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Easy Pumpkin Spice Banana Bread with Cream Cheese Swirl

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This moist and tender banana bread features a ribbon of tangy cream cheese running through the middle, with every bite delivering cozy pumpkin spice warmth. It’s quick, easy, and perfect for impressing guests or turning a simple Tuesday into something memorable.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 3 ripe bananas, mashed (about 1½ cups)
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, melted (1 stick)
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
  • 8 oz cream cheese, softened (full-fat block)
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar (for cream cheese swirl)
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract (for cream cheese swirl)

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Position the rack in the center. Line your 9×5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving some overhang on the long sides. Lightly grease the paper with butter or nonstick spray.
  2. Mash the bananas. In a large bowl, mash those ripe bananas with a fork until they’re mostly smooth. A few lumps are fine—they add texture. You want about 1½ cups of mashed banana.
  3. Add the wet ingredients. Pour the melted butter into the mashed bananas and stir until combined. Add the sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract. Whisk everything together until it’s smooth and glossy. Don’t overmix—just until it looks uniform.
  4. Combine the dry ingredients. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Make sure the spices are evenly distributed.
  5. Fold the dry into the wet. Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture. Use a spatula to fold gently—just until you can’t see any more streaks of flour. Overmixing at this stage makes the bread tough. A few lumps are perfectly fine.
  6. Make the cream cheese swirl. In your medium bowl, beat the softened cream cheese with ¼ cup sugar, the egg yolk, and ½ teaspoon vanilla. Use a hand mixer or a strong arm. You want it smooth and completely lump-free.
  7. Layer the batter and swirl. Pour half the banana batter into your prepared loaf pan and spread it even. Dollop about half the cream cheese mixture on top in spoonfuls. Pour the remaining banana batter over that, then dollop the rest of the cream cheese on top. Take a butter knife or a skewer and gently swirl it through the batter. Don’t overdo it—five or six figure-eight motions is plenty.
  8. Bake. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 55 to 65 minutes. Start checking at 50 minutes. The bread is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. If the top is browning too fast (around the 40-minute mark), tent it loosely with foil.
  9. Cool properly. Let the bread rest in the pan for 15 minutes. Then use the parchment overhang to lift it out and transfer to a cooling rack. Let it cool completely before slicing—about 1 hour.

Notes

Don’t overmix the batter. Room temperature ingredients matter. Use very ripe bananas. Let the bread cool completely before slicing to avoid crumbling. The bread tastes even better the next day.

Nutrition

Keywords: pumpkin spice banana bread, cream cheese swirl banana bread, easy banana bread, fall banana bread, banana bread with cream cheese

Find it online: https://cookluma.com/easy-pumpkin-spice-banana-bread-with-cream-cheese-swirl/