Pumpkin Swirl Bread

I’m not as fanatical about pumpkin spice as some people are, but there’s something irresistible about this pumpkin swirl bread. It’s rich and moist, but the pumpkin spice gives it a little frisson of excitement. Whether you eat this for breakfast, lunch, or dessert, you are going to have a wonderful time!

A couple notes: do NOT fill your pan to the top. This is a lesson that I continue to learn, but it’s really important. It will escape onto the bottom of your oven and make your whole house smell like fire. You will probably have some batter left over, but that’s a wonderful thing. Go ahead and make another loaf, or maybe some muffins!

Ingredients

• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1 egg
• 1 cup flour, sifted
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice (or cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 4 tablespoons flour

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 F and grease a loaf pan with Crisco using a paper towel. Next, stir together your pumpkin puree, brown sugar, oil, sour cream, vanilla, and egg until just mixed. Add your flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking powder, salt.

Next, prepare the cream cheese swirl by whisking together the cream cheese, sour cream, egg, sugar, and flour. Pour 1/2 of your pumpkin batter into the prepared loaf pan. Add the cream cheese mixture, and then pour more batter on top until the pan is 3/4 full. (Do NOT overfill the pan.)

Swirl your layers together with a butter knife in a figure eight shape, and bake your pumpkin swirl bread for 45-50 minutes, or until fully baked. Enjoy!