Lemony Lovliness!

LEMON BREAD

Luscious, lemony, speckled with zest and very moist.....

This started out as cranberry lemon loaf...but when it came time to fold in the ruby-red, dried cranberries, alas I was out. So, into the oven it went - without a key ingredient.

It would have been nice to see those chewy little bits snug in their bed of moist, tender crumbs...but the flavor was still bright and tangy, and I don't have much to complain about!

This bread gets better as it sits - cakey and the flavor more pronounced. I'll give you the recipe as it should be - but even alone and lonely....it'll do just fine!

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2/3 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons freshly grated lemon zest

4 eggs

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 cup milk

OPTIONAL - 2 cups diced, dried cranberries or fresh or frozen blueberries, raspberries, blackberries - go wild!

Glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat 4 mini loaf pans (or 2 regular size) with vegetable cooking spray.

In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the lemon juice, zest, and eggs, and vanilla until well combined.

In another bowl stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add alternately with the milk to the egg mixture, beating just until combined after each addition. Fold in berries, if using.

Divide batter among prepared pans and bake for 30-40 minutes if making mini-loaves. Remove to a wire rack, but leave in the pans.

In a small bowl combine the glaze ingredients. Pour over the hot loaves and allow to cool completely before removing from pans. Wrap tightly to store.