From the oven

    I love  to experiment and make recipes  into my own version.  It must be my  background  in biology and chemistry.   I was a Medical Technologist in my earlier life......think laboratory tests and blood  and that was me.

   I found a recipe a few weeks ago for Pumpkin  Cream Cheese Muffins .....here for the original link from Pinterest.    I had a partial can of pumpkin in the freezer, and some left over sweet potatoes, and cream cheese is always around.   It was time for seeing how it would come together.


Pumpkin Cream Cheese Swirl Loaf

• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin spice
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 (15 oz) can pumpkin (pure pumpkin puree)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

• 8 oz cream cheese
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg 
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375°F.   Spray loaf pan with non-stick spray.  I used  2  loaf pans  9'' x 5'' pan.   Original recipe uses muffin tin...see link for those details. 

In a medium bowl, whisk flour, pumpkin spice, baking soda and salt until well combined. Set aside.

In large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, sugar and brown sugar.

Beat in eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla extract. Slowly whisk in the flour mixture, until there are no lumps.   Spoon about 1/2  of the mixture into the 2  loaf pans.  

In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add in sugar, egg and vanilla extract and beat until well combined.

Spoon the cream cheese mixture over the batter.  Spoon the remaining batter over the cream cheese mixture.  Use a knife to swirl thru the layers to blend into a swirl.   

Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

  My original batch was a mix of pumpkin puree and mashed sweet potatoes.   That minor adaptation  turned out great.  The extra loaf went into the freezer for later.   And wouldn't you know the photo did not turn out and now the pumpkin loaf is gone.....lol.   You will have to trust me, it was good.  

  Now I want to try homemade pizza dough....I'll share that one too.