Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

Poppy seed things make me happy.


Whenever I see something 'poppyseed', I want to buy it and eat it. Also, I love the name Poppy.


Is there not a more cheerful name in all the land????

It floats my boat.




The weird thing is, I've never ever in my existence made anything with poppy seeds. I didn't even know what kind of container they came in, what they looked like, or anything. Well, I knew they were small and black, but you know what I mean, punk.




So it was a cheerful (because I had a caramel turtle coffee with extra almond in hand), sunny day last Wednesday, and I was doing my grocery shopping thing (which I despise doing), and while I was on my journey down the baking isle, guess, my friends what I accidentally spied?!


The cutest little jar of poppy seeds!


I was so happy...and I went home and immediately made this lemon poppy seed bread that tastes like pound cake. My husband sang my praises, because this bread was the yummiest. FACT.

Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
Pre-heat oven to 350.
Prepare a 8 x 4 x 2 1/2" pan by greasing and flouring. Line the bottom with a piece of parchment paper.


Mix together:
1 1/2 Cups all purpose flour
1 Tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 Tsp. Salt
1 Tbsp. grated Lemon Zest
2 1/2 Tbsp. Poppy Seeds




In a seperate electric mixer:
3/4 Cup unsalted butter
Cream, 1-2 minutes.
Add:
3/4 Cup Sugar
Beat til light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes.
3 Eggs
Add one at a time, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed.
Stir in:
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract.


With the mixer on low, alternately add:
1/4 Cup lemon juice+1/4 Cup Milk (In 2 additions)


with


Above flour mixture (In 3 additions)


Mix JUST until combined.


Pour Batter into prepared pan, smoothing out the top so it looks all smooth and pretty.


Bake for 50 to 60 minutes.
Please, whatever you do, DO NOT OVERBAKE! I did 50 minutes and it was perfect...
When your loaf is done, spread hot glaze all over the top. Use ALL of it! Trust me on this one.


Glaze:
3 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
1/4 cup white sugar


In a microwave safe bowl, mix lemon juice and sugar, and heat in microwave at 30 second intervals or until sugar is dissolved.


After 20-30 minutes, remove glazed bread from the pan onto a cooling rack.
You can totally eat the bread right away, but I highly recomend waiting until the next day to dig in....the flavors mingle and the glaze soaks in, giving it that moist, pound cake like texture!

Enjoy!