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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.

Lemon loaf bread with 2 slices cut.


 

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
Lemon loaf on a white board.

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.

Whisking the dry ingredients in a bowl and adding the 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.

Adding the dry ingredients to the wet and stirred until just combined.

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.

Bread before and after baked in a loaf pan.

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.

Brushing the syrup on the 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.

Loaf on a white board.

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.

Loaf with 2 slices cut.

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.

Sweet bread with 2 slices cut.

Best Homemade Lemon Bread

Rosemary Molloy
A delicious Lemony Sweet bread with a simple glaze.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 12 slices
Calories 291 kcal

Ingredients
 
 

  • 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (approximately 1 lemon)
  • cups all purpose flour
  • teaspoons baking powder
  • ¾ teaspoon salt*
  • 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

Calories: 291kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 72mg | Sodium: 270mg | Potassium: 114mg | Sugar: 21g | Vitamin A: 430IU | Vitamin C: 1.4mg | Calcium: 52mg | Iron: 1.3mg
Did You Make This Recipe?Please leave a comment below or pin it to your Pinterest account!

Updated from December 13, 2014.

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354 Comments

  1. I would love to make this beautiful lemon bread, wondering what is the best loaf pan for this recipe because of the baking time, glass or metal?
    Would it make it too brown and thicker crust in the metal bread pan?

    Thank you for all the lovely recipes, I’ve tried many of them already!❤️

    1. Hi Faye, thanks so much, so glad you like the recipes. I rarely use glass, metal is better because it heats faster and gives a better rise. Take care and have a wonderful weekend.

  2. These breads look amazing! I am not good at baking and i am in my 60’s but i am going to try again and make some of these breads! Thank you for all your recipes!

  3. 5 stars
    We had our lemons drop at the same time so I’m cooking up a bunch of lemony recipes. This bread is delicious! I didn’t change a thing and it turned out perfect. Will be saving this one.

  4. 5 stars
    Made this bread today but used mini loaf pans.
    1 regular loaf pan recipe makes 3 mini loafs.
    Also for the mini loaf pans 350 degrees and cook for 45 minutes.

  5. 5 stars
    The bread is most delicious! It was a hit at our house and gave some to my sister’s family also. Needless to say, they loved it too. Have my second loaf in the oven. The glaze is, like the saying, like the icing on the cake! Thanks for the recipe.

    1. Hi Het, I would say about 25 minutes, this is based on a jumbo muffin size, although start checking after 20 minutes, if it starts to brown too much, cover with foil until it’s baked. Hope that helps.

  6. I’m so sorry, I read the instructions again, like the 30th time. I saw where it said to add the lemon zest. Truthfully, by husband pointed it out to me because I still didn’t see it.

  7. I followed the recipe, and I watched the video. But my bread came out dry, and not moist at all. I must have done something wrong. There are two things that I can think of that could have possibly affected my bread: I could not find my loaf pan so I used a bundt pan; and maybe I baked it too long. I baked it for an hour. Maybe I’ll try it again when I find my loaf pan.🤷🏻‍♀️

  8. 5 stars
    This is a wonderful recipe!
    For my family I veganized it, which was very simple. Instead of eggs I used aquafaba powder and water, and used miyoko’s plant based butter.
    I also tried adding some toasted coconut, which excellent.
    Whatever you do, don’t skip the glaze!
    Thank you so much for posting, this is so great.

  9. Hi,
    I love this recipe as a bread however i was wonderjng if i made this in a round pan would it be okay?
    I have a 9 inch pan and 7 inch pan…which one would be suitable?

    1. Hi Maryam I have made it with a round pan also, I would use the 7 inch pan, I think the 9 inch is too big and it would come out too thin. Let me know how it goes.

    2. 5 stars
      Can you add more lemon zest?
      I made it and it turned out great.
      Also is this something that can be freezed?

4.43 from 382 votes (302 ratings without comment)

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