This lemon poppy seed bread can be simple enough for a weekday breakfast or can be dressed up with candied lemon slices and extra glaze for fancy afternoon tea. No matter how or when you serve it, this quick bread is moist, flavorful, and speckled with plenty of poppy seeds.
Have you ever tried this cinnamon swirl quick bread? It was a repeat favorite last fall, but after about 500 loaves (hardly an exaggeration there), I decided to put a fresh spin on the base recipe. I added fresh lemon juice and poppy seeds, plus a little baking powder since the juice weighed down the crumb. Simply put, this quick bread is sunshine in a loaf pan. It’s golden on the exterior with a bright yellow poppy seed-speckled crumb. Just beautiful! And it definitely hits the spot, especially if you enjoy lemon treats.
One reader, KT, commented: “Just finished our first piece and are IN LOVE—so moist, lovely flavor, and the glaze added the perfect little sweetness on top. So great! ★★★★★”
Tell Me About This Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
- Flavor: The lemon flavor is perfectly balanced—not too tart, not too overpowering. The bread is definitely tasty plain, but we really enjoyed it with a little lemon glaze on top. The glaze seeped down into the bread, adding even more moisture.
- Texture: This bread is soft and moist with a slightly tight crumb. For a point of reference, I’d say it’s not quite as dense as pound cake, but definitely heavier than fluffy white cake. Just perfect with a cup of coffee or tea.
- Ease: Many quick breads require creaming butter and sugar together, but this base recipe uses oil for extra moisture. (With all the lemon flavor, you won’t miss the butter.) Since we aren’t creaming butter, we can skip the mixer and simply use a whisk for the batter. This makes it even easier than my recipe for lemon poppy seed muffins. All the prepwork is pretty straightforward, so this recipe is great for beginners.
- Time: This is a quick bread since it isn’t made with yeast, but the bake time isn’t particularly fast. Set aside 50-60 minutes for the bread to bake through. After glazing, you can slice and serve the bread warm or wait until it cools completely. You can cut down on bake time if you use mini loaf pans or bake the batter as muffins. See recipe notes for both options.
Video Tutorial: How to Make Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
Lemon Poppy Seed Bread – 3 Extra Tips
Before you preheat your oven, let me note these 3 extra tips.
- Room Temperature Ingredients: Bring your cold ingredients like the egg, sour cream, and milk to room temperature before you get started. Room temperature ingredients bond together easily since they’re warmer, creating a seamless and evenly textured batter. A smooth batter means a uniformly textured baked good.
- Amount of Sugar: 1 cup of sugar produces a wonderfully sweet quick bread that’s reminiscent of a breakfast cake. If you’re looking for something not quite as sweet, stick with 3/4 cup—this is actually how I wrote/prefer the recipe since there’s sweet glaze on top.
- Extra Glaze: The amount of lemon glaze/icing written in the recipe below yields a very light layer. This glaze is mostly translucent and seeps down into the top of the bread. For a thicker layer, double the glaze ingredients.
The candied lemon slices are totally optional, but don’t they make a pretty finishing touch? I followed this candied lemon slice tutorial. They’re sweet, chewy, and made a lovely (and edible) decoration. Do not bake them on the bread—just garnish the finished loaf with them.
Why Is There a Large Crack on Top of My Quick Breads?
Don’t fret! A large crack down the center of your loaf/quick breads is actually a sign that your bread expanded properly. The top of the bread will naturally cook and set quicker than the center. As the center cooks, air escapes out of the top creating a defined crack either in the center or slightly off center. If your baked quick bread doesn’t really have a large crack down the center, it’s nothing to worry about either—there are so many variables at play including your oven, the oven temperature, length of time, oven rack position, recipe, etc.
You’ll Love These Recipes Too:
- Lemon Ginger Cookies or Lemon Thumbprint Cookies
- Orange Cranberry Bread
- Lemon Pudding Cakes
- Lemon Pistachio Loaf
- Greek Yogurt Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes
- Lemon Poppy Seed Donuts
- Strawberry Bread
Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
- Yield: 1 loaf
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Oil and sour cream make this lemon poppy seed bread uniquely moist, while lemon provides a fresh, bright flavor. The glaze recipe below yields a light layer, but feel free to double the glaze if you want extra. See recipe notes for muffins and mini loaves.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 4 teaspoons poppy seeds
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup (80ml) vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup (80g) sour cream (or plain yogurt/Greek yogurt), at room temperature
- 2/3 cup (160ml) whole milk, at room temperature
- 3 Tablespoons (45ml) lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon lemon zest
Glaze
- 1/2 cup (60g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1 Tablespoon (15ml) lemon juice
- optional: candied lemon slices (I followed this tutorial to make them)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Spray a 9×5-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray.
