Fall Foodie Part 2

Zombies, Mummies, and Monsters, Oh My!!  I know that I have mentioned how much I love fall, but I love fall.  Especially October.  Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays to celebrate.  I already bought pumpkins to adorn my garden, my son picked out his Halloween costume (Spider-man of course), and we are taking him to a pumpkin patch this weekend!  I also can't wait to take him trick-or-treating!  My mom always took my sister and me every year, rain or shine.  One year I remember she was going to take us, but still wanted to hand out candy, so she put a huge bowl of candy on the porch with a sign that said "just take one".  As we were crossing the street, a truck with a bunch of teenagers in the back, jumped out grabbed the bowl and sped away with all the candy!  Now that I have a son of my own, my mom and sister always come with us and we laugh about that.  Before we go out into the streets to ask strangers for candy, I started the tradition of having a pot of apple cider and a loaf of pumpkin bread to snack on before we go.  I came up with my own version of pumpkin bread made with greek yogurt and swirled with some pumpkin cream cheese!  After a few tries it turned out fantastic.  Perfect for a fall treat and it makes my kitchen smell amazing. This puts the treat in trick or treat!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Swirl Bread

1          Each         Stick of Butter
1          Cup          Brown Sugar, Packed
1/2       Cup          Granulated Sugar
2          Each         Eggs
1/2       Cup          Vanilla Greek Yogurt
1         15 oz         Can of Pumpkin
1         Tsp           Vanilla Bean Paste or Extract
2 1/2   Cups          All Purpose Flour
2         Tsp           Baking Soda
1/2      Tsp           Salt
1         Tsp           Ground Cinnamon
1         Tsp           Pumpkin Pie Spice
1         8 oz          Container of Pumpkin Cream Cheese
2         Tbsp         Powdered Sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  In a stand mixer with the paddle or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream together sugars and butter for 3 minutes until fluffy.  Then mix in eggs, pumpkin, yogurt and vanilla until well incorprated.  In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice.  Slowly mix the flour mixture into the wet mixture just until it comes together.  Do not over mix, this can make your bread tough.  In a small bowl stir together cream cheese and sugar.  Next take a loaf pan and spray it with cooking spray and sprinkle with about a 1/4 cup of flour.  Shake the flour around evenly then tap off any extra flour.  This will help your bread slide out easily and not stick.  Pour the bread mixture in the loaf pan.  Take a spoon and dollop the cream mixture on top.  Using a toothpick swirl the cream cheese into the top of the bread.  Bake it in the oven for an hour.  Test it with a toothpick to make sure it comes out clean. Let it cool for an hour before taking it out of the pan.  Let it cool completely before you slice it.  Love as always, "Big K"

Big K's Tips:

*   I also tried this in four mini loaves and it turned out great

*   I don't use vanilla greek yogurt very often so I used the individual serving cup that was 5.3 ounces and it worked just fine

*  If you can't find the pumpkin flavored cream cheese, you can substitute regular