I love chamomile tea at bedtime. I also love lemon-poppyseed bread. So I decided to put these two wonderful treats together and create Lemon-Poppyseed Chamomile Tea Bread. Or Lem-Pop-Cham Bread for short. No matter what it’s called, it’s delicious. It’s a classic recipe gone ZEN.
Sunny Flavors. Calming Effects. Zested lemons. Blue organic poppy seeds. Steeped organic chamomile tea. Whole wheat flour and all natural sweeteners make this bread healthy and divine. Did you know a tablespoon of poppy seeds has 13% your RDA of calcium? Yup. Also, you can use more tea for a deeper soothing chamomile effect.
Click ahead for this ZEN twist on a Lemon-Poppyseed classic…
Lemon-Poppyseed Chamomile Tea Bread
vegan, makes 1 loaf
2 cups whole wheat flour
poppy seeds, to taste, at least 2 Tbsp
2 lemons, washed, juiced and zested
1 cup soy milk
3 Tbsp vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup chamomile tea, steeped dark and cooled (2 bags)
2 Tbsp canola oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
sweetener options: 1/2 cup sugar
-or- 1/2 cup maple syrup or agave syrup
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla extract organic
thin lemon slices, for garnish-about three
*sweet-lemon-glaze: 2 Tbsp agave syrup, 1 Tbsp lemon, pinch dry sweetener
note: add more soy milk if your dough seems a tad too sticky/thick, or if you use a dry sweetener instead of liquid like agave syrup.
Combine in Bowl:
First, mix dry ingredients and then add in liquids:
Flour, sweetener, poppy seeds, wheat gluten, lemon juice, soy milk, canola oil, lemon zest, salt, baking powder, vanilla extract, cinnamon and cooled chamomile tea.
Mix briskly with a spoon. Once a creamy batter is attained, pour into greased (or use parchment paper) bread pan.
Top Garnish:
Apply three very thinly sliced lemon slices to top of loaf. Drizzle sweet-lemon glaze on top. Sprinkle a pinch of sugar on slices to caramelize the rind.
Bake:
Bake at 350 degrees for forty-five minutes or until a light brown crust forms. Allow to cool for twenty minutes before removing from pan.
Eat warm from the oven, in a few days or store in freezer.
*Makes a soothing and calming bedtime snack since it has chamomile tea in it! You can even add more tea to the batter if you want an ultra-calming bread.
Dear Kathy,
As soon as I noticed this recipe I knew that Ishould try it – and it became absolutely fabolous! I changed soy-milk to rice milk, and I left out the gluten (but I used spelt flour which is rich in it) but otherwise I sticked to your wonderful idea.
My only problem is with my pan – it was too big for this amount, so next time I must double it 🙂
I posted it in my blog as well :http://www.sajtkukac.hu/
Its in Hungarian so probably you won’t understand a word, but of course I recommended your amazing blog to everyone!!
Thanks for the wonderful recipes
Niki
I thought this looked good at first too, I have been waiting for a good vegan lemon poppyseed bread for a long time. Even though I followed the recipe exactly, the bread ended up too dense and gooey for my liking. Maybe there is a better substitute for the wheat gluten…. not what I expected.
I’m also wondering what I can use instead of the gluten. Will any other egg replacer work?
I’d love to make this but I don’t have any wheat gluten… any suggestions for a substitute?
That bread looks good! I have been wanting to try the lemon poppy seed combo.
I’m with Deb, this is the best looking bread. I absolutely love your site. I can’t wait to try this. Thanks for sharing!
Marvelous idea! One of the best looking tea breads I’ve seen in a while. Great blog.
This looks amazing. I have always wanted to make bread w/poppy seeds. I’m definitely trying this recipe out tonight. Thanks!!!
Great blog and a wonderful recipe!
I’m a fan of lemon poppyseed bread from way back:)
That does sound really good. But I don’t know where I can find wheat gluten and poppy seeds. I’m going to have to shop around for those ingredients.
I think I’ll have to try this! I love lemony bread.
Oh that sounds so good!
yum. yum. yum. I love this recipe. Perfect bedtime yummy!