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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Can this easily be made into smaller loaves?
Hi D yes it can, it will probably need less time to bake, so check on it early.
Thanks, one more question. Could I double this recipe?
Hi Dee, yes you can double it. Let me know how it goes.
I have made this lemon bread about 3 times and am making it again today. Easy and delicious, my husband and neighbors love it!
Hi Beki, thanks so much, so glad everyone enjoyed it. Take care.
I made this today and it is fantastic!! I also put 3 packets of True Lemon (which is a powder). I made it in 3 small bread pans, and baked them approximately 1 hr.
This is my favorite bread so far, and I have tried many.
Thank You!!!
Hi Marge, thanks so much, glad you enjoyed it. Take care.
OMG. I just did this. soo yummyyy… i ran out of AP flour so i added 1/2 cup of Whole Wheat and it still came out perfect. i also added more lemon zest to the batter and it was so yummy, you can really task the lemon flavor even if you don;t add the glaze BUT i added the glaze and it just took the whole recipe to another level! thank you much for this lovely recipe! i’ll keep making it!
Hi Pauline, thanks so much, so glad you enjoyed it. Take care.
I can’t cook !! Thats what my man always says, soon I’m starting to bake 🙂
This is an awesome and easy recipe, I can’t wait to surprise him with a piece when he gets home!
Hi Lea, sure you can, start out with easy recipes, follow the recipe exactly and go from there. Glad the baking is coming along though, I hope he enjoys it. Take care.
This was amazingly delicious! Thank you for a great recipe
Hi Tanya, thanks glad you enjoyed it.
Can I use bread flour instead of AP flour?
Hi Chai, I really wouldn’t recommend it since bread flour is used mainly for bread and pizza dough, it helps the bread rise and creates a chewy and denser crumb, which isn’t really what you want in a cake. If you want to experiment if you have an overload of it, let me know how it goes.
Yummy and easy! Gracie!
Very tasty lemon bread. I added some lemon icing with sliced almonds on top.
I want to make this but I have no baking powder – only baking soda, and no sugar – only honey. As a baker, what would be your advice on how to substitute those two ingredients in this recipe?
Hi Natalia, unfortunately you cannot substitute baking soda for baking powder 1 for 1 but apparently for every teaspoon of baking powder you can substitute with 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar and 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, or 1 teaspoon of lemon juice and 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda both of these are a substitute for 1 teaspoon of baking powder. I have no idea if it works but if you want you can try it. And for substituting with honey, you can, every 1 cup of sugar equals 1/2 – 2/3 cup of honey. Hope it helps. Let me know if you try it.
Hello !
I’m excited to try this. Do you think I could sub the sugar with agave (instead of honey)?
Cheers!
Hi Ida, apparently you can but you have to use less agave, for this recipe use 3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon of agave. Hope that helps, let me know how it goes.
This was quite good. I’m just wondering if I could add lemon juice to the bread mix so that it has a stronger lemon flavor. As it is, most of the flavor is on the crust, even though I poked holes before glazing. All in all, very good.
Hi Nanci, if you want a stronger lemony taste (without any sour taste) then I would say add more zest, if you want a sour taste also then yes add some lemon juice.
If you did add lemon juice how would you subsuite it in the recipe?
Hi Alyssa, you could add up to a tablespoon and there is no need to substitute, or add zest, which will give you the lemon taste without the sourness.
I made something like this before, but it called for a lot more of the “glaze” that was essentially poured over the top. It was delicious. Maybe you can double the glaze amount??
Quarantine has provided me with a lot of time…thought I’d work on my baking skills…they need it. This recipe was easy and delicious! It’s inspired me to keep it up.
Hi Maria, I am so glad I could help with filling up some of your time, and so glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Hi
Thanks – The quick bread recipe sounds delicious & perfect with my friend’s meyer lemons. I’ll be baking soon.
Your childhood cologne is 4711 from Germany which is available at Mertz Apothecary in Chicago or their on-line shop, Smallflower. Mertz has many 4711 options to select from. Their display is impressive.
Hi Diane, thanks so much, I will have to check it out, and I hope you enjoy the bread.
Loved it, as is, but I think I’ll make it with Becel instead of butter. The butter taste is a bit overwhelming for me, since I never use butter, I suppose. I am enjoying it so much and your page layout inspired me to make it for the first time. Thanks so much, and it will be well shared. 🙂
Hi Patricia, thanks so much, glad you like and let me know how it goes with the becel. Have a great week.
This makes the most delicious lemon cake/bread, and works incredibly well in large muffin tins with a much shorter bake time!
Hi Harley, thanks so much so glad you like it and good idea with making muffins.