Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread with Brown Sugar Pecan Streusel

Geez, do you think the title is long enough?  I was trying to think of a way to pare it down, but it didn't seem fair to cut out the cream cheese part or the very descriptive streusel part.  That's what makes this pumpkin bread different from your basic, run of the mill (yet still delicious) pumpkin bread.

My mom always made pumpkin bread from, well, as long ago as I can remember.  You knew fall had officially arrived when the first batch was made.  Even when we were too young to help with the baking my sister and I would gather in the kitchen because we knew we would be given one of the beaters to lick.  And I've been obsessed with the stuff ever since.  I'll eat it for breakfast, dessert, dinner, as a snack...

She has made this pumpkin bread so many times that the cookbook she uses is permanently creased and falling apart on the recipe page....splatters of dried batter everywhere.  I love seeing those worn and stained pages almost as much as I love the recipe itself.  It conjures up all kinds of warm and fuzzy childhood memories.

But alas I didn't have that beloved recipe two nights ago when I set out to make some for myself.  So what's a girl to do?   Well, I turned to everyone's good friend Google and sought out every type of pumpkin bread recipe I could find.  I combined aspects of two recipes to come up with my final version below.

I was a little apprehensive about adding all these new things into the bread.  Sure, cream cheese and pecans are great, but did I really want them messing up a classic?

It turns out I did :)  You can definitely omit the cream cheese, pecans or the streusel if you'd like, but you'll be missing out if you do.

I know it's not officially fall yet, but since it's been in the mid-50's here in Georgia a few mornings lately I feel like it's okay to pull out the fall recipes.  Here's to fall.....leaves, football, boots, scarves and PUMPKIN RECIPES!!!

Raspberry Cream Cheese Brownies

Did the title reel you in?  How heavenly do these sound?  Brownies are always fabulous,  raspberries might be my favorite fruit and cream cheese of course is a gift from God Himself.  So the thought of combining all of these things into one dish just blew my mind.

I'm a very big fan of boxed brownies, so the decision to make some from scratch was not a light one.  If the boxed variety works so well, why bother going through all the motions just to come out with the same thing?  Well, that's where these brownies differ.

I don't know how to explain it, but they have a completely different texture than boxed brownies do.  The raspberries perfectly complement the dark chocolate, while the cream cheese add the perfect amount of softness to the brownies.

My other favorite thing about these brownies is that they could be easily adapted to suit your taste.  Don't like raspberries?  Use strawberry jam.  Try out orange.  Get creative and find the combo you love!

Raspberry Cream Cheese Brownies courtesy of Brown Eyed Baker
8 oz cream cheese at room temp
1 1/2 C granulated sugar, divided
1 egg yolk
2 1/4 tsp vanilla extract, divided
2/3 C all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
8 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces
4 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/2 C raspberry jam, divided
3 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 and line 8 inch square baking pan with parchment paper along the bottom of the dish.  Lightly grease the dish.

Chopping the dark chocolate...I might have

snuck a bite ;)

Process cream cheese, 1/4 C granulated sugar, egg yolk and 1/4 tsp vanilla in food processor until smooth (I used a hand held mixer in a separate bowl).  Set aside.

Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in small bowl.  Set aside.  Microwave butter and chocolate in separate bowl until melted and smooth, opening microwave periodically to stir.    Whisk 1/4 C raspberry jam into chocolate mixture and whisk until smooth.  Allow to cool slightly.

Add remaining 1 1/4 C sugar, the 3 eggs, and remaining 1 1/4 tsp vanilla to chocolate mixture, stirring until combined.  Add flour mixture and stir until incorporated.

Microwave remaining raspberry jam until smooth and slightly melted (about 30 sec).  Stir to smooth and cool.  Scrape half of brownie mixture into pan, top with cream cheese mixture.  Smooth out to get even.  Then top with raspberry jam.  *This is where I added my layer of fresh raspberries.  Spread remaining brownie batter over top.

Fresh raspberries over top the cream cheese

And the final layer of chocolate batter...

Bake 50-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Cool completely (approximately 2 hours) before removing from pan.

Layers of chewy, moist goodness