Lemon Poppyseed Loaf

I grew up on Poppyseed Drive in a yellow house. The road was made up of light gray cement panels connected by tar, it was, and still is, a very bumpy road. Wouldn’t it be something if the cement had little black pebbles that resembled actual poppy seeds? Well, it didn’t but I always wished that it did, to legitimize its name. I was a toddler when we moved in, but I have distinct memories of eating poppyseed muffins on the cracked, hazardous steps and seeing black ants carry away the crumbs. Who knew that 15 years later, in all my glorious innocence, I would deprive myself of poppyseed muffins to avoid testing positive on a drug test. True story; I was terrified of being wrongly accused of using drugs. To me, poppy seeded goods were not worth the risk! I didn’t eat poppyseed-anything until 2015, when I was reintroduced to it by way of Caribou Coffee at the airport. That poppyseed loaf with icing shook my core like nothing had before. Even still, I must have been used to not eating poppyseed-anything because I wouldn’t really crave it although I absolutely loved it. Anytime I saw it amongst a selection of pastries, it was my top pick. We moved from Poppyseed Drive in 2014, to a street named with numbers. The current address doesn’t have a ring to it like the old one did. But one thing is for sure, I still have a thing for poppyseed muffins. What better way to pay homage to my yellow childhood home than to make a Lemon Poppyseed Loaf?

Pause ⏸️ The story behind this recipe isn’t that deep. To be real, I made a sorry batch of Poppyseed muffins for my Grand-In-Love(s) and they were dry, like 95% lean ground beef! So since then, I had to redeem myself and do one better. So it was that deep.

This recipe is Grandma and Grandpa approved.

Equipment

2 Mixing bowls
Kitchen scale
Whisk
Spatula
Liquid measuring cups
9-inch bread pans or 12-cup muffin pan
Parchment paper

Ingredients

2 ½ cups (312g) all-purpose flour
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
2 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp poppy seeds
½ cup (110g) unsalted butter, melted
2 tbsp avocado oil
2 large eggs, room temp
¼ cup (65g) plain Greek yogurt, room temp
2 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp almond extract (or lemon extract)
2 tbsp lemon zest (about 2 lemons)
1 tbsp lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon)
1 cup (255ml) whole milk, room temp

Can we talk about lemons for a minute?

How to choose a lemon: Similar to any citrusy fruit, you want to make sure that the fruit (in this case, a lemon) is heavy relative to its size. Please believe I am the human scale that is standing at the lemon stand entirely way too long. But it’s important! The heaviness is indicative of its ripeness and the amount of juice that will come out when you squeeze it. Also, don’t be afraid to put your nose to its skin and give it a good sniff. If it smells like a lemon, it will probably be a good one.

Lemon Zest: I think this is up for debate, but I have heard the zest of a lemon is the middle strip of the lemon only. It’s the brightest part of the Lemon and holds the most oils in the fruit. Allegedly. HOWEVER, I was raised with a zero-waste mentality and still uphold (or am chained by) the idea that NO amount of an ingredient is wasted. As far as I’m concerned, all lemon skin is the lemon zest. I use the whole damn lemon and I am not sorry about it! So go ahead and scalp that lemon!

To get full use out of your lemon, toss any excess lemon down your garbage disposal to clean it and give it a lemony fresh scent!

Instructions

Combine all dry ingredients + sugar! Typically, sugar is used as a wet ingredient in baking to dissolve in a liquid to create what I like to call a “moisturized good”. In this recipe, it is a dry ingredient, as there are already a lot of agents that will provide moisture. *If you want to try using sugar as a wet ingredient see step 2.5.
Prepare your lemons as part of your wet ingredients! Zest your lemons and squeeze out some lemon juice in a separate cup! I recommend straining the liquid to ensure no seeds or pulp get in.
2.5) In other recipes, I have seen chefs rub the lemon zest against the sugar to release the oil from the zest, creating a clumpy sand texture that apparently promotes a more lemony flavor. You can do this if you please, but for me and mine, I consider this step optional. I’ll try it someday.
Combine all wet ingredients and make sure they are at room temperature. This ensures the batter is a cohesive mixture.
Combine all ingredients into one large bowl and mix/fold. There will be clumps of flour in your batter and that is totally okay. You don’t want to overmix the batter and encourage gluten formation. Use photos as a reference.
4a) Optional: If you have time, cover your batter and allow it to sit for 30-45 min. During this time, the acids in the batter react and somehow stretch the batter to go a lot further. This is great especially if you opt to make muffins out of this recipe, you will end up with roughly 30 fluffy and moist muffins!

5. For Loaf: Set your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour. For Muffins: Set your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for 8 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for 10 minutes

Of course, I can’t help myself, so you know there has to be a glaze! This recipe is so simple and only takes a few minutes to come together.

Ingredients

I cup powdered sugar
½ teaspoon almond extract (sub any extract you prefer)
1 tbsp (20 ml) almond milk (sub any milk you prefer)

Instructions

Mix all the ingredients and there you have it! This mix will be extremely thick and will perfectly spread and glaze an entire loaf! Of course, if it’s too thick for your liking, add in some milk one drop at a time.