This perfectly spiced pumpkin bread is what fall dreams are made of! It's lightly sweetened, with plenty of pumpkin spice flavor. Enjoy fresh from the oven any time of day!
6ouncessoftened cream cheeseI used Miyokos vegan cream cheese, but tested it with regular dairy cream cheese as well; to soften, leave at room temperature for about 30-60 minutes
2Tablespoonsmaple syrup
½teaspoonvanilla
1egg yolktrust - it helps with texture!
For the Bread:
2cupsalmond flour
2teaspoonsbaking powder
1teaspoonbaking soda
1Tablespoonpumpkin pie spice
2teaspoonsground cinnamon
¼teaspoonground nutmegdried or fresh
½teaspoonsalt
3eggs
¼cupmaple syrup
1can pumpkin pureenot pie filling
½teaspoonvanilla
Optional: cinnamon sugar for dustingor cinnamon sugar glaze (see notes)
Instructions
Before starting, I recommend preheating the oven to 350ºF and leaving the cream cheese out to soften a bit.
For the Cheesecake Filling:
Add the cream cheese to a medium bowl. Using a fork, whisk, or electric mixer, whip the cream cheese until smooth. IF it is too cold and doesn't get smooth, it's okay, it will still work out, it's just harder to mix and fill.
Stir in the maple syrup, vanilla, and egg yolk until well combined. If the cream cheese is too cold, it will be clumpy and won't mix well. However, when you bake it, it will even out and be okay. The cheesecake filling might have a looser consistency, but otherwise will still be great!
Set mixture aside while you make the bread.
For the Bread:
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Place a sheet of parchment paper in a glass loaf pan so it comes up the long sides with a decent bit hanging over so you can easily remove it later. You can grease the short ends of the pan if you want, but I haven't had to.
Combine dry ingredients (almond flour through salt) in a medium bowl. Stir well and set aside.
In a large bowl or mixer, combine the wet ingredients (eggs, maple syrup, pumpkin puree, and vanilla). Whisk until the eggs are well scrambled.
Combine wet & dry ingredients. I like to pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients to prevent pockets of dry mix getting stuck at the bottom of the bowl. Stir until well combined.
To Bake:
Add about ½ of the bread mixture to the parchment-lined loaf pan.
Using a spoon or spatula, drop in the cheesecake mixture, spreading it into an even layer.
Top with the remaining pumpkin bread mixture, spreading with spatula to make an even layer.
Total baking time will be about 1 hour and 15 minutes, but I recommend adding a foil tent at the 45 minute mark to prevent excessive browning on the top. This is especially important with almond flour recipes.
Use a toothpick to test for doneness around 1 hour. When the toothpick comes out mostly clean (it may have some cheesecake on it), that's when it's ready!
For best results, I recommend letting this cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then loosening the short sides with a knife or metal spatula and pulling the full loaf out by the parchment paper wings. Let cool for a bit on a wire rack.
Optional: dust slices with cinnamon sugar before serving. OR coat the entire thing in cinnamon sugar glaze (see notes below).
Notes
I have used both vegan cream cheese and regular dairy cream cheese. Both are delicious, but the regular cream cheese is definitely sweeter and the vegan cream cheese is definitely more on the tart side.
Nutrition label uses Miyokos vegan cream cheese.
I have not used a metal loaf pan for this. I think it will work but you may have to reduce the baking time. More information on metal vs. glass here.
Optional Cinnamon-Sugar Glaze: Combine ½ cup powdered sugar with 1-2 teaspoons of cinnamon, and stir in 1-2 Tablespoons almond milk (or other) until your desired glaze consistency is reached! Drizzle it over the finished and mostly cooled pumpkin bread and wait 5-10 minutes allow it to harden.