Almond Poppy Seed Bread

This bread is what dreams are made of. I’m not kidding. The first time I made this bread, I was blown away at how delicious it was. Think about those nostalgic poppy seed muffins you would get at your local grocery store bakery and then elevate them by turning them into a loaf, adding loads more fat (and sugar) so that you get this super moist, can’t stop eating, insanely scrumptious dessert (or breakfast if you are in our family).

Let me preface by saying, this bread is by no means healthy. It is indulgent for sure, but worth every single solitary calorie. Trust me when I say, you won’t be able to just eat one slice. When I developed this recipe, my husband and son ate both loafs of bread within 24 hours and then immediately requested I make it again. It’s THAT good.

A few notes about this recipe:

-Use Kamut Flour if you have it, it makes it a little more healthy and I love the end result from using Kamut.

-If you have French Grey Salt, use it. It adds a whole new depth of flavor that you just can’t get with regular table salt.

-This recipe will make 5 mini loaves (6x 3.5 inch) or 2 medium loaves (8.5×4.5)

-Try switching out the orange juice for lemon or even grapefruit juice

Almond Poppy Seed Bread

Ingredients:

For the bread:

3 cups All Purpose Flour

1 1/2 tsp coarse French Grey Salt (or regular salt)

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

2 1/2 cups white sugar

1 1/2 cups whole milk

1/2 cup + 1 tbsp melted salted butter

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs

1 1/2 tbsp poppy seeds

2 tsp almond extract

1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

For the glaze:

2 tsp melted salted butter

2 tsp whole milk

3/4 cup white sugar

2 tbsp orange juice

2 tbsp water

1 tsp almond extract

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and spray loaf pans with cooking spray and line bottoms with parchment paper and spray again.
2. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, salt, baking powder and sugar.
3. Warm the milk for the bread in the microwave for 45 seconds.
4. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together milk, melted butter, oil, eggs, poppy seeds and extracts.
5. Pour liquid ingredients into the dry mixture and mix until just barely combined and no flour streaks remain.
6. Pour evenly into prepared pans.
7. Bake for 40-45 minutes for mini loaves or 65-75 minutes for medium sized loaves. Or until a toothpick entered into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs on it.
8. Let cool in pans for 5 minutes while you make the glaze.
9. For the glaze: Whisk together all glaze ingredients until combined and sugar has mostly dissolved.
10. After 5 minutes, carefully remove bread from pans and place on a cooling rack. Poke a few holes in the top of the loaves with a fork and the pour glaze evenly over top of both loaves, letting it run over the sides so that the whole loaf gets covered.
11. Let glaze set and serve at room temperature.
12. Store in gallon size plastic bags.

(Recipe adapted and tweaked from The Food Nanny)