Cream Cheese Stuffed Strawberry Bread

Cream Cheese Stuffed Strawberry Bread FOR BREAD 3/4 cup sugar + 1 tbsp for topping 1/2 cup butter, softened 4 oz cream cheese, softened 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 eggs 2 cups flour + ½ tbsp for strawberries 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 cup heavy cream (or whole milk/whole greek yogurt) 1 pint strawberries, tops removed and chopped FOR CREAM CHEESE FILLING 4 oz cream cheese, softened 1/4 cup sugar 1 egg 3 tbsp flour Preheat oven to 350 F. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add ¾ cup sugar, 4 ounces cream cheese, and ½ cup butter; beat on medium until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each one. Add vanilla and heavy cream; beat to combine. Remove bowl from stand mixer. Add 2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to the bowl with the wet mixtures; Fold in with a spatula until just combined. Place strawberries in a small bowl and sprinkle ½ tbsp flour over the top; toss to coat. Add strawberries to batter and gently fold in. Do not overmix. Set aside. In a medium bowl, add 4 oz cream cheese, ¼ cup sugar, 1 egg, and 3 tbsp flour; whisk or use a fork to completely combine (no lumps); set aside. Using a 9×5 loaf pan, spray with non stick spray, add ¾ of the strawberry batter to the pan; spread evenly. Pour cream cheese filling mixture over the batter; spread evenly. Carefully add the remaining batter to the top, pressing very lightly to spread (you don’t want it to mix a lot with the cream cheese filling), until the cream cheese layer is covered. Sprinkle 1 tbsp sugar over the top, place in oven; bake for 50-60 minutes. If you feel the bread is getting too browned partly through cooking, you can tent a piece of foil over the top. Check bread with toothpick at 50 minutes. When the toothpick comes out without batter on it, the bread is done (this is a little difficult because the cream cheese won’t get hard – but check for batter not cream cheese). Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for 30 minutes on a wire rack. Remove from pan and allow to cool completely on a wire rack before slicing to serve. Enjoy! Store wrapped tightly in the fridge. If you use mini loaf pans, make sure to only fill 3/4 full, otherwise it will be a BIG mess.