Best Homemade Lemon Loaf
Best Homemade Lemon Loaf, is a delicious moist sweet bread recipe. Made with fresh lemons and a simple lemon glaze. No beaters necessary, just a couple of bowls and utensils! The perfect snack, dessert or even Breakfast Bread.
I love lemons. I love the smell of lemons, I love the taste of lemons, anything lemon is fine by me. When I was a young woman there was a lemon cologne my friends and I would wear, I loved it. Just wish I could find it again!
Recipe Ingredients
- Flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Sugar
- Butter
- Zest
- Eggs
- Milk
Glaze
- Juice
- Sugar
How to make the Lemon Loaf
Pre-heat the oven and grease a loaf pan.
In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and part of the sugar, add the softened butter and with a pastry blender or fork blend together until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the lemon zest.
In a small bowl add the eggs and beat lightly with a fork, add the milk and beat until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir just until the flour is moistened. Do not over mix.
In prepared loaf pan add the batter and bake until tooth pick comes out clean. Cool in the pan then move to a wire rack to cool completely.
In a small pot add the lemon juice and sugar, over medium heat stirring constantly bring to a boil until thickened. With a pastry brush, brush syrup over the top of the cooled or even warmish bread.
It doesn’t even need a heavy icing because the light lemon syrup is the perfect finish. I can say I have been making this bread for over 20 years. Every time I make this recipe I get asked for it, Lemon Loaf is one of my sister-in-law’s favourites.
Lemon Bread is perfect as a breakfast bread or even with afternoon tea. It is so easy to make, no need for beaters, it is very much like making muffins. All you need is a fork or pastry blender, (or your clean fingers will do to make the coarse crumbs, and a wooden spoon or spatula for mixing.
Substituting a Lemon Glaze for the Lemon Syrup
The delicious lemony syrup is the perfect addition to this loaf, but if you prefer you can substitute with a simple lemon glaze. Mix together 1 cup of powdered sugar, 1 – 1 1/2 tablespoons of lemon juice and 1 tablespoon or milk or cream.
You want the glaze to be on the thick rather than thin. So you should start with 1 tablespoon of juice and go from there.
In my opinion this is one of the most delicious Lemon Loaves I have ever tried and I hope you think so too. Enjoy!
More Lemon Recipes you may like.
- Lemon Cheesecake Squares
- Italian Lemon Crostata
- Italian Fresh Cream Lemon Cake
- Easy Lemon Squares
- Tablespoon Italian Lemon Cake
Best Homemade Lemon Bread
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (approximately 1 lemon)
- 2¼ cups all purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt*
- 1¼ cups granulated sugar
- ¾ cup butter softened*
- 3 large eggs
- ¾ cup milk (whole or 2% milk)
*If you use salted butter then use a pinch of salt.
LEMON SYRUP
- 4 ½ teaspoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350° (180° celsius), grease and flour a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
- In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and 1 1/4 cups of sugar, add the softened butter and with a pastry blender or fork blend together until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the lemon zest.
- In a small bowl add the eggs and beat lightly with a fork, add the milk and beat until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir just until the flour is moistened. Do not over mix.
- In prepared loaf pan add the batter and bake for approximately 60 minutes, (this all depends on the oven, could be a little more or a little less) or until tooth pick comes out clean. Cool 15 – 20 minutes then move to a wire rack to cool completely.
LEMON SYRUP
- In a small pot add the 4 1/2 teaspoons of lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of sugar, over medium heat stirring constantly bring to a boil until thickened. With a pastry brush, brush syrup over the top of the cooled or even warmish bread. Enjoy!
Notes
What does stir just until moistened mean?
Mix just until moistened means to combine the dry ingredients and the liquid ingredients just until the dry ingredients are thoroughly moistened but the mixture is still slightly lumpy. I stir 15-16 times only and it always turns out perfect.
Can I substitute the lemons?
If you wish you could substitute with either limes, oranges or even mandarines. Do use fresh rather than bottled they make a big difference in taste.Can I make muffins instead of a loaf?
Yes you can, I would probably bake for about 20-25 minutes, more or less, start to check after 20 minutes. Mix just until moistened means to combine the dry ingredients and the liquid ingredients just until the dry ingredients are thoroughly moistened but the mixture is still slightly lumpy. I stir 15-16 times only and it always turns out perfect.Substitute for the lemon syrup
The delicious lemony syrup is the perfect addition to this loaf, but if you prefer you can substitute with a simple lemon glaze. Mix together 1 cup of powdered sugar, 1 – 1 1/2 tablespoons of lemon juice and 1 tablespoon or milk or cream.How to store the lemon bread
To store the bread, wrap the completely cooled bread well in plastic wrap, it will keep for up to 2-3 days at room temperature or up to 7 days in the fridge. To freeze it, wrap the completely cooled bread in plastic wrap and place in a freezer safe bread. If you freeze it glazed, let the glaze harden before wrapping. It will keep for up to 3 months in the freezer.Nutrition
Updated from December 13, 2014.
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Made this yesterday and had to hide it because I kept snagging a slice every time I passed by the kitchen! Will be making again in a week or so for my mom’s visit – it’s the perfect morning coffee treat!
Hi April, haha happens to me all the time. So glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
I made this last night and it came out amazing. Everyone in my family loved it and devoured it.
