Low Carb Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

Name: Lemon Poppy Seed Bread (Low Carb, Keto, Gluten Free)
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 55 min
Cuisine: Low Carb
Ingredients: 1 stick butter, softened, unsalted (1/2 cup); 1 cup stevia (or other sweetener of choice); 2 large eggs, room temperature; 1 cup ricotta cheese; 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp lemon juice (approximately 1 lemon); 2 tsp lemon zest (approximately 2 lemons); 2 tsp vanilla extract; 2 cups almond flour; 1/4 cup coconut flour; 2 tsp baking powder; 2 tbsp poppy seeds; 1/2 tsp salt; 3/4 cup powdered sugar (I used Swerve Confectioner); 1/4 cup lemon juice (approximately 1 lemon); 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

April 7, 2019 by Cat 2 Comments

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With spring around the corner, I decided it was time for some lemon-based recipes. Here in Florida, lemon tree branches are weighed down by the sheer number of lemons they are producing. I felt bad for my lemon tree so I decided to help it out by picking some of the lemons to make this keto Lemon Poppy Seed Bread.

Why did I decide to call this lemon poppy seed bread instead of lemon poppy seed pound cake? Since Mr. Grumbles likes to eat this for breakfast, psychologically, calling it bread instead of cake makes it justifiable for breakfast!

Am I right or am I right?

Anyway, call it what you like and eat when you want because this lemon poppy seed recipe is not only moist and delicious but also gluten-free and low in carbs!

Interesting Facts about Poppy Seeds:

Poppy Seeds are tiny nutty-tasting, blue-gray seeds inside capsules on Papaver somniferum, a yellowish-brown opium plant indigenous to the Mediterranean.
Poppies are native to Mediterranean regions. Today, Holland, Australia, and the Czech Republic are the main producers of poppy seeds.
Since antiquity, poppies have symbolized honour. Women in the second century Crete cultivated poppy plants for opium, and Hippocrates suggested opium in medicine. Islamic and Arabian countries used opium as a medicine and narcotic in the sixth century. By the 17th century, Asians used the poppy plant as an opiate. Europeans began trafficking the drug in the 19th century, culminating in the Opium Wars, in which China lost control of the industry. The Greeks used the seeds as a flavoring for loaves of bread in the second century, and medieval Europeans used them as a condiment with bread.

Could I Test Positive for Opiates if I Eat Poppy Seeds?

Poppy seeds contain morphine. Spanish poppy seeds seem to have the most morphine - about 251 micrograms of morphine per gram of seeds. This translates to about 0.025% morphine by weight. Thus, to get a medically relevant dose of morphine (10 mg) from Spanish poppy seeds you would have to consume 40 grams of poppy seeds!
Once poppy seeds are eaten, the body develops detectable levels of opiates almost immediately. As a 2003 “MythBusters” episode notes, someone can test positive for opiates as soon as 2 hours after eating a poppy seed-loaded item. Other studies have shown that the levels remain elevated for up to 3 days. However, in 1998, the Department of Health and Human Services increased the drug test level from 300 nanograms per milliliter (300 ng/mL) to concentrations of 2000 ng/mL. So, you would have to eat a LOT of poppy seeds to produce a positive drug test.

Now that we have that cleared up, onto the Lemon Poppy Seed Bread recipe!

How to Make Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

Step 1:

Cream the butter with the sweetener until light and fluffy and set aside. I used stevia in this recipe but you could easily replace the stevia with regular sugar or coconut sugar.

Step 2:

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, ricotta cheese, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla extract until fully incorporated and set aside.

Step 3:

In another bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. Slowly alternate adding the dry and egg mixture to the creamed butter.

Step 4:

Place the mixture in a glass loaf pan and bake for 40 minutes. As the bread is baking, prepare the glaze by combining powdered sugar (I used Swerve Confectioners), lemon juice and vanilla. Heat the mixture in the microwave for 30 seconds to help the sugar to dissolve. Set aside and allow it to cool.