My Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf Cake is perfect for breakfast or dessert with some fresh berries or a smear of butter. It whips up in minutes and stores well for a week! All in all, it is a great healthy choice for your lemon poppy seed craving! This easy lemon loaf recipe is low carb, keto, gluten-free, grain-free, sugar-free, and Trim Healthy Mama friendly.
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This time of year I love all things lemon. They taste fresh and springy when the weather starts to warm up. September and October are all about cinnamon and pumpkin but in May and June, lemon is my fave. A healthy lemon loaf cake with fresh berries is my top choice right about now.
Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf Cake - Low Carb, Keto, Grain-Free, Gluten-Free, THM S
If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen my photo woefully sharing about needing to taste test this recipe. The woeful portion was in jest, obviously. Who wouldn't want a job that requires eating cake? I put a nice slice of this healthy lemon poppy seed cake on top of a pile of sliced strawberries, topped with whipped cream, and then decided to drizzle a little white wine on top. It was perfection. The wine soaked into the Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf Cake just enough to give it a zing and highlight the flavor of the strawberries. I probably put one or two tablespoons of wine on it. It didn't take much.
How to make lemon poppy seed cake: Zest and juice a lemon, add that and some almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, butter, cottage cheese, eggs, and sweetener to the food processor. Pulse. Add poppy seeds. Bake. Eat.
Using cottage cheese in this healthy lemon poppy seed cake is my trick to a moist and tender loaf cake. It adds protein and makes this just as good of a breakfast as a dessert. I'm getting this post ready to go live a week after baking this and I'm eating a piece for breakfast with some yogurt and thawed frozen raspberries on top. It tastes just as good now as it did fresh from the oven!
The poppy seeds really do give this poppy seed cake a special touch. But if you prefer you can omit them and make a plain ole lemon loaf. Or add some blueberries for a pop of color. I love the combination of lemon and blueberries.
Next time I make baked goods to give as gifts I want to make mini loaves of this and wrap them in parchment and tie with twine. They are so cute this way. Add in a basket of freshly picked berries and a crock of butter for a really nice hostess gift!
This Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf Cake is excellent plain or with a pat of butter. I'm sure this would work as muffins if you'd prefer individual servings for grab-and-go breakfasts or just less clean up from using paper liners. The less clean up idea may trump a pretty sliceable loaf the next time I make this.
This Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf Cake keeps well in the fridge for up to a week so bake one for yourself and enjoy.
Love lemon? Try these next:
Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Crumb Bars
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Ingredients
- ⅔ cup cottage cheese
- 4 tablespoon butter softened
- ½ cup Joy Filled Eats Sweetener (or see alternatives in recipe notes)
- 4 eggs
- 3 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 ½ cup almond flour
- ½ cup coconut flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 tablespoon poppy seeds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. Grease a standard loaf pan well with cooking spray.
- Combine the cottage cheese, butter, and sweetener in the food processor. Pulse until smooth. Add the eggs, lemon juice, flours, baking powder, and zest. Pulse until well combined. Add the poppy seeds and pulse until they are evenly distributed in the batter. Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan.
- Bake for 55-65 min or until the center feels firm when lightly pressed and the edges are deep golden brown.
- Cool completely to make it easier to remove from the pan. Alternatively, you can line the loaf pan with parchment paper.
Notes
Nutrition
Brittany says
I made this last night as a layer cake for Mother’s Day. I made 1.5x the recipe and it was perfect for three 6” rounds, baked for 30 minutes. I used blueberry compote for the filling and a cream cheese icing to frost it. I just recently started keto but love to bake and I’m glad I don’t have to give it up! My kids even asked for seconds!
Gail Schimpf says
What is the ratio for trim healthy mama gentle sweet to lakanto monk fruit?
Taryn says
My sweetener and THM Gentle Sweet are twice as sweet as sugar. Lakanto is 1:1 for sugar. I'd suggest using 1.5 times the amount listed.
Monica says
Can you use ghee instead of the butter?
Taryn says
Yes, ghee should work.
Sandhya Seshadri says
Hey, if there any substitute to coconut flour?
Taryn says
All almond flour should work. You will need to increase the amount since coconut is drier.
