Lavender Tea Bread
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This Lavender Tea Bread is a moist and sweet tea loaf, perfect for afternoon tea or to celebrate when the lavender blooms. Delightfully rich with butter and lavender cream, this floral loaf cake is one of the best lavender recipes you could make!
If you love the flavor of lavender, you'll also adore this creamy and delicious Honey Lavender Ice Cream.
Traditionally, tea bread is served at room temperature with a side of butter. It draws heritage from Britain and Ireland, specifically from Irish barmbrack to Welsh bara brith and Yorkshire tea bread.
While this recipe deviates from tradition as it does not contain "tea," it does contain lavender. And lavender is delicious brewed for tea. And it makes it equally as aromatic.
Thus, it qualifies as tea bread... in my book. Or the British might call it a Lavender Loaf Cake. But whatever you want to call it don't forget your cup of tea while enjoying thick or thin slices of this Lavender Tea Bread. With butter... or without.
What sort of lavender should I use in this recipe?
I like to use fresh ground lavender in this recipe as I have easy access to a lavender farm. However, during most months of the year, I use dried lavender, which works great too.
You use creamer instead of milk?
One day, after visiting my favorite lavender farm, and craving my favorite tea bread, I discovered I had run out of milk. What I did have was vanilla creamer. It was an amazing substitution that added a sweet vanilla flavor to an already delicious tea bread.
If you want to make your own, we have a recipe for a Homemade Vanilla Creamer. Otherwise, a store-bought vanilla creamer is wonderful too.
No creamer? Substitute with milk, cream, or half and half. I do like to add an additional ¼ cup sugar if I'm using milk.
Frequently Asked Questions
I've tested this recipe using both a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan and an 8 ½ by 4 ½ inch loaf pan. Both work equally well. The baking time in an 8 x 4-inch pan, in my oven, was 47 minutes.
Like rosemary leaves, lavender buds are often a bit coarse. Chop or crush the buds with a mortar and pestle or in a food processor until coarsely ground.
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Lavender Tea Bread Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- ¾ cup milk 150g or vanilla creamer *
- 1-2 tablespoons dried lavender 1 tablespoon fresh lavender
- 6 tablespoons butter 85g, softened
- 1 cup 200g granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups 250g all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ tsp. salt
Glaze
- ½ cup 62g sifted powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons water
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray with cooking spray or butter and flour a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
- Combine the vanilla creamer or milk and lavender in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until it just begins to simmer; remove from the heat and cool slightly.
- Cream the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer or stand mixer. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until the batter is light and fluffy; stir in the vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to the butter mixture alternately with the lavender cream until just blended; pour into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a tester inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean. Let cool in the pan a few minutes before transferring to a rack to cool.
- Make the glaze: Combine the powdered sugar and water until the desired consistency is reached. Spread the glaze over warm or cool cake. Cool completely before slicing.
Video
Notes
Milk or Creamer?
If you want to make your own, we have a recipe for a Homemade Vanilla Creamer. Otherwise, a store-bought vanilla creamer is wonderful too. No creamer? Substitute with milk, cream, or half and half. I do like to add an additional ¼ cup sugar if I'm using milk.Loaf Pan Sizes
You can use a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan or an 8 ½ x 4 ½-inch loaf pan. Both work equally well. Baking time in an 8 x 4-inch pan, in my oven, is 47 minutes.Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Easy and delicious! Is this bread freezable? Thank you!
Hi Debra, I’m so glad you enjoyed the Lavender Bread! It does freeze beautifully.
Perfect. I did the extra 1/4 cup of sugar, and steeped earl grey with the milk/lavendar. Does not need the glaze, great without.
Hi Wendie! I'm so happy you enjoyed it. Thank you for trying the recipe and letting me know how it worked for you!
Hello! In your intro to this post, you say to use 1 to 2 teaspoons of dried lavender, but the recipe card says 1 to 2 tablespoons–which should I use? Thanks!
Hi Lindsey, the recipe card is correct with 1-2 tablespoons of dried lavender, 1 tablespoon of fresh lavender if you happen to have it!
