Blackberry Muffin Top Bread with a Cream Cheese Swirl

I don’t know about you but in our house the tops of freshly baked muffins and cupcakes mysteriously disappear – its always been a problem… must be a ghost or something!  But today I have the solution – Muffin Top Bread!  I know, I know the first thing that comes to mind when I hear “Muffin Top” is the unfortunate event of a woman’s pants being too tight around their waist creating a “muffin top” – HOWEVER  today’s muffin top bread is a delicious combination of sweet bread, fruit, and a cream cheese swirl that come together to form an easy-to-make bread that tastes just like the top of a muffin.  

Problem solved – no more fighting over everyone’s favorite part of the muffin! 

The best part about this bread is that it makes two loafs so you can make one for your family and give one away or keep it for yourself… I wont tell on you!

Blackberry Muffin Top Bread with a Cream Cheese Swirl

You will need:

- 1 box of yellow cake mix

- 1 small box of instant vanilla pudding

- 1 teaspoon of baking powder

- 2 tablespoons of flour

- 4 eggs

- ½ cup of vegetable oil

- ¼ cup of Greek yogurt

- 2/3 cup milk

- 1 can of Blackberry Pie filling

- 8 ounces of cream cheese, softened (full fat – do not use reduced or fat free – just trust me!)

- ½ cup powder sugar

- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla

- a little bit of milk (if your cream cheese mixture is crumbly)

Directions:

Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees

Spray 2 loaf pans with oil and set aside.

Cream cheese mixture:

Using your mixer, combine the cream cheese, powder sugar, vanilla.  Beat until smooth.  Add a few drops of milk if your cream cheese mixture is too crumbly – you want a smooth mixture.  Set mixture aside.

Batter:

In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, pudding, baking powder, and flour.   Using your mixer slowly add the eggs, one at a time until combined.  Add the vegetable oil, Greek yogurt, and milk.   Mix until everything is fully incorporated.  Mix for 2-3 minutes more. 

Assembly:

In your loaf pans, you are going to layer the different parts of the bread.  This part is not an exact science but basically you want the layers to be:  batter, berries, cream cheese, berries, batter (with more batter on the bottom than the top). 

So starting with the batter – spread about 1/3 of the mixture in each pan, then spread about a ¼ of the Blackberry Pie filling over the batter in each pan.  Next, divide the cream cheese mixture between the two pans and gently spread over the blackberry pie filling (they may mix together a little bit but that’s ok).  Next, spread the rest of the blackberry pie filling over the cream cheese mixture.  Finally, dividing the rest of the batter between the two pans, cover the blackberry pie filling. 

Put the loaves into the oven for 40-50 minutes.  They will be done when the top springs up when you press it gently.  

Wait until the loaves completely cool before you remove them from the pan and slice.  I know patience isn’t my strong suit either but believe me you will want to wait…. Unless you want a mess… not that I would know or anything…. but hey it tastes the same you just need a fork! 

The best part about this bread is that you can have it for breakfast because it’s a muffin!  Or for dessert or any old time.  (And P.S. It’s great with a cup of coffee!)