Here’s a Glazed Lemon Loaf recipe that is super moist, tender, lemony and sweet with a thick lemon glazed drizzled on top. This is a tried and true recipe, tested many times before sharing the recipe with you! The texture is perfectly moist and light (not a dense cake like lemon pound cake) and the tart, sweet lemon glaze adds to the bright, citrusy lemon flavor. This glazed lemon loaf is a dessert for lemon lovers!
And if you are one of those lemon lovers, you might also like to try our recipes for Easy Lemon Pie, Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream Frosting and Lemon Blueberry Bars.
Let’s get one thing clear. This is often referred to as “lemon bread” since it is made in a loaf pan and does not require any yeast. But it’s clearly a lemon cake in the shape of a loaf of bread. Our glazed lemon loaf is super easy to make, and it’s even easier to eat. Just slice it and serve it on a napkin for informal snacking or desserting. When life gives you lemons (as our neighbors often do), make a lemon loaf! This is a quick bread loaf recipe that everyone seems to love.
You might also like to try these “quick bread” recipes for Carrot Loaf Cake, Pumpkin Cheesecake Bread and Raspberry Cinnamon Loaf Cake.
Ingredients needed to make a Lemon Loaf Cake:
- The Basics: All purpose flour, white sugar, baking powder and salt.
- Butter: I like to use unsalted butter. This allows you to have control over the amount of sodium that is added to the recipe.
- Eggs: Use large eggs, at room temperature.
- Sour Cream: For best results, use full fat sour cream, at room temperature.
- Lemon: Two large lemons are needed for this recipe. You’ll need finely grated lemon zest and freshly squeezed lemon juice.
- Lemon Extract: Use pure lemon extract for this recipe (not imitation). Do not use lemon oil- it’s not the same thing.
- Powdered Sugar: Since powdered sugar is used for the glaze on top of the lemon loaf, it’s a good idea to run it through a sifter or fine sieve first to remove any lumps.
How to make a Glazed Lemon Loaf:
The complete, printable recipe is at the end of this post. Here’s a brief overview of how to make it.
- Sift together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, cream the sugar and butter together. Add eggs, then mix in half of the dry ingredients, then the sour cream and then the rest of the dry ingredients. Lastly, add the lemon zest, fresh lemon juice and extract.
- Add the batter to the pan, and bake. Let cool.
PREPARE THE GLAZE:
In a medium bowl, whisk together the glaze ingredients. Drizzle the glaze on top of the loaf. Let it drip down the sides, as needed. Let the glaze harden, and then slice and serve.
Recipe Tips:
- Lemon juice and lemon extract are two different things. Lemon juice is squeezed from lemons. Lemon extract is made from lemon peel in alcohol, and it has a strong, zesty flavor. Lemon extract will give you a much stronger lemon flavor than using lemon juice alone. We added lemon extract into our glazed lemon loaf recipe to give it an extra oomph of lemon flavor.
- To make this recipe gluten free, substitute Cup4Cup brand gluten-free multipurpose flour for the all purpose flour. That’s the only brand we have tested, but other brands might work as well.
- To make a thicker glaze, use 1 cup of powdered sugar combined with 3 1/2 teaspoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice.
- It’s okay to leave the glaze off of this cake if you’re not into frosting. Then it’ll just be a delicious lemon loaf.
- For an extra lemony boost, add finely grated lemon zest to your glaze (or sprinkle it on top of the loaf).
Is this a copycat Starbucks Glazed Lemon Loaf Recipe?
Not exactly. The actual Starbucks lemon loaf is very moist and dense and has great lemon flavor. And you can feel pretty confident that it is packed with a huge amount of calories. So while this is not a copycat of the Starbucks lemon loaf, I believe that it’s actually much better. It has a tender crumb and is bursting with lemon flavor. It’s not a heavy, dense bread (like the Starbucks lemon bread), which I prefer. Serve a slice of this glazed lemon loaf with a copycat Starbucks mocha frappuccino!
What You’ll Love About This Lemon Bread:
- It is easy to transport and serve at someone else’s house.
- This is a homemade glazed lemon loaf. There is no boxed cake mix involved!
- It will be much cheaper to make this homemade glazed lemon loaf at home instead of buying the Starbucks lemon loaf.
How to store a Glazed Lemon Loaf:
This glazed lemon loaf will taste best if eaten within about 3 days. You can store it at room temperature in a sealed container (or well-wrapped in plastic wrap). It also freezes well. Wrap the loaf in plastic wrap and then drop it into a large freezer baggie. Freeze for up to 3 months. Individual slices may also be frozen in the same manner. Let defrost at room temperature when ready to eat.
Glazed Lemon Loaf
Ingredients
CAKE:
- 1½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1⅓ cups granulated white sugar
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- ⅔ cup sour cream, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
GLAZE:
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
PREPARE THE CAKE:
- Preheat the oven to 350℉. Spray an 8-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray.
- In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream the sugar and butter together for about 2 full minutes. Then mix in the eggs.
- Mix in half of the dry ingredients, then mix in the sour cream. Then mix in the rest of the dry ingredients as well as the lemon zest, lemon juice and lemon extract.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the pan from the oven, and let it cool for 15 minutes. Then turn the lemon loaf out onto a cooling rack. Let the loaf cool completely.
PREPARE THE GLAZE:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice. Drizzle the glaze on top of the loaf. Let it drip down the sides, as needed. Let the glaze harden, and then slice and serve.