Pumpkin Cream Cheese bread

Earlier this summer the Witch found this pin on Pintrest.  You all know Pintrest, right?  It's the latest & greatest in social media.  Anyway, it was about 100F outside when I found this bread.  It took all my will power NOT to make it then.  It looked SO good, I had a can of pumpkin in my pantry & everything.  However, I resisted.  Even an avid pumpkin lover like the Kitchen Witch can't justify turning on the oven and making pumpkin bread when it's 100F outside.  No, a bread that's earthy and spicy like that needs fall.  It requires cool weather, maybe even some rain.  Am I the only one who has specific scenarios about weather & what you should be eating?  I'm strange, what can I say!  Imagine my delight when in the 2nd week of September I got my weather wish!  It was cold, 50 was the high of the day, and it rained.  Oh boy did it rain!  I had to make the pumpkin cream cheese bread, the weather won't get more perfect for it!  So I did.  And it was delicious, perfection with a cup of coffee on that dreary afternoon.

My cream cheese layer didn't stay on top like it did for An Edible Mosaic, but she also made hers into 3 demi loaves.  I don't have demi loaf pans so I made one regular sized one.  The cream cheese sunk into more of a tunnel in my bread, which was pretty darn delicious, like a cheese danish surrounded by pumpkin bread.  Mmmm!  When you test this bread for doneness don't go for the center, you're likely to hit a cream cheese pocket.  Rather, go closer to the edge where the bread layer lies.  The bread is spiced and earthy and super moist with out a ton of oil, something that is rare in quick breads.  I made extra pumpkin batter (the recipe easily doubles, and really who wants 1/2 a can of pumpkin kicking around the fridge?) and baked them into muffins with chocolate chips.  They turned out fantastically as well.  This is my new go to pumpkin bread recipe for sure!  Thank you to An Edible Mosaic and Pintrest for leading me to this bread.  Now go make some for yourself!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese bread
source:  An Edible Mosaic
makes 1 loaf, approx 8 servings per loaf

Cream cheese batter:
8 oz cream cheese at room temp
1 egg at room temp
1/4 c powdered sugar
1/2 t vanilla extract

Pumpkin bread batter:
3/4 c brown sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 c pumpkin puree (about 1/2 a can)
2 T canola oil
1 t  vanilla extract
1 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1 1/4 t baking powder (aluminum free preferably)
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
3/4 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg if using preground.  If grinding fresh nutmeg reduce the amount to approx 1/8t.
1/4 t ground ginger
1/8 t ground cloves

Make the cream cheese batter first by mixing the ingredients together with a mixer until smooth and creamy.  Set aside.

Make the pumpkin batter next by combining the brown sugar, oil and eggs together.  Mix until lightened in color.  Add vanilla and pumpkin and mix until incorporated.

Combine the dry ingredients together and slowly add to the pumpkin mix in the bowl.  Stir until just barely combined.

Spray a loaf pan with non stick spray and line with parchment to make a sling.  Pour the pumpkin batter into the pan and top with the cream cheese batter.  Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 45 minutes or until the edges are golden browned and it tests clean with a tooth pick.  Allow to cool before removing from pan.

Nutrition Facts provided by SparkPeople recipe calculator 8 Servings per loaf Amount Per Serving Calories 327.7 Total Fat 15.5 g Saturated Fat 7.1 g Polyunsaturated Fat 1.9 g Monounsaturated Fat 5.6 g Cholesterol 100.6 mg Sodium 380.9 mg Potassium 199.9 mg Total Carbohydrate 49.0 g Dietary Fiber 1.2 g Sugars 32.0 g Protein 6.7 g