Pumpkin Ribbon Bread

Great Bread for Thanksgiving or any other occasion

I have been making this Pumpkin bread recipe for years! I found the recipe and made a few small changes along the way. The first change was to use reduced fat cream cheese instead of the high fat version. Next, I substituted walnuts when the original recipe called for pecans. Just this year, I made another change with the grated orange peel. I had formerly used dried orange peel and this year I used fresh. It made a HUGE difference in flavor! I believe it is the best batch yet!

*Just a special note on the process. In the uploaded video, I used 8 ounces of cream cheese instead of the 6 ounces listed in the recipe. If you choose to do this, it will make the filling more of a "runny" consistency. It will however, make the bread more moist.

If you follow the recipe, it will make the middle layer inside the bread more creamy. Both are excellent, it just depends on your preference.

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Pumpkin Ribbon Bread

Filling:

2 packages (3 oz.) cream cheese softened (I used lite)

1/3 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon flour

1 egg

2 teaspoons grated orange peel

For filling, beat cream cheese, sugar and flour together in a small bowl. Add egg; mix to blend. Stir in orange peel; set aside.

Bread:

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup oil

1-1/2 cup sugar

1/2 salt

1/2 teaspoon clovers

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1-2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup chopped walnuts

Make bread by combining pumpkin, oil, and eggs in large bowl. Add sugar, salt, cloves, cinnamon, flour, baking soda. Mix to blend. Pour 1/2 of batter into two greased baking pans. Carefully spread the cream cheese mixture over batter. Add remaining batter, covering filling; sprinkle walnuts on top.

Bake at 325 degrees for 1-1/2 hours. Or until bread test done with a wooden tooth pick. Cool 10 minutes before removing .

Photo taken by Melanie Perry