Food for friends: Lemon poppy seed recipe is easy to share, care for others

Editor’s note: The Daily Reporter is featuring local recipes and the stories behind them. Here, Sarah Burnett, a member of Hearts and Home Homemakers club in Greenfield,and her 8-year-old daughter Ava share about lemon poppy seed bread they like to make for others through the use of mini loaf pans.

“This recipe is quick to make and will make four mini loaves,” Sarah writes. “Your neighbors, parents or friends would love a mini loaf of lemon poppy seed bread as a gift or way to show kindness to others. You can very easily find aluminum foil mini loaf pans with a lid online. To make a lemon poppy seed mini loaf follow the recipe directions but reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees. Bake for 25 minutes and check with a toothpick. If the bread is not done, return to the oven and check every five minutes. This quick bread is sure to bring a smile to neighbors and loved ones.”

Lemon poppy seed bread

Ingredients

1 cup sugar

¾ cup butter

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ cup lemon juice (juice of 1 large lemon)

Zest from one lemon (about a Tablespoon)

¾ cup of milk

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons poppy seeds

Icing:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

1 Tablespoon milk

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9-by-5 inch loaf pan

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy (about 3 minutes)

Add eggs and vanilla extract and beat together

Add lemon juice and zest, and beat until incorporated

Add ⅓ of the flour, plus the baking soda and salt

Mix together

Add half of the milk, and mix

Add another third of the flour, and again mix until combined

Repeat with remaining milk and flour, combining until just blending

Stir in poppy seeds

Pour batter into the pan and bake in the center of the oven for 45-60 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center.

Remove from the oven and let cool 10 minutes before running a butter knife along edges of pan to loosen, removing from pan, and cooling completely on a wire rack

For the icing, whisk all ingredients together until smooth. Icing should be thin enough to pour slowly. Add a few extra drops of milk, or teaspoons of powdered sugar to achieve the desired consistency.

Drizzle it over the bread.