Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

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I’ve been craving lemon-poppy something. Anything…….

It started with these lemon poppy seed pancakes I found on Pinterest. I pinned them, (didn’t make them), and tucked the classic combination somewhere in the back of my noggin. Then my friend, Heidi, made these lemon poppy seed almond muffins. Oh, hello. But, again, I didn’t make them. Life gets in the way and thoughts of lemon and little black seeds get pushed aside.


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Fast forward a week. I had an afternoon free and I wanted something sweet, I wanted something bready and I wanted something quick. Lemon. Poppy. Seed. Quick. Bread.

With a lemon glaze no less. Yes, it was finally happening.

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The bread was light, bursting with lemon flavor, moist (man, I hate that word), and every bit the answer to my lemon-poppy craving. I couldn’t get enough. The kids couldn’t get enough. Our friends who we visited last week for a mini ski staycation couldn’t get enough.

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I’ve been quite a few emails lately from readers asking about high altitude baking. Living just above 7000 feet, I find that I have much more success when I follow a few simple adjustments when baking. One of these days I will get around to writing a blog post about it. But until then, you’ll have to settle for a few of my high altitude specific recipes. So if you live in the mountains, today’s your lucky day!! This lemon poppy seed bread recipe was developed for high altitude and tested at 7000 feet.

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If you have any high altitude recipes or adjustments you’d like to share, please leave links or tips in the comments below! Here are a few more high altitude recipes you might enjoy. New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies and Best Ever Blueberry Muffins.

Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

Ingredients:

  • 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon table salt
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 heaping tablespoon lemon zest
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon lemon extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 pint buttermilk
  • 3 tablespoons poppy seeds

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees.

Over low heat, melt the butter in a sauce pan. Remove from heat and let cool.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the melted and cooled butter, sugar and eggs. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, lemon extract and vanilla extract. Alternate adding the flour mixture and the buttermilk to the wet ingredients, stirring after each addition just until combined. Stir in the poppy seeds.

Prepare a standard size loaf pan with butter and flour (or a baking specific cooking spray). Pour the batter into the prepared loaf and bake for about 40 minutes until the loaf is cooked all the way through the top is golden brown. Remove bread from oven and transfer pan to a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Remove bread from pan and let cool completely on the baking rack.

While bread is cooling, prepare the glaze buy mixing 1- 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 1 lemon zested and 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice. Start with two teaspoons lemon juice and add more if you need to thin the glaze. You want the glaze to be on the thick side put still pourable. When bread is cooled, pour the glaze over the top of the bread and let it sit for 30 minutes to set before cutting into it.

Bread will last wrapped at room temperature for a few days…….though I doubt it will last that long.