Lemon Bread

If you’re a lemon lover, not much is more delicious than the refreshing scent and flavor of our easy lemon bread. This simple lemon quick bread feel so special, as it’s full of lemon flavor – but oh-so-easy to make!  

It takes just five minutes hands on time and makes a beautiful breakfast treat. It’s a wonderful gift, too, as we’re showing you how to bake a large loaf or six mini loaves to share. Don’t just take my word for it, though – check out all those 5-star ratings and reviews!

This was a huge hit at my house! We all love lemon and they can’t wait to have this again!!

– toni –

If you’ve been reading for long, it won’t come as a surprise to you that I love all things lemon-flavored. Lemon is a beautiful addition to almost anything you can imagine tossing it in.

I’ve used it in pasta, drinks, cookies and baked goods of all kinds. In my catering days, lemon was such a hit in the spring and summer for sweet or savory recipes!

This incredible lemon bread recipe is a fabulous variation of my famous sweet bread recipe. While my lemon pound cake is rich, moist and decadent, this recipe is a little lighter and fluffier.

The beautiful glaze is a delightfully sweet way to top it off, but it’s great on its own, too. Either way, let’s make some sweet lemon bread!

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Sugar – White granulated sugar makes this bread delightfully sweet.
• Flour – All purpose flour is the foundation of this bread.
• Oil – Vegetable oil makes the bread incredibly moist, with a light and delicate crumb. In a pinch you can substitute canola oil.
• Eggs – The binding agent.
• Milk – Milk creates a nice soft loaf. In addition, milk adds moisture to quick breads and gives it a beautiful brown color due to caramelization of milk and sugars! You can use whatever you have on hand from skim milk to half and half. You can even substitute almond milk to make it dairy free.
• Lemon Extract or Lemon Juice and Lemon zest – No lemon extract on hand? That’s okay, try lemon juice. Aim for 2 tablespoons of lemon juice as a substitute for one teaspoon of lemon extract.

For the Glaze

The glaze or lemon drizzle is simple as well, made with powdered sugar, butter and lemon juice!

• Butter – Unsalted butter.
• Powdered Sugar – Learn how to make powdered sugar if you don’t have any on hand.
• Lemon Juice – Fresh is always best, but no judgement if you take a shortcut with bottled!

Baking Alternatives

• Large Loaves – Don’t want 6 miniature loaves? You can also make this recipe in two traditional one pound loaf pans or cut the recipe in half for just one loaf pan, and bake 50-60 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test.
• Make Muffins – If you prefer to make them into muffins, just grease miniature muffin tins and fill each to 2/3 full. Bake 12 minutes.

Storage Tips

Cool completely and cover to store at room temperature for up to three days. To store in the fridge, place the loaves in large sealable plastic bags (with a paper towel at the bottom to help soak up any excess moisture) for up to 1 week.

You can also freeze this lemon bread! Wrap in heavy aluminum foil or sealable plastic freezer bags and freeze for up to 3 months.