Sweet Lemon Loaf

If you’re a lemon lover, especially lemon desserts, then you’ll LOVE this recipe! The amazing sweet lemony flavor is so pronounced, and it’s so easy to make.

This lemon loaf is a sweet quick bread recipe, which is a bit of a misnomer.

Quick breads aren’t super quick to bake (they usually take 50-60 minutes), but the “quick” refers to the fact it’s a bread that doesn’t involve any yeast/kneading/rising times.

You just mix, transfer to the pan, and bake!

What do I need to make this recipe?

• Flour – no fancy flour needed here, just all purpose flour.
• Baking powder – this helps the bread rise and get nice and fluffy.
• Cornstarch – the cornstarch adds a touch of softness.
• Granulated sugar – this type of sugar is used in the batter for the bread.
• Vegetable oil – you want a neutral/unflavored oil, and it adds moistness.
• Sour cream – the sour cream may sound odd, but it adds a subtle tang, as well as moistness.
• Eggs – this recipe was tested with large eggs, so I highly recommend using those.
• Lemon zest – the zest is where a lot of the intense lemon flavor comes from.
• Lemon extract – this just bumps up the citrus flavor.
• Powdered sugar – this type of sugar is used in the glaze, as it dissolves into the liquid and there won’t be any grittiness.
• Lemon juice – fresh lemon juice is best for this recipe.

How to make lemon loaf:

This is just an overview; the full ingredients and directions are in the recipe card toward the bottom of this post.

1. Combine dry ingredients. In this recipe, this is the flour, baking powder, cornstarch, and granulated sugar.
2. Add wet ingredients. This is the oil, sour cream, eggs, lemon juice, lemon zest, and lemon extract.
3. Mix. I like to just use a whisk or rubber spatula for this.
4. Transfer to baking pan. I like to line the pan with parchment so it’s easier to remove from the pan.
5. Bake. Despite being a quick bread, this will take about 60 minutes to bake.
6. Add glaze ingredients. You can use a new bowl, or just clean out the bowl from earlier in the recipe. This is the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon extract.
7. Whisk. Whisk until smooth and creamy.
8. Glaze. Liberally drizzle the glaze all over the top of the cooled bread.

Variations of this recipe

• Oil – if you want to substitute the oil in this lemon loaf, you’ll want a neutral oil, that doesn’t really taste like anything. Canola would be another option, although vegetable oil is the standard in baking.
• Greek yogurt – plain, full-fat greek yogurt can be substituted for the sour cream if you’d like.
• Mini – I haven’t tested this recipe in mini loaf pans, but my estimate would be to divide the batter evenly among 3 mini loaf pans and bake at 325°F for 25-30 minutes. Please keep in mind that all ovens will vary a bit.
• Thicker glaze/icing – if you prefer a thicker glaze, or even an icing on top of the bread, you can decrease the amount of liquids added to the powdered sugar. For more of an icing consistency, the key is to add the glaze when the bread has completely cooled.
• Sweeter glaze – if the lemon in the glaze sounds overwhelming, you could replace the lemon juice with milk, and use vanilla extract instead of lemon.

Making lemon bread ahead of time

Good news… you can make this loaf ahead of time!

My family even thinks this bread is even better and more moist on the second day, but it’s truly up to you!

One thing I don’t recommend however, is making the batter ahead of time. This is due to the chemistry of baking. The baking soda will start reacting with the other ingredients as soon as it’s mixed, which can result in a less than quality bread.

Storage

Leftover bread should be kept in a bag at room temperature, and consumed within 3 days for best texture.

Freezing

This lemon loaf can be frozen for longer storage. Wrap the bread tightly in plastic wrap, then add to a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months.

Individual slices of bread can also be frozen, just make sure to wrap each slice in plastic wrap before adding to the freezer bag.