Anu says
What a lovely little recipe! I halved the recipe and used a mini loaf tin, substituting full fat Greek yogurt for the cottage cheese (which I didn't have) and used 1/2 cup Erythritol plus 1/8 tsp each of Stevia powder and monk fruit sweetener. I didn't change anything else but reduced the baking time by about 10 minutes and it was perfect, even without a glaze. As others have mentioned, it is wonderfully moist with a fantastic crumb, which is not easy to achieve with a keto recipe! Thank you so much for this, you made my weekend 🙂
Taryn says
Thank you for the nice comment! I really appreciate when readers take the time to come back and review my recipes 🙂
Sarah says
Wondering if I could double coconut flour since I’m out of almond ?
Taryn says
No, sorry, they act differently. I think all coconut would make this too dry.
Sarah says
I learned that the hard way 😂 it didn’t turn out at alllll but that’s okay I’ll try again this weekend
Taryn says
Oh no! Coconut flour absorbs much more liquid than almond flour. I'm sorry you wasted the ingredients! At least coconut flour is cheaper. 😉
Louise says
Hi just wonder if you can use chai seeds instead of poppy seeds
Taryn says
No, chia seeds have a thickening quality and I don't know how they would react in this. You can just omit the seeds.
Mary says
Love these made them in muffin tins, added tad more lemon and glaze on top is the best ever.
patricia says
Did you use the 5x9 or 4x8 loaf pan?
Taryn says
I used a 4.5 x 8.5 loaf pan. If you use a different size the baking time might vary by a few minutes.
Martha Dignazio says
I made this (added a smidge extra lemon juice since I love it so much), took a slice and drizzled glaze and a sliced strawberry over... PERFECT! My next loaf will be lime. Since I love lemon and lime equally. Got to try a lime loaf. Thank you for this recipe!
Stephanie says
Can you sub sour cream for cottage cheese?
Taryn says
Yes, that should work!
Vickie says
Would this recipe work for cupcakes or muffins? TIA
Taryn says
Yes! I think they would take about 25-30 minutes at 350.
Leigh Hubbard says
Oh my word. This was DELICIOUS. My husband and I ate nearly the whole loaf since yesterday. Maybe me more than him, shhhh. Loved the poppy seeds in it myself. 0% greek yogurt didn't seem to change stats much over 1% cottage cheese but I might try it with THM baking blend cuz according to MyFitnessPal that might take it down about 30 calories per piece. (even though we don't look at numbers lol). I noted your advice on that, to reduce the baking blend amt.
Taryn says
Great! LMK if you try it with baking blend. I'm waiting on my order to come 😀
Kari says
I would love to know the sub for THM baking blend!!!! This looks heavenly!!!!!
Taryn says
I have not tried this with baking blend. But I think it should work. Use a little bit less. And come back and let us know if you try it 😀
Stephanie says
Thank you for this recipe! I just HAD to make it and doubled it. I didn't have cottage cheese so I substituted greek yogurt and lemon oil (just a bit ~ since we LOVE lemon over here!). My picky family ate it all up and then asked if it was THM, lol. They could not even tell and that (to me) is a win-win. I am sure that the substitute may have made it more of a XO than an S, but I who cares! It was SO YUMMY!
Taryn says
This should still be a S even though you subbed Greek yogurt. I'm glad your family liked it!
Dynae says
Could you use thm baking blend instead of the flours? If so, Do you know how much you would use?
Sarah Hardy says
This looks beautiful, Taryn! The crumb is perfect - and I love your photos. 🙂
Dianne Melton says
Thank you Taryn for this recipe! I too like lemony things in the spring. I made this early this morning and it has to be one of the best THM loaves I've made. Moist and it has a nice crumb!
Taryn says
Hooray! I'm always a little nervous until the first reviews come in 🙂 I ate the second to last piece for breakfast today with some fresh blackberries and popped the last piece into the freezer to see how it freezes. I think it will freeze well. I'm so glad you liked it.
Tracey says
How many slices per loaf should you get? I can't have the poppy seeds but I will try it with the blueberry!
Taryn says
Hi Tracey,
I got 12 one inch thick slices.
I hope you love it 🙂
Tracey says
This looks amazing.