Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread

I'm obsessed with anything pumpkin!!!! With Fall just around the corner I've already gone crazy decorating my house and pulling out all of my favorite "cool weather" recipes. While looking over my recipe collection this one immediately jumped out. The note on the recipe card was dated 2010 and I wrote "very good!"

 In the past I've made this bread in two loaf pans but I wanted to change the recipe into a bite-sized version. I used my two new mini-bundt pans and they turned out perfectly! Just a little extra effort to layer the pumpkin & cream cheese....but worth the time!!!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread

Cream Cheese Filling

8 ounce pkg cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 tablespoons flour

Pumpkin Bread

3 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

4 large eggs

2 cups sugar

1 cup unsalted butter, melted & cooled

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin

1/2 cup water

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix together cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 eggs and  1 1/2 tsp. flour....do not over mix.  In a separate large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add in the 4 eggs, sugar and melted butter.  Stir in the pumpkin, water and vanilla...just until blended. 

To make mini-bundt bread: Scoop 1 tablespoon pumpkin mixture into the bottom of each Pam sprayed mini-bundt pan. Then add 1 tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture. Top with another tablespoon of pumpkin mixture.  There isn't a perfect way of doing this. I used the rest of the mixture by filling up each small mini-bundt. This recipe made 2 1/2 pans. I baked each pan for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the pumpkin side came out clean. 

To make 2 loaf pans:  Divide the pumpkin batter in half. Take one half and divide it evenly into two sprayed loaf pans.  Divide the cream cheese filling in half and place each half on top of the two pans of pumpkin batter.  Top with the remaining half of pumpkin batter.  Bake the breads for 50-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.  Place pans on a wire rack and let cool for about 10 minutes before removing breads from pans. 

The delicious smell of pumpkin baking in the oven filled the entire house! So yummy!!! While these were in the oven the kids were constantly asking when they would be ready. I served these warm....actually I barely placed them on a cooling rack before the kids were grabbing them!

These are perfect the next day with a dollop of butter and a hot cup of coffee.  Such a moist bread with a sweet twist of cream cheese blended throughout!  YUM! I stored the mini-bundt pumpkin bread in a plastic container in my refrigerator.....but they did not last long!  This is also a great pumpkin recipe to freeze and keep for later!  

Carissa