I tripled the recipe. I had to leave for a bit so the batter set for about 30 min. I baked them in mini loaves. Oh No! The centers of all the loaves completely fell in. I believe the taste will be good but definitely not loaves. Help is it because I let the batter set?
Hi Kathy! Thank you so much for trying the lavender tea bread! I'm sorry to hear that the quick bread didn't turn out, especially since you put in the extra effort to triple the batch.
You've hit on a key point in quick bread baking. Quick breads that use baking powder, like this one, are designed to be mixed and baked fairly quickly. Baking powder is a leavening agent that starts to activate as soon as it's mixed with the liquid ingredients in the batter.
My best guess is that the challenge you ran into was a result of letting the batter sit for 30-60 minutes before baking. When the batter sits for an extended period, the initial 'lift' from the baking powder dissipates, which can cause the bread to not rise as well in the oven. This often leads to a sunken, dense center.
For next time, I recommend preparing the batter and putting it into the oven immediately. This will ensure that all of the baking powder's leavening power is used to give the bread a beautiful, high rise in the oven. Happy baking, and please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any more questions!
I added some lemon into the simple icing. Such a lovely loaf.
Hi Brenda, thank you for trying the recipe! I'm so happy you enjoyed it.
Are you suppose to strain the lavender from the milk?
I like to strain the lavender for a softer texture, but some prefer to leave it in as it brings additional lavender flavor to the bread.
I tested this recipe for Mother’s Day, and it turned out so great! Baked for 50 minutes in my oven, and it came out nicely domed and very moist. Thank you!
Should I use salted or unsalted butter?
Hi Haley! I’m using salted butter these days for flavor, but you can use either. If using salted butter, you may want to adjust the salt in the recipe down just a bit.
This looks delicious! Are there any vegan options for this?
Thank you so much! Although I've not tested this recipe using vegan baking options, you can definitely substitute the milk or non-dairy options like soy milk, almond or oat milk. Soy milks works great in baking. For butter, use a plant baked butter and for the eggs, flax eggs should work (although I've not tested the recipe using them).
I made this over the weekend, and I loved it! Instead of the larger pan, I did mini loaves (the recipe will yield about 3-4, depending on the size of the loaf you want). I also steeped some Earl Grey tea in with the milk and lavender. I baked them at 325 for about 30-35 minutes, and they turned out great! Thank you for the great recipe, I'm planning to make another batch as gifts!
Like minds! I have this on my bake list this week too. I'm so glad you enjoyed them-- and thank you so much for letting me know how your changes worked, pan size you used, and how long they baked! Until then, I'm off to enjoy a cup of Lavender Tea!
My bread has been in the oven for 50 minutes and is still very runny. Any ideas?
Hi Kim, I'm so sorry this happened! I actually had this bread on my baking list for tomorrow but made it this morning instead. I'm not sure what happened and I can't seem to recreate this issue. I baked mine this morning in an 8 x 4-inch pan to see if that made any difference. Mine was baked and domed at 47 minutes.
My best advice is to bake it for 10 to 15 minutes longer. Watch the top and if it browns too quickly, loosely tent foil or lay a parchment paper over the top.
I am not sure what went wrong with my lavender tea cakes.they have no flavor. Did I not put enough suggest are what.I used the Organic lavender.I did cook that and the milk together.Can you suggest anything
Hi Barbara, thank you so much for trying the Lavender Tea Bread. I had a similar issue recently. The only solution is to add more lavender. Dried lavender can be finicky, and some batches of dried contain more flavor than others. I like to taste the milk and lavender after it's been heated (and cooled a little!) for flavor, then add more as necessary. The last batch of dried lavender I received had almost no flavor either. I'm hoping for better in my next batch!
Came here to say thank you, I used your recipe and adapted it to be sugar free with allulose. Base recipe was wonderful, I keep going back for more. also I made them into Cupcakes !
I love the hint of lavender - perfect with tea or coffee! I will make this again!