Friday Recipes: Poppy Seeds

Last week I thumbed through my binder of clipped recipes and came across one called Orange Poppy Seed Pound Cake. It was absolutely delicious and it made two loaves. It also used almost an entire spice bottle of poppy seeds! That got me thinking about how much I love lemon poppy seed muffins, poppy seeds on hot dug buns, and on top of bagels. So this week I'm sharing some tasty recipes using those wonderful little poppy seeds:

Banana Poppy Seed Muffins

2 medium bananas, peeled
1 egg
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons grated orange peel
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons poppy seeds
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Puree bananas in blender (1 cup). In medium bowl, mix bananas, egg, sugar, oil and orange peel until well blended. In large bowl, combine flour, poppy seeds, baking powder and salt. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture until evenly moistened. Spoon batter into greased 2 1/2-inch muffin cups. Bake in 375 oven 20 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pan; cool on wire rack. Dip warm tops in sugar. Makes 12 muffins


Radish Tea Sandwiches

1 cup minced radishes
1 tsp. poppy seeds
1 cup cream cheese, softened
6 slices homemade or homestyle bread
3/4 tsp. salt
24 leaves of young argula, spinach or raddichio

Combine the minced radishes, poppy seeds, cheese and salt. Blend well. Cover 3 slices of the bread with the radish mixture-about 1/4 " thick. Top with the lettuce leaves and another slice of bread. Cut each sandwich into small squares or triangles with a sharp serrated knife. You can vary this by adding VERY thin slices of cucumber on top of the cheese, and Bibb lettuce. For a crunchy treat use Romaine. You may have left over radish mixture depending on the size of your bread.


Poppy Seed Bread

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup butter or margarine
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat 350 degree oven. Combine sugar, butter, eggs, and extracts. Mix on medium speed, scrape bowl often until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add remaining ingredients. Beat 1-2 minutes more until mixed. Pour into bundt or tube pan. Bake 50-65 minutes until done. Cool 10 minutes.


Poppy Seed Dipping Sauce (for fruit)

2 cups light or regular sour cream
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
2 tsp. finely grated lemon peel

Whisk ingredients together and chill. Makes 2 cups.


Poppy Seed Butter - To each 1/2 cup butter, add 1/4 cup poppy seeds


Raspberry Poppy Seed Cookies

1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup butter; softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tbsp. poppy seeds
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup raspberry preserves

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Beat powdered sugar and butter until light. Add vanilla and egg. Blend well. Stir together the flour, poppy seeds and salt in a separate bowl. Add to the butter mixture. Mix well. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Make an indentation in center of each cookie (finger works well). Fill each with 1/2 teaspoon of preserves. Bake until golden brown, about 20-25 minutes. Cool cookies on rack.


Here's a few more from our friends at Annie's Recipes


Amish Poppyseed Bread

3 c. flour
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
3 eggs, beaten
1-1/2 c. oil
2-1/2 c. sugar
1-1/2 c. milk
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
1-1/2 tsp. almond flavor
1-1/2 tsp. butter flavor
1-1/2 tbsp. poppy seeds

GLAZE:
1/4 c. orange juice
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. almond flavor
1/2 tsp. butter flavor
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Sift together first 3 ingredients. Add remaining ingredients. Mix and put in 2 greased and floured bread pans. Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees or until toothpick test comes out clean. Stir all ingredients together. Prick bread loaves with a fork after baking and pour glaze over while hot.


Peach and Poppy Seed Muffins

3/4 c. pureed peaches (Jr. baby food)
1 tsp. baking soda
10 tbsp. butter
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 c. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 tbsp. poppy seeds

Stir soda into peaches and set aside. Cream butter and sugar until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla. Combine flour and salt. Alternately add flour and peach mixture. Then add poppy seeds. Fill 12 muffin cups nearly to top. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.


Lemon Poppyseed Cake

1 box lemon cake mix
1 pkg. lemon instant pudding
1 c. water
1/2 c. oil
4 eggs
1/4 c. poppy seeds

Mix ingredients together well. Bake in greased and floured 9"x13" cake pan (or two loaf pans) at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes.


And some more from Alicia's Recipes!


Poppy Seed Cream Cheese Bread

3-3/4 c. Bisquick baking mix
2 c. grated Cheddar cheese
2 tbsp. poppy seeds
1/8 tsp. red pepper
3 eggs
1 to 1-1/4 c. milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix all ingredients except milk, blend thoroughly in large bowl. Add enough milk until mixture is fairly stiff. (Mixture will be moist and will not hold together.) Spoon into greased bread baking pan. Bake for 55 minutes. Let cool 5-10 minutes before cutting. Yield: 1 loaf.


Poppy Seed Dressing

1/2 c. sugar
6 tbsp. tarragon vinegar
1 c. Wesson oil
1 tsp. paprika
2 tsp. poppy seed
1/3 c. honey
3 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. dry mustard
1/4 tsp. salt

Soak poppy seeds 2 hours in 1/4 cup water. Drain well. Mix dry ingredients; add honey, vinegar and lemon juice. Pour oil in slowly, beating constantly. Add drained poppy seeds. Beat with electric mixer. Should get very thick.


Orange Poppy Seed Muffins
Makes 12 servings

2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons McCormickr Poppy Seed
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons whole cranberry sauce
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream
1 egg1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons McCormickr Pure Orange Extract
1 teaspoon fresh grated orange peel
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter
1 teaspoon McCormickr Pure Orange Extract
1/4 teaspoon McCormickr Pure Vanilla Extract

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease 12-cup muffin pan or line with paper baking cups; set aside.

2. Mix together first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Set aside. Combine next 6 ingredients in a small bowl; beat well. Add to flour mixture; stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened (batter will be slightly lumpy).

3. Fill muffin tins two-thirds full. Bake 20-25 minutes or until lightly brown on top. Remove from pan and allow to cool.

If you have any favorites to share we would love to hear about them!