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Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread with Brown Butter Icing

Spiced, moist pumpkin bread is yummier with a luscious cream cheese swirl and delightful brown butter icing! 

Recipe is adapted from Land O’ Lakes Pumpkin Swirl Bread. 

  • Author: Erin Thomas
  • Prep Time: About 20-30 Minutes
  • Cook Time: 65 Minutes
  • Total Time: About 1-1/2 Hours
  • Yield: Two-9"X5" Loaves

Ingredients

Scale

For Cream Cheese Swirl:

4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature

1 cup sour cream, at room temperature

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature

1 tsp. lemon zest

1 tsp. vanilla

For Pumpkin Bread:

31/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt (kosher, table or sea)

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

3/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

22/3 cups granulated sugar

1 cup vegetable or canola oil

1/3 cup water

115 oz. can pumpkin puree

4 large eggs

For Brown Butter Icing:

6 tbsp. unsalted butter

13/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted

1/4 tsp. salt (kosher, table or sea) 

1 tsp. vanilla

3 to 5 tbsp. milk*

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease and flour two-9″ X 5″ loaf pans.  Set aside.

To Prepare Cream Cheese Swirl:

Using a standing or hand-held mixer, beat cream cheese, sour cream and granulated sugar until smooth.  Add egg, lemon zest and vanilla.  Blend until smooth.  Set aside. 

To Prepare Pumpkin Bread:

Sift flour, baking soda, salt cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves in a medium size bowl.  Set aside.

In large bowl, combine granulated sugar, vegetable oil, water, pumpkin and eggs.**  Beat until smooth.  Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture.  Beat again until smooth, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl.  

Pour about 1/2 of the bread batter into the bottoms of each prepared loaf pan.  Spread the Cream Cheese Swirl mixture evenly over both batter in each loaf pan.  Pour remaining bread batter over both loaves.  To create the swirl effect, pull a knife through the batter and filling layers. 

Bake loaves for 65 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean.  Let pans cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.  Remove bread from pans and allow to cool completely on wire rack.  Frost with Brown Butter Icing.

To Prepare Brown Butter Icing:

In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat.  Let butter boil for 7 to 10 minutes until a golden appearance and nutty smell is reached. Watch butter carefully to avoid burning.   

In a medium sized bowl, combine browned butter, powdered sugar, salt, vanilla and 3 tbsp. milk.  Whisk until smooth. For a thinner icing, add milk in teaspoon increments until desired thickness is reached.  Pour icing over cooled pumpkin bread loaves.  

Notes

*I used 3 tbsp. milk for a thicker icing.  Adjust as necessary based on your icing preference.

**The pumpkin bread batter is loose enough to mix by hand.  However, a standing or hand-held mixer can be used.