Moist Lemon Loaf | Julie Blanner

If you’re a lemon lover, not much is more delicious than the refreshing scent and flavor of an easy lemon loaf. This simple lemon bread is decadent and divine, full of lemon flavor – but so easy to make!  

This easy lemon bread recipe takes just five minutes hands on time and makes a beautiful breakfast or gift!

If you’ve been reading for long, it won’t come as a surprise to you that I love all things lemon-flavored. Lemon adds a true zest to any dish, and it works as a beautiful addition to almost anything you can imagine tossing it in.

I’ve used it in pasta, drinks, cookies and baked goods of all kinds.

This incredible lemon bread recipe is long overdue. It’s another quick and easy sweet bread recipe the whole family can enjoy for breakfast and snacks! Don’t skip our complete guide to the BEST Lemon Desserts too.

It’s a beautiful addition to breakfast and brunch, makes a great hostess, housewarming and teacher gift, or delicious dessert!

If you love my Sweet BreadOrange Bread or Blueberry Bread, you’ll love this delightfully sweet and tangy lemon bread!

Mini lemon loaves on a white countertop.

Lemon Loaf

The beautiful glaze is a delightfully sweet way to top it off, but you certainly don’t have to. Either way this sweet bread is so good!

  • Simple Ingredients – Most of these ingredients are found in your pantry!
  • Perfect for Brunch or Snacking – A lemon loaf is the perfect addition to brunch displays and makes a great breakfast, snack or dessert!
  • Great for Gifting – It gifts beautifully when packaged in a pretty loaf pan and tied in cellophane.
A frosted lemon loaf on a white platter, one slice cut.

Ingredients and Substitutions

  • Sugar – White granulated sugar makes this bread delightfully sweet. Optional: sprinkle sugar over the loaf just before baking for a shimmery finish.
  • Flour – All purpose flour is the foundation of this bread.
  • Oil – Vegetable oil makes the bread incredibly moist, with a light and delicate crumb. In a pinch you can substitute canola oil.
  • Eggs – The binding agent.
  • Milk – Milk creates a nice soft loaf. In addition, milk adds moisture to quick breads and gives it a beautiful brown color due to caramelization of milk and sugars! You can use whatever you have on hand from skim milk to half and half. You can even substitute almond milk to make it dairy free.
  • Lemon Extract or Lemon Juice and Lemon zest – Fresh lemon juice and zest is always my go to, but lemon extract will do the trick!

For the Glaze

  • Butter – Unsalted butter.
  • Powdered Sugar – Learn how to make powdered sugar if you don’t have any on hand.
  • Lemon Juice – Fresh is always best, but no judgement if you take a shortcut with bottled!

The glaze or lemon drizzle is simple as well, made with powdered sugar, butter and lemon juice!

Variations

  • Make Lemon Poppyseed Bread – Add 1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons poppyseeds.
  • Make Lemon Blueberry Bread – Fold in 1 cup blueberries.
  • Add Nuts – Pistachios, walnuts, and almonds all pair well with this amazing Lemon Bread.
  • Add Chocolate Chips – Fold in semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips just before baking.
A frosted lemon loaf on a white platter, one slice cut.

How To Make Lemon Bread

  1. Prep – Grease 6 mini loaf pans or 2 1 pound loaf pans. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Combine dry ingredients – Sugar, flour, baking powder and salt.
  3. Combine wet ingredients – Beat eggs, milk, and oil together with lemon zest and lemon extract.
  4. Incorporate – Gradually add flour mixture into wet ingredients in a large bowl, just until moist.
  5. Bake – Pour batter into prepared pan and bake (I leave an inch below the top to compensate for rise). 40 minutes in miniature loaf pans or 50-60 for 1 lb loaf pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  6. Glaze

Optional: sprinkle sugar on top (recommended if you’re not topping with a lemon drizzle).

Mini lemon loaves on a white countertop.

Tips

  • Don’t over-mix.
  • Don’t over-bake.
  • Lining your loaf pan with parchment paper or using this incredible baking spray can help to release it from the pan easier.
  • Cool – Try to let your quick bread loaves cool on a wire rack on the counter, it increases air circulation during the cooling time.
  • Learn about Loaf Pan Sizes in this complete guide.

Mini lemon loaves on a white countertop.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you replace lemon extract with lemon juice?

Citrus juice can generally be used in place of citrus extract in your baking. While the flavor is similar, it’s generally less concentrated and a bit acidic. Aim for two tablespoons of lemon juice as a substitute for one teaspoon of lemon extract.

