pumpkin cream cheese sweet bread.

just a quick post to say…….if you mess up one recipe big time, there is a chance you can transform it into something else completely.

this here was once destined to be pumpkin cream cheese frosting for these chai blondies. when i over-pumpkin’ed the mixture, it was never going to work as frosting because it became super grainy. i was sooo sad even thinking about throwing out a huge mixing bowl of perfectly good stuff….

so i made it into something else!

since this was originally destined for a life as frosting, it was made with a bunch of powdered sugar. it then took a hard right turn at a fork, journeyed through a tunnel, and resurfaced into the light as a fun little pumpkin sweet bread.

to be honest, i’ll probably never make this particular recipe over again, just because it’s a pumpkin bread made with powdered sugar. but, it was very yummy and super moist and good! if you love a sweet bread, this recipe is for you!

here is my regular pumpkin/squash bread recipe that i like the best. you can switch out pumpkin for butternut squash as you desire.

moral of the story is: unless you’ve burned something to a crisp or dropped it all over the floor, chances are you can take a “failed” recipe and give it a new life.

make lemonade from lemons, if you will. 🍋😊

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Sweet Bread

Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Makes: One Loaf

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter

  • 4 oz. room temperature cream cheese

  • 1 cup pumpkin purée

  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract

  • 1 tsp. chai blend (find recipe in this post) or pumpkin pie spice

  • 1/4 tsp. fine sea salt

  • 3 cups powdered sugar

  • 2 TB heavy cream

  • 1 egg

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

  • 1 tsp. baking soda

  • 1 tsp. baking powder

Instructions-

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray and line a loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving enough excess paper on the edges for you to be able to grab and lift the bread out of the pan later.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the eggs & vanilla, mix until combined. Add the pumpkin, chai spice blend and salt, mixing until incorporated. Add the powdered sugar in 1/2 cup increments to slowly combine.

Slowly add the flour and baking powders to the mixture, scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula as needed. Lastly, add 2 TB heavy cream or milk and stir.

Spread the batter into the prepared loaf pan and place on top of a baking sheet. Place into the oven and bake at 350 degrees F for 60 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes. Carefully grab the parchment with both hands to lift the entire loaf out of the pan and onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Slice and serve with coffee (or something unsweetened, to balance it out)!

Cover with foil or store in an airtight container for 3-5 days.

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