Lemon Bread

This Iced Lemon Bread is one for the books! Supremely moist with bright citrus flavor and a nice pound-cake-like denseness. This bread is perfectly sweet and ultra-soft, thanks to yogurt in the batter!

Love a good lemon loaf? Us too! Next, try our Lemon Blueberry Bread. Or make a Lemon Poppy Seed Bread by adding 1-1/2 tablespoons of poppy seeds to this bread batter before baking.

The Best Lemon Bread Recipe

The lemon bread recipe at Starbucks is a favorite among my kiddos. When the weather gets cold, we’ll occasionally go and grab them some Pumpkin Spice Steamers as a fun treat. And without fail, they’ll always beg for a piece of their iced lemon loaf. I don’t blame them–it’s delicious!

So, it’s about time I made my own version for them to enjoy a bit more frequently. Except now, they scarf down the loaf in a couple days and immediately start asking for more–ha!

Lemon Bread With Yogurt

One of the ways to make an ultra-moist lemon bread is to add yogurt to the batter. 

Our favorite yogurt to use in this recipe is Honey Vanilla Greek yogurt (made by Greek Gods®; not sponsored). Whatever yogurt you choose to use, make sure you grab a full-fat Greek yogurt so the batter has the thickness needed. If you’re craving even more lemon flavor, you could add in a lemon Greek yogurt here! (While I wouldn’t necessarily consider this a healthy Lemon Bread recipe, using yogurt does increase the amount of protein in this bread.)

We’ve also tested this recipe using full-fat sour cream, which worked great and is also delicious.

How To Make Lemon Bread

True to the title of being a “quick bread,” this is an easy Lemon Bread recipe. No stand or hand mixer needed!

That said, there are two “secret” ingredients to making the perfect Lemon Bread with a strong lemon flavor (while still maintaining the pound-cake-like texture of this bread).

• Lemon zest. Unlike a lot of recipes that use both the zest and juice of lemons, we only use the zest here. The zest packs a huge punch of flavor without adding liquid. We use a lot of zest — and it’s all needed here! See “quick tip” below. (We’ll also use the juice of a lemon for the glaze.)
• 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 Watkins® in this recipe and both perform comparably. 

Lemon Bread FAQs

How do you keep Lemon Bread fresh?

To keep this yummy treat fresh, wrap it tightly in plastic and leave it at room temperature. Eat it within 2-3 days. If you want it to last longer, put it in the fridge, but remember, it might go stale faster there.

Why did my Lemon Bread fall?

A few possible culprits contribute to the bread falling:

• The batter has too much sugar.
• There’s not enough baking powder.
• The loaf wasn’t baked enough.
• The wet ingredients weren’t mixed together well enough.

Why is my Lemon Bread so dense?

Dense bread can come from several factors:

• baking agents are old and no longer working
• too much flour is packed into measuring cups
• batter is over-mixed
• bread wasn’t baked right after being prepared

More Favorite Lemon Recipes:

• The BEST Lemon Bars with a shortbread crust
• Lemon Curd Cookies made with homemade Lemon Curd
• Magnolia Lemon Pie with a Graham Cracker Crust
• Lemon Poppyseed Cookies with a lemon glaze
• Lemon Berry Slush Sonic copycat recipe!

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5 from 6 votes

Lemon Bread

By Chelsea Lords

This iced Lemon Bread is a total winner—ultra moist, packed with bright citrus, and perfectly sweet. With a pound-cake-like texture and yogurt in the batter, it’s soft, rich, and irresistible!

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour

Cooling Time: 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 2 hours hours 35 minutes minutes

Servings: 10 slices (1 loaf)

Equipment

• Loaf pan 9 x 5-inch (1 pound), see note 1

Ingredients 

USMetric

 

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Wet Ingredients

• ▢ 1/2 cup vegetable oil or canola oil
• ▢ 1 cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 1 cup Greek yogurt I love honey-vanilla flavored; or use full-fat sour cream, at room temperature
• ▢ 2 large eggs at room temperature
• ▢ 2 large lemons including lemon juice for glaze; see note 2
• ▢ 2 tablespoons pure lemon extract see note 3

Dry Ingredients

• ▢ 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• ▢ 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt

Topping and Glaze

• ▢ 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• ▢ 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Instructions 

• It’s important that the wet ingredients are all at the same temperature (room temperature) for them to combine nicely. Remove from the fridge about 45 mins to an hour before using. Grease and lightly flour a 9x5-inch loaf pan. Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Add all the wet ingredients to a large bowl. Add 2 tablespoons lemon zest. 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 until it forms a batter.
• Pour and then smooth batter into prepared pan. Top with 2 tablespoons sugar (just sprinkle on top; don’t press down). Bake for 60–75 minutes or until a toothpick 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 another hour before slicing. Don’t rush the cooling—the bread is still “baking.”
• Place powdered sugar in a small bowl. Add a tiny pinch of salt and slowly whisk in 1 tablespoon lemon juice until a glaze consistency forms. Transfer the glaze to a plastic bag and cut off the tip. Pipe the glaze over the completely cooled bread.

Recipe Notes

Note 1: Be sure to use the correct size of pan so the recipe works properly. Here’s the loaf pan I use and love. If you use an 8x4-inch pan, only add about 75% of the batter and note that bake time is shorter. Generously grease the bread pan with cooking spray (or rub on shortening), then lightly dust with flour. Alternatively, line it with parchment paper and leave an overhang for easy removal.

Note 2: There is a lot of zest—and it’s all needed here—and no juice in the bread. You’ll use lemon juice for the glaze. When zesting the lemon, avoid the white pith of the lemon—it is very bitter. Using a zester (like this one), zest only the very outside yellow part of the lemon.

Note 3: Not to be confused with lemon juice, lemon extract is a flavor enhancer (like vanilla extract) that gives this bread an intense citrusy lemon flavor. I 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. I’ve tested both McCormick and Watkins in this recipe, and both perform comparably. 

Storage: I like to finish this bread within 1–3 days. After that, it begins to lose texture. 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.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 251kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 38mg | Sodium: 340mg | Potassium: 77mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 30g | Vitamin A: 60IU | Vitamin C: 12mg | Calcium: 81mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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