{recipe} Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

Test Recipes Week 10!

We had another office party the week I made this bread.  We decided to have the party in the morning, with special coffee selections and breakfast items - Mexican pastries, granola, and a couple breads made by Yours Truly.  I made the traditional Mueller banana bread recipe, and also decided to try a lemon poppy seed.  I love lemon.  Lemon Meringue Pie. Lemonade. Lemon tea.  Lemon sherbet. Lemon Bars. *drool*

I've never made lemon poppy seed anything before, but have always been a fan.  After an extensive online recipe search, I narrowed it down to this recipe.

LEMON POPPY SEED BREAD (allrecipes.com)

BREAD:
3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 tablespoons poppy seeds
2 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/8 cups vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon extract


GLAZE:
1/4 cup orange juice
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt, baking powder, poppy seeds and 2 1/2 cups white sugar. Add the eggs, milk, oil, vanilla and lemon extract; mix until smooth, about 1 minute. Pour batter evenly into the three greased 8x4 inch loaf pans.  3.Bake at 350 degrees F for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaves comes out clean. Cool loaves in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack.

Combine orange juice with remaining 3/4 cup sugar and extract; stir well. Pour this mixture over the loaf while it is still hot. Allow loaf to cool completely before serving.
 
Makes three (3) 8x4 inch loaves.  I only have two loaf pans, so I made the extra into muffins.  I had one 'oops' moment when making this recipe.  I only had 3/4 c. oil in my cupboard.  When I was making the grocery list for this recipe, I just assumed I had enough oil.  Oops.  It was probably 9pm by this point, and I didn't want to make a trip to the grocery store just for oil, so I took a chance.  I substitued olive oil for the remaining amount of oil.  The bread baked like normal, and I thought it tasted good.  But in the end, I swore I could taste just a hint of the olive oil in the bread.  The bread was gobbled up at the office, and no one mentioned any odd flavor, so it may have just been my imagination.  Regardless, I'm eager to test this recipe again with only vegetable or canola oil to see if it tastes any better.  I'm going to rate it GOOD until I have a chance to retest it.