This delicious Lemon Poppy Seed Bread with Lemon Icing is incredibly moist and simple to make. All it takes is a few minutes to put together and in the oven it goes!
You guys, I promise you will love this amazing lemon poppy seed bread. I told you before I don’t usually like Starbucks, but when I do go there, there are 2 things I always get. It’s either a non-fat latte or my favorite, their lemon poppy seed bread.
But I guarantee you that my lemon poppy seed bread is way better and way cheaper than anything you can buy in a coffee shop! The best part? It’s so easy to whip together.
Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
We all love some Lemon Poppy Seed Bread not only for how insanely moist and tender it is, but also for that sweet citrusy note. We’re going to carry all that lemony goodness through to the icing dripping down the sides. I recommend making two pans of this treat, one for yourself, and another for everyone else because believe me you’ll be reluctant to share.
Ingredients In Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
Detailed measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.
Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
- Flour – Just all purpose is all we need for this bread.
- Poppy seeds – These little seeds are a source of antioxidants, fiber, and folic acid. I’ve added lots to this recipe so have fun with it!
- Baking powder – The leavening agent we’re using in this bread to be sure it’s full of volume and tender.
- Eggs – 3 entire eggs, lightly beaten.
- Sugar – I used just white sugar for this dish as we want the flavor to be light and clean.
- Vegetable oil – One of our key ingredients to achieve that moist tender texture.
- Yogurt – I decided to use Greek today, it gives the whole dish a delicious tang that lends itself well to the acidity of the lemon.
- Lemon – Both the juice and the zest, this will ensure we can taste every ounce of that citrus.
- Salt – Don’t let me catch you forgetting salt in your baking.
- Milk – We want a batter that isn’t too thick. Feel free to use whichever kind of milk you please.
- Vanilla – Vanilla is such a secret flavor booster in breads, cakes, and loaves.
Lemon Icing
- Lemon – Freshly squeezed juice, believe me you won’t want to use the stuff in a bottle.
- Sugar – Trust me powdered sugar is what you’ll want to use for this icing, otherwise you’ll find it grainy.
How To Make Lemon Poppy Seed Bread With Lemon Icing
Detailed measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Preheat your oven: Set it to 375 F degrees. Grease a bread pan in the meantime.
- Mix the dry ingredients: In a large bowl mix the flour, poppy seeds, baking powder and salt together.
- Mix the wet ingredients: In another bowl, whisk the rest of the bread ingredients together. Add the wet ingredients into the flour bowl and slowly stir just until fully incorporated.
- Bake the Lemon Poppy Seed Bread: Pour the mixture into the prepared bread pan and bake for 45 min to 1 hour or until you insert a toothpick in the middle and it comes out clean.
- Prepare the Lemon Icing: Whisk the powdered sugar and lemon juice together, add more lemon juice or powdered sugar as necessary until you get the consistency you want.
- Finish the dish: Wait for the bread to be completely cooled before drizzling liberally with icing. Slice up and enjoy!
Tips For Making The Best Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
- I’ve found that they key to ensuring this bread stays nice and moist is really giving it some time to cool down on your counter. For the best loaf, wrap it tightly in aluminum foil and allow to sit on your counter top overnight before icing and serving, that’s if you can wait that long.
- Sometimes where you place your loaf pan in the oven can make a difference, some swear by baking their loaves near the top of the oven whereas some prefer the middle. Here’s a handy guide explaining the science behind rack placement. So play around and see what works best with your oven!
- The best way to avoid a mess when glazing is to place the loaf on a wire cooling rack over a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil, clean up time will be cut in half!
Storing Leftover Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
Counter top
This lemon poppy seed bread will last about 1 to 2 days at normal room temperature. To maximize its shelf life though, cover it with foil or plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out and store it in the fridge. It should last about 1 week in the fridge when properly stored.
Freezer
If you’d prefer to store in the freezer, wrap the loaf tightly in aluminum foil before placing in a large ziploc bag, be sure to press out as much of the air in the bag as possible before sealing. This method will keep your loaf fresh for up to 4 months. To thaw you’ll want to keep it wrapped in foil as it thaws on your counter for up to 3 hours. Be sure not to glaze your bread before placing it in the freezer as it’ll become runny as it thaws.
