Lemon Blueberry Bread
Ultra moist, easy to make, and topped with a thick lemon icing, this lemon blueberry bread is sure to be a new favorite! A combination of oil and sour cream prevents the quick bread from drying out, while lemon juice and zest adds lots of tangy flavor.
Want to know a dangerous secret? There’s just 20 minutes of hands-on prep work standing between you and an entire loaf of glazed lemon blueberry bread.
This quick bread recipe is incredibly easy to make and has been a reader favorite for many years. The batter comes together almost mindlessly, and if the thick lemon glaze didn’t need to go on top of the bread I could very easily eat it with a spoon.
If blueberries aren’t in season, make this lemon blueberry loaf with frozen berries. It’s a delicious year-round treat that adds a pop of bright spring flavors to any day!
Ingredients in This Recipe
I almost always have the ingredients needed for this easy quick bread on hand. You’ll find the full measurements in the recipe card below, but let’s review some of the star ingredients.
- Oil: I prefer using oil rather than melted butter as it keeps the bread moist and springy. You can use either canola, vegetable, or melted coconut oil. If using coconut oil, make sure all of the other ingredients are at room temperature to prevent it from solidifying.
- Sour cream: I always make lemon blueberry bread with sour cream as it adds moisture and tang to the batter. If desired, you can substitute it with an equal amount of full-fat plain Greek yogurt.
- Lemon juice and zest: I highly recommend using freshly squeezed lemon juice. Don’t add more than the recipe calls for, as the extra moisture could alter the texture of the baked quick bread. If you’re craving an even stronger lemon flavor, add extra lemon zest to the batter instead.
- Blueberries: I like to toss the berries with a couple teaspoons of flour before mixing them into the batter. The flour helps prevent the berries from sinking to the bottom while the bread bakes.
- Confectioners’ sugar: Forms the base of the lemon glaze. Adding less confectioners’ sugar will result in a runnier glaze, while adding extra will result in a thicker (and sweeter) glaze.
How to Make Lemon Blueberry Bread
- Combine the dry ingredients: Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Combine the wet ingredients: In another mixing bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar, sour cream, eggs, lemon juice and zest, and vanilla extract.
- Add the dry ingredients the wet: Stir until just combined.
- Add the blueberries: Toss the berries with 2 teaspoons of flour before mixing them into the batter. This will prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the loaf.
- Bake the bread: Turn the batter into a greased and lined 9×5-inch loaf pan, then bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Make the lemon glaze: Once the lemon blueberry loaf has cooled completely, whisk together the lemon juice and confectioners’ sugar and spread it evenly over the top.
- Allow the glaze to set: The glaze will start to set up after roughly 15 to 20 minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Frozen Blueberries Be Used?
Yes, you may use fresh or frozen blueberries in this recipe. If using frozen berries, add them directly to the batter without thawing them first and make sure to gently fold them in. You may need to increase the bake time by a few minutes.
Can Lemon Extract Be Added?
For a much stronger lemon flavor, you can add 1 teaspoon of lemon extract to the batter. Do NOT use lemon oil as that’s different from lemon extract.
Can I Bake the Batter in Mini Loaf Pans?
Yes, you can bake the bread in mini loaf pans but you will need to reduce the baking time. My best guess is that it would probably take 20 to 35 minutes depending on the size of your pans.
Can the Batter Be Baked in a Muffin Pan?
Yes, you can divide the batter between 12 greased or lined muffin cups. The bake time should be around 20 minutes. Or you can use my lemon blueberry muffin recipe instead.
Can the Bread Be Frozen?
Yes, the lemon blueberry bread can be frozen for up to three months. I prefer freezing the bread without the glaze. After thawing it overnight in the fridge, I bring the entire loaf to room temperature before glazing and serving it.
Baking Tips
- If you’d like to increase the lemon flavor in the batter, you may add another tablespoon of lemon zest or 1 teaspoon of lemon extract. Do not add extract lemon juice, as that would alter the texture of the quick bread.
- Line your pan with parchment paper before pouring the batter into it. This will make it much easier to lift the bread out of the pan.
- Don’t over mix your batter! This can over develop the gluten in your bread and lead to a denser loaf.
- If you find that your lemon glaze is too thick, add up 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice at a time to thin it out. If your glaze is too thin, add extra confectioners’ sugar.
More Lemon Blueberry Recipes to Make!
