This Lemon Blueberry Bread is super moist, easy to make, and topped with a delicious lemon glaze. Perfect for breakfast or dessert!
While it’s almost time to start breaking out the apple and pumpkin recipes, I can’t help but want to keep baking with fresh fruit. Especially when it’s something as delicious as this lemon blueberry bread.
I originally published the recipe for this bread when I first started my blog in 2014. While the recipe is still the same, I wanted to update the post with better pictures and reshare it with you because this is still a recipe that I absolutely adore.
Aside from the fact that this bread is SO delicious, it’s also simple to make too. You don’t need even need a mixer to make it and it only takes about 15 minutes to prepare and get into the oven!
What You’ll Need For This Recipe
This lemon blueberry loaf comes together with a handful of pantry staples, and it’s topped with a tangy lemon glaze icing. Here’s what we’ll need to make this lemon blueberry dessert:
- All-purpose flour: Stir the flour around, spoon it into your measuring cup, and level it off with the back of a knife. If you scoop the flour from the container, it can become packed inside the measuring cup and you can end up with too much flour, which means a denser loaf of bread.
- Baking powder: Helps this lemon blueberry loaf rise.
- Salt: Enhances the lemon flavor and balances out the sweetness of the batter.
- Oil: You can use any kind of oil that you prefer, but the best options are canola, vegetable, or melted coconut oil.
- Granulated sugar: Sweetens the bread and balances out the lemon juice.
- Sour cream: Along with the oil, the sour cream also provides moisture which helps keep this bread from drying out. If you don’t have any sour cream, then plain Greek yogurt works fine too!
- Eggs: Helps bind the batter together.
- Lemon juice and zest: Freshly squeezed lemon juice is best. To get more juice out of your lemons, roll them on the counter before cutting them in half.
- Vanilla extract: Adds flavor. Pure vanilla extract is best.
- Blueberries: You can use fresh or frozen blueberries. Just be sure to toss them in a little flour so they don’t sink to the bottom of the loaf.
- Confectioners’ sugar: Used to make a smooth glaze.
How to Make Lemon Blueberry Bread
To make the bread, you’ll start out by whisking together some flour, baking powder, and salt. For the wet ingredients, you’ll be using some oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla, lemon juice and zest, and sour cream.
Mix together the wet and dry ingredients until they’re just combined. Toss your blueberries with a little bit of flour and gently fold them in.
Then, just bake the bread and let it cool while you make the glaze, which is just a simple mixture of powdered sugar and lemon juice. The glaze is optional, but this bread isn’t super lemony so it adds a little more lemon flavor.
FAQ’s
How Do I Store This Bread?
Store this lemon blueberry bread in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. This bread will also freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, and bring to room temperature before serving.
Can I Use Frozen Blueberries?
Yes, but you’ll need to add them to the batter frozen (do not thaw). Note that this may increase the bake time by a few minutes.
Baking Tips
- When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it out of the container with your measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour around, spoon it into your measuring cup, and level it off with the back of a knife.
- Make sure to mix your wet and dry ingredients together until just combined. You want to avoid overmixing the batter, otherwise, it can lead to a denser loaf of bread.
- Make sure to sure to toss the blueberries with 1-2 teaspoons of flour. This will help keep the berries suspended in the batter and prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the bread.
More Blueberry Recipes to Try!
- Mini Lemon Blueberry Cheesecakes
- Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes
- Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake
- Baked Lemon Blueberry Donuts
- Blueberry Crumb Bars
Blueberry Lemon Bread with Lemon Glaze
Ingredients
Blueberry Lemon Bread:
- 2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) oil (coconut, vegetable, or canola)
- 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (230 grams) sour cream (or plain Greek yogurt)
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) fresh lemon juice
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup (150 grams) blueberries + 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
Lemon Glaze:
- 1 cup (120 grams) confectioners sugar
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) fresh lemon juice (use more or less as needed)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Spray a 9x5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the oil, sugar, sour cream, eggs, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla extract until fully combined. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
- In a separate bowl, toss the blueberries with the 2 teaspoons of flour. Then, fold the blueberries into the batter.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If needed, cover loosely with foil for the last 10-15 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 loaf pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the glaze:
- Once the bread has cooled, whisk together the confectioners' sugar and lemon juice. Start with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and whisk well. If your mixture is too thick, slowly add up to one more tablespoon of 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.
