The spring and summer months beg for bright, fresh flavours and this dense, lightly-sweet lemon poppyseed loaf delivers! Because we’re making a simple loaf (as opposed to muffins or scones) it comes together in a few simple steps. The longest part of this recipe is waiting for it to bake in the oven!
Since this is a plant-based recipe, it doesn’t include any eggs, milk or other animal products. Instead, we’re using a combination of store-bought alternatives (plant milk and vegan butter or margarine) and a clever homemade egg-replacement — chia seeds! Bonus: they blend right in with the poppyseeds meaning anyone you serve with be none the wiser.
Adding water to chia seeds and letting them sit for a bit creates a great binder for baking and adds extra nutrients at the same time. According to the label on my package of chia seeds, one tablespoon contains five grams of fibre (that’s a whopping 20% of your daily requirement!).
That little tablespoon also brings along two grams of protein, 2.5 grams of omega-3 fatty acids (plus some omega-6 and omega-9 fatty acids), and some calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese and phosphorous too. And unlike eggs, there is zero cholesterol, zero saturated fat, zero sodium, and of course, zero animal cruelty — woo hoo!
To make this luscious lemon loaf, start by preheating your oven to 350º F (180ºC) and lightly grease an 8″x4″ loaf pan. Next, prepare your chia “eggs” by combining two tablespoons of chia seeds with five tablespoons of water and setting the mixture aside to gel for 5-10 minutes. Then, combine 2/3 cup plant milk (I like oat or soy, but anything will work) with one tablespoon of lemon juice and leave it to curdle. Sounds strange, but it’s essentially vegan buttermilk.
Now it’s time to whisk together your dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, poppyseeds and salt) in a large bowl. Then, in a separate bowl, add the butter or margarine and the sugar and beat with an electric mixer until fluffy (about two minutes). Add the vanilla and beat again for 30 seconds or so. Follow with the other two tablespoons of lemon juice and the plant milk mixture and beat once more until combined.
To complete your batter, add the chia “egg” and lemon zest to your wet ingredients. Then add the dry ingredients one third at a time, beating with the electric mixer between each addition. Feel free to give the batter a taste and add more lemon zest if you want more lemony flavour. There are no raw eggs, so it’s safe to taste before cooking!
Pour your batter into the lightly greased loaf pan and use a spatula to scrap down the sides of the bowl and get every last drop in the pan. Pop the pan into your preheated oven and let it bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick or skewer inserted comes out clean.
While your loaf is baking, prepare your icing by mixing the icing sugar, lemon juice and plant milk together until smooth. Let the loaf cool completely before icing. Store covered in the fridge to avoid melted icing.
Lemon poppyseed loaf
Ingredients
Lemon poppy seed loaf
- 2 tbsp chia seeds
- 5 tbsp water
- 3 tbsp lemon juice, divided
- 2/3 cup plant milk soy or oat, etc.
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tbsp poppy seeds
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup vegan butter or margarine, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tbsp lemon zest
Icing
- 1 cup icing sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp plant milk soy or oat, etc.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° and lightly grease a 4" x 8" loaf pan.
- In a small dish, combine chia seeds and water and set aside for 5-10 minutes to gel. This will be your chia "egg".
- In another dish or measuring cup, combine 2/3 cup plant milk with 1 tbsp of lemon juice and set aside. Hot tip: always zest your lemons before juicing them so that you're not trying to work with a squished lemon rind.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, poppyseeds and salt.
- In another bowl, add the sugar and softened butter and cream together using an electric beat for 2 minutes.
- Once the butter and sugar are fluffy, add the vanilla and mix again. Then add the other two tablespoons of lemon juice and the milk mixture to the bowl and beat again.
- Pour the chia "egg" and zest into the wet mix and beat for a few seconds to combine. Then add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the wet and beat, adding the rest of the dry ingredients as they get incorporated until the wet and dry are fully combined. Pour the batter into the greased loaf pan, scrapping the bowl with a spatula to get it all out.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out dry. Let sit for five minutes in the baking dish before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- While the loaf is cooling, prepare the icing by adding the lemon juice and plant milk to the icing sugar and whisking together until smooth.
- Once the loaf has cooled, pour or drizzle the icing over the loaf and serve.
