If you’ve been wracking your brain about what to make with all the Pumpkin Puree we made last week, well, I’ve got somethin’ for ya!  This  delicious bread brings out the essence of the holidays.  The aromas that you will experience while baking will be sure to get you in the Holiday mood.

The kicker to this recipe is the cream cheese center.  Yes, rich, decadent cream cheese.  What could be better?

Not a whole lot.

The cream cheese seems to take on a mind of it’s own while baking and the shapes it creates are different in every slice.  Which makes cutting into it a sweet surprise every time.

You can easily make this bread as a savory evening dessert or serve it with your holiday guests with coffee in the morning.

Dense and delicious, I am certain this bread will become a fast favorite in your holiday baking repertoire

Here’s the recipe for ya

Ingredients

• Pumpkin Batter:
• 2 c. sugar
• 1 c. canola oil
• 4 eggs
• 16 oz. canned pumpkin (not pie filling)
• 3/4 cup water
• 3 c. flour
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. table salt
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. cloves
• 1 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. allspice
• For the Cream Cheese Batter:
• 2 large eggs
• 8 ounces softened brick-style cream cheese
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. For the Pumpkin Batter: Beat sugar and oil together. Add eggs one at a time mixing after each addition. Add pumpkin purée and water and mix until blended.
3. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and allspice. Add to the mixer and mix only until just incorporated
4. For the Cream Cheese Batter: In a large bowl, add all ingredients and whisk to combine
5. Pour 2/3 of the batter into two prepared standard loaf pans. Follow by adding the cream cheese batter on top of the pumpkin batter. Make sure to divide it up into two pans. Pour the remainder of the pumpkin batter over the top
6. Bake for 45-60 minutes or until a knife inserted into the middle comes out without pumpkin batter on it. NOTE: The cream cheese will more than likely stick to knife, that’s okay.
7. Allow to cool in the pan. Once cool, pull out of pan and slice.