Decadent Pumpkin Bread

It took me a while to name this recipe. Pumpkin bread doesn't adequately cover what I've done here. I didn't think that ultimate supreme tasty rich or the First Reader's contribution of WalCranPumpkin Cheesecake Bread! was quite right, either. I took a fairly basic quickbread recipe and made it into something much more... no, refined isn't the right word here. More like curl up with a cuppa coffee and stare into the flames while you nibble a moist slice of this and enjoy all the different tastes packed into that... 

so, decadent. 

walnuts, cranberries, pumpkins, cheesecake - all the holiday noms in one loaf.

I started out with a pumpkin bread recipe, and a big one, since the point was to take a loaf to work, and send one to work with Sanford, and have a bit at home for the kids. Being able to feed people at our works is not only happy-making, but helpful to waistlines since I can experiment more-or-less guilt free. The first thing I did to the recipe was slash the sugar in half. And then I added stuff to it. Cocked my head and contemplated the mental vision of the loaf, and added more. Yeah, that seemed about right... no, let's change that. Perfect! 

Cheesecake filling!

Step away, and start mixing. 

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As you may have guessed from the name alone, this is a moist, dense bread, sweet enough on it's own, with the cheesecake adding yet another layer of sweetness. The nuts give it a good crunch for texture, and the cranberries are a burst of tartness that complements the bread beautifully. It's a little more work to do the filling, but worth it, the First Reader says. I did muffins with and without the cheesecake, and he tried both to make his report. And then gleefully carried off his box to work to enjoy - there's only a few people on his team, so I know he'll get a slice at least! 

This boxed up very well, I cut the loaves in half along the midline, then did 1/2" (approx) slices to just past halfway, put that in the 8 1/2" boxes, and then the last part, well, you can see. Each box fit one loaf and I nested them on wax paper. Perfect for gifting or presentation.

If you're looking for something to read while you eat that, I have shameless self-promotion: I have a good story in this anthology, about human nature and the meaning of growing into manhood. Click the pic!