Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread with Cinnamon Crumb Topping

This Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread is incredibly moist, tender and topped with a brown sugar cinnamon crumb. With layers of sweetened cream cheese on the inside and a crunchy crumb on the outside, this cozy quick bread is a fall favorite treat.

Snitches get snitches. You know who else gets stitches? People who mistake their thumb for a carrot when prepping a pot roast. Take it from me, it’s a painful lesson to learn. Fortunately, my manicured fingernail played interference with the knife. If it weren’t for 2 coats of Machu Peach-U polish, I’d be writing a how-to for self-amputation instead of a recipe for bread.

I’d like to say I’m smarter than my emergency room visit suggests, but that would be a lie. Especially whem my newly sliced thumb is already scarred from a recent chopping incident involving a potato. Now I’m paranoid root vegetables are trying to kill me with a thousand cuts, which is why I’m ditching the menacing-looking turnip in my pantry and switching gears to gourdes. After my soiled history with dirt vegetables, I need to play it safe with the only harvest items that haven’t caused me grave bodily harm: pumpkins.

With Libby’s handling the carving and my husband handling the can opener, I’m pleased to report I made pumpkin bread without any collateral damage to my digits. That’s great news because I need my opposable thumbs intact to stuff big fat slices of pumpkin bread in my mouth. And the bigger the slice the better, I say. Especially when this pumpkin bread is sprinkled with a cinnamony crumb topping and layered with sweetened cream cheese. Soft, moist, sweet and spiced, this delicious pumpkin bread gets an injured thumbs up from me.

Before sharing the recipe for Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread, here are a few tips to help you out:

Ingredient Tips

Always use the spoon and level method to measure flour. Scooping flour is a no-no. That technique overpacks flour into the measuring cup which will result in dry, dense bread.

If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice make your own concoction by combining equal amounts of ground ginger, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground cloves and ground allspice. Store excess in a sealed container at room temperature.

Preparation Tips

Cream cheese must be softened to room temperature before beginning. To speed up the process, place your sealed foil block of cream cheese in a bowl of warm water for 20 minutes or until softened enough to beat with an electric mixer.

Total bake time for this pumpkin crumb bread is approximately 50 to 60 minutes, but peek through the oven window during the last 20 minutes. If you notice the loaf browning too quickly, loosly tent with aluminium foil for the remaining bake time to prevent overbrowning.

How to Store Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread

Cover cooled bread with plastic wrap and store at room temperature up to 5 days.

To freeze pumpkin bread, cool completely then double wrap (first in plastic wrap then in aluminum foil) then freeze up to 3 months. Thaw overnight at room temperature.

I hope you enjoy this Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread. Please leave a rating and review below when you try it yourself. And, while you’re at it, sign up for my weekly Recipe Newsletter so you never miss a tempting recipe.

Finally, if you’re looking for more pumpkin recipes check out this Pumpkin Crisp. Packed full of pumpkin and topped with a golden oat crumble, this warm and cozy Pumpkin Crisp is an out-of-this-world take on your favorite Thanksgiving pie. 

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread with Cinnamon Crumb Topping

Heather Wolf

This Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread is incredibly moist, tender and topped with a brown sugar cinnamon crumb. With layers of sweetened cream cheese on the inside and a crunchy crumb on the outside, this cozy quick bread is a fall favorite treat.

4.86 from 7 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Course Breads and Rolls

Cuisine American

Servings 1 loaf

Ingredients

  

Cinnamon Crumb Topping

• 1/3 cup light brown sugar packed
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour unbleached
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter melted and cooled

Cream Cheese Filling

• 6 ounces full-fat cream cheese softened to room temperature
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract pure
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour unbleached

Pumpkin Bread

• 1 cup all-purpose flour unbleached
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp sea salt fine
• 1 large egg room temperature
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar packed
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract pure

Instructions

 

Cinnamon Crumb Topping

• Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon and melted/cooled butter in a large bowl. Using your fingers, mix ingredients together until small clumps begin to form.
• Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Cream Cheese Filling

• Beat cream cheese and sugar with an electric mixer until smooth and lump free. Approximately 3 minutes.
• Add vanilla and egg yolk then beat until combined.
• Sift in flour then beat until incorporated. Set aside.

Pumpkin Bread

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 5 loaf pan then line with parchment paper and set aside.
• Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and salt to a large bowl and whisk until combined. Set aside.
• In a separate bowl whisk egg, granulated sugar and brown sugar until well combined.
• Whisk in pumpkin puree, oil, milk and vanilla until incorporated.
• Add flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and stir gently with a wooden spoon until just combined. Batter will be slightly lumpy. Do not overmix.

Assembly

• Spoon 1/3 of pumpkin batter into the loaf pan then level with a spatula.
• Add 1/2 of the cream cheese filling to the loaf pan then spread atop the pumpkin layer with a spatula.
• Top cream cheese with another 1/3 of the pumpkin batter. Spread with a spatula for full coverage.
• Spread remaining cream cheese filling on top of pumpkin batter.
• Top cream cheese with remaining pumpkin batter. Level batter with a spatula.
• Remove crumb topping from the refrigerator and sprinkle an even layer on top of pumpkin batter. (If crumb topping hardened while chilling, break it back into clumps with a fork.)

Bake

• Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center of the loaf comes out with a few moist crumbs. If there is pumpkin batter on the tester the bread needs additional bake time.

  Note: Peek through the oven window during the last 20 minutes of baking, if crumb topping appears to be overbrowning, tent with aluminum foil for the remaining bake time.
• Remove bread from oven then place pan on a wire cooling rack. Cool bread in the pan for 20 minutes before removing loaf and placing on a wire rack. Peel off parchment paper and allow bread to cool completely before slicing (approximately 1 hour).

Store

• Cover and store cooled bread at room temperature up to 5 days.

Keyword bread, cinnamon, cream cheese, crumb, pumpkin