One of the things I love most about spring and summer are all the fruity, sweet, and bright flavors. Whether it’s a strawberry poke cake or pound cake with a little blueberry whipped cream, the naturally sweet flavors are just my favorite. This lemon poppy seed bread fits right into the spring with its beautiful yellow color, sweet and slightly tart flavor, and yummy lemon flavor! It would make a great addition to any a baby shower brunch menu, added to a table of sweets for teacher appreciation week, or just as a yummy Sunday breakfast.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Lemon flavor – this recipes uses both fresh lemon juice and lemon zest for a nice dose of lemon flavor without going overboard. It has a hint of that refreshing citrus flavor without being sour. Easy to make – this bread is as simple as mixing all the ingredients together, baking, and letting it cool! No crazy crumble to make or complicated ingredients – a simple sweet bread. Lemon glaze – the lemon glaze on top makes this almost like a lemon cake, especially when you cut it into nice thick slices!
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
Lemons – this recipe uses the juice and zest from fresh lemons, typically about two lemons. If you don’t have lemons, you could still make this with refrigerated lemon juice, it just won’t have as strong of a lemon flavor. Glaze – you’ll also need powdered sugar to mix with the lemon juice and lemon zest to make your glaze! If you’d rather make a vanilla glaze, just mix the powdered sugar with vanilla instead. Butter – make sure our butter is nice and soft so that it creams well with the sugar. If it’s cold, it won’t cream together right.
Instructions
I mentioned it already but this is a super simple recipe! Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees and greasing one large baking loaf. While the oven is preheating, you’ll make your bread batter. To make the batter, first cream the butter and sugar together. I typically use a paddle attachment on my stand mixer to do this but you could use a hand mixer as well. While that’s creaming, mix your dry ingredients – flour, poppy seeds, baking power, and salt in a small bowl and set aside until the sugar and butter are creamed together. Add your other wet ingredients (milk, lemon juice, eggs, and lemon zest) to the creamed butter mixture and mix until well combined. Last, add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix just until combined. Don’t over mix or you’ll end up with dry bread, not the moist yummy bread you want. Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan. I typically pat the pan on the counter quickly before putting it in the oven to get rid of any bubbles or air pockets in the batter. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. If your oven bakes hot, start checking it around an hour so it doesn’t over bake. While the bread is baking, make the glaze by combining the powdered sugar with the lemon juice and lemon zest. All the bread to cool for 10 minutes in the pan then carefully remove the bread from the pan onto a cooling rack lined with a piece of parchment paper (to contain the glaze). Pour the glaze over top of the bread, allowing it to run down the sides. Let the bread completely cool and the glaze to harden slightly (so it’s not totally runny) before slicing and serving.
Expert Tips
Let the bread cool completely before slicing. If you rush slicing the bread, you run the risk of the bread crumbling apart. It still tastes good that way but will crumble in people’s hands. Make a double batch of the glaze and serve it alongside the bread in case people want to add more! Store the bread in an airtight container for up to five days before freezing. Freeze in a freezer safe container sliced. When you want to thaw, simply take a slice out and let it come to room temperature then enjoy. Slice the lemon poppy seed bread in thicker slices. If you want to serve more than eight people, cut those thick slices in half and serve half pieces of bread.
More Baked Goods
If you like this lemon poppy seed bread, you’ll love these other fruit filled baked goods!
Homemade Strawberry Danishes – these simple danishes combine store-bought puff pastry sheets with a homemade filling and strawberry topping for an amazing brunch recipe! Strawberry Scones – old-fashioned scones with a sweet fresh strawberry twist, topped with a delicious vanilla glaze!Glazed cherry cake – cherry pie meets vanilla cake in this delicious sweet treat that’s even better with a little ice cream on top! Cranberry orange muffins – the best cranberry orange bread recipe but in muffin form! They’re quick and easy to make and a total crowd pleaser! Peach whipped cream cake – a homemade vanilla cake topped with fresh sliced peaches and a delicious whip cream topping, it’s the ultimate summer dessert!