- Whisk the flour, poppy seeds, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg and granulated sugar together until combined. Whisk in the oil, sour cream, milk, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, then whisk to completely combine. Avoid over-mixing; a few small lumps are OK.
- Pour/spread the batter evenly into prepared loaf pan. Bake the bread for 50 minutes to 1 hour, covering loosely with foil about halfway through to help the loaf bake evenly. Poke the center of the bread with a toothpick. If it comes out clean, the bread is done. Oven times will vary between ovens. My bread usually takes 55 minutes.
- Cool bread completely in the pan set on a wire cooling rack. *Feel free to drizzle with glaze (next step) while the bread is still warm. The glaze seeps down into the warm bread this way, adding extra moisture.*
- Make the glaze: *This doesn’t yield a lot of glaze—just a light layer. Feel free to double the glaze if you want more.* Whisk the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice together. Drizzle over bread while it’s still warm in the loaf pan or after it cools.
- Slice and serve. Cover and store leftover plain or glazed bread at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: For longer storage, you can freeze the glazed or unglazed bread for up to 3 months. If you’re interested in my tips for freezing quick bread, see my Make Ahead Baking post. Allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before glazing (if needed) and serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9×5-inch Loaf Pan | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Cooling Rack
- Sour Cream & Milk: I recommend full fat sour cream and whole milk. You can use plain yogurt instead, but avoid fat free if you can. I don’t recommend a lower fat or nondairy milk here, though you can use it in a pinch. The bread won’t taste as rich and moist.
- Muffins: My favorite lemon poppy seed muffins are these soft, sweet, and cake-like blackberry lemon poppy seed muffins. For muffins with a tighter crumb (but same great flavor), you can use this quick bread batter. Grease a 12-count muffin pan or line with liners. You will need a 2nd pan for 2 additional muffins as this recipe yields around 14. (Or bake in batches.) Prepare batter as directed. Fill liners all the way to the top with batter. Bake the muffins for 5 minutes at 425°F (218°C) then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (177°C). Bake for an additional 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total time these muffins take in the oven is about 20-22 minutes, give or take. Cool muffins for 5 minutes in the muffin pan, then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling. Makes 14 muffins.
- Mini Loaves: Grease a mini loaf pan. Prepare batter as directed. Fill pan all the way to the top with batter. Bake at 350°F (177°C) until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Bake time and yield depends on the size of your mini loaf pan.
- Lemon: 2 medium lemons are enough for this recipe. You should get 1 Tablespoon of zest from 1 medium lemon and 2 medium lemons will provide enough juice for both the bread and glaze.
- Poppy Seeds: Skip the poppy seeds if desired or replace with the same amount of black sesame seeds or chia seeds.
- Other Citrus: Feel free to swap the lemon juice and zest with other citrus juice and zest, such as orange, blood orange, lime, or grapefruit. You can leave out the poppy seeds if desired.
Reader Comments and Reviews
The texture is great! However, I definitely think this could be much sweeter. Would it be ok to add more sugar?
Hi Kortny, you could try increasing the sugar to 1 cup. We did this in our testing and preferred the 3/4 cup as written here, but 1 cup definitely produces a sweeter cake. Let us know if you try it!
This looks delicious and I can’t wait to make it! Could I substitute maple syrup for the sugar? Thank you
Hi Savannah, for best taste and texture (and so you don’t waste your time trying to adapt this recipe since it may not work properly), it may be more useful to find a recipe that is specifically formulated for maple syrup. Thanks!
Thank you for the response!
Delightful!! I have yet to be disappointed by anything from Sally!! I love lemon and with the glaze it is perfect. Not too sweet and wonderful texture. I used Greek yogurt as I had no sour cream, but otherwise followed the recipe.
Sounds delicious. Can I use 1% milk?
Hi Joanne, you can, but the bread may be a tad less soft from the lower amount of fat.
Can this recipe be easily doubled or is it best to make two separate batches?
Hi Maria, for best results, we recommend making 2 separate batches rather than doubling.
Hi Sally
Can this be made without the egg?
Hi Vidya, We haven’t tested this with an egg substitute but let us know if you try anything.
Hi Sally and Team, can I use heavy cream instead of whole milk? (I have some to use up). Should I water it down? Thank you!!
Hi Emma, heavy cream is a bit too heavy for this bread. We recommend sticking with whole milk for best results.
My loaf came out moist and flavorful, but I wanted to caution others on bake time. While quick breads usually take 50-60 min in my oven, this one was done for me at 40 min.
I am wondering if instead of using 4 teaspoons of poppyseeds would it be okay to substitute 2 teaspoons of poppyseeds and 2 teaspoons chia seeds?
Absolutely, Lizz.
Great tasting! Just dry! I measured everything exactly and baked for 50.
This was surprisingly good!
