Lemon and poppyseed is one of the ultimate great combinations. Put it in a cake, in muffins, even in waffles and it’s always delicious. But it just might be best when it’s baked into a loaf that walks the line between being bread and cake, like this Lemon Poppyseed Loaf. The flavor is just plain sunny and that signature crunch of the poppy seeds keeps the moist crumb from being too soft. It’s my ideal quick bread. Or cake. Oh, who knows, we’ll just call it a loaf.
For this loaf, you’ll start by creaming together butter and sugar. This does two things. It dissolves the sugar so it’s evenly mixed throughout the batter and it aerates the butter a bit, which should result in a lighter and fluffier baked good. Then, you’ll beat in your eggs, one by one. It helps to have them at room temperature so the butter that you just spent so much time creaming doesn’t seize up. Forgot to take them out? No problem. Just place the eggs in a warm cup of water for fifteen minutes or so.
From there you’ll add lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla. There’s no artificial lemon flavor here. I think that results in a brighter true lemon flavor. And the vanilla just backs it up.
Dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt) and wet ingredients (Greek yogurt and milk) get mixed in in alternating batches and the poppy seeds go in last.
This yields one loaf and will take about an hour to bake. Try to resist cutting into it right away — waiting even just ten minutes will ensure that it’s cooked through and the crumb isn’t gummy or TOO moist.
And there’s more good reason to wait — the glaze. While it can be hard to find the motivation to make a glaze after finishing all the actual baking, in this case it’s well worth it. It’s the perfect final flourish to this lovely loaf!
Lemon Poppyseed Loaf
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- Zest of one lemon
- Juice of one lemon
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
- 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup milk
For the glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons whole milk or cream
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350°F and grease an 8x4 inch loaf pan with nonstick spray or butter. Line with a piece of parchment paper that over hangs the long sides so you can easily lift the loaf from the pan.
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition, and then add lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla. Mix until combined.
- With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the Greek yogurt and milk, and ending with the flour mixture.
- Stir in poppyseeds.
- Transfer batter to prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 55-60 minutes.
- If loaf is browning too quickly, tent with foil.
- Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Using parchment overhang, lift cake from pan and let cool on a wire rack.
- Once cake has cooled, make the glaze by whisking together powdered sugar and milk. Spoon glaze over the loaf.
- Enjoy!