- Lemon Blueberry Scones
- Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes
- Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake
- Baked Lemon Blueberry Donuts
Recipe Video
Lemon Blueberry Bread
Ingredients
Lemon Blueberry Bread
- 2 cups all-purpose flour spooned & leveled (250 grams)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup vegetable or canola oil (120 ml)
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200 grams)
- 1 cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt (230 grams)
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (30 ml)
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup blueberries + 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour (150 grams)
Lemon Glaze
- 1 cup confectioners sugar (120 grams)
- 1.5 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice use more or less as needed
Instructions
- To make the bread: Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray a 9x5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray, line the pan with parchment paper, and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together until well combined. Set aside.
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk the oil, sugar, sour cream, eggs, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla extract together until fully combined. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
- In a separate bowl, toss the blueberries with 2 teaspoons of flour. Then, gently fold the blueberries into the batter.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 55 to 70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Baking time will vary slightly depending on if you use fresh or frozen berries. If needed, cover loosely with foil for the last 10 to 15 minutes of baking to prevent excess browning.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 20 minutes in the loaf pan. Carefully remove from the pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the glaze: Once the bread has cooled, whisk the powdered sugar and lemon juice together until fully combined and no lumps remain. If your mixture is too thick, slowly add a little more lemon juice. You want the glaze to be thin enough to drizzle, but thick enough to set up on the bread. If the glaze is too thin, add more powdered sugar as needed.
- Drizzle the glaze on top of the bread and spread it around. Set aside for 15 to 20 minutes to give the glaze time to harden.
May i ask you about how to keep this cake with room temperature and how long?
You can store it in an airtight container (or wrapped tightly) at room temperature for 2-3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Hello,
I’m wondering if I were to make these in a 12ct muffin pan; would I have to change any of the measurements? What would you recommend the baking time be?
Thank you!
You can bake it in a 12-count muffin pan. No need to adjust the measurements, I would guess about 20 minutes at 350°F.
Love this recipe! I use lemon Greek yogurt to add a little more lemony flavor.
I made two of these today. One with just all purpose and one with half all purpose- half whole wheat. The only modifications I made was to add some brown sugar with white and use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream since I didn’t have enough of either.
The breads rose up beautifully. However, after cooling down completely, when I sliced them, I found the blueberries inside to be completely mushed up. None of them retained their shape; this in spite of coating them with flour and gently folding them in the batter. So, from the inside it was a lumpy mess?
Where did I go wrong?
I’m not quite sure, they will soften in the bread as they bake but should hold their shape. Do you think you may have mixed the blueberries too much into the batter? The changes you made shouldn’t have caused that to happen.
I made this recipe last night, exact to how the ingredients were. I baked it for 45 minutes and then covered with foil and baked the remaining 15 minutes. It turned out excellent, so much better than store bought loaf cake. Very happy with this, thank you for sharing the recipe!!
The only thing I would change is maybe add a few extra blueberries 🙂
Loved loved loved the bread! My family could not get enough and trust me I bake all the time! I want to use up my blueberries and would like to freeze. Can you tell me the best way to freeze so I can keep the quality of the bread and icing? Thank you!
So glad you liked the bread, Kimberly! You can freeze the whole loaf, wrap it tightly, then bring to room temperature on the counter when you’re ready to enjoy it. I would suggest waiting to glaze it once it’s thawed out.
This recipe looked delicious and I had a lot of leftover blueberries so made two loaves of bread and put them in the freezer. Now I’m concerned. Since you cautioned about over mixing, I whisked together my dry ingredients, but only mixed the wet ingredients by hand with a large spoon. I combined wet and dry the same way. Should I have used an electric mixer? Will this ruin the consistency of the bread? Now I’m afraid to take it our for company. 🙁
I always mix the wet and dry ingredients together by hand too. Over mixing the batter can overdevelop the gluten in the flour, which can cause the bread to be a little denser. As long as you didn’t mix them together for a long time, you should be fine.
Very easy and deeeliscious!! I added about 1/2 Cup of dried cranberries to make them look more festive for the fourth of July. I also used a mini loaf 8 count tin and baked at 350 for 27 minutes in a convection oven. The came out perfect?
Could I make this recipe using a tray of mini loaf pans ?
Yes, absolutely! You’ll just need to reduce the baking time.
This is now my go to loaf recipe! Turns out perfect every time ? Thank you for all your recipes. I have never been disappointed ♥️
Thank you, Denise! So happy to hear that.
I have been making this since 2018 when I found it. It is amazing! It is simply flawless every time! I loveeeeeeeee it! Did I mention I love it? Everyone i know lovessssss it! 🙂 Thank you!!!