I didn’t have high hopes for it when it came out of the oven. I make a lot of quick loaves (at least one per week), including many of Sally’s, but this was the first time that my loaf came out of the oven with a totally flat top. Not sure why — the only change I made was to use chia seeds instead of poppy.
However, when I sliced into it, it was super fluffy and moist inside and tasted great! I like the slight crunch from the chia seeds and the little specks of lemon zest throughout. I will for sure make this again and hopefully manage to produce a nice domed top.
Fantastic, perfect loaf. I added a half lemon juice more to the glaze, and zest from two lemons to the batter. I use a Henri Emile ceramic loaf pan, lined with a wide strip of parchment sprayed with baking oil. Makes it easy to lift out for cooling. Used the 3/4 c sugar amount. Toasted the poppy seeds for a few minutes beforehand. Excellent recipe. Even better the next day.
I made this once, and it was such a hit! I definitely will make it again. Can’t wait to make it for my Christmas brunch. Can this be made without sour cream? I don’t always have that on hand.
Hi Betsy, yogurt would be a suitable replacement.
Can’t wait to bake this
Can I use a 1/2 of white sugar instead of 3/4? Will it be a drier loaf?
Hi Kae, it shouldn’t affect the texture too much if you reduce the sugar by 1/4 cup. I see some comments saying readers have tried it with success.
Can I use the ReaLemon brand juice instead?
Hi Kae, fresh is best, but you can use bottled lemon juice in a pinch. Feel free to add a little more lemon juice since you won’t have the zest in the batter, but make sure you take out some milk. For example if you added another 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice, remove 1 Tablespoon of milk.
Can this be made without poppyseed??
Hi Kristen, yes, absolutely. You can simply leave out the poppy seeds.
This was the best I’ve tasted! I had to adjust it to what i had in the house: 1/2 c melted butter no oil, 1 cup whole yogurt (no milk), 1 large egg and 1 egg yolk, orange zest (not lemon zest). 1/2 c sugar (decreased from 3/4). Wow!
Can the vegetable oil be replaced for butter or coconut oil
Hi Fatima, you can use melted coconut oil in place of the vegetable oil here.
I creamed the butter first and I used used an extra tbsp of lemon juice in the recipe and ended up with a crumbled cake, where did it go wrong?
Hi Steph, This recipe does not use butter. If you try it again we recommend sticking to the recipe and using vegetable oil for the best texture.
This is the recipe I’ve been looking for! I like using oil instead of butter in bread/muffins and this is perfect. I made it with peel/juice from lemons, oranges, limes because that’s what I had in my fruit bowl
Love this recipe so much!! I was wondering if I could substitute the milk and plain yoghurt with a cup of buttermilk instead?
Hi Amy, Yes you can substitute both the milk and yogurt/sour cream with one cup of buttermilk.
Can I double this recipe?
Hi Angie, we recommend making two batches instead of doubling for best results.
Could I add blueberries? I want to make a lemon blueberry loaf and this was the closest I could find.
Hi AC, you can try it, but we haven’t tested it ourselves so can’t tell you exactly how it would turn out. You could also use this recipe for lemon blueberry yogurt Bundt cake and follow the instructions in the notes (note #3) for baking as two loaves (or halving the recipe to make 1 loaf).
Loved this! So light and refreshing. Would you happen to have the nutritional info?
Hi Sue, we don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
What a delicious recipe! I love the flavor combination of lemon and poppy seed. I only had half and half so I used that and it worked great.
This is a great recipe, the loaf turned out delicious.
My only critique is the recipe for the glaze – 1/2 cup icing sugar and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice makes a paste thicker than icing. I had to cut the icing sugar in half and triple the lemon juice to make it thin enough to pour.
Do you recommend using full fat ingredients such as regular sour cream, regular full fat milk as opposed to reduced fat? Please address the difference in results and also the difference in taste and texture if you sub buttermilk for the regular milk. Thanks.
Hi Gigi, yes, I prefer using full fat dairy ingredients when I can. I find the texture is typically richer, more tender, and has more moisture. I always use full fat sour cream and whole milk, unless the recipe states otherwise. You can replace both the sour cream and milk in this recipe with buttermilk (and you can usually do that, but it depends on the recipe), however I find the slices don’t hold shape as nicely.
I love Lemon bread so I made yours it was so good will be making it again Thanks
Hi Sally. I thought this was a nice loaf – not as sweet as a cake but made a bit sweeter by the glaze. Fifty-five minutes was perfect with the foil on for the last 15 minutes. If I had had more lemons, I would have used more peel but other than that, it baked up nicely and would make a nice slice with butter for breakfast or a snack.
Can you substitute honey for granulated sugar?
Hi Tina, we do not recommend a liquid sweetener in place of the granulated sugar here.
Great recipe, this loaf cake is easy and delicious! I added a little lemon extract to the batter to give it a little more lemon flavor.