- Using a spoon, drizzle the glaze on top of the bread and spread it around. The glaze should harden up a little more after about 15-20 minutes.
This is soooo delicious! I can’t stop slicing myself pieces!
I have made it twice, one for a gift. Making two again today. Perfect as is! Delicious! My husband loves it!
I, too, made two loaves, one as a gift, because it’s so beautiful! It really looks like a gift. I loved it. My only comment is that I wish nutrition info were included.
I wanted to mention, I added frozen fruit medly which included strawberries, kiwis, and bananas. The bright fruit and yellow bread looked like jewels!
I add 1.5 teaspoons of lemon extract and it is amazing!! I will make this forever 🙂
Checked three times that it required 2 tsp of baking powder. I should’ve followed my instincts — was too much…I could taste it and it ruined an otherwise beautiful loaf.
Sorry the bread didn’t turn out well for you, Barbara. A general rule of thumb when baking is to use 1 teaspoon of baking powder per cup of flour, so 2 teaspoons isn’t too much. Are you sure you didn’t use baking soda by mistake? Baking soda is much stronger than baking powder and you would definitely taste it.
Maybe there is a difference in electric stove to gas but this recipe which I followed exactly is enough for 2 loaves. Knowing better, I put the full loaf pan in the oven and now the bottom of my oven is covered in batter. It rose right out of the pan. Once my oven cools down enough to clean I will split what’s left into 2 pans and see what I get!
Does this recipe make two loaves or one? A person commented that she made one loaf and it over flowed all over the bottom of her oven.
It makes one loaf in a 9×5 loaf pan. I’ve never had any issues with it overflowing in that size pan either.
I followed the ingredients and used plain greek yogurt. My batter was not consistency to pour. I used frozen blieberries. I folded my berries in too much as my batter was blue. What did I do wrong? Added too much flour possibly, because I didnt spoon it in the measuring cup. I scooped it in then levelled off the flour.
If you scooped your flour from the container, you likely ended up with too much and that’s why the batter was too thick. If you make the recipe again, I highly suggest spooning and leveling your flour.
Hi Danielle, can i use regular plain yogurt? I don’t buy greek yogurt.
Yes, that would be fine!
I made this today and it turned out wonderfully! The blueberries didn’t sink in the batter, and the cake was moist and delicious! I made the mistake of removing it from the pan to early and it broke in half, but that’s on me and my impatience.
This recipe is, hands down, the best one yet. I substituted huckleberries for blueberries a few times too. Definitely at the top of my loaf list 🙂
This recipe is the best bread ever. Just changed one thing, I added chopped walnuts and it is the best.
What a great recipe! Easy, delicious, and looks impressive! Thank you Danielle … looking forward to trying more of your recipes!
Can I bake this in a square pan? If so, do I need to change the amount of time I leave it in for? Thank you!
I think that would be fine! I’m not sure on baking time, but you may need to reduce it if you use a square pan.
I also just tried this recipe today and it was really great – i also added extra lemon juice cause i love citrus flavors! but it was so moist and the blue berries didt sink!! i went a little lighter on the glaze but oh man so good!
So great. Multi-generational family of 7 loved it, twice! Second time around I used fruity olive oil and it was super as well. Also, I think that makes it healthy. Totally correct, right?
Could you bake in mini loaf pans for gifts?
Yes, that would be fine! You would need to decrease the baking time though.
My baking has not been up to par lately. Not sure if it is everything going on in the world and I’m just not into it or what. But found fresh blueberries on sale and remembered seeing your recipe for this bread so decided to give it a go. Without a doubt a perfectly moist and flavorful bread. I love lemon and blueberry together and this is well blended. I did bake this in three small loaf pans, as I wanted to share with neighbors. All three rose lovely and browned nicely at 50 minutes. Thanks again for another great recipe Danielle. You never let me down. Cindy.
