The winning flavor combination of lemon and blueberry star in this delicious lemon blueberry bread recipe. You won't believe how moist and light the bread is, even days later!
This lemon blueberry bread is unbelievably light, moist, and so refreshing! It's easy to make and comes together fast, and the simple lemon glaze drizzled on top elevates it to something even more special. This bread is perfect for breakfast, brunch, or dessert!
What You Need to Make Lemon Blueberry Bread:
- All-purpose flour: Don't over-measure! Lightly spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level it off with the flat side of a knife.
- Baking powder: A leavening agent that helps the bread rise and makes it soft.
- Salt: Crucial for flavor!
- Sugar: Granulated sugar is the perfect complement to the tart lemon flavor.
- Vegetable oil: Perfect for a soft and moist texture.
- Eggs: Use room temperature. Room temperature eggs mix more evenly and easily into batter. To quickly bring them to room temperature place them in a bowl of lukewarm water for 5-10 minutes.
- Lemon juice: Freshly-squeezed. Bottled lemon juice is concentrated and is way too strong!
- Sour cream: Sour cream is a powerful ingredient that makes the bread incredibly moist and light. It can also be substituted with plain Greek yogurt if desired.
- Milk: Whole milk is best, but reduced-fat, cream, half & half, or non-dairy milk will also work.
- Blueberries: Fresh or frozen, more on that below!
- Flour: Tossing the blueberries with flour helps minimize their color bleeding and also helps keep them evenly distributed throughout the bread.
Lemon Glaze:
The lemon glaze drizzled on top is easy to make and really helps to elevate the flavors of the bread. To make it, simply whisk together some freshly-squeezed lemon juice, powdered sugar, milk (or cream), and a touch of vanilla extract to help round out the flavors. Make sure you use freshly-squeezed lemon juice, not bottled!
How to Make Lemon Blueberry Bread:
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and grease a 9 x 5" loaf pan with butter.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a larger bowl, whisk the sugar, vegetable oil, room temperature eggs, fresh-squeezed lemon juice, sour cream, and milk. Add the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth.
- Rinse and dry the blueberries and toss with the flour to coat.
- Use a rubber spatula to fold the blueberries into the batter, leave any excess flour in the bowl.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan, cover with aluminum foil, and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking for 50-55 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean.
- Allow to cool slightly in the pan and then transfer to a plate or a cooling rack.
Make the Lemon Glaze:
In a medium bowl or a glass measuring cup (makes pouring easier), add the powdered sugar, fresh lemon juice, milk (or cream), and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth.
Pour the glaze over the baked and slightly cooled bread. Let the first layer of glaze set and then top with a second layer.
Can You Use Frozen Blueberries?
Frozen blueberries are great for baking because they're frozen at their peak freshness and are also a lot cheaper than fresh blueberries. The only downside is that their color bleeds a lot when they're folded into the batter, which will turn your bread blue.
Fresh blueberries don't bleed their color at all, so if you're looking for the best presentation, go with fresh.
If you do plan on using frozen blueberries, you can minimize the color bleeding by rinsing them well until the water runs clear. Dry them with several layers of paper towels and then toss with flour to coat. Gently fold them into the batter a few times, there will still be a few streaks of blue but it will be a lot less than if you didn't rinse them at all!
Store leftover bread in an air-tight container at room temperature for 3 days. You can also freeze the unfrosted bread. Allow it to cool, then wrap it tightly with plastic wrap and keep frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge.
Use a serrated bread knife to make slicing easier.
Enjoy!
More Bread Recipes:
- Cream Cheese Swirl Pumpkin Bread
- Homemade French Bread
- Zucchini Bread
- Apple Cinnamon Muffins
- Homemade Biscuits
- Blueberry Muffins
📖 RECIPE
Lemon Blueberry Bread
Equipment
- 9 x 5" loaf pan
Ingredients
- 1 and ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 tablespoon fresh-squeezed lemon juice
- ½ cup whole milk
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 cup blueberries*, rinsed and dried
- 1 tablespoon flour, for coating the blueberries
Lemon Glaze:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon fresh-squeezed lemon juice
- 3 tablespoon whole milk, cream, or half & half
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and grease a 9 x 5″ loaf pan with butter.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a larger bowl, whisk the sugar, vegetable oil, room temperature eggs, fresh-squeezed lemon juice, sour cream, and milk. Add the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth.
- Rinse and dry the blueberries and toss with the flour to coat.
- Use a rubber spatula to fold the blueberries into the batter, leave any excess flour in the bowl.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan, cover with aluminum foil, and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking for 50-55 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean.
- Allow to cool slightly in the pan and then transfer to a plate or a cooling rack.
- Make the lemon glaze: In a medium bowl or a glass measuring cup add the powdered sugar, fresh lemon juice, milk (or cream or half & half), and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth.
- Pour the glaze evenly over the top of the slightly cooled bread. Let the first layer of glaze set for a minute or two then add a second layer on top.
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