The Best Lemon Loaf with Lemon Glaze
When life hands you lemons, make a lemon loaf! 🙂 Better yet, make a Starbucks inspired lemon loaf with lemon glaze. That’s right. This loaf tastes like the lemon loaf that you walked out of Starbucks with. You can’t even taste the difference. Imagine all the money you are going to save! 🙂
Whether you are huddled up under a blanket on your couch reading a good book or entertaining guests after a dinner party, this lemon loaf is the perfect complement. It emanates the perfect balance between sweet and tangy. You may need to just brew up a nice, warm pot of tea to go along with it.
Does anything scream spring more than a beautiful loaf of lemon bread? Okay, maybe a loaf of lemon bread topped with a lemon glaze? Yep, that sounds a little better.
If you’ve been following for a while, you know how much I adore lemon desserts. And judging by how popular these lemon bars are on my site, I think it’s safe to say a lot of you love lemon too. So, I decided to start February off on the right foot with an easy lemon bread recipe.
This recipe is a huge hit in our home and never lasts more than two days. And the worst part, my husband barely eats it. So, basically it is all me…. stuffing my face…. for a full two days :(. But I just can’t help it! This loaf has the perfect sponginess to it and it just tastes so good. The only way I can try and practice some self-control is to only bake this when I have plans to invite my girlfriends over. At least when I share with them, there is a lot less left over for me the next day.
Since this is a quick bread, it’s simple to mix together and only takes about 10-15 minutes to get in the oven. To be honest, the hardest part about making this bread is waiting for it to bake and cool. I’ve even included a video in the post to show you just how easy it is to make this lemon bread!
This recipe is beyond a long time in the making. I’ve been trying to make this loaf on and off for years.
I can’t even tell you how much I have obsessed, tried, trialed, and failed at it. Until now.
If you’ve ever had Starbucks’ Lemon Loaf, you know how good it is. Full of lemon flavor, moist, dense, and rich.
Anything that good I shouldn’t want to learn how to make at home, but I couldn’t leave well enough alone.
INGREDIENTS:
Loaf
Lemon Glaze
DIRECTIONS:
Whether you are huddled up under a blanket on your couch reading a good book or entertaining guests after a dinner party, this lemon loaf is the perfect complement. It emanates the perfect balance between sweet and tangy. You may need to just brew up a nice, warm pot of tea to go along with it.
Does anything scream spring more than a beautiful loaf of lemon bread? Okay, maybe a loaf of lemon bread topped with a lemon glaze? Yep, that sounds a little better.
If you’ve been following for a while, you know how much I adore lemon desserts. And judging by how popular these lemon bars are on my site, I think it’s safe to say a lot of you love lemon too. So, I decided to start February off on the right foot with an easy lemon bread recipe.
This recipe is a huge hit in our home and never lasts more than two days. And the worst part, my husband barely eats it. So, basically it is all me…. stuffing my face…. for a full two days :(. But I just can’t help it! This loaf has the perfect sponginess to it and it just tastes so good. The only way I can try and practice some self-control is to only bake this when I have plans to invite my girlfriends over. At least when I share with them, there is a lot less left over for me the next day.
Since this is a quick bread, it’s simple to mix together and only takes about 10-15 minutes to get in the oven. To be honest, the hardest part about making this bread is waiting for it to bake and cool. I’ve even included a video in the post to show you just how easy it is to make this lemon bread!
This recipe is beyond a long time in the making. I’ve been trying to make this loaf on and off for years.
I can’t even tell you how much I have obsessed, tried, trialed, and failed at it. Until now.
If you’ve ever had Starbucks’ Lemon Loaf, you know how good it is. Full of lemon flavor, moist, dense, and rich.
Anything that good I shouldn’t want to learn how to make at home, but I couldn’t leave well enough alone.
INGREDIENTS:
Loaf
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream or Greek yogurt (lite okay)
- 1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest
- 1 to 2 tablespoons lemon extract, to taste (not teaspoons; and not lemon oil and not lemon juice – see step 4 in directions)
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
Lemon Glaze
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice, or as necessary for consistency
DIRECTIONS:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 9×5-inch loaf pan with floured cooking spray, or grease and flour the pan; set aside.
- Loaf – To a large bowl, add the eggs, sugar, sour cream, and whisk vigorously until smooth and combined.
- Drizzle in the oil while whisking to combine.
- Add the lemon zest, lemon extract, and whisk to combine. Note – I used 2 tablespoons of lemon extract because no actual lemon juice is used in the loaf and I found 2 tablespoons lemon extract necessary for full-bodied lemon flavor, but add to taste. Don’t use lemon oil and lemon extract interchangeably because they’re not; oil is much more potent and intense. Don’t use lemon juice in place of lemon extract because it’s not strong enough and the acidity can alter the overall results.
- Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and stir until just combined, don’t overmix. Some lumps will be present and that’s okay, don’t try to stir them smooth.
- Turn the batter out into prepared pan, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula. Bake for about 50 to 52 minutes, or until top is domed, set, and toothpick inserted in the center crack comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs but no batter. In the last 10 minutes of baking, tent pan with foil (loosely drape a sheet of foil over pan) to prevent excessive browning on the top and sides of bread before center cooks through.
- Allow loaf to cool in pan on top of a wire rack for at least 30 minutes (I cooled 4 hours) before turning out onto rack to cool completely before glazing.
- Lemon Glaze – To a small bowl, add the confectioner’s sugar and slowly drizzle in the lemon juice while whisking until smooth and combined. You may need to play with the sugar and lemon juice amounts a bit as necessary for desired consistency and flavor.
- Evenly drizzle glaze over bread before slicing and serving. Extra glaze can be spread on the cut surface of the bread like you’d spread butter on toast and it soaks right in making the bread even moister and more lemony. Or you can halve the glaze recipe if you’re not a glaze person. Bread will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 6 months; I don’t recommend storing it in the fridge because it’ll dry out.
