Nutella Pumpkin Swirl Bread

 

This is my husband's new favorite holiday bread. I've made it at least three times already (there's a loaf in the oven as we speak) and he raves about it to everyone. It makes me feel good when I can make people (especially my family) happy through food. :)
   This is a spin on a recipe that I found on Six Sisters Stuff. 
I think it turned out pretty well and I hope you try it and love it too!

You'll need 1 1/4 cups pumpkin puree. I just got out two of my 1 cup bags from the freezer. (I did these back when I had pumpkin coming out of my ears. I made Pumpkin Butter, Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies, Easy Pumpkin Whoopie Pies, and Pumkin Cake With a Chocolate Ganache.  I still had over 30 cups of pumpkin left over, so I portioned them out into 1 cup measurements and froze them for later use.)

The pumpkin puree gets put into a medium to large mixing bowl.

Sugar,

salt, (excuse the blinding flashback off my palm)

 and cinnamon are added as well. (You could use pumpkin pie spice here, if you wanted it to taste more "pimpkin-y" but I wanted the Nutella to be the star.)

Along with some softened butter (mine got a little too soft in the microwave, but it doesn't matter),

baking soda,

and vanilla.

That all gets whisked together with two eggs,

some flour,

and milk.  (To tell you the truth; the order in which you mix the ingredients together doesn't matter too much. Just make sure that everything gets mixed well, and don't over mix it.)

When everything is combined it looks like this:

One cup of the batter gets put into a separate bowl, along with a heaping 3/4 cup of Nutella. (I've done a full cup here with no negative results.)

Stir everything together. It won't look like they are going to get a long very well, but just keep mixing and they will.

Start with the plain pumpkin batter, and put just enough in the greased loaf pan to evenly coat the bottom.

Then scoop in some of the Nutella mixture.

Spread that out evenly,

and keep repeating the steps until all of both batters are used.  Pumpkin . . . spread . . .

Nutella . . . spread . . .

When you have reached then end of your batters, you don't need to worry about spreading out the top of the loaf. (It actually looks and tastes better if you don't. The Nutella part gets nice and crunchy in the oven while the pumpkin part stays mostly soft.)  Using a butter knife, swirl the batters together.

Any pattern you like will do. I usually just take the knife up and down from one end of the loaf to the other.

It bakes @ 350F for  about 55 minutes. (The original recipe says to cook it for about 45 minutes, because they like it underdone and gooey. I prefer my bread more on the done side, so I cook it for 55-60 minutes until it no longer jiggles.) The Nutella parts will always be a little gooier and softer than the pumpkin parts.

Let it cool completely before cutting. Isn't it pretty?

I made the bread the night before and then we ate it for breakfast. (Hence the drastic lighting change.)

See how the Nutella swirls are still soft and a little wet looking?

My favorite part is the crunchy Nutella swirls on top. The contrast between that and the soft interior of the bread is just heavenly.

This one is definitely a keeper!

Here's the recipe:
adapted from Six Sisters Stuff

Nutella Pumpkin Swirl Bread

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon (or pumpkin pie spice if so desired)
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups pumpkin puree
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3/4 heaping cup Nutella
 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 8×4-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray.
In a large bowl, whisk together sugar and butter until blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the pumpkin, milk and vanilla. Beat until blended.
Add cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and flour. Mix until flour is incorporated (don’t over mix).
Spoon 1 cup of the batter into a sperate bowl and add the Nutella. (If your Nutella is hard from being cold, you might want to warm up the Nutella by itself first, in the microwave, for about 10-15 seconds.) Stir until well blended. Spoon Nutella batter alternately with plain banana bread batter into the prepared pan. Swirl batters together with a butter knife.
Bake 55 to 60 minutes. (The more undercooked it is, to gooier it will be.) Cool completely before serving.