During one of the many hours I’ve spent scrolling through Instagram, I came across a New York Times Cooking post about a lemon poppy seed loaf. It looked amazing, and I instantly needed to make it. However, I had neither the many lemons required, nor the poppyseeds. Not to be deterred, I decided to make some form of a lemon poppy seed loaf!
This recipe is super easy to make, and only requires 1 lemon to make it! It’s lemon flavour is very mild, and the loaf is not too sweet. Enjoy, and let me know in the comments your thoughts!

Easy Lemon Loaf
6 TBSP butter, melted
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup milk (Non-dairy alternatives work just as well!)
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
Grated lemon zest (I used the zest of an entire lemon, 3/4 of it in the batter, the last 1/4 for sprinkling on top)
4TBSP lemon juice (from the lemon or concentrate)
4 TBSP icing sugar
- Grease a loaf pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C)
- In a large bowl, combine melted butter or margarine and sugar. Add eggs, and mix until light and fluffy. Add milk, baking powder, and 3/4 of lemon zest. Mix well. Sift flour, and gradually add to mixture; mix to just combine. Top with remaining 1/4 of lemon zest.
- Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
- While bread is baking, combine lemon juice and confectioners’ sugar in dish. Stir well before using.
- Immediately upon removing bread from oven, place pan on a cooling rack. Using a large fork, poke holes all over the bread. Pour lemon juice mixture over the top of the bread. Cool for 15 minutes, and then remove from pan.
Voila! There’s nothing to it. The perfect cake for tea time, breakfast, or a tasty snack. Let me know what you think in the comments!

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