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Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
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This Lemon Poppy Seed Bread is moist, light, and lower in fat, filled with lots of lemon zest and poppy seeds, and drizzled with a thick lemon glaze made with powdered sugar and fresh lemon juice. If you love this combo you’re going to love my Lemon Poppy Seed Cake and Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins!
Lemon Poppy Seed Bread Basics
Lemon Poppy Seed Bread… Running out of granulated sugar in the middle of a recipe is just a skill I’ve acquired over the years. It just happens because I think I have enough sugar and then dive into a recipe and BAM. Not enough sugar.
Why do I bring this up? Because that’s exactly what happened with this recipe that I’m sharing with you today. I had a small amount of sugar in my house unbeknownst to me and it was too late to go out and get more or have any delivered.
What is a girl to do?
Shuffle through her cabinets for anything remotely sweet to use in place of the sugar.
My shuffling worked! We were eating lemon poppyseed bread made with 1/2 cup sugar (and 1/2 cup maple syrup!) at 11:30 pm and by golly it was delicious. So delicious in fact that I made it, again and again, to make sure it wasn’t just a fluke. Plus, I needed way more lemon flavor in there to make it taste as zingy as I wanted it to.
The finished loaf is a moist, light, and lower fat version of the original, filled with lots of lemon zest and poppy seeds and then drizzled with a thick glaze made with powdered sugar and fresh lemon juice. Let’s get into it!
Tips and Tricks for Success
Making this recipe is relatively straight forward! But here are some tips and tricks to make your life easier. You’re welcome 🙂
- Light Colored Pans. My only notes would include using a lighter colored loaf pan (these are the ones I use, and love!) do it doesn’t get too dark too fast with the one hour cook time.
- Nonstick and Parchment Paper. Spraying the pan well with nonstick cooking spray so it slides out easily. Heck, if you’re really concerned, just line the pan with some parchment paper along with the nonstick. It’s not necessary, but definitely will give you peace of mine. It’ll pop right out!
- Eggs. Make sure your eggs are at room temperature.
How to Make Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
This is a simple Lemon Poppy Seed Bread recipe, start out with your ingredients, mix them up. Then bake the batter in a loaf pan. Cool the loaf and as its cooling, prepare a simple lemon glaze. Then glaze it, slice it and enjoy! For the full recipe, check out the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Preheat + Prep
Preheat oven. Spray a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
Make the Batter
In a large bowl, whisk together: flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and granulated sugar. Create a well in the middle of the ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients: maple syrup, oil, apple sauce, eggs, extracts, and lemon zest. Stir the center of wet ingredients first before starting to incorporate the wet into the dry. Stir until dry ingredients are just combined. Add in poppy seeds and stir again gently.
Bake + Cool
Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan before removing to a cooling rack. Cool completely.
Make the Lemon Glaze
For the glaze, stir powdered sugar together with just enough lemon juice to create a thick glaze the consistency of white school glue.
Drizzle generously over loaf and enjoy!
Storing Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
Lemon Poppy Seed Bread can be stored at room temperature for up to 2 days. To lengthen its shelf life store in the fridge, in an airtight container, for up to a week!
To Freeze. Skip the glaze and wrap in plastic wrap, then put the loaf into a freezer bag. Freeze for up to 4 months!
To Thaw. Transfer the loaf from the freezer to the fridge, allow to thaw overnight. Transfer to the counter and let it come to room temperature. Then glaze it, slice it and enjoy!
Try doubling this Lemon Poppy Seed Bread recipe! Enjoy one loaf now and store the other in the freezer for later.
More Lemon Recipes to Love!
- Lemon Cream Puffs
- Lemon Sour Cream Sugar Cookies
- Lemon Poppy Seed Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Lemon Cream Pie
- Lemon Crinkle Cookies
- Perfect Lemon Bar Recipe
Printable recipe card is below. Have a great day, friends!! 🙂
Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
Enjoy this soft, moist and delicious Lemon Poppyseed Bread made with healthier ingredients making this low fat and lower in processed sugar.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup real maple syrup
- 6 tablespoons canola oil or vegetable oil
- 2/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract optional, but recommended
- 1/4 cup lemon zest 5 lemons for me!
- 1 tablespoon poppyseed
For the glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together: flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and granulated sugar. Create a well in the middle of the ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients: maple syrup, oil, apple sauce, eggs, extracts, and lemon zest. Stir the center of wet ingredients first before starting to incorporate the wet into the dry. Stir until dry ingredients are just combined. Add in poppyseed and stir again gently.
- Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes in the pan before removing to a cooling rack. Cool completely.
- For the glaze, stir powdered sugar together with just enough lemon juice to create a thick glaze the consistency of white school glue. Drizzle generously over loaf and enjoy!
Nutrition
Calories: 535kcalCarbohydrates: 91gProtein: 6gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 54mgSodium: 596mgPotassium: 196mgFiber: 2gSugar: 55gVitamin A: 80IUVitamin C: 6.4mgCalcium: 85mgIron: 2.4mg
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I have several sizes of loaf pans (9X5, 8X3 etc.) What size loaf pan did you use for this recipe?
[…] banana isn’t your thing, you may want to try my Low Fat Lemon Poppyseed Bread, my Cinnamon Swirl Donut Bread or my Homemade White Bread. All non-banana-but-still-delicious […]
This is on my list to make this week! I love lemon poppyseed! ??
My Grandma used to make the yummiest poppyseed cake. This sounds like it would be a healthier option that would still give me that flavor and the sentimental memories. I’m excited to try it!
I think this would be perfect with tea. I love lemon flavored breads and pastries. I have been wanting to make this!!
That looks so delicious! I’ve been waiting for something with less sugar and still taste great! Thanks for the recipe!
This looks so good, I can’t wait to try it.
This looks so good! I need to make this soon!
I’ve got to try this! Lemon is one of my favorite flavors! Thanks for sharing… I’ll eat sure tonletnyounknow how it turns out!
I am going to try your lemon loaf…looks yummy!