An easy cream cheese pumpkin bread recipe. A swirl of cream cheese in the middle of a moist and easy to make pumpkin bread.
I don’t know about you but I could have a pumpkin spice latte in May. No lie. But maybe it is because there is a “pumpkin” season that makes it all the more special.
The cinnamon. The nutmeg. Your kitchen just smells better when there is something pumpkin-y (don’t you just love the made up words today?) in the oven, don’t you think?
The cinnamon. The nutmeg. The brown sugar. Oh my!
Anyways, back to this bread. This cream cheese pumpkin bread is moist (sorry, guys if you hate this word), tender, and has an easy sweetened cream cheese filling hiding in the middle. It lots of brown sugar, homemade pumpkin pie spice, and a good dash of vanilla extract, and of course pumpkin!
Ingredients Needed:
- Dry Ingredients: Flour, baking powder, baking soda, and spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice)
- Wet Ingredients: Pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, sugar (granulated and brown), vanilla, and water.
- Cream Cheese Filling: Egg, cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and flour
How To Make Cream Cheese Filled Pumpkin Bread
- First start by greasing your 9×5 inch loaf pan and pre-heating your oven.
- Then mix together the eggs, oil, sugar, pumpkin, vanilla and water.
- And then add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices.
- Then prepare the cream cheese filling. This will get added into the middle of the bread. Once the filling is prepared, spoon about 2/3 of the batter in and spoon the cream cheese mixture in. And top with the remaining the pumpkin bread batter.
Recipe Tips
- Wrap the bread up. The key to this moist tender bread? After you take it out of the oven, wrap the bread in plastic wrap and let it sit overnight. Trust me. I know it’s going to be tough, but waiting a day is going to make this bread out of this world.
- Measure your flour correctly. Be sure to measure your flour correctly by spooning and leveling. If you over measure your flour you will end up with a tough bread.
- Make sure your leavening agents are fresh. Test your baking powder by adding a teaspoon to a 1/4 cup of hot water. Test your baking soda by adding a teaspoon to a 1/4 cup of vinegar. If they bubble they are good to go.
Recipe FAQ’s
You most certainly can. Try adding chocolate chips, raisins, currants or dried cranberries.
You definitely can, although it’s a delicious surprise that everyone will love!
I recommend full-fat cream cheese for best results. And use brick-style cream cheese, not cream cheese in the tub.
You want to insert a toothpick, knife, or cake tester into the center of the bread and see if there are moist crumbs clinging to the bread. If you see raw batter, continue to bake for additional time. Just make sure you don’t insert the tester so far that you reach the cream cheese layer.
Yes quick breads freeze beautifully. Let the bread thaw completely then I wrap it in several layers of plastic wrap, and then either a final layer of tin-foil or place in a sealable plastic bag. Freeze for 3 months. When ready to enjoy, I unwrap the bread and let it thaw at room temperature before slicing and serving.
You can store this bread, wrapped, at room temperature for up to one week.
More Quick Bread Recipes
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Cream Cheese Filled Pumpkin Bread
Ingredients
For the filling
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 ounces brick-style cream cheese softened
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons (23 g) all-purpose flour
For the bread
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) vegetable oil
- 2/3 cups (134 g) granulated sugar
- 2/3 cups (142 g) light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/3 cup (80 ml) water
- 1 1/2 cups (180 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoons baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Instructions
- Prep pan and oven. Position a rack in the center of your oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9 inch by 5 inch loaf pan. I like to line mine with parchment paper as well and grease lightly again.
- Prepare cream cheese filling. In a small bowl, with an electric mixer (or if the cream cheese mixture is soft enough you can use a wooden spoon.) beat together all the filling ingredients until smooth. Set aside.
- Combine Dry Ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla.
- Combine wet ingredients. In a second mixing bowl, whisk together the oil, sugars, eggs, pumpkin, and water.
- Combine wet and dry ingredients. Make a well in the center of your dry ingredients and pour in the liquid ingredients. With a spatula, stir to combine until the last of the flour has been mixed in. Stop mixing at this point to avoid overmixing.
- Add to pan. Pour about 2/3 of the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Spoon the cream cheese filling into the loaf pan. Spread to cover the pumpkin batter carefully with a spatula, spreading to the corners. Top with the remaining pumpkin batter.
- Bake the bread. Bake the bread for 60-70 minutes, or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean; and that same tester inserted about 1/2" into the top of the loaf doesn't encounter any totally unbaked batter. Avoid the cream cheese filling layer. You should see moist crumbs, not raw batter. Mine was perfect at 60 minutes, so begin checking your bread at 60 minutes, but every oven is different so you may need additional time.
- Cool the bread. Remove the bread from the oven, and cool it on a rack in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and continue to cool. When it's completely cool, wrap it well in plastic wrap, and store it overnight before serving for best texture.
Notes
- Storage: You can keep this bread, wrapped, and stored at room temperature for up to one week.
- Freezing: Let the bread thaw completely then I wrap it in several layers of plastic wrap, and then either a final layer of tin-foil or place in a sealable plastic bag. Freeze for 3 months. When ready to enjoy, I unwrap the bread and let it thaw at room temperature before slicing and serving.
- Cream Cheese: Use full-fat variety for best results. And use brick-style not the tub kind.
- Mix-ins. You can stir in chocolate chips, raisins, currants, or dried cranberries to the batter if you want. Add 1/2 (up to 2/3 cup) of your choice mix-ins.
Erika says
Oh my! This must be heaven!! I go nuts for pumpkin so I will definitely try this!! I love your pictures and your writing and I’ve already bookmarked your blog among my favorites… waiting for new posts!!! 🙂
Heather says
Thanks Erika! Let me know if you end up trying it 🙂 And thank you so much for the kind words and bookmarking my site. Can’t express enough how much that means!