Lemon Poppy Seed Zucchini Bread ~ everybody’s favorite quick bread gets an upgrade with crunchy poppy seeds and fresh lemon. It’s the perfect light and breezy summertime bake!
Lemon poppy seed zucchini bread is a delicious change of pace
A classic zucchini bread is always right, but I adore this lemon poppy seed version for when you’ve STILL got zucchini coming out of the garden, or your neighbor’s gardens, or the CSA, and you need to shake things up a bit. This moist quick bread is easy to make and combines the bright flavor of lemon with crunchy poppy seeds and plenty of zucchini. It feels so fresh and summery.
One-bowl baking ~
One bowl baking is the best, isn’t it? Less to clean up, of course, and it just makes the whole thing feels so much more doable. A surprising number of basic baking recipes can be easily converted to the one-bowl method:
- Often the only reason you need the extra bowl is to sift dry ingredients together. The solution is to add your leaveners (baking powder and/or soda and salt) to your wet ingredients before folding in flour. Adding the leaveners first allows them to get evenly distributed into the batter without having to sift them with the flour first.
- Recipes that aren’t good candidates for one bowl baking include any recipes where eggs are separated and the whites whipped on their own,
How to make a lemony quick bread glaze ~
A lemon glaze is one of my favorite secret weapons when it comes to loaf cakes and quick breads. Just a simple mix of lemon juice and powdered sugar makes an intense sweet/tart topping that also helps seal in moisture.
- For a glaze that’s thick enough to be noticed but still coats the top of your loaf cake nice and evenly, I use 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, and about 2 tablespoons of liquid. If you want a lighter, translucent glaze, add a little bit more liquid.
- Sifting your sugar first helps avoid lumps, but if you do get them, let the glaze settle for a few minutes and whisk again, most lumps will dissolve on their own.
- When I’m not sure about how the consistency of my glaze is going to look on the finished cake, I’ll do a little test on the edge of the cake. You should be able to wipe off the glaze quickly and adjust to make it a little thicker or a little thinner if needed.
- You can add a little vanilla extract to your glaze, or scatter some more poppy seeds on top of the wet glaze for a nice pop of contrast and extra crunch.
The texture of this bread (or is it cake?) is just perfect in my book.
It’s moist but light and fluffy ~ not oily like some loaf cakes can be, and perfectly sweetened without being too over the top for breakfast or an afternoon snack. The cake has that lovely mellow lemon flavor from plenty of zest added to the batter, and the glaze provides the perfect sweet-tart contrast.
For the prettiest presentation with loaf cakes, I always line my pan with a long sheet of parchment paper.
Grease the pan first, so the paper will stick and not slide around. You can lift the bread out after baking to let it cool completely. You’ll be able to glaze and slice it so much easier, and this is especially nice if you want a pretty presentation.
Remember, don’t peel or squeeze your zucchini for perfect zucchini bread!
You definitely don’t want to peel your zucchini, the peel is where all the flavor, color, and texture is. I love to see those little green flecks in my bread, yum! And there’s no need to drain or squeeze the zucchini, either. I formulate the recipe to take zucchini’s natural moisture into account, and it helps make this bread deliciously moist and tender.
Lemon poppy seed everything!
- Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes
- Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
- Lemon Poppy Seed Salad Dressing
- Lemon Layer Cake with Lemon Poppy Seed Buttercream
- Lemon Tart with Poppy Seed Shortbread Crust
Lemon Poppy Seed Zucchini Bread
Equipment
- 9×5 loaf pan
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 tsp lemon zest, (zest from 1 large lemon)
- 3 Tbsp lemon juice, (1 large lemon)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 cups lightly packed shredded zucchini
- 3 Tbsp poppy seeds
For the glaze
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice , or a mixture of lemon juice and milk (or cream) to thin
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 9×5 loaf pan. I also line mine with parchment paper for easy removal after baking.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, and sugar until well combined.
- Whisk in the baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Fold in the flour, and mix just until everything is well incorporated and there are no dry pockets of flour left.
- Gently fold in the shredded zucchini and poppy seeds.
- Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan, and smooth it out a little bit so that it fills the pan evenly. Bake for about 60-65 minutes until risen, turning golden on top, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out without wet batter clinging to it.
- Allow the bread to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before removing and allowing to cool fully on a baking rack.
- Once the bread is cool, make the glaze by whisking together the powdered sugar with the lemon juice until pourable, but still relatively thick. You can use all lemon juice for a nice tart glaze, or a mixture of lemon juice and milk or cream to your taste for a slightly less tart glaze.
- Pour the glaze over the cooled cake and use the back of a spoon or a butter knife to gently spread it over the top of the cake. Allow the glaze to harden before slicing.
Video
Nutrition
What do you mean by shred the zucchini?? I’m a little new to the baking game but I can’t pass up this delicious sounding recipe!!
Hi Patty ~ you’re going to grate the whole zucchini either with a metal grater, or in a food processor with the shredding blade. You don’t need to peel the zucchini, just rinse and dry it, and then grate or shred it.
Thank you so much! I can’t wait!
I did not have any poppyseed so put 1 Tablespoon of celery seed in instead…….
Miraculously, it was perfect .Moist texture and I also added some chopped walnuts.
Thank you Sue. You never fail.
Wow, I would never have thought of that Judith!
Would making this into muffins be successful? If so, how long would you bake regular sized muffins?
Personally I think this bread is a little denser than muffins usually are, so expect that, but you could try it, for sure. I’d check the muffins at 12-15 minutes.
Made this tonight, very delicious…. usually zucchini bread has a tendency to be gummy. This was delicious,
Great point, this isn’t at all gummy, the texture is one of my favorite things about it, thanks Julie 🙂
I stumbled upon this recipe because many others had ingredients I didn’t have, and I must say I am so glad I did! This is the most amazing bread with such a moist texture and the taste….Mmmm. If this is anything like your other recipes, I am subscribing. Simply scrumptious!! Thank you for sharing.
Glad to have you in the family Pamela, there’s lots to explore 🙂
This is so excellent – as is all of your recipes. I divided the batter into two 7 3/8 X 3 5/8 in order to gift one loaf – one pound in each pan.
I made this at the weekend. It’s easy to make and sooo delicious. Many thanks for another great recipe.
I made this bread tonight and I have to say this is the best poppy seed bread that I have ever made. And I made it gluten free using King Arthur flour 1 to 1 ratio. I followed the recipe otherwise using the amounts for all other ingredients. It was moist and lemony. I did peel the zucchini but didn’t squeeze it dry. My one trick for gluten free is to use a thermometer because someone once told me all gluten free baked goods need to come to 205 to 210 degrees and ever since then I have no more gumminess in my cakes. Also if a recipe gives you the grams use those measurements and your baked goods will be perfect. Thanks again for a great recipe.
This sounds delicious! I have an overabundance of limes at the moment though, and 0 lemons. Do you think swapping lemons for limes would work out?
You absolutely can do that, I’ve done it and it’s a really nice flavor.
Love the sound of this! Another way to use up zucchini. I do not have poppy seeds and wanted to know if I omit them from the bread, will it have an effect on the final loaf? Thank you.
Leave out the poppy seeds if you need to, the bread will still be delish.