Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Swirl

Makes 2 standard loaves, or 4 mini loaves.

I found this recipe in A Taste of Home magazine. When I was away at college, my grandma used to send me packages of her cooking magazines after she had looked through them herself. This recipe came from one of those magazines, with a few slightly modifications. A creamy, swirly center gives your traditional pumpkin bread a snazzy new appeal.

Filling:

6 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/3 c. sugar

1 T. flour

1 egg

1 t. vanilla

Bread:

1 c. cooked or canned pumpkin

1/2 c. vegetable oil

2 eggs

1-1/2 c. sugar

1-2/3 c. flour

1 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. ground cloves

1/2 t. ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Beat cream cheese, sugar, and flour together in a small bowl. Add egg; mix to blend. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine pumpkin, oil, and eggs. Add sugar, flour, baking soda, salt, cloves, and cinnamon; mix to blend. Pour half of the batter into two standard (or four mini) greased loaf pans. Carefully spread filling over batter. Add remaining batter, covering filling. (This can be difficult. If some filling shows through, don't worry about it. Unless your anal, of course, then take the time to careful cover all filling.)

Bake for 60-70 minutes (35 minutes for mini loaves) or until bread is cooked through. Cool. Remove from pans. Store in refrigerator.