Poppy Seed Bread

At breakfast this morning I was flipping through one of my cookbooks and found this recipe for Poppy Seed Bread. Since I have a huge container of poppy seeds (why? It was the same price as the small container) I thought I would try it out. It's an easy recipe and makes a great dessert bread.



Janell's Poppy Seed Bread
Lion House Classics Cook Book

1/4 cup butter, melted
3 Tablespoons + 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp poppy seeds (I did 1 full tsp)

Grease and flour one loaf pan and set aside. In large mixing bowl, cream butter, oil, eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, and almond extract. In separate bowl, mix flour, salt, baking powder, and poppy seeds. Add to first mixture and blend well, but do not overmix. (Overmixing causes tunnels and a coarse texture.) Pour into loaf pan and bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes. Serve plain or ice with Orange Almond Icing.

Orange Almond Icing**

1 Tablespoon orange juice
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/4 cup powdered sugar.

In small bowl, mix all ingredients together.

**I made a double batch of the icing. When cake was finished baking, I let it cool on a rack for 10 minutes, turned it out onto a rack and drizzled the icing over the top. It absorbed nicely and made the bread wonderfully moist. (Man I hate that word, "moist.")