For me, nothing signifies the end of summer as poetically and viscerally as seeing pumpkins in a patch. One look at that field, and I start salivating for all of my favorite pumpkin dishes.

I love the earthy simplicity of pumpkin pie. And I feel like a pioneer when I wash the seeds I have taken out of my carved pumpkin and roast them. No surprise, but that was always my favorite part of carving a pumpkin when I was a kid. Pumpkin and sage also dress up cheese grits this time of year, and I’ve even added pumpkin to chili. But I never thought of adding chocolate to pumpkin until last year.

For some reason, I became obsessed with baking chocolate pumpkin bread and asked everyone I knew if they had a good recipe. I was looking for a dense quick bread with a deep pumpkin flavor that could stand up to lots of add-ins. I love slicing a loaf of bread and seeing the cross-section of fruit and nuts and chocolate.