Pumpkin Bread with a Cream Cheese Swirl
A spiced pumpkin quick bread with a ribbon of sweetened cream cheese swirled through the center.
- Serves
- 8
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 1 hr 10 min
- Written
Method
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Preheat the oven to 350°F and butter a 9x5-inch loaf pan.
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Beat the cream cheese with ¼ cup of the granulated sugar, 1 egg, and ½ teaspoon of the vanilla until smooth; set aside.
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Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.
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In a separate bowl, whisk the pumpkin purée, oil, remaining ½ cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, remaining 2 eggs, and remaining ½ teaspoon vanilla until smooth.
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Fold the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture just until no streaks of flour remain.
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Pour half the pumpkin batter into the pan, spoon the cream cheese mixture over it in dollops, then cover with the remaining pumpkin batter.
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Drag a knife through the layers in a loose zigzag to swirl the cream cheese without fully blending it in.
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Bake until a skewer inserted in the pumpkin portion comes out clean, 60 to 70 minutes, tenting loosely with foil if the top is browning too fast.
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Cool in the pan 15 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool completely before slicing.
Notes
The swirl stays distinct instead of sinking to the bottom because the batter underneath it is thick enough to hold its weight — don’t thin the pumpkin mixture or the layers trade places in the oven. Once it’s fully cool, the loaf keeps better in the fridge than on the counter, since the cream cheese ribbon is a real dairy filling and not just flavoring.
Canned pumpkin purée, not pumpkin pie filling — the pie filling is pre-sweetened and spiced and will throw off the batter. Leave the swirl out entirely for a plainer spiced pumpkin loaf if that’s what’s on hand.