So it’s been a while since I’ve posted a recipe, and I think it’s high time I do so again.
Contrary to popular belief I’ve actually been doing a lot of cooking lately. In fact, I’ve been doing so much cooking that I’ve accumulated a gazillion and a half recipes to share with you. Some I’ve found online, others I’ve created from the depths of my inner self–and that can get pretty scary.
Some of the recipes I’ve found are from other blogs that I follow, and today’s lemon bread recipe is an adaptation from the ever popular and addicting blog called Cookie Madness, written by Anna.
I’ve made this lemon bread a few times and this last time around I added the poppy seeds, which I absolutely love–and it’s not because they supposedly make you test positive for doping. Is that even true?
- Do not pack your flour. You want your flour to be loose so that the bread isn’t overly dense.
- Although bread is super delicious right out of the oven, I prefer this bread after it’s cooled down and the flavors have had a chance to mix together.
- I’ve tried this bread plain and also topped with a lemon glaze, a chocolate glaze, and a regular glaze. I prefer the lemon glaze.
Alright, that’s enough mumbo jumbo for one post. Let’s get baking. As always, there’s a printable recipe at the bottom of this post. The pictures in this post are a combination of the different times I’ve made this recipe.
Lemon Poppy Seed Bread with Glaze
Ingredients
For the Bread
For the Glaze
Method
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Then zest three large lemons. You’ll get about 2/3 cups lemon zest.
Combine the sugar and lemon zest and smash the two together. I’m a hands-on kind of guy, so I used my fingers. Besides, I really like the lemon smell it leaves on your hands. I dare you to not smell your fingers after this step. If you’re concerned about chipping or scraping a finger nail, you can use a spoon or the Homo Sapiens Caveman Kitchen Tool.
Add the eggs and the salt and whisk together until evenly blended and frothy.
Combine the flour and baking powder in a sifter. Sift in 1/3 of that mixture into the frothy egg mixture and add your poppy seeds.
Evenly whisk the previous ingredients together and then add in the rest of the flour in two more rotations, 1/3 of the mixture each time.
Once that’s done, mix in the cream. Resist the temptation to add more cream than is necessary… if you have extra, make some whipped topping for pancakes or waffles.
Now fold in the butter… nice and easy like.
At this point your mixture will look like this.
Grease and flour a 9×5-inch loaf pan.
Pour the batter into the pan. Make sure it all goes in. No licking allowed.
Bake at 350 degrees F for about 60 minutes. The top will be a light to medium brown and will have a crack along the top. If in doubt, stick a toothpick in the center, and if it comes out clean, you’re good to go. If you’re like me, I used a giant harpoon-like wooden skewer. I couldn’t help it. Let the bread rest for 10 minutes before popping it out of the pan. Once out of the pan, let it cool for another while, top side up.
Cut and enjoy! (The rest of these pictures show the bread without the poppy seeds… if you choose to make them without them.)
If it’s your thing, you can also add a glaze. I used a lemon glaze this time around, and boy was it delicious! For the lemon glaze simply mix the butter, lemon juice, powdered sugar, and vanilla together. Add more lemon juice or powdered sugar until you get the consistency you want. Check this out:
And this one…
Okay, go make this now. It’s easy and you won’t regret it.
Download
Download “Lemon Poppy Seed Bread with Glaze” (PDF, 1 page, 139 kb)
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- 1 1/3 cups sugar
- 3 lemons grated zest (2/3 c looselypacked)
- 4 eggs lg
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 3/4 cups cake flour loosely packed
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup heavy cream room temperature
- 5 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter melted & cooled to room temperature
- 2 tbsp poppy seeds
- 2 tbsp butter room temperature
- 1/2 tbsp lemon juice use the juice from a lemon you just zested
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Zest three large lemons for about 2/3 cups lemon zest. Combine the sugar and lemon zest and smash together. Add the eggs and salt and whisk together until evenly blended and frothy. Combine the flour and baking powder in a sifter. Sift in 1/3 of that mixture into the frothy egg mixture and add poppy seeds. Evenly whisk previous ingredients together then add in the rest of the flour in two more rotations, 1/3 of the mixture each time. Next, mix in the cream then fold in the butter. Grease and flour a 9x5-inch loaf pan. Pour the batter into the pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 60 minutes - until the top is a light to medium brown and there's a crack along the top, or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the bread rest for 10 minutes before removing from pan then let cool top side up. Cut and enjoy!
- Mix the butter, lemon juice, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Add lemon juice or powdered sugar until desired consistency.
Lemonhead reassuringly voices...
This bread is pretty darn good, and I think it gets better each time you make it. If you make any tweaks to the recipe in the future, I hope you’ll let your loyal subscribers know!
Chris Mower brainily writes...
@Lemonhead. Will do 🙂
Meagan Price totally scribbles...
YUUUUUUUMMMM. I cant wait to make this. I love lemon bread and poppy seeds are a must. Thanks for posting the glaze, btw.
Anna magestically reveals...
Wow, your loaf looks better than mine! I love the big domed top. I’m going to have to re-make it using *your* directions.
Chris Mower handsomely fleshes out...
@Anna
Actually, I was thinking that your loaf looked better than mine! Ha ha. I made it with and without poppy seeds and the poppy seeds make it way yummy.
Dad beautifully reveals...
Kind of makes me hungry for Twinkies… I don’t know why. Do you know how to make Twinkies?