A mom's journal of the sweet things in her life...

Friday, July 8, 2011

Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf (Starbuck's Copycat)

The other day, while ordering my regular coffee drink at Starbuck's, I buckled. I decided to blow my calorie intake for the day and indulge in a slice of Lemon Poppyseed Loaf. And it was good. It made me want to try replicating it at home. As luck would have it, the very next day I stumbled upon this recipe. And while it was not a lemon loaf, nor did it have a lemon glaze, I knew it would be a good foundation upon which to adapt to my liking. Now I know that most bakers prefer to use butter in their baking for the flavor factor, and most of the time I would agree. But the fact that this recipe uses oil instead of butter caught my attention. There are certain instances in which oil can really help to deliver the moistness that so many loaves lack. And the fact that the recipe yields 2 loaves instead of one? Well, that was the final straw. I knew I had to give it a go.

The verdict?  These lemon loaves are delicious. Moist and tender, similar to a pound cake with just enough of the lemon flavor that I was craving. And easy too. You can't really go wrong here. Perfect for a weeknight dessert, or an afternoon snack. Can you guess what I'll be eating for breakfast tomorrow? And the next day...

Recipe for Starbuck's Copycat Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf
Adapted from: A Farm Girl's Dabbles

For the Lemon Loaf:
3 cups AP flour
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 Tbsp. poppy seeds
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup + 2 Tbsp. canola oil
3 large eggs
3 tsp. lemon extract (or you could use vanilla and add lemon zest if you don't have lemon extract)

For the Glaze:
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1 Tbsp. melted butter

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously spray two 8 1/2 inch x 4 1/2 inch loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and poppy seeds. Mix on lowest speed until combined.

In a separate medium sized bowl, combine milk, oil eggs and lemon extract (or vanilla and lemon zest, if using). Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry with the mixer on lowest setting. Mix until combined. Beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Pour into prepared pans and bake for approximately 1 hour and 5 minutes; or until toothpick inserted into the loaves comes out clean.

While the loaves are baking, make the glaze by combining the sugar, lemon juice, vanilla and melted butter and whisking until smooth. Once loaves are finished baking, remove from oven and brush the glaze on both loaves until all the glaze is gone. Allow the loaves to cool for 20 minutes in the pans. After 20 minutes, loosen the loaves by running a knife along the perimeter. Turn the pans upside down and release the loaves. Turn right side up onto a cooling rack and allow to cool completely, and for the glaze to harden. 

9 comments:

  1. Lemon poppyseed is my little guy's absolute favorite...I should give these a try! They look perfectly moist and tasty.

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  2. Wow! This looks *so* good and very moist. I love oil cakes because of that. Thanks for sharing this one--definitely going to make these! Love that cake of theirs! Great photos, btw!

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  3. I just made this recipe and it is fabulous. Nice and moist. I had a Starbucks piece to compare and that one is more crumbly and seems to have more poppy seeds. They also dust theirs with icing sugar on top. I did use vegetable oil instead of canola but I don't think that made a difference. I found I did not need a lot of the glaze, less than half. There is a slight difference in taste but overall I would give it two thumbs up and will make it again. Thank you for sharing this with us.
    Leila

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    1. Leila: That's awesome! Thanks for commenting and letting me know how it turned out for you! I'm thrilled that you liked it!

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  4. This Recipe looks great! However I was going over the ingredients and in the recipe it says 1 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and in the directions is 1 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder. Just giving you the heads up :)

    Rhonda

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  5. I am making this recipe right now.
    I did not have any valilla or lemonextract so I had to omit it all together. I did add the lemon zest from three amall lemons. I am baking it in a tube pan. I sure hope that works!
    I will keep you posted as to how it turns out.
    Thanks, this is just what I was looking for. My daughter needed a last minute class treat and I so did not feel like tray after tray of cookies!
    My second loaf pan just broke :( hence, the tuibe pan substitute. We shall see...

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  6. Wow it turned out so perfect. I don't get to taste it but it looks just right. It realy rose nicley in the tube pan and I am proud to send it off to school tomorrow. Thanks!!
    Now I have to maek those twix that keep staring at me in the side lines :)

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  7. Didn't bake all the way through in an hour & 5.... Woke up to two collapsed loaves. :( Good recipe, don't know how I screwed it up...Really disappointed.

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