Instructions

1. Place 3 large eggs and 1/3 cup milk on the counter and let sit until room temperature.
2. Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat the oven to 350ºF. Coat an 8- to 8 1/2-inch loaf pan with butter or cooking spray. Cut 4 ounces cold fresh goat cheese into rough 1/2-inch pieces. Strip the leaves from 5 fresh mint sprigs and coarsely chop (3 tablespoons).
3. Place 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper in a large bowl and whisk to combine.
4. Finely grate the zest of 1 medium lemon into a medium bowl. Add the eggs, milk, 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, and 1 tablespoon honey, and whisk to combine. Pour over the flour mixture and, using a flexible spatula, lightly stir the mixtures together and only a few streaks of flour remain; you don’t need to be thorough.
5. Add the cheese and mint and, using as few strokes as possible, mix until almost uniformly incorporated — it’s better to be fast than thorough here. You’ll have a heavy, sticky dough. Transfer the dough into the pan and use the spatula to poke it into the corners and to even the bumpy top.
6. Bake the loaf until it’s golden, tall, and crowned (perhaps cracked) and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 34 to 38 minutes. Transfer the pan to a rack and leave the loaf in the pan for 3 minutes, then unmold it onto the rack. Turn it right-side up and let cool to room temperature.
7. You can eat the loaf when it’s warm, but I think its texture is better when it’s allowed to cool. The loaf cuts beautifully if you use a serrated knife and don’t make the slices too thin. Slice the bread about 1/2-inch thick.