What’s the difference between lemon pound cake and lemon loaf?

This delicious lemon loaf recipe is similar in shape and appearance to my lemon pound cake, but there are some distinct differences. This easy quick bread is light and fluffy in texture. Although this lemon bread recipe is quite moist, it’s not nearly as rich and heavy as a pound cake.
Pound cakes are typically much more dense than quick breads. The biggest difference? Butter… a lot of butter! My pound cake recipes tend to use butter versus oil and in my pound cake recipes I prefer the smoother texture of powdered sugar instead of granulated.

Baking Alternatives

  • Large Loaves – Don’t want 6 miniature loaves? You can also make this recipe in two traditional one pound loaf pans or cut the recipe in half for just one loaf pan, and bake 50-60 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test.
  • Make Muffins – If you prefer to make them into muffins, just grease miniature muffin tins and fill each to 2/3 full. Bake 12 minutes.
  • Make it Ornate – Alternatively, you can also bake it in an ornate loaf pan with the same minimal effort!
A frosted lemon loaf on a white platter, one slice cut.

Two different gold loaf pan sizes on a white marble surface

How To Store

  • Room Temperature – Cool completely and cover them to store at room temperature safely for up to three days. (Good luck getting this lemon bread recipe to last long enough to worry about that expiration date though!)
  • Refrigerated – Place the loaves in large sealable plastic bags (with a paper towel at the bottom to help soak up any excess moisture) refrigerated up to 1 week.
  • To Freeze – Wrap lemon loaf in heavy aluminum foil or sealable plastic freezer bags and freeze for up to three months.
A frosted lemon loaf on a white platter, one slice cut.

More Lemon Recipes

Lemon Desserts

A frosted lemon loaf on a white platter, one slice cut.

Lemon Loaf

Prep Time 5 mins

Cook Time 40 mins

Total Time 45 mins

If you’re a lemon lover, not much is more delicious than the refreshing scent and flavor of an easy lemon loaf. This easy lemon bread recipe takes just 5 minutes hands on time and makes a beautiful breakfast or gift!

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Instructions

  • Grease 6 mini loaf pans and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

  • Combine sugar, flour, baking powder and salt.

  • Beat eggs, milk, oil, lemon extract and zest.

  • Gradually add dry mixture to wet until just moist.

  • Pour batter into pans an inch below to compensate for rise. Optional: sprinkle sugar on top.

  • Bake 40 minutes. Allow to cool 10 minutes before removing from loaf pan.

  • Meanwhile, combining lemon drizzle ingredients until smooth. Warm and pour to cover lemon loaf.

Tips

Substitutions

  • Oil – Substitute with canola oil.
  • Milk – Use whatever you have on hand from skim milk to half and half. You can even substitute almond milk to make it dairy free.
  • Lemon Extract or Lemon Juice and Lemon Zest -Don’t have lemon extract? You can substitute with additional lemon zest. 1 teaspoon of extract is equal to 2 teaspoons of lemon zest.

Variations

  • Make Lemon Poppyseed Bread – Add 1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons poppyseeds.
  • Make Lemon Blueberry Bread – Fold in 1 cup blueberries.
  • Add Nuts – Pistachios, walnuts, and almonds all pair well with this amazing Lemon Bread.
  • Add Chocolate Chips – Fold in semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips just before baking.

Baking Alternatives

  • Large Loaves – Don’t want 6 miniature loaves? You can also make this Sweet Bread recipe in 2 – 1 pound loaf pans or cut the recipe in half for just 1 loaf pan and bake 50 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test.
  • Make Muffins – If you prefer to make them into muffins, just grease miniature muffin tins and fill each to 2/3 full. Bake 12 minutes.
  • Make it Ornate – Alternatively, you can also bake it in an ornate loaf pan with the same minimal effort!

Store

  • Room Temperature – Cool, cover and store at room temperature up to three days. 
  • Freeze – Wrap in heavy aluminum foil or sealable plastic freezer bags and freeze for up to three months.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 291kcal (15%), Carbohydrates: 49g (16%), Protein: 3g (6%), Fat: 10g (15%), Saturated Fat: 7g (35%), Cholesterol: 22mg (7%), Sodium: 138mg (6%), Potassium: 160mg (5%), Fiber: 1g (4%), Sugar: 32g (36%), Vitamin A: 146IU (3%), Vitamin C: 1mg (1%), Calcium: 74mg (7%), Iron: 1mg (6%)









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