Pumpkin Bread

Bread Challenge Week 39

I am very fond of pumpkin. A couple of years ago I actually devoted a full week to pumpkin recipes here on Evolving Mommy. Fall means pumpkin to me. I have made pumpkin bread before. I have made cream cheese filled pumpkin muffins before. Yet I had never made cream cheese filled pumpkin bread.

I left my pumpkin loving heart in the hands of Joy of Baking followed their recipe for pumpkin bread with cream cheese filling. The recipe made 2 loaves of bread and was finished with about 30 minutes of hands on time and 65 minutes of bake time. The loaves came out looking and smelling nice.

I’m going to be honest here. The bread was fine. I shared it with friends and family and we ate it without any complaints. However, I do not think I will be making it again. It is painful to put two cups of sugar in a recipe for two loaves of bread. Two cups of sugar is cake territory in my opinion.

The recipe requires half the batter be spread in the bottoms of the pans and then the cream cheese mixture poured over it before finally topping the cream cheese mixture with the remaining pumpkin batter. I am no expert but the cream cheese mixture was so soupy that it was practically impossible to put the remaining pumpkin batter over the top. Maybe it would be better with 1 egg in the filling instead of 2 but it did not work out well as is. Although the cream cheese layer was pretty good after baking I was a little bummed to see that the stripe of cream cheese didn’t extend through the whole loaf on both loaves of bread.

This recipe was not what I envisioned when I set off to start my baking that morning. I’m not giving up on my love of pumpkin I just know there are recipes out there that I enjoy more, like my favorite Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread.

Flavor: 3
Hands on time: 4
Total time: 4
Recipe: 4
versatility: 3
make it again: 1
Catherine: 0
Luke: 1
Maddy: 1

Total Score: 21
(what is this Bread Challenge and how are recipes scored?)

Previous Bread Challenge reviews:
Winter Herb Bread – Week 38
Classic Pretzel – Week 37
Sweet Potato Bread – Week 36
Challah – Week 35
Whole Wheat English Muffins – Week 34
Pumpernickel – Week 33
Green Onion-Sesame Flatbread – Week 32
Beer Bread – Week 31
Country Seed Bread – Week 30
Cinnamon-Raisin Bagels – Week 29
Crunchy Crackers – Week 28
Ciabatta Bread – Week 27
Cornmeal Pancake -Week 26
Lemon Poppy Seed – Week 25
Sourdough – Week 24
Tortillas – Week 23
Honey Wheat Hamburger Buns – Week 22
Garlic Studded Baguette – Week 21
Quinoa Bread – Week 20
Asiago Herb and Garlic Bread – Week 19
Cranberry Pecan Rye Bread – Week 18
Rotis – Whole Wheat Unleavened Bread- Week 17
Farmhouse White Loaf – Week 16
Honey Whole Wheat Slow Cooker Bread – Week 15
The Easiest Loaf of Bread You’ll Ever Bake – Week 14
Hot Cross Buns – Week 13
100% Whole Wheat Bread – Week 12
Thin Wheat Crackers – Week 11
Irish Soda Bread – Week 10
Double Blueberry Muffins – Week 9
Oatmeal Batter Bread – Week 8
Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls – Week 7
Cheesy Pretzels – Week 6
Light Rye Bread – Week 5
Country-Style Whole-Wheat Pita – Week 4
Carrot Raisin Quick Bread – Week 3
Potato Bread – Week 2
Focaccia – Week 1