The Best Lemon Bread

Sliced Lemon Bread on Wooden Cutting Board

4.86 from 27 votes

An easy and delicious recipe for Lemon Bread that is even better than Starbuck's Lemon Loaf. This lemon bread is tender, moist, and full of bright lemon flavor and finished with a sweet glaze.

Prep Time10

Cook Time1

Total Time1 10

Course: Bread

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 208kcal

Author: Kristen Chidsey

Equipment

Loaf Pan

Ingredients

Lemon Bread

½ cup butter softened (this is one stick of butter)
2 eggs room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ cup milk or buttermilk
2 teaspoons lemon zest

Lemon Glaze

2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease a 9-inch loaf pan with butter on the bottom and sides of the loaf pan. Add 1 tablespoon of flour to the pan, shaking to coat. Be sure to shake out any excess flour.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, eggs, and sugar until light and fluffy.
In a smaller bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking powder and whisk to evenly distribute salt and baking powder.
Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture, along with the milk and lemon zest. Fold to evenly incorporate batter. Be careful to not overmix, just mix until the flour is fully moistened.
Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a lemon loaf comes out clean.
While lemon bread is baking, whisk together lemon juice and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Tip: it may help to warm up your lemon juice for20-30 seconds in the microwave before whisking with sugar.
After the bread is baked, leave your lemon bread in a loaf pan and poke holes halfway to the bottom of the pan evenly along the top of the bread. Pour the glaze over the lemon bread.
Let the bread sit in the loaf pan for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, loosen the sides of the bread from the edges of the pan with a butter knife, then remove the bread from the pan and transfer it to a cooling rack to finish cooling completely.

Notes

Lemons: Be sure to use only FRESH lemon juice for this recipe. This recipe will require about 2 fresh lemons (their zest and juice).

Room temperature eggs and butter are recommended for the best results.

Storage: Lemon bread will keep in a sealed container for 3 days at room temperature and for 5 days if refrigerated.

Salt: For this recipe, it is best to use iodized salt (table salt.)

Freezing: If desired, you can freeze this loaf of lemon bread for up to 1 month. Allow to cool completely and then wrap in several layers of plastic wrap and place into a freezer-safe bag. Defrost in the refrigerator before enjoying.

Nutrition