PERFECT POPPY SEED BREAD

Our Perfect Poppy Seed Bread is delightful & made with poppy seeds, eggs, and a balance of sugar, milk and oil. Vanilla, almond & butter extract, all lend to the incredible flavor in this sweet bread!

This homemade bread features a citrus glaze that adds an extra touch of sweetness. With just a few simple components like powdered sugar and orange juice, the glaze complements the bread perfectly.

Highlights of this Poppyseed Bread Recipe

• Amazing Poppy Seed Flavor. The poppy seeds add a subtle, nutty taste and unique appearance to the bread.
• Uses Butter Flavoring. For this bread recipe, I added butter flavoring because I wanted the taste of it without actually using butter. I linked to my favorite butter emulsion, which tastes much more like butter than a generic extract. Read below about why I don’t love adding butter to my bread dough.
• Easy to make using simple ingredients: These bread loaves are easy to make and require only a few ingredients. You don’t need any special equipment or skills to make them, and they come together quickly. The only unique items are three extracts needed, but they are all easy to find!

Poppy Seed Bread Ingredients

Flour: Use all-purpose flour for the base of this recipe.

Sugar: Add 2 ¼ cups of sugar for soft bread loaves.

Poppy seeds: You need poppy seeds for the signature look we are aiming for.

Baking powder: Add baking powder helps the bread rise as it bakes.

Salt: Balance the flavors by using 1 ½ tsp of salt.

Eggs: Bind the ingredients with 3 eggs.

Fats: You need milk and vegetable oil added to the dough for the bread to stay moist as it bakes.

Extracts: Add 2 tsp of vanilla extract and 1 ½ tsp of almond extract.

Butter flavoring: Achieve the perfect bread texture and taste, add ½ tsp of butter flavoring.

Sweet Glaze

Powder sugar: For a perfectly sweet glaze, you need 1 cup of powdered sugar.

Orange juice: Use orange juice to give the glaze a tangy citrus taste.

Extracts: Add in ½ tsp of vanilla extract, as well as ½ tsp of almond extract.

Butter flavoring: You need ½ tsp of butter flavoring to add a rich taste to this glaze.

I love Butter…but not in my bread dough!

At first thought, it might seem like a good idea to swap out oil for butter in bread dough, but I prefer to save the butter for after the bread is baked. Baking bread with oil instead of butter is a better idea because:

1. Oil is 100% fat, whereas butter contains at least 10% water…which evaporates and thus leave the bread with less fats.
2. The oil coats the flour more fully, which affects the gluten strands and leaves you with a more tender, soft & chewy texture.
3. Bread baked with oil has a tad longer shelf life and keeps that bread softer, longer.
4. I love how butter tastes, but trust me, you just can’t taste it after the bread is baked. So there’s truly no reason to bake with it. If you don’t like using a vegetable oil, use a light olive oil instead!

Key steps for making Poppy Seed Bread with Glaze

1. Choose the best bread pan! Using a good quality pan makes all the difference in your final loaves. We take bread very seriously here, so this is an important step. Check out our bread pan comparison here, see which one we think is best.
2. Preparation makes a huge difference in the results of your bread. Preheating the oven ensures the bread bakes evenly and spraying the loaf pans with non-stick spray helps the bread release easily once baked.
3. Mix the wet and dry ingredients separately for best results. Mixing dry and wet ingredients in separate bowls prevents clumping and ensures an even distribution of ingredients. This results in softer, more tended loaves of bread. 

How long is this good for & how do you store it?

Poppy seed bread can be stored at room temperature for up to 3-5 days. Store in an airtight container or ziplocked bag to ensure the bread stays fresh as long as possible.

For longer storage, you can refrigerate the bread for up to a week or freeze it for up to three months. If frozen, thaw at room temperature before slicing and enjoying.

AVOID SUNKEN BREAD

The easiest and best way to avoid sunken bread is to use a cooking thermometer to check the inside of the loaf. Fully cooked bread will register 200°F on a thermometer. Here’s a fantastic cooking thermometer that will help you know when you bread is baked.

Can I use bread flour in this poppy seed bread recipe?

Substituting all-purpose flour for bread flour is possible. However, it may result in a denser texture due to the higher protein content in bread flour.

What function do poppy seeds serve in bread recipes?

Poppy seeds provide a unique, subtle nutty flavor and a distinctive appearance. They add a slight crunch and contribute to the overall character of the bread.

Can I incorporate citrus flavors such as lemon or orange?

Yes, variations of poppy seed bread often include citrus flavors. Incorporating lemon or orange zest can enhance the bread’s taste, offering a refreshing contrast to the poppy seeds.

For more incredible bread, try these recipes here:

• Our recipe for Lemon Poppy Seed Bread is made with just a few basic ingredients and comes together fast.
• This glazed cherry almond sweet bread doesn’t require yeast, which means you can have a loaf ready in no time! The sweet glaze on top is absolutely incredible too.
• Looking for something a bit lighter that goes well with any meal? Try our sweet Iris soda bread recipe!
• Another quick bread recipe we love is this fresh cranberry orange bread. It’s made with simple ingredients and produces a soft, moist bread.
• Ok, so this isn’t bread but it’s close to it! These lemon poppy seed muffins have bright, fresh flavor and deserve at spot at the table.   

Perfect Poppy Seed Bread is a delicious dish that is a wonderful combination of soft, sweet loaf with a lovely sweet glaze. This homemade bread comes together quickly and easily, with just some basic ingredients and skills you can have two warm loaves of bread!