Hi! I follow you on Instagram. When you posted this recipe recently, it looked so good, Ihad to try it! I made it this weekend. It’s so delicious!! I’ve made other lemon blueberry bread recipes. This, by far, is the best. Thank you so much for sharing!
So happy to hear that, Lisa!
Hi! I would like to ask you which function of the oven should be suitable used for this menu between Fan forced or Top-bottom (conventional oven)? Thank you so much. 🙂
Either one would be fine, but I always use a conventional oven. If you use convection, you can either reduce the oven temperature 25°F or reduce the baking time 5-10 minutes.
Trying to bake healthy goods. Will it be okay to use almond flour instead of all purpose flour and sweetener instead of sugar?
I’ve never tried this recipe with almond flour, so I’m not quite sure.
Omg! This recipe was so easy and delicious. I used cake flour and frozen blueberries.
It turned out scrumptious!
I just made this and it turned out flawless! So flavorful and moist. My whole family loved it and it looks just like the pictures! This was my first time making a bread! I baked it for 50 minutes and then took it out and added a foil tent, then popped it back in for 10 more minutes. The only change I made was adding a bit more zest to the bread batter. I appreciate you including weight measurements because that’s how I prefer to do my baking. I’ll be trying your pumpkin crumb muffins tonight!
So glad to hear that, Shannon! Hope you enjoy the pumpkin muffins as well.
Do you have the nutrition facts for this recipe? It looks and sounds delicious!
Hi, Connie! I’m not sure on the nutritional info, but you can plug it into an app or website like My Fitness Pal to get an estimate.
can i use wheat flour for this recipe or it will not have the same effect?
trying to only do “healthy” baked goods now
It would make the bread too dense if you use just wheat flour. You could use half whole wheat and half all-purpose flour though.
This was awesome, easy and I didn’t have to run to the store! I doubled the recipe and it made 2 loaves 4×8 and also 2 smaller ones 3×5. I LOVE the crown it made! I’ve tried other recipes and none can compare to how this rose! It’s a keeper!
If you want more lemon flavor, should you add both more lemon juice and zest? Or only zest? Thanks!
I would add more lemon zest, you can use the zest of 1 and 1/2 – 2 lemons.
You mentioned that this bread isn’t super lemony. Would using lemon extract instead of vanilla work to make it more lemony? Or could I just add more zest and lemon juice?
Yes, that would work fine. Or you can add more lemon zest.
AMAZING! Love the flour tip.
Can I subistitute the yogurt or sour cream for buttermilk?
I’ve tried it, but the blueberries tend to sink more even if they’re tossed in flour.
Hello, can I use butter instead of oil? Thanks!
It would probably work, but it will change the texture of the bread. I suggest sticking with oil though, since it helps keep the bread moist.
My daughter and I made this tonight. It came out so tasty.
So glad you liked the bread, Lara!
Thanks, i got the recipe il try it out on my free time, eager to have a nice bread
Hope you enjoy the bread!
Hi
I made this the other day and it was amazing but the middle wasnt done. I tried tenting with foil ect but finally had to pull it since the sides and top were done. Would this work in a bundt pan or something similar? And what temp/time? (My horrible oven seems to not heat bread pans well).
Thanks!
Have you checked your oven with an oven thermometer yet? This wouldn’t be quite enough batter for a full bundt cake, but I do have a lemon blueberry bundt cake recipe here: https://www.livewellbakeoften.com/lemon-blueberry-bundt-cake/.
Thank you! Looks like my oven is off by 25*
You can calibrate your oven so that it bakes at the correct temperature! If you do a quick search for your oven model, you should be able to find out how to adjust it for your oven 🙂
I baked mine right at 60 min. And it’s still very raw in the middle. Not sure what I did wrong.
Hi, Jason. Every oven is different so it may take more time in your oven. Have you tested your oven temperature with an oven thermometer? It sounds like it may not be quite hot enough. You can bake it longer if needed, just cover loosely with foil if the top begins to brown before the bread is finished.
My berries are frozen. Should I let them thaw before folding in or can they be added frozen and thaw during the baking process??
You can use frozen berries, just be sure to fold them in carefully.
Can you double or triple this recipe for multiple loaves?
I think it would be fine to double the recipe. I would probably avoid tripling it because it would be far too much batter and you’ll likely end up over mixing it by accident.
This was perfect! I live over 5,000 feet in altitude and the bread was still super moist. I didn’t put on the glaze since I was out of powdered sugar, but I really don’t think it lacked anything since the bread is sweet enough on its own. If/when I make this again I might use another 1/4-1/2 cup of blueberries.
So glad to hear that the bread turned out great for you at the higher altitude, Jessica!