Glazed Almond Poppy Seed Bread

This Glazed Almond Poppy Seed Bread is an easy bake that yields a tender, pound cake-like loaf. Frosted, glazed, or plain, it’s a delicious treat!

I seriously don’t know what to call this loaf. Is it a quick bread? A cake? Or maybe call it a loaf? Maybe we should call it a loaf cake. Heavy questions over here today, people.

But you know what? This Glazed Almond Poppyseed bread/cake/loaf is going to make all of the questions not matter. Because your mouth will be too stuffed to answer them anyway. It’s flavorful and moist, and dense in a pleasant, pound cake-like way. The frosting/glaze on top is pretty and delicious, but definitely optional if you want a less sweet loaf. I mean, in case any of you are still doing that New Year’s Resolutions thing.

How to Make Glazed Almond Poppy Seed Bread

• First, preheat the oven to 325F, then grease a 9″ loaf pan well.
• To make the batter, start by creaming together soft butter and sugar until it’s light and fluffy. This helps the sugar dissolve into the butter, and gives you a smoother batter.
• Add the extracts and eggs, then mix them in until they’re combined. Room temperature eggs will mix into the batter better, so try to pull them out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking.*
• In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder, then stir in the poppy seeds. Stir half of it into the butter mixture (it doesn’t have to be exact) until it’s thoroughly mixed, then mix in all of the milk. Stir in the rest of the flour in until completely combined, then pour the batter into the greased loaf pan.
• Bake the loaf for about an hour to an hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. You may want to put a sheet of foil over the top of the pan about 45 minutes through the baking time, since the outside will cook more quickly than the middle of the loaf, and you don’t want burnt edges.
• About 10 minutes after the bread has been removed from the oven, turn it out carefully onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
• While the loaf is cooling, prepare the glaze for the loaf. There is

*Because the eggs will only be out for a brief time and will be baked, you don’t have to worry about them being unsafe to eat.

Tips for making perfect Almond Poppy Seed Bread

• I recommend using a light glass pan, since a metal or dark colored pan will conduct heat very quickly and burn the outside of your almond poppy seed bread before the inside is ready. This is the pan I use–you can also find them at nearly any store with baking equipment.
• Grease that pan veerrrryy well. You don’t want a stuck loaf of bread.
• While you should definitely mix the batter until all of the ingredients are well combined, be sure not to overmix. That will activate the gluten and potentially leave you with a tough finished loaf.
• As noted above, you may want to cover the loaf with foil part way through the baking time to prevent it from burning on the outside before baking thoroughly.
• The recipe for the glaze calls for either cream or milk. The cream (which is what I used for this loaf) is going to give you more of a thick frosting, while the milk will create more of a thin glaze. Add your liquid to the powdered sugar and extract one tablespoon at a time to get the right consistency. For a frosting, try to get something that will drizzle/pour without running off the cake. For a glaze, you’ll need less milk to get the right consistency, so make sure not to add too much.

Other Sweet Breads and Loaf Cake Recipes You May Enjoy:

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