This recipe for Pumpkin Cheesecake Amish Friendship Bread is courtesy Elizabeth Thums, and brings together two great flavors for autumn: cheesecake and pumpkin.
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The cheesecake flavor comes from the cheesecake instant pudding mix, but if you can’t find any, you can beat softened cream cheese and sour cream into the batter. (If you’re on the fence with the “should I use instant pudding or not” in your Amish Friendship Bread, this post might help.)
This recipe yields two loaves, and it’s a great fall treat, though it’s easy enough to make year-round. If you like to bake for others, this makes a great edible gift. Some people say the texture reminds them of a pound cake (which, yes, is next on my list to adapt using 1 cup of Amish Friendship Bread starter)–it’s moist with a tight, tender crumb. Serve it warm or with whipped cream and berries.
Pumpkin Cheesecake Amish Friendship Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup Amish Friendship Bread Starter
- 3 eggs
- ½ cup melted butter
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups flour
- 1 small box cheesecake instant pudding see notes for substitutions
- ½ cup fresh pumpkin roasted and mashed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325° F (165° C).
- In a large mixing bowl, add ingredients as listed.
- Grease two large loaf pans.
- Dust the greased pans with half of the sugar-cinnamon mixture of ½ cup sugar and 1½ teaspoon cinnamon.
- Pour the batter evenly into loaf or cake pans and sprinkle the remaining sugar-cinnamon mixture on the top.
- Bake for one hour or until the bread loosens evenly from the sides and a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.
- ENJOY!
Notes
- You can use canned pumpkin instead of fresh pumpkin.
- If you can’t find cheesecake instant pudding, beat together 8 ounces of softened cream cheese and ½ cup sour cream. Fold into batter in step 2.
>> Have you tried this? Give the recipe some stars and leave a comment below letting us know how it worked for you!
I’m wondering if I could exchange sweet potatoes for the pumpkin in this recipe. 😊
Hello, so anxious to try this. Was wondering if you change anything with high altitude?
Hi Angel! There are a couple things you may want to think about when baking in high altitudes. Here’s a great resource for baking in high altitudes: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/resources/high-altitude-baking
Can I make muffins with this recipe?
Hi Katie! Yes, you should be able to make muffins with this recipe. Here’s a good post on the time difference with using a muffin pan: https://www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com/conversion-tables/
Can I use regular vanilla instead of Mexican in this recipe?
This sounds so delicious! I want to make this for my parents and boyfriend.
i hope to make this for my daughter and her husband soon.
I love Pumpkin and can hardly wait to try this recipe for Pumpkin Cheesecake Amish Bread
‘Tis the season for pumpkin goodies and this one looks delicious. I have some starter in the freezer so I can’t wait to give this bread a try. Thanks so much for sharing your recipe, Elizabeth-I’m looking forward to making it. 🙂
This is the perfect pumpkin treat! I would devour the whole thing myself. 😉
Can wait for my new batch of starter to be ready so I can make this, only 8 days to go
Holy moly! This was delicious! I used canned pumpkin and it came out a.m.a.z.i.n.g. The people at work devoured it and begged for more. hee hee. I think adding some chopped nuts would be delicious too.
Yum! Snap a picture next time, Michelle! I’d love to see it!
I love the idea of friendship bread! This is the first recipe I found of yours and looks yummy!