sour cream, Greek yogurt may be substituted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon butter extract, optional
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt, optional
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Chocolate Ganache
- ⅔ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ¼ cup cream or half-and-half
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- optionally add 1 to 2 tablespoons rum or bourbon, coffee liqueur, or chocolate-flavored liqueur
Instructions
Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 12-cup Bundt or tube-cake pan with cooking spray (I use Pam for Bakingwith excellent results) or grease and flour the pan; set aside.
- In a large bowl combine eggs, pumpkin puree, sugar, oil, sour cream, vanilla extract, butter extract, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, allspice, cloves (if you don’t have all of them on hand, just use what you do have) and whisk to combine until mixture is smooth and silky.
- Add the flour, baking soda, salt and stir until just combined (don’t overmix or the gluten will over-develop and cake will be tougher).
- Fold in the chocolate chips and pour batter into prepared pan, smoothing it lightly with a spatula if necessary and give it a slam on the counter to release any air.
- Bake for 38 to 42 minutes, or until top has set (it may crackle, this is okay) and is golden or a cake tester, toothpick, or blade of a knife comes out clean (due to the chocolate chips, you may hit some chocolate patches with the insertion test).
- Allow cake to cool in pan for about 15 minutes before inverting and releasing cake from pan and placing it on a rack to finish cooling. While cake cools, make the ganache.
Chocolate Ganache:
- Place chocolate in a medium microwave-safe bowl and heat on high power for 1 minute to soften chocolate; set aside.
- In a small microwave-safe bowl or measuring cup, heat the cream (I used half-and-half) on high power just until it begins to bubble and show signs of boiling, about 1 minute.
- Pour hot cream over chocolate and let it stand about 1 minute. Whisk vigorously until chocolate has melted and mixture is smooth and velvety.
- Add vanilla, optional alcohol, and whisk to combine. Set bowl aside for about 5 minutes, allowing ganache to cool and thicken a bit.
- Whisk mixture briefly before preparing to drizzle it over the cake. Ganache will set up a bit with time, but remains quite viscous and drippy.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Easy Pumpkin Desserts:
Easy Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting — Moist pumpkin cake is topped with a creamy homemade cream cheese frosting. This easy fall dessert is perfect for Thanksgiving, Halloween, and more!
The Best Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread — This pumpkin chocolate chip bread is truly the best homemade pumpkin bread you’ll ever make. It’s moist, packed with chocolate chips, and tastes like fall!
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Brownies — Rich, fudgy brownies topped with pumpkin and chocolate chips!! An EASY, no mixer pumpkin brownie recipe that’s FASTER than using a boxed mix! Bring on pumpkin spice season!!
Cream Cheese-Filled Pumpkin Bread — This is without a doubt the BEST pumpkin bread recipe! This pumpkin cream cheese bread tastes like it has cheesecake baked into the middle. You’ll definitely want a second slice!
Soft and Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies — Between the molasses, pumpkin pie spice, and pumpkin pie spice extract that I used, these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies beautifully showcase the flavors of fall!
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake — This soft and moist pumpkin cake is loaded with chocolate in every bite!! An EASY one-bowl fall dessert that’s perfect for impromptu entertaining or anytime a pumpkin craving strikes!!
Originally posted October 1, 2012 and reposted September 29, 2021 with updated text.
Hi…I don’t usually comment if a recipe doesn’t turn out right but I made the cake today and followed the recipe to the letter, but it turned out gummy and fell while cooling in the pan, any ideas as to what I might have done wrong?
You probably just underbaked it. If it was gummy and fell, those are 2 signs with any cake of it just needing a bit more time in the oven. Probably another 5 mins or so is all that it would have needed. If you try again, LMK! I am sure it was just a little underbaked – this is one of the most popular fall cakes on my site and so many people love it and I’ve made it dozens of times and it always works. So just bake a little longer!
Thanks I will definitely try it again!
I literally dream about this cake even months after I’ve seen it! I’m not kidding. I’ve always wanted to bake it, specifically because pumpkin desserts are my absolute favorite. So what’s my problem? Well, I’d probably eat the whole thing by myself. It still looks amazing and I just wanted to leave a comment and tell you that this is probably my favorite thing on your blog!
