Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cheesecake Bread

You wake up in the morning, and all of the sudden BAM.  HALLOWEEN IS OVER, PALS.  November is upon us and without mercy, the march to the end of the year has begun.  This is my most favorite time of year because it goes Halloween – Thanksgiving – My Birthday – Christmas – New Year’s Eve with very minimal stopping in between.  Obviously yes I include my birthday as a holiday…do you not?  Now, truth be told, I actually made this bread for a Halloween party last night.  However, I think it’s a great addition to the non-stop marathon of pumpkin spice/fall flavored food that will continue to assault everyone through the end of the month.  This recipe was adapted from this great post by Averie over at Averie Cooks – let’s check it out, shall we?

• Servings: 1 9x5 loaf
• Time: 1hr 30mins
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

INGREDIENTS:

BREAD:

• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 cup 1:1 Gluten-Free flour substitute (I use this idiot-proof Bob’s Red Mill flour – you can also subsitute regular AP flour if you don’t want this recipe to be GF)
• 1/2  tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• pinch salt (about 1/8 tsp)

  

  A delightful fall pallet, I’d say

CHEESECAKE FILLING:

• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 4 ounces brick-style cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tbsp 1:1 GF flour (or AP flour if not making a GF recipe)

  

  When you make this, try your very hardest not to eat it with a spoon. I made it before the bread, so it would have time to keep warming up

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray one 9×5-inch loaf pan with floured cooking spray, or grease and flour the pan; set aside.  Make sure that if you’re making this gluten-free, you glour the pan with GF flour!
2. For the bread: In a large bowl, add the the first ten ingredients (egg through ground nutmeg, and whisk to combine.

   

   I cheated and used my stand mixer, but this recipe can easily be made whisking by hand!

3. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and fold into the wet mix with a spatula or stir gently with a spoon.  Be sure not to overmix and only stir the ingredients until just combined.

   

   Ready for hand-folding

4. Turn about two-thirds of the batter out into the prepared pan, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula and pushing it into corners and sides as necessary; set aside.
5. Cream Cheese Filling – In a large bowl, add all ingredients and whisk to combine. Alternatively, mix with a hand mixer.

   

   It will look sort of lumpy, that is a-ok!

6. Evenly pour filling mixture over the bread, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula and pushing it into corners and sides as necessary.

   

   I did not have a pristine white layer of cheesecake filling but I promise it’s still tasty.

7. Top filling with remaining pumpkin batter, smoothing the top very lightly with a spatula as to not disturb cream cheese layer and pushing batter into corners and sides as necessary.

   

   Let’s do this.

8. Bake for about 45-60 minutes or until the top is domed, golden, and the center is set, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter. This is a little difficult because the cream cheese layer will never get totally solid so the toothpick test isn’t the most accurate.  Also worth noting is that if you use a metal load pan your cook time will be shorter than my glass pan (closer to the 45 minute mark)

   

   Ta-da! This was with a foil tent to keep it from over-browning on the top.

9. Tip – Tent the pan with a sheet of foil draped over it at the 35 minute-mark if you feel the tops and sides will become too browned before center cooks through. The baking time will vary based on moisture content of pumpkin, cream cheese, climate, and oven variances. Bake the bread until it’s done – check what the bread says, not what the clock says.
10. Allow bread to cool in pan for about 15 minutes before turning out on a wire rack to cool completely before slicing and serving.  Bread will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.

    

    Cheesecake? In my bread????

And there you have it, folks!  Another entry into the family of cakes that call themselves bread, and a definite fall favorite.

Now get baking!

-Nicole