Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread

Funny my only holiday recipe left to post about is a recipe from this week's most talked about chef, Paula Deen. While a lot of Paula's recipes are way too rich for me, I've always enjoyed and respected her as a chef. This week she revealed she has diabetes which apparently she has had for three years. We also found out she recently signed an endorsement deal with a diabetes drug company. Coincidence or not?

Christmas week I wanted to make something for my neighbors. Pumpkin is perfect for the holidays but I wanted to make something different. I searched and found Paula's recipe for Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread. The cream cheese gives the bread a more subtle pumpkin flavor. I chose to omit the nuts and raisins. It's a great spin on traditional pumpkin bread.




Cream Cheese Pumpkin Bread
Recipe courtesy of Paula Deen
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin
3/4 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup raisins

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9x5x3-inch loaf pans.
In a medium bowl and with an electric mixer at medium speed, beat cream cheese and butter until creamy. Add sugar, beating until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
In a medium bowl, combine flour and next 5 ingredients, stirring to combine. Gradually add flour mixture to cream cheese mixture, mixing until blended. Stir in pumpkin, pecans, and raisins.
Spoon batter into prepared loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes; remove from pans, and allow to cool completely on wire racks.

I am linking this to Foodie Friday, Full Plate Thursday, Sweet Tooth Friday and Let's Do Brunch!