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    Home » Recipes » Holiday Sweets

    March 27, 2015 152 Comments

    Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf

    7.4K shares
    Jump to Recipe

    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.

    Vegan-Lemon-Poppy-Seed-Loaf


    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~

    lemon-poppy-seed-loaf-vegan-whoel-wheat

    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.

    dry-lemon-poppy-seed-ingredients

    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.

    wet-ingredients-lemon-poppy-seed-loaf

    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.

    vegan-lemon-poppy-seed-loaf-batter

    Mix wet into dry until just combined. No need to beat this to death, and kill all those lovely rising bubbles.

    lemon-poppy-seed-loaf-vegan

    Pour into a lightly greased loaf pan. A metal one will work fine too, and bake.

    lemon-icing

    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-seed-loaf-recipe

    Print Recipe
    4.92 from 57 votes

    Vegan Lemon Poppy Loaf

    I love this soft, buttery, fluffy, lemony, poppy seed loaf. It makes mornings go from cold cereal boring to a special spring way to start the day. The lemon icing kicks it up even more for a real breakfast treat. 
    Prep Time20 mins
    Cook Time55 mins
    Total Time1 hr 15 mins
    Course: Breakfast, Dessert
    Cuisine: American, Canadian
    Servings: 1 loaf (about 12 slices)
    Calories: 257kcal
    Author: Sam Turnbull • It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken

    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
    US Customary - Metric
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    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

    Calories: 257kcal
    Did You Make This Recipe?Tag @itdoesnttastelikechicken on Instagram and Hashtag #itdoesnttastelikechicken

    Featured Ingredient: Poppy Seeds. 76 Days, 45 Recipes to go!

    Bon Appetegan

    Sam.

    « Baked Vegan Zucchini Fritters
    Kumquat and Coconut Cream Tarts »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Deb says

      January 14, 2023 at 7:50 pm

      5 stars
      This is the best lemon poppyseed cake I’ve had in quite awhile! I really enjoyed the flavour from using whole wheat flour!

      Reply
    2. Deb N says

      January 02, 2023 at 10:25 am

      5 stars
      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.

      Reply
      • Jess @ IDTLC Support says

        January 02, 2023 at 2:12 pm

        We're so thrilled it turned out well! 🙂

        Reply
    3. Jane says

      April 26, 2022 at 8:36 pm

      5 stars
      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.

      Reply
    4. Mimi Rot says

      November 23, 2021 at 8:12 am

      5 stars
      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.

      Reply
    5. Angel says

      March 22, 2021 at 5:29 pm

      5 stars
      Amazing!! My boyfriend was surprised it's vegan
      Thank you for this amazing recipe

      Reply
    6. Dianne says

      March 21, 2021 at 6:15 pm

      5 stars
      Simply delish!

      Reply
    7. cazzie says

      March 20, 2021 at 3:20 pm

      5 stars
      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

      Reply
    8. Laura says

      March 18, 2021 at 6:02 am

      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!

      Reply
    9. Lisa says

      January 31, 2021 at 5:03 pm

      5 stars
      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 😉

      Reply
      • Marth says

        February 01, 2021 at 12:24 pm

        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.

        Reply
    10. Mary Ellen Millbranth says

      July 10, 2020 at 9:49 pm

      5 stars
      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.

      Reply
    11. Jess says

      June 06, 2020 at 4:08 pm

      5 stars
      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!

      Reply
    12. Amy says

      May 31, 2020 at 7:44 pm

      5 stars
      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

      Reply
    13. Rose Hout says

      May 02, 2020 at 8:16 pm

      5 stars
      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!

      Reply
      • Sam Turnbull says

        May 06, 2020 at 4:04 pm

        Awesome!!

        Reply
    14. Cass says

      April 28, 2020 at 8:31 am

      Had leftover batter for my wee loaf tin so made some muffins too, worked really well!!

      Reply
      • Jj Martin says

        July 02, 2020 at 9:43 pm

        5 stars
        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

        Reply
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