Poppy Seed Bread

This recipe comes from The Taste of Home Recipe Book. The date of the book is 1994 so it is an older one. I absolutely love this bread. I've made this several times in the past but this is the first recipe I've come across where it has a glaze using 3 extracts. Normally, I've seen these breads with a lemon glaze. This reminds me of the 5 Flavor Pound Cake that I've made. You don't have to make the glaze though. This is a very good bread even without it. Since this recipe makes two loaves I used an 8 x 4 inch pan and also a 9 x 5 inch pan. It worked out fine, however, the bread rose a bit more and had a real nice crack in the 8 x 4 inch pan, so you may want to use two of those (if you have 2, I only had one). It also states to let the breads cool in their pans. I don't like doing that for fear that I will never get them out in one piece!!! I'm leaving early on Thursday morning for the holiday so I hope everyone has a nice Thanksgiving (don't know if I will have a chance to post tomorrow.) Enjoy the holiday and all the good food that goes along with it. We can all worry about our waistlines (and hips and thighs) after the holidays. It is really hard to resist all the good treats between now and Christmas...Enjoy!!!!!!

3 cups all purpose flour

2 1/4 cups sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons poppy seeds

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

3 eggs, light beaten

1 1/2 cups milk

1 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract

1 1/2 teaspoons butter extract

Glaze:

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup orange juice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon butter extract

In a large bowl, combine first five ingredients. Add eggs, milk, oil and extracts. Pour into two greased 8 1/2 in x 4 1/2 in loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 60-65 minutes. Cool completely in pans (I cooled 10 minutes and removed.) In a saucepan, bring all glaze ingredients to a boil. Pour over bread in pans. (I poured over bread on rack and put wax paper under it.) Cool for 5 minutes; remove from pans and cool completely.