I’m posting it! After “recipe testing” with Waits every Christmas Eve for the past five years, we’ve perfected our gluten-free vegan Meyer Lemon Loaf. And so now, for this Christmas Eve, we finally get to share it!
This wintery citrus treat has become one of my favorite Christmas traditions. We use meyers from our own miniature tree (the one I used to keep in our living room and pollinate with paint brushes when we lived in Portland!), and we spend the evening before Christmas listening to music and making a lovely lemon loaf. But it’s taken a few years (4 Christmas Eve’s, to be exact) to perfect the recipe. Gluten free and vegan can be pretty dang finicky.
You can see our progress in last year’s (2016) Christmas post. I didn’t post about Christmas in 2015, since that was the thick of grad school + wine bar, so blogging was pretty sparse back then. But the lemon loaf showed up in my Christmas photos from the year before (2014) and this little Le Love List the year before that (2013).
So yeah, this recipe has been a long time coming. And I’m so happy to finally share this special tradition, from our Christmas kitchen to yours.
Ingredients
2 cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Biscuit and Bread Mix (you could use another gluten free mix, but I think this one works best)
1 cup evaporated cane juice
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons chia seeds
1 1/4 cups plant milk
1/2 cup canola oil
2 tablespoon meyer lemon zest
1/3 cup meyer lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Lemon Icing
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons meyer lemon juice
1 tablespoon meyer lemon zest
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375º and grease a loaf pan (I like to use coconut oil).
Zest and then juice 3-4 meyer lemons.
In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients: gluten-free flour, evaporated cane juice, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and chia seeds. Once thoroughly mixed, make a “well” in the center of the dry ingredients.
In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients: plant milk, canola oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Pour the wet ingredients into the well you made in the dry ingredients, and then quickly stir to form a batter.
Pour the batter into your greased loaf pan, then bake at 375º for 50 minutes. While the loaf is baking, whisk together the ingredients to make the icing. Whisk until completely smooth and then set aside. After 50 minutes, check with a toothpick to make sure the loaf is cooked all the way through (the toothpick should come out clean). Ovens vary so you may need another 5-15 more minutes.
Allow the loaf to cool completely before icing. I usually make the loaf and the icing the night before, and then drizzle the icing over the loaf right before serving.
We serve this Meyer Lemon Loaf for breakfast every Christmas morning, but of course it’s not reserved for Christmas only. It would be a perfect tea cake, or could easily be modified into muffins. Meyer lemon is such a unique flavor, and the tart citrus combined with the sweet bread is just delightful. It’s pretty much perfect for any occasion.
Happy Holidays, friends!
♥ ♥ ♥
-
Megan M
