Lemon Blueberry Bread rises beautifully, has a moist and tender crumb, and a crisp-crunchy topping. Finish everything off with a quick lemon glaze and enjoy!
Or try our Starbucks-copycat iced Lemon Bread!
Blueberry Lemon Bread Recipe
My whole family is obsessed with blueberries. They devour them by the pint and are thrilled when they make it into a baked good. These blueberry muffins, blueberry cobbler, blueberry coffee cake, and blueberry pancakes are a few of the favorites at my home. And now, this Lemon Blueberry Bread recipe has joined the list of favorites!
This bread is brightly flavored, soft with a tender crumb, and moist throughout. The sweet blueberries rippled throughout are the perfect complement to the lemon flavoring.
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- Flour: The base of the bread, providing structure.
- Baking Soda: A leavening agent that helps the bread rise.
- Salt: Enhances overall flavor.
Wet Ingredients:
- Egg: Binds ingredients and adds moisture.
- Sugar (Granulated): Sweetens the bread.
- Oil: Keeps the bread moist.
- Greek Yogurt/Sour Cream: Adds richness and moisture.
- Milk: Contributes to the batter’s liquid content.
- Lemon Zest & Extract: Provide lemon flavor.
- Blueberries: Add natural sweetness and texture.
Topping:
- Brown and White Sugar: Adds a sweet, crunchy top.
- Optional Glaze (Powdered Sugar + Lemon Juice): Adds a sweet, tangy finish.
How To Make Lemon Blueberry Bread
- Prepare: Bring wet ingredients to room temperature, grease and flour a loaf pan, and preheat the oven.
- Combine Ingredients: Whisk together egg, sugar, oil, yogurt or sour cream, milk, and lemon flavorings, then whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt to form a batter. Combine the wet and dry ingredients.
- Add Blueberries: Toss blueberries in flour, fold into the batter, and pour into the pan.
- Bake: Top with extra blueberries and sugars, and bake until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool: Let cool in the pan, then on a wire rack.
- Optional Glaze: If desired, drizzle with a lemon juice and powdered sugar glaze.
Lemon Blueberry Bread FAQs
How do I know when Lemon Blueberry Bread is done baking?
Here’s how to make sure your bread is baked through:
- Look for these signs: the bread pulls away from the pan’s edges and gets golden on top.
- Stick a toothpick in the center; if it comes out clean or with just a few crumbs, your bread is ready.
Should I cool this bread on a cooling rack?
Cool baked goods on a wire rack for even cooling. To properly cool Lemon Blueberry Bread, elevate it on the wire rack to allow air circulation on all sides. This prevents moisture from condensing on the bottom, keeping it dry and not sticky.
Quick Tip
How do you keep blueberries from sinking in bread?
With fresh blueberries, make sure they’re coated in a light dusting of flour. This will help them to distribute more evenly throughout the bread.
Storage
Storage Tips
Can You Freeze Lemon Blueberry Bread?
- Yes, you can freeze lemon blueberry bread. Cool it completely, slice it, and wrap each slice in plastic wrap. Seal in an airtight container or bag and freeze for up to three months. Defrost in the fridge or at room temperature.
How Long Will Lemon Blueberry Bread Last?
- This recipe for Lemon Blueberry Bread keeps 2-3 days at normal room temperature (wrapped tightly/stored in an airtight container).
- I recommend refrigerating it and warming individual slices in the microwave for 5-10 seconds. While it’s not necessary to refrigerate the bread, it will keep it fresher for longer.
Use Any Leftover Blueberries In One Of These Recipes:
- Blueberry Ice Cream “secretly” healthy!
- Blueberry Crisp with a crisp, crunchy topping
- Homemade Blueberry Syrup
- Sparkling Blueberry Lemonade with fresh lemons
- Mini Blueberry Cheesecakes with a graham cracker crust
Lemon Blueberry Bread
Lemon Blueberry Bread rises beautifully, has a moist and tender crumb, and a crisp-crunchy topping. Finish everything off with a quick lemon glaze and enjoy!
Equipment
- 9x5-inch (1 pound) loaf pan (Note 1)
- Cooking spray and flour for preparing the pan
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 2 cups white all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
Wet Ingredients
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup white, granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup canola (or vegetable) oil
- 1/3 cup full-fat Greek yogurt (we love honey-vanilla flavored) OR use full-fat sour cream, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup whole milk, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest (2 large lemons--Note 2)
- 2 tablespoons lemon extract (Note 3)
- 1-1/4 cup fresh (or frozen) blueberries, separated (Note 4)
- 2 teaspoons white all-purpose flour
Topping
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon white sugar
- Optional: glaze (1/2 cup powdered sugar + 1 tablespoon lemon juice)
Instructions
- It's important the wet ingredients are all at the same temperature (room temperature) for the wet ingredients to combine nicely. Pull out of the fridge about 45 mins to an hour before using. Grease and lightly flour a 9x5-inch loaf pan. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Add all the wet ingredients to a large bowl. Whisk together until completely smooth.
- Add all the dry ingredients to a large bowl. Whisk together. Make a well in the center. Pour wet ingredients on top of the dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon until a smooth batter is formed. (Don't use stand or hand mixers--they beat in too much air)
- Wash and dry blueberries. Add 1 cup blueberries to a small bowl and toss with 2 teaspoons flour until nicely coated (keeps berries from sinking to bottom). Add to the batter and gently stir to mix through.
- Pour and then smooth batter into prepared pan. Gently press remaining 1/4 cup blueberries into the top of the bread. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons brown sugar plus 1 tablespoon white sugar on top of the loaf (just sprinkle evenly on top; don't press down). Bake for 60-75 minutes or until a toothpick when inserted into the center comes out clean or with moist crumbs.
- Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 15 minutes before inverting onto a wire cooling rack. Let cool a further 1 hour before slicing. Don't rush the cooling, the bread is still "baking"/solidifying.
- In a small bowl, add powdered sugar. Add a tiny pinch of salt and slowly add in lemon juice while whisking until glaze consistency is formed. Transfer glaze to a plastic bag and cut off the tip. Pipe the glaze over the completely cooled bread.
- We like to finish this bread within 1-3 days of being made. After that, it begins to lose texture (becomes too moist). It can, however, last up to a week stored in an airtight container and tightly wrapped in plastic wrap. After the third day, I recommend storing it in the fridge. Wrap each slice tightly and place in an airtight container.
Video
Recipe Notes
Note 1: Loaf pan: Be sure to use the correct size of pan so the recipe works properly. Here's the loaf pan we use and love. An 8x4-inch pan is too small! If you do use an 8x4-inch pan, only add about 75% of the batter (use leftovers for some muffins) and note that bake time is shorter. Don't forget to generously grease the bread pan. Grease with nonstick spray (or rub on shortening) and then lightly dust with flour. Alternatively, line it with parchment paper. If you line with parchment paper, leave an overhang for easy removal.
Note 2: Lemon zest: There is a lot of zest — and it’s all needed here--no juice in the bread, we'll use lemon juice for the glaze! When zesting the lemon, avoid the white pith of the lemon — this is very bitter. Using a microplane (like this one) zest only the very outside yellow part of the lemon for this recipe.
Note 3: Lemon extract: Not to be confused with lemon juice, lemon extract is a flavor enhancer (just like vanilla extract) that gives this bread an intense citrusy lemon flavor. We use lemon extract to pack in as much lemon flavor as possible without messing up the consistency of the bread (like lemon juice would). Lemon extract can usually be found near other baking extracts and spices in the grocery store; I recommend using a pure lemon extract. We've tested both McCormick and Watkin's in this recipe and both perform comparably.
Note 4: Blueberries: IF using frozen, grab frozen wild blueberries which are smaller and more compact than regular blueberries (much more flavor & sweeter). To avoid the funky bread coloring, don't mix the blueberries in the batter. First toss in flour and then instead, spoon 1/3 of the batter into the pan and hand place the frozen blueberries on top. Add another 1/3 of batter and place more blueberries on top. Finally, spoon the last 1/3 of the batter in the pan and place the final blueberries on top of that and slightly push under the batter.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 217kcal | Carbohydrates: 34.7g | Protein: 4.1g | Fat: 7.1g | Cholesterol: 16.8mg | Sodium: 315mg | Fiber: 1.1g | Sugar: 17.7g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made this into muffins and bread using frozen blueberries. I only had one container of Greek yogurt so I used sour cream to make up the difference.Served it with a glaze on the top of powdered sugar and fresh lemon juice. Compliments from the entire group of friends who enjoyed it warm out of the oven with me. Will definitely make again!
Oh my yummy! I love this idea! Thanks Leah! 🙂
Any tips for replacement flours? I’m off wheat at the moment, and have used coconut flour in some recipes but it doesn’t really rise.
I’m sorry Christina, I can’t say for sure without testing myself, but I’m not sure what flour would replace okay. I do know coconut flour wouldn’t work very well in this recipe. Wish I could be of more help.
DELICIOUS! I made some adjustments & thought I’d share in case it helps anyone else. Because I only ended up having about 1/4 cup coconut oil, I used olive oil for the remaining 1/4 cup oil. I also substituted Kodiak Cakes Power Cakes mix for the flour, as it states on the box it can be used in place of flour. When replacing, it recommends a 1:1 ratio and omitting baking powder & salt from the recipe, as well, so I did that, too. I also cut the sugar down to 1/2 cup – I don’t like overly sweet baked goods so this wasn’t a big deal to me. I didn’t have lemon yogurt, so I used plain nonfat greek yogurt with an extra dash of lemon extract. Even with all of these changes, this bread turned out AMAZING! I was a little nervous about making all the adjustments because it seemed to already be a unique recipe, but it turned out so great. So refreshing to be able to eat some delicious bread & actually get some nutrition without a guilty conscience! Thanks so much for this recipe! Would be interested to try with an alternative sweetener to white sugar & also want to try your lemon poppyseed next!!
Thanks so much for your comment and for sharing your modifications Maggie! 🙂 I’m sure many readers will appreciate it! I hope you love the lemon poppyseed!
A couple questions Chelsea,
Do you know if white whole wheat flour has the same health benefits as regular whole wheat flour?
I have not baked with white whole wheat flour. I like the idea of a healthier version of a sweet bread with out loosing quality. Will I notice a difference in the finished product using the white whole wheat flour instead of regular white flour?
Hi Kathleen! Here’s a great article explaining the difference between the flours: http://www.thekitchn.com/whats-the-deal-8-12459. If you use white whole wheat flour instead of regular white flour the taste and texture is quite similar but the bread is more dense. I’ve made this bread with both all white flour and then also with white whole wheat flour and we love both. My husband does prefer the version with all white flour though, but I don’t think there is a huge difference between the two 🙂
and old trick to keep blueberries from sinking…dust them lightly with flour, then mix them in gently. I have got to try this tomorrow. thanks
Yes that works great 🙂 I hope you love this bread!
Hi, I would like to know if I can substitute the coconut oil for another kind of vegetable oil.
I haven’t tried a different oil in this bread so I can’t say for sure without further recipe testing, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work.