This moist, tender Lemon Yogurt Poppy Seed Bread will satisfy your most intense lemon cravings. Greek yogurt adds richness and fabulous texture and a tart-sweet lemon glaze finishes it off in a beautiful way.
After the dessert-fest we experienced over the holidays it was a natural thing to cut back on the sweets this month. But, after a week or two of no goodies, the cravings hit and there’s just no denying that need for something a little sweet.
With all the chocolate in our future come Valentine’s Day, lemon is the answer! I’ve been craving citrus like nobody’s business. It’s light, bright, and perfect for perking up a cold, dreary January day.
This is a tender and moist bread full of bright lemon flavor and draped in a sweet-tart icing. Poppy seeds add just an itty-bit of texture. It contains no butter but gets it’s richness from 2% plain Greek yogurt.
I knew precisely what I was after when I set to work in the kitchen and the result was spot-on perfection. This loaf you see here was history in under 24 hours.
It starts with a full cup of 2% plain Greek yogurt, sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, pure vanilla extract, fresh lemon juice and zest. Use an electric mixer to combine well.
Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl – flour, baking powder, and salt.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet, all at once, and use a wooden spoon to mix just until combined.
Stir in a couple of tablespoons of poppy seeds.
The batter will be silky but quite thin.
Give an 9″ x 4″ loaf pan a generous coat of non-stick cooking spray and pour in the batter. Bake it in a preheated 350 degree oven for 45 to 55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
Remove the bread from the oven and allow it to cool in the pan for about 15 minutes before inverting on to a serving dish.
The icing is a simple mixture of powdered sugar and fresh lemon juice whisked together. Be sure to allow the cake to cool completely before drizzling the icing over the top.
A sweet, simple way to kick those sweet cravings to the curb.
Lemon Yogurt Poppy Seed Bread
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¼ cups sugar
- 1 cup 2% plain Greek yogurt
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1 large lemon, zested and cut in half
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
- ½ cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat an 9- x 4-inch loaf pan generously with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl use an electric mixer to combine sugar, yogurt, vegetable oil, eggs, the juice from half of the lemon (reserve remaining half for later), all of the lemon zest and the vanilla extract. Mix until well combined. Use a wooden spoon to stir in dry mixture, just until combined. Stir in poppy seeds last and mix until incorporated throughout the batter.
- Transfer batter to prepared loaf pan and bake in preheated 350 degree F oven for 45 to 55 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of bread comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for 15 minutes. Use a knife around the edges of the loaf pan to loosen the bread and then turn out the loaf onto a plate. Allow to cool completely before drizzling with lemon glaze.
Lemon Glaze
- To make lemon glaze, combine powdered sugar and juice from remaining half of lemon (2 to 3 tablespoons) to reach desired drizzling consistency. Drizzle over completely cooled bread.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, and is an estimate not a guarantee. For more accurate results, please refer to the labels on your ingredients at home.
This was very good, my only alterations were (because I love lemon) added about 1/4-1/2 tsp lemon paste, used full fat lemon yogurt (Noose) and a tad less poppy seeds. Delicious!