Gluten-free Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

Another food post! (I promise a crafting one is coming soon – I have something in the works right now!)

The other day I bought Greek yogurt to try making a healthy breakfast bark. Long story short, I was not a fan. I don’t really like Greek yogurt, and the recipe did nothing to mask the taste. So, the recipe was a flop and I was stuck with more Greek yogurt in my fridge. However, I stumbled across more recipes that used Greek yogurt, and I thought I’d give it another try. At the very least, I would not have Greek yogurt in my fridge anymore! I modified a recipe for lemon poppy seed bread that I found on Pinterest to accommodate the ingredients I had on hand and make it gluten-free! Similar to when you use sour cream in baked goods, the yogurt in this recipe makes the bread nice and moist.

This recipe is easy and comes together quickly. I preheat the oven to 350 and greased my loaf pan so that it was ready to go. Then I took out two mixing bowls. In the first one I mixed my gluten-free flour, baking powder, and salt. In the other bowl, I mixed the sugar, Greek yogurt, vegetable oil, eggs, lemon juice, and vanilla. I didn’t have lemons or juice on hand so I rehydrated lemon peel. The peel also gave it a little more texture. Instead of vanilla extract, I used Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Bean Paste. It tastes amazing, and I prefer using it when possible!

Once everything was thoroughly combined, I added the flour mixture to the wet ingredients. I cut it in with a spatula, making sure not to over-mix it. When working with gluten-free flour, you must stir by hand and not overwork the flour. Otherwise the Xanthan gum in the flour will lose its binding properties and things will begin to separate.

I stirred in the poppy seeds last. Then it was time to pour it in the pan and bake!

The loaf took about 47 minutes to cook. (At 45, my cake tester did not come out clean.) Once it was set, I let it stand on the counter and cool for 15 minutes. Then I took it out of the pan and let it continue to cool in a Tupperware (with the lid off of course). If I were serving it at a party, I would have put it on a fancy serving plate.

While the loaf was made last night, the glaze I whipped up this morning. My first glaze used the rehydrated peel and powdered sugar, but it was too gritty for my taste. I made a quick grocery store run for more powdered sugar and bought some lemon juice as well. The second glaze was so much better. I added a Tbsp of butter to make it a little richer too! Then I drizzled it over the loaf and stored the excess glaze in the fridge.

Yum! This made a delicious breakfast!!

Recipe for Gluten-free Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

Ingredients:
For bread:
1 ½ c Cup-4-cup g.f. flour (or all-purpose)
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 ¼ c sugar
1 c Chobani vanilla Greek yogurt
½ c vegetable oil
3 large eggs
2 Tbsp lemon juice (or: ½ Tbsp dehydrated lemon peel + 1 ½ Tbsp water – let stand for 15 min)
½ tsp vanilla extract (I used vanilla bean paste)
2 Tbsp poppy seeds

For glaze:
1 c powdered sugar
2 ½ Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp butter, melted
Optional: Add a little lemon zest!

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Coat a loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine sugar, Greek yogurt, vegetable oil, eggs, lemon juice, and vanilla extract and mix. Using a spatula, cut in the dry ingredients, until just combined. Don’t over-mix! Last, stir in poppy seeds.

Transfer batter to prepared loaf pan and bake for 45-50 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Use a knife to loosen the loaf and then turn out onto a plate. Let it cool completely before drizzling on glaze!

To make the lemon glaze, combine powdered sugar, lemon juice, and melted butter. Drizzle over bread. (Note: This makes a little more glaze than you need. I put some aside and stored it in the fridge.)