Cream Cheese Swirl Pumpkin Bread

Fall is the best season. I’m pretty sure that’s an undisputed fact if you live in New England. But for some reason this year, I had a really hard time letting summer go. Maybe because it was one of the better summer’s I’ve ever had? Or because I’m just not ready to contemplate braving another winter like we had last year? Whatever the reason, I think I’ve finally turned a corner. Fall is here, and I am so excited!

I bought my first can of pumpkin a couple of weeks ago, and I think that’s what started the beginnings of this fall excitement. When I was finally able to get back into the kitchen, I made a pumpkin spice coffee syrup, and this lovely loaf of bread. And so began the fall baking spree of 2015! I’ve got my eye on about a hundred new fall recipes, of which I might make three or four, but just daydreaming of all the wonderful fall creations I might be able to make is excitement enough to make it through the workweek.

This bread is so simple to make, and really quite delicious. I had intended to toss a half cup of walnuts into the batter, but somehow the loaf made its way into the oven and the walnuts remained on the counter, so I ended up with a plain pumpkin loaf that is anything but plain.

The recipe I (mostly) followed called for a significant amount of spices, which seemed like it might be overkill, but it wasn’t! This is certainly a full-flavored pumpkin bread, but I think the spices really amp up the depth of flavor, and give it a distinct feeling of fall. The cream cheese swirl adds another layer of flavor, and makes this bread more interesting and fun than a plain pumpkin loaf.

To my utter dismay, when I set out to make this recipe, I discovered that somewhere during my move I lost my giant tub of coconut oil, and had also run out of vegetable oil. That left olive oil as my only option for this recipe, and I decided since it was only 1/4 cup I’d go with it. The verdict? It worked beautifully! It doesn’t lend much to the flavor of this bread since it’s so loaded with spices, but the bread is exceedingly moist, with a lovely texture that holds it’s shape and doesn’t crumble. If I had it to do again, I’d probably still use olive oil, though I think that coconut oil might add a nice touch of flavor here too.

What fall creations are you whipping up in your kitchen?

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