Lemon Glazed Bread

One thing I hate about living in the tundra is that you can't grow citrus trees outside.  I dream about retiring on a big orchard someday, and diving into pools of freshly picked citrus fruit.

One of these days I'm going to get me a little indoor dwarf lemon tree but until then I still have to go to the store every time I want to make this bread.

This  recipe is really versatile. You can  add blueberries* if you want. I also don't see any reason you couldn't make an orange version of this bread.

The glaze on this bread is SO yummy. It tastes like lemonade and gives this bread a tart bang of flavor.  Don't skip the glaze.

Lemon Glazed Bread

Recipe adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook

-1 3/4 cup flour

-3/4 cup sugar

-2 tsp baking powder

-1/4 tsp salt

-1 beaten egg

- 1 cup milk

-1/4 cup vegetable oil

-1 Tbsp lemon zest (Pack it in.  Heaping is fine if you want a really lemony flavor)

-1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

For Lemon Glaze:

-1 cup powdered sugar

-1 tsp lemon zest (pack it in)

-1-1.5 Tbsp fresh lemon juice  (I used 1.5 Tbsp and my glaze had great flavor but was a bit thin.  Next time I'll check the flavor after adding 1 Tbsp juice and see if that will suffice)

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Grease an 8x4 inch loaf pan.  (Even if it's non-stick, you'll still want to grease it because this bread will stick like crazy!)

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.  Make a well in the center of the mixture and set aside.

In another medium bowl, whisk together the beaten egg, milk, oil, lemon zest, and lemon juice.  Add this mixture all at once into the well in the dry ingredients.  Stir just until moistened.  The batter will be lumpy.  Pour into loaf pan.

Bake loaf at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then loosen edges, and turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

In a small bowl whisk together the ingredients for the lemon glaze.  Pour onto the loaf while it is still sitting on wire rack.  Allow excess to drip off.  Allow glaze to cool completely.

Wrap bread tightly to store, or keep in an airtight container.  Flavor will develop even further if you allow  this bread to sit for 24 hours before serving.   (Pshhh.  Who is even capable of that?)

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*For a blueberry version, toss 1 cup of blueberries with 1 Tbsp flour, and fold into batter right before pouring into loaf pan.  Do not overmix or your beautiful bread will turn grey!