Thursday, April 14, 2011

Lemon Bread

I love a quick bread.  You know, they're quick.  They're bread.  What's not to love?  This is easily my favorite for a couple reasons:  it's easy and it makes everyone happy.  Lemons are like some kind of cheap Zoloft.  Everyone loves something lemony.  It's a fact.

Lemon Bread
from Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook

1 3/4 c. flour
3/4 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 beaten egg
1 c. milk
1/4 c. oil or melted butter (you know I used butter; it's worth it)
2 tsp. finely shredded lemon peel
1 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tbsp. lemon juice (for topping)
1 tbsp. sugar (for topping)

You only need one lemon for this recipe, FYI.

Grease the bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of a loaf pan.  Mine was a 9" one; an 8" probably would've looked nicer, but it was fine.

Combine flour, sugar, powder and salt in a medium bowl; make a well in the center and set aside.  Combine your beaten egg, milk, butter, lemon peel, and lemon juice.  Your microplane grater is perfect for zesting the lemon.  Don't buy the stuff in a jar.  For the same price, you can buy a microplane.  Just don't zest the pith (the white part).  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined (a little lumpy).  Pour into your loaf pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Set pan on a rack to start cooling.  Meanwhile, combine the 1 tbsp. sugar and 2 tbsp. lemon juice in a bowl.  Spoon or brush this over the top of the warm bread.  Trust me.  You want to do this.  Let the bread cool about 10-15 minutes in the pan, the remove it to finish cooling on the rack.  This is best if you can wrap it and eat it the second day, but really, a few hours wrapped up is fine, too.

New to zesting a lemon?  Here's a handy video.

2 comments:

  1. Really? Lemon zest comes in a jar?? Lucky for me, I changed my mind about cleaning out the freezer yesterday. Still have some zest and juice! Yay! So today we will make this bread, and some date bread and banana bread and blueberry muffins -- gotta use all that good stuff up before we leave, and literally we are going to ROLL out of here.

    Your pork chops were fab! Saving that recipe. There were NO leftovers, and that made me sad. Here's a tip, though, do NOT brine them for two hours unless you like them very salty. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. There is a WORLD of difference between lemon zest in a jar and fresh zest.
    Do you know I'm craving lemon with this pregnancy? I have to make this now.

    ReplyDelete

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