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overhead shot of slices of lemon poppy seed bread.
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4.49 from 62 votes

Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

This Lemon Poppy Seed Bread is moist, tender, and full of real lemon flavor. Made with fresh lemon zest and juice, Greek yogurt, and a simple lemon icing, it’s an easy loaf that works for breakfast, snacking, or dessert.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time50 minutes
Total Time1 hour
Course: Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: lemon poppy seed bread, quick bread
Servings: 12
Calories: 316kcal
Author: Joanna Cismaru

Equipment

Ingredients

Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 tablespoons poppy seeds
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 3 eggs lightly beaten
  • ⅔ cup sugar
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • ½ cup Greek yogurt plain
  • ¼ cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon lemon zest from 1 lemon
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice from 1 lemon

Lemon Icing

  • ¼ cup lemon juice freshly squeezed
  • 2 cups powdered sugar same as icing sugar or confectioners sugar
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375℉. Grease a bread pan with butter or oil.
  • In a large bowl mix the flour, poppy seeds, baking powder and salt together.
    process shots showing how to make lemon poppy seed bread.
  • In another bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, vegetable oil, plain yogurt, milk, vanilla extract, lemon zest and lemon juice, and whisk well.
    process shots showing how to make lemon poppy seed bread.
  • Add the wet ingredients into the flour bowl and slowly stir just until fully incorporated. Do not over mix.
    process shots showing how to make lemon poppy seed bread.
  • 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.
    process shots showing how to make lemon poppy seed bread.
  • 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.
    process shots showing how to make lemon poppy seed bread.

Video

Notes

  1. Use fresh lemons for the best flavor. The zest makes a big difference here.
  2. Sour cream can be used in place of Greek yogurt with great results.
  3. Stir the batter just until combined. Overmixing can make the bread dense.
  4. Start checking for doneness at 45 minutes to avoid overbaking.
  5. Let the bread cool completely before icing so the glaze sets properly.

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 316kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 42mg | Sodium: 120mg | Potassium: 183mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 32g | Vitamin A: 65IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 102mg | Iron: 1mg
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