I love loaf.
Drizzled with lemon icing - pretend it's part of a complete breakfast because it goes so damn well with coffee - Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf, I love you.
This is a glorious morning treat. If you want to feel like your house has been magically turned into that really cute little coffee shop down the street, this is the recipe you need to make. (Indie music not included). I love this soft, buttery, fluffy, lemony, poppy seedy loaf. It makes a mornings go from cold cereal boring, to a special spring way to start the day.
This breakfast cake is tasty all on its own, but drizzling the lemon icing, just kicks it up seven notches. I mean look at that drizzle! I dare you to whip out this bad boy and not wow someone, even if it is yourself, who is still in pjs way too late in the day. Not that I would have any experience with that. ~Looks to ceiling and whistling a tune~
My recipe isn't quite as yellow as some of the lemon loaves you see out there, but that's because I didn't use any food colouring, and I opted to use whole wheat flour to get a little nutrition squished in there. Personally, I think it looks gorgeous and I tell it that all the time. I don't judge by the colour of your loaf.
So here we go, mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. You can opt for less poppy seeds if you like, but I LOVE the flavour of poppy seeds, so I wasn't shy.
Mix the wet ingredients in a medium bowl. Don't forget to zest your lemons before juicing them, because then you may run into some serious zesting issues.
Mix wet into dry until just combined. No need to beat this to death, and kill all those lovely rising bubbles.
Pour into a lightly greased loaf pan. A metal one will work fine too, and bake.
Let your loaf cool completely before icing. Then just drizzle the icing all over, in any zig-zagy way you like. It always seems to look pretty no matter how messy you are. Let the icing set, stand back, cross your arms, nod, and be impressed at your gorgeous baked treat.
Vegan Lemon Poppy Loaf
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- ¾ cup white sugar
- 3 tablespoons poppy seeds
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
Wet ingredients:
- 1 ¼ cups non-dairy milk, (such as soy or almond)
- ½ cup light oil, (such as canola or vegetable)
- ⅓ cup lemon juice, (2-3 lemons)
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the lemon icing:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375F (190 C). Lightly grease a loaf pan.
- In a large bowl whisk together all the dry ingredients.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the wet ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and gently mix together. Don't over mix, lumps are totally fine.
- Pout the batter into at the prepared loaf pan and bake for 45 - 55 mins, rotating once midway through. The loaf is ready when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Let cool completely before icing. When cool, mix the lemon icing ingredients together in a bowl. Set the loaf on a cooling rack over a baking sheet to catch all the excess icing. Drizzle the icing over the loaf. Let the icing set for about 30 minutes before slicing.
Nutrition
Featured Ingredient: Poppy Seeds. 76 Days, 45 Recipes to go!
Bon Appetegan
Sam.
Christiane says
This was the first time I used whole wheat flour in a cake. Wow, it turned out so great: so light, so lemony, so incredibly good and so easy to make. I love the poppy seed-lemon combo. Definitely one cake I will make often. Thanks for sharing!!
Jess @ IDTLC Support says
Lovely!!
Sandra B. says
I made a few changes to the recipe; half AP and WW flour, slightly more lemon juice and less flax seed milk, used unsweetened apple sauce in leau of oil.
Perhaps these changes made the loaf super dense and gave it a spongy texture. I was hoping for more lemony flavor, however the icing somewhat makes up for it.
If I make it again, I will use oil and cook it for most likely 45 minutes instead of fifty-five.
Jess @ IDTLC Support says
Thanks for sharing your experience! The whole wheat flour may soak up and neutralize some of that nice lemon flavour, but a little more zest could be added if you like a lot of lemon!
Deb says
This is the best lemon poppyseed cake I’ve had in quite awhile! I really enjoyed the flavour from using whole wheat flour!
Deb N says
This turned out absolutely awesome; super-moist, lemony and delicious! I wanted to make it in a 10” bundt pan, so I multiplied ingredients by 1.5x. It came out of the pan beautifully! This will be on a regular rotation for us, as well as an item to bring to potlucks.
Jess @ IDTLC Support says
We're so thrilled it turned out well! 🙂
Jane says
Awesome recipe. And very flexible! I used half and half WW flour and half all purpose, and reduced the sugar to 1/2 cup instead of 3/4 cup. It was a beautiful bake and soo delicious. That glaze! It immediately made me want to try to make a glazed marble loaf like my Nanny used to serve for dessert. 🙂 Thanks for a great recipe.
Mimi Rot says
OMG finally a lemon cake that really uses lemon juice. I have a Meyer lemon tree and like to use the juice of the lemons. Thank you for a great recipe, I have been making it every 4 days for the past 3 weeks.
Angel says
Amazing!! My boyfriend was surprised it's vegan
Thank you for this amazing recipe
Dianne says
Simply delish!
cazzie says
I made this but subsisted all-purpose flour for the whole wheat and adjusted how much soya milk using 1 cup instead of 1 1/2 it worked fine and tastes lovley
Laura says
I never comment on recipes, but this Vegan Lemon Loaf, which I upped to make into a bundt cake, is so surprising!! It's light and lemony and has that interesting mix of sweet, but wholesome. Thankfully the wet/dry method is so easy to whip up, because there's high demand now for "that lemon thing" in my fam!
Lisa says
This was wonderful! I upped the lemon zest another tablespoon and used half the sugar and it was perfect.
Is there any way you can include weight measurements on your baking recipes? I find having the grams and millilitres much easer to follow 😉
Marth says
I used the metric measurements from what must be an auto generated conversion and I don't recommend it. There was waaaaay too much liquid and my bread didn't bake all the way through but burned along the edges (I kept it in as long as I could - 65 minutes). it turned into a small dense brick and was basically a disaster. My husband insists it tastes great despite the baking issues so I'll try it again using my own measuring cups for consistency and hope it turns out better.
Mary Ellen Millbranth says
I hope this is at least healthy Sam because I have eaten 3 fairly hefty slices since it came out of the oven. And I’m on a diet! Just delicious. So easy to make and came out perfectly baked after 45 minutes in the oven. Don’t know why I’ve waited this long to try this recipe but am afraid I will be making it only too often now. Maybe I’ll diet next week. You are simply awesome.
Jess says
Had some lemon juice (from lemons-not bottled) in my fridge and some poppy seeds hanging out in my cabinet so I found this recipe online and so glad I did! It is a fantastic recipe! Tastes so good! I did not use any lemon zest in the loaf or icing. I used lemon extract to make up for it. Turned out perfect for me. A little dense but delicious! Thank you!
Amy says
This is delicious! Came out fluffy and moist on the inside and not too sweet! I was afraid I ruined the recipe because I accidentally added cornstarch instead of baking soda... but I was quickly realized what I had done and attempted to spoon out the cornstarch from the bowl! lol. Don't think it had much of an effect on the finish product.
Anyway, this is definitely a keeper. <3
Rose Hout says
I've made this three times during quarantine because I love it so much! I used all purpose flour because that's what I have, but it's delicious!
Sam Turnbull says
Awesome!!
Cass says
Had leftover batter for my wee loaf tin so made some muffins too, worked really well!!
Jj Martin says
Perfectly tart and sweet with a soft velvet sponge. Because of mine being a little too moist inside I had to cook mine on low for 20 after the initial 30 mins at 375f. I've had nothing but complaints! Delicious crusty top drizzled with a perfect icing. Thanks for the recipe