Craving More Lemon Cakes? Try These Delicious Recipes:
- Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Loaf
- Limoncello Lemon Cake
- Old Fashioned Lemon Bread
- Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt Cake
- Lemon Yogurt Cake
- Lemon Orange Cake with Lemon Honey Glaze
- Lemon Chiffon Cake
- Lemon Magic Cake
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Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tbsp poppy seeds
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 eggs lightly beaten
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt plain
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp lemon zest from 1 lemon
- 2 tbsp lemon juice from 1 lemon
Lemon Icing
- 1/4 cup lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 2 cups powdered sugar same as icing sugar or confectioners sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F degrees. Grease a bread pan with butter or oil.
- In a large bowl mix the flour, poppy seeds, baking powder and salt together.
- In another bowl, whisk the rest of the bread ingredients together. Add the wet ingredients into the flour bowl and slowly stir just until fully incorporated. Do not over mix.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared bread pan, transfer to the oven and bake for 45 min to 1 hour or until you insert a toothpick in the middle and it comes out clean.
- In the meantime whisk the powdered sugar and lemon juice together to make the glaze, add more lemon juice or powdered sugar as necessary until you get the consistency you want.
- Cool the bread in the loaf pan for 5 minutes then remove the bread from the loaf pan and transfer it to a cooling rack to cool completely. Let bread cool completely before drizzling with lemon icing.
Molly says
This is amazing! I’m not even a fan of lemon poppy seed usually. I had poppy seeds from another recipe and decided to give this a try. It will go.into heavy rotation in my kitchen! I love loaves and this was a fantastic surprise! Thanks!
Elaine Sarmiento says
Is the temperature really baked at 375 ?
Jo Cooks Team says
Yes, 375F.
Dorothy LaRue says
LOVE it!!! I looked through tons of lemon poppy seed bread recipes before choosing yours. I love that it uses a lot less sugar than most, oil instead of butter, and also includes some yogurt. I made a double batch (4 mini loaves) for sharing this holiday season! I like it without glaze as a brunch/daytime treat, or with the glaze as a dessert. Thanks for sharing!
Daniella Heller says
One of my children is sensitive to dairy. Can i subtitue the yogurt eith something else?
Nicole Beaulieu says
Check out your local grocery store and see if they carry any dairy free yogurt. If not, you can use some coconut cream with a little bit more lemon juice.
Donnita Ackley says
Your recipe looks wonderful and I’m looking forward to trying it. Lemon Poppy Seed is one of my favorite quick breads. I have a question regarding the pan size you used. Are they 8.5 X 4.5 or the larger 9 X 5 bread pans? Thank you!
Joanna Cismaru says
Hi Donnita! I have many loaf pans and I use them all. For this recipe though, I used these 12×4.5 inch loaf pans. A 9×5 is fine as well.
Meredith says
So I misread this recipe (I really shouldn’t try to bake before my morning coffee) and instead of adding 2 tablespoons of juice from one lemon, I added ALL the juice from TWO lemons. It’s magically delicious. I guess it proves that there is no such thing as too much lemon…😂. Thank; my family loved it.
Joanna Cismaru says
There is no such thing as too much lemon, the more lemon the better. Glad you guys loved it!
Nana Toye says
Is it okay to use bottled lemon juice and the lemon “zest” that is sold in the herbs/spices section or do you think fresh makes a significant difference?
Thanks.
Joanna Cismaru says
I mean obviously you can, but personally I don’t prefer it because I always thought it has an artificial flavor so I would always recommend fresh lemon juice but yes you can, of course.
Nana Toye says
I did as you suggested and used real lemon juice and zest and am now waiting for the bread to cool. The aroma is out of this world, and I could eat the frosting all by itself right now!
Thank you!
Galia says
Amazing, incredible, delicious and easy to boot!!! Thank you so much, this is definitely a keeper! I doubled the recipe (knowing that my sister in law would love this) and baked it in 2 9″ loaf pans and they came out perfect!! Didn’t have any Greek yogurt so I substituted with plain yogurt… ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Galia says
Also used parchment paper for easy cleanup ?
Joanna Cismaru says
Thank you! So glad you liked it, plain yogurt is just fine. 🙂
melissa says
Hi Joanna,
What a delicious recipe!!! I swapped out coconut oil for the veg oil and coconut/almond milk for the milk. Also made only half of the icing recipe. LOVE that your version has a lot less sugar than other lemon poppy seed breads. I still feel like I’m eating a treat and staying healthy. 🙂 Thanks again for posting this recipe!
Fenne Kieken says
Great Melissa and thanks for posting your comments as it will help others making the recipe healthier. Thanks so much for your comment and have a great weekend