One of my friends brought me a loaf of this lemon poppy seed sweet bread when I got home from the hospital with my first newborn. I can honestly admit that I devoured the entire loaf by myself and I didn’t even feel bad about it! (I blamed it on the fact that I was extra hungry from nursing my baby boy :-).
It tasted SO good, and now it’s one of those foods that always brings back the best memories of those first few days with a new baby.
The original recipe is from here, but my friend had omitted some unnecessary ingredients and added a lemon flavor. This new version is terrific!
How to make Lemon Poppy Seed Bread:
Mix The dry and wet ingredients together in separate bowls. Then gently stir them together, just until combined.
Pour the batter into two 9 inch loaf pans that have been lined with wax paper or parchment paper, and the sides of the pan sprayed lightly with cooking spray.
Bake for 50 minutes – 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan before inverting the loaves onto a wire cooling rack.
Make the glaze by combining the powdered sugar, lemon and orange juice, and vanilla. Drizzle the glaze over the warm bread.
This recipe makes 2 loaves, so it’s perfect for sharing with a friend, just as mine did with me. You could also freeze the other loaf in a freezer ziplock bag. Allow the bread to come to room temperature before cutting.
Consider trying these popular bakery treats:
- Cinnamon Roll Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Apple Coffee Cake
- Peach Scones
- Broccoli Cheese Quiche
- Sour Cream Coffee Cake
- Lemon Zucchini Bread
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Lemon Poppy seed Bread
Ingredients
For the bread:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3 Tablespoons poppy seeds
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest (grated lemon peel)
- 1 cup oil (vegetable or canola oil)
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the Glaze:
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F . Line the bottom of two 9-inch loaf pans with a piece of parchment or wax paper. Spray the sides of the pan lightly with cooking spray.
- Mix together flour, salt, baking powder and poppy seeds. In a separate bowl mix together the sugar, milk, eggs, lemon juice, lemon zest, oil, and vanilla.
- Add the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Divide batter evenly between the prepared pans.
- Bake for 50 minutes - 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack.
For the Glaze:
- Mix orange juice, lemon juice and vanilla extract. Add enough powdered sugar to make a glaze.
- Poke a few small holes in the top of the loaves and drizzle the glaze over it.
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
*I first shared this recipe in June 2013. Updated August 2018.
Lindsey says
Made this yesterday (June 2020) and it came out perfect. It was so good I didn’t even make the glaze. It’s a very light lemon flavor which is how I like it, I doubled the vanilla extra just because I love vanilla. I noticed a lot of the reviews said their loaves came out gummy so I wanted to chime in with my experience. I checked my loaves at the 1 hour mark and they still weren’t quite done, so I let them keep baking. It took some time, but I made sure to wait until a chopstick I pushed down into the middle came out completely clean, and the loaves were cooked perfectly- a nice crunchy browned top and soft, fluffy middle. I want to say it was closer to the one hour, fifteen minute mark but I wasn’t paying super close attention to the time. Be patient with the baking part, don’t take it out until it’s actually done. If you like a really strong lemon flavor consider adding some lemon extract, but for me the taste was perfect.
Robin says
This is such a good recipe. It is moist, flavorful and hard to resist.
Morgan says
I didnt realize this made TWO bread pans, when I made it (i looked at how much batter i had and thought i must’ve misread something horribly wrong until i looked at the servings again). I ended up using the extra batter for a bunch of muffins instead of a second bread pan since I only have the one, and they turned out so well! They were a little denser than other muffin recipes I’ve made, but to be completely honest I like it when my muffins are nice and cake-y. There’s not a lot of sweetness to them on their own, which I suspect is what the icing is for, but this is the perfect breakfast muffin in my opinion. I’m still waiting on the bread loaf to bake, but if it’s even half as good as these muffins were, I’m definitely going to make them again.
The key to a good muffin/bread is a nice golden crust on top, this recipe gives such a fantastic crunchy muffin top if you bake it a little longer than is called for.
Kelly says
This was absolutely delicious! I made this last weekend (July 2020), and it was perfect! Lemon poppyseed anything is my favorite, and I was so happy to find this recipe that made such a yummy bread. The bread was cake-y and moist, and had just the right amount of golden crust. Because I love lemon, I added a little lemon extract as well. I almost didn’t make the glaze because the bread tasted so good by itself, but I ended up making it and I’m so glad did-it just made it over the top delicious! My whole family loved this, so glad it makes 2 loaves, I will definitely be making this again!
Lisa says
This turned out horrible!!! . . . It fell in the middle about 25 min into the baking and never raised all the way . .
I was very disappointed in this recipe. . . .I definitely wont be wasting my time with this one again. .
Tiffany Smith says
You must have done something wrong then?? I’ve made it several times and it has always turned out great. I’d give it another go and mind the ingredients & instructions step by step with a checklist. My guess is you missed one. Good luck.
Anthony says
Bread doesn’t just collapse in the oven. Try not stomping around next time so it doesn’t fall.
Isabel says
This is awesome!!! You’re an amazing baker!!! Was wondering what the serving size for the nutrition facts was tho? It’s so good I’m gonna eat the whole loaf and just keep calling it calling it 200 cals lmao
Arianna says
I made this tonight on a whim because I had all the ingredients. It is a little too cake-y and dense for my liking, and I *knew* I should have included more lemon zest. I didn’t make the glaze solely because I don’t like super sweet baked goods, so I can’t comment on that part. The light sweetness of the loaf was perfect for me. It came out moist on the inside and had a nice crunch on the outside. I would make this again but adjust the dry to wet mix ratio to get a lighter, fluffier loaf.
Debbie Callies says
I was buying the large lemon poppyseed muffins before going on our ATV trips to have for breakfasts in the morning. Came across this recipe and OMG tastes just like store bought. Love the flavor and how moist they are.👍🏻👍🏻
Janet Burton says
Delicious and very easy to do.
Alyssa says
Super yummy and fool proof loafs. I personally cut down on sugar for 2 cups to 1 3/4 cup and add the juice and zest of a full lemon. I also add an extra table spoon of poppyseeds because why not? Baking for an hour and 15 minutes does the trick in my oven and I will be making this again!