Hi Andrea, thanks so glad everyone liked it. 🙂
Should I use the eggs and milk at room temperature?
I read that when you use softed butter all your ingredients should be at the same temperature. Thanks!
I can’t wait to try it
Hi Adriana, oh that is interesting, but I just used the milk and eggs from the fridge and it works every time. But you could if you wanted to. Let me know how it turns out. Have a great weekend.
Omg!! Thank you sooooo much for this recipe and for your reply about the milk and eggs temperature. I did it your way. Milk and eggs from refrigerator. I just got a slice and it is soooo yummy. My new favorite lemon bread recipe. My son love it too!! Another question, for how many days can I leave the bread at room temperature?
Thank you sooo much
Hi Adriana, I would say covered about 3 days, I usually keep it wrapped in the fridge for up to a week. Hope that helps.
I’m trying your Lemon bread. I love making different breads. My question is, can i freeze this bread with the lemon sauce on it or should i wait to i take it out of the freezer ,before i put the Lemon Glaze on it?
Hi Stephanie, when I freeze it I do it without the glaze.
Hi one of my nephews has recently fallen for anything lemon, so I’m trying your recipe this week.
Was the cologne Love’s Fresh Lemon? lol, I loved it, too!
Hi Tina, I hope your nephew enjoys it and yes that was it! Have a wonderful Sunday.
Hi–I’m new here. I’m not home so I can’t try out your delicious sounding lemon loaf but I too loved that cologne. In fact, I still have some left. It prob doesn’t have much smell now after all these years but I’ll try it when I get home – lol.
Hi Carolyn, haha let me know I am always looking for new lemon colognes. 🙂
I wrote to the Vermont Country Store and asked them to find Love’s Fresh Lemon Cologne and sell it both in their catalog and in the 2 stores.
https://www.vermontcountrystore.com/
Hi Carol, thanks, I hope they do that would be amazing. I was at the mall the other day with my husband and daughter and there was a Bitter Lemon perfume for sale, but I just wasn’t convinced. Haha, still on the look out.
Any idea how many mini loaves this recipe would make?
Hi Sarah, depending on how small the mini loaves are, maybe 2 or 3?
I have a mini loaf pan that has 8 slots, this recipe filled them 3/4 full, and the loaves were perfect miniatures of 4.80 oz each. Took about 23 minutes til clean toothpick test, though they didn’t brown on top. I doubled the glaze, as there was more surface area, and I brushed each loaf 3 times, while hot in the pan, then removed them, so they wouldn’t stick with glaze on them, to cool completely. This helped the glaze dry nicely without being sticky, when the loaves were completely cool. The lemon in the bread isn’t strong, though it is in the glaze, making a nice contrast in flavors.
Hi Paula, so glad you enjoyed the recipe, and small loaves are a great idea. Have a great weekend.
I like quick and simple recipe, so I try this and turn out sooo good and tangy!
I used only 200 gr of sugar for double recipe and still taste sweet to me!
I definitely will make this super simple bread again!
Thanks for sharing!
Hi Mbak thanks so much, no problem if you find it too sweet just as you say cut back on the sugar. Have a great weekend.
I just received a whole box of Meyer Lemons as a gift, do you think the flavor will be as good?
Hi Elizabeth, lucky you! Unfortunately I have never had a Meyer Lemon, but I just read about them, and apparently they are sweeter than regular lemons, I think they would work fine although I might cut back a bit on the sugar depending on how sweet you find them. Let me know.
This really is the best lemon bread <3 I love practically everything that has lemon in it and this perfect bread met all my expectations, the only thing I changed was the amount of sugar because I'm not a fan of food that is too sweet and 250 grams seemed like an overkill for me 🙂 I can't wait to try more of your recipes! Have a lovely day! (and thank you for using both grams and cups, very usefull!)
Hi Monika, thanks so much, and sure less sugar won’t hurt :). Let me know what else you try. Have a great Sunday.
Hi Rose, I’m in Sydney – Australia and you’ve got me salivating as I love anything and everything “LEMON”. This is on my “to do list” for this coming week also I’ve pinned it not only to my Recipes and Cake Baking boards, but I also have a “Lemon Lovelies” boards as lemons are my all-time favourite everything.
Hi Josephine thanks, I have to agree I love anything Lemon too. And thanks so much for pinning, hope you enjoy it. Have a great weekend.
This looks so delish!! Can’t wait to try Rosemary. thanks for the recipe
Thanks Veena let me know how you like it.
Thank you for the recipe. i made the cake yesterday and it came out super yummy. my family loved it.
Hi Malini, So glad you enjoyed it. Thanks. Have a great weekend.
Made this today. I followed the recipe exactly and it came out exactly as in the picture. It is a wonderful bread and everybody loves the flavor. My dad doesn’t like eggy flavor so he avoids most cake/breads…he ate like half of it. My colleagues asked for the recipe. Thank you so much for sharing this!
Hi Maya, thanks, so glad everyone liked it. I agree with your Dad, I’m not crazy about an egg flavour either. Have a great weekend.
oh my gosh it was lovley,took it in work and it was all gone well before lunch,making one again tomorrow.Thankyou for sharing
Hi Nikki, so happy to hear that. It’s one of our favourites! Have a great week. 🙂
Your lemon bread really does look good. It’s the perfect color, and the texture looks amazing.
Hi Jeff, thanks so much, it really is a good loaf.