Thank you, Monique. I loved these photos too and still really like them. There are certain images that I love at the time, but then quickly change my mind and I’m still happy with these. And I am not kidding, of all the cakes on my blog, this is my fave one. It will take a lot to top it, too. From both the taste perspective as well as EASE of making it, it really is such a great cake.
Made this last night for Thanksgiving dinner and everyone loved it! What an amazingly delicious combination. It was easy to make and the ganache turned out really great and yummy. I just added a tablespoon of butter for extra yummyness. For the cake itself I looked everywhere for butter extract but couldn’t find any, however the results were still phenomenal. Even my sister that doesn’t like pumpkin desserts asked to take some home with her! I can’t wait to try your chocolate cake next. Thank you so much for this wonderfully simple and delicious recipe!!!! :)
Oh that’s awesome – so glad you liked it! I have a couple chocolate cakes – there’s one with molasses and a Baileys glaze and then another one that’s just with a chocolate ganache. Both are really good depending on what you’re going for. I also have a cake coming up this week that’s super good and easy!
Butter extract in my grocery stores is usually kept where all the extract are, i.e. mint, vanilla, butterscotch, lemon, etc. & it’s usually really cheap compared to the others but regardless, glad you loved the cake! And your sister, too. Your ganache sounds perfect :)
You are so nice to find the time to reply to every comment on your posts. It just makes me want to visit your blog that much more! :)
That’s where I looked for the butter extract but either the stores were out or they just didn’t carry it. I’ll keep looking though!!
I meant the chocolate cake with the chocolate ganache (love me some ganache!!!!) but the other one sounds amazing too. Where do you buy your molasses? Also can’t wait for your new recipe! I follow you on pinterest now so hopefully I’ll see it there!
I wrote about molasses and where I get it (grocery store) here
https://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2012/11/chocolate-molasses-chocolate-chip-cake-with-baileys-irish-cream-glaze.html
Enjoy which ever chocolate cake you end up making!
Shez, they also carry butter extract at craft stores that sell cake-decorating items; I got mine at either Michaels or A.C. Moore.
Averie, so glad I found your blog….through an old Brown-eyed Baker “Weekly Dish” email (I’m super-behind on my food-blog emails; it was from November!) that pointed me to your mouthwatering Chocolate Molasses Chocolate Chip Cake with Bailey’s Glaze, and at the end of that post you featured a picture of this beautiful pumpkin cake, which I plan to make very soon! Something funny about the link to this recipe though – the one you had on the molasses cake page sent me to your Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache, and I couldn’t find it in your search bar either….but Google saved the day :)
Thanks for saying hi and the pumpkin cake is probably my fave cake on my whole blog! And if you notice a wrong link on a certain page, please let me know what page it is and I will correct it. From your comment here it’s a little hard to figure out where exactly there was a mis-direct.
What a fantastic cake!!! That glossy ganache looks outstanding!!!
what is the size (oz) of the pumkin pure can
15 ounce can (regular, not the ‘biggie’ size which I believe is 29 oz)
I absolutely love this bundt cake – amazingly moist and simply delicious. Would you recommend doubling it? I have a large group of guests coming and would love to make enough to give everyone some! Thanks!
I would recommend making the recipe from start to finish and baking it in one Bundt pan like I did. And then if you want to make a second cake, make batter for a second cake and pour into a second Bundt. I have not literally doubled the ingredients and then divided it between two pans and although I’m sure it would be fine, I haven’t tested it and so am recommending the most conservative path, i.e. making two sets of batter. The cake is SO GOOD I wouldn’t want any issues for you. It’s my fave cake I have on my entire blog! LMK if you make it!
Hello!
I’ve been a recent fan of your blog and made this yummy cake for my son’s violin teacher last week. All I did was add pecan sprinkled on top.
The hardest part was not getting a taste of it. She took it home to her family of 3 and said it was gone in two days!
We’re making her the butter mints next.
Thanks for all the great ideas and love the fantastic high quality pictures. They really make it special and even more enticing.
Donna
I so wish you had been able to try the cake but how nice of you to donate it to the teacher! Wow!
Enjoy the mints and I have a couple nice winter-themed cakes coming up you can make if you don’t get around to the pumpkin cake again this year.
Glad you like my pics – I work as hard on them as the recipes :)
Oh my! I love all of your pumpkin recipes! I just cannot have enough pumpkin this time of the year!