Thank you, Cindy! So happy the bread turned out great for you!
Can anyone recommend how much to bake these as mini-loaves?
Hi, Jen! The baking time will just depend on the size of your mini loaf pans, but you will need to reduce the baking time.
This is the best recipe ever! Second time making it and it’s great. I used Greek plain yogurt instead of sour cream. This will be my go to. I am eating way too much of it.
I made this tonight for the first time and it was delicious! This is sure to become a family favorite! 🙂
Can I use a stick of butter melted instead of the oil? I’m not the best baker but I’m used to using that in the banana bread I make. I certainly don’t want to ruin it tho. Thanks in advance!
I think it would be fine.
I’ve only 100 grams of blueberries in the house.Would it be worth going ahead anyways..?
Yes, that would be fine!
I’d love to make this but I don’t have any lemons at the moment 🙁 would it still work to use bottled / concentrate lemon juice?
Yes, bottled lemon juice would be fine.
I made this in four small (3×5) pans and baked for 35 minutes. Because I didn’t want to put the glaze on, the bread needed to be extra lemony, so I used the zest from two lemons and the juice from 1 1/2, which was just under 1/4 cup. After removing the loaves from the oven, I set the timer for 10 minutes to see if they were ready to come out of the pans. They came out perfectly. This bread is very moist and delicious! Thank you!
this bread was delicious and moist. i had to keep it in the oven for longer than it said, and cover the top with aluminum foil due to the extra time. so don’t be scared if it’s not done in time. but once cooked it was pretty great
I was craving lemon blueberry cake and found this recipe, which was PERFECT! So delicious, perfectly lemon-y, sweet but still tart. It did take me 70 min to cook.
This cake was amazing! I buttered instead of sprayed my glass loaf pan. I used avocado oil, bottled lemon juice and I was 1/4 cup short of sour cream so I added kefir to make up the difference. I did have to bake it about 10 minutes longer due to oven temp variance. My husband loves it and my grandbaby, who doesn’t care for citrus flavors gobbled it up. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe!
This loaf is moist, not overwhelmingky lemony, and delicious. I was short by about 1/3 of a cup on the Greek yogurt so I added 1/3 cup of mascarpone, which added another layer of flovour to the loaf. I skipped the glaze altogether; the loaf already has a full cup of sugar, after all.
I used frozen blueberries and I baked the loaf for around 70 minutes, pulling it out of the oven just when the cake tester came out clean.
Thanks for another great recipe, Danielle!
I’ve made this a few times with sour cream and Greek yoghurt and it’s been a favourite!
I’m now making it for a gluten-free friend… can anyone please help with what flour to substitute with instead? I really don’t want to ruin it!
So glad you loved the recipe! I haven’t tried it with a gluten-free flour yet. If you’ve had success substituting a certain brand of gluten-free flour 1:1 for all purpose in other recipes, it may work in this one.
Can this recipe be used to make as cupcakes?
Yes, you can bake it into 12 muffins! The baking time should be around 20 minutes.
I just made this recipe and WOW! I absolutely love it! The sweet punch of the lemon glaze goes so well with the blueberries and I had to stop myself from eating a third piece! I did end up having to use the yogurt instead of sour cream and applesauce instead of oil. Other than that and an extra handful of blueberries I stuck to the recipe! Definitely saving this one, thank you so much!
I’ve made this a few times now. I don’t like eggs, so I sub with flax eggs. Just before I combine wet and dry ingredients I add frozen blueberries to the flour mixture. Great recipe and super easy. A favourite in my house.
Can you double the recipe and cook in a tube pan?
Yes, that would be fine! Or you can use my lemon blueberry bundt cake recipe here.
I followed the recipe exactly and made it without the glaze. It came put absolutely perfect. Looking forward to trying a very similar cranberry orange bread recipe tomorrow!!
This blueberry lemon loaf is awesome. I doubled the recipe and made two full loaves and one small loaf. The small loaf is what I refer to as my tester loaf because i test everything I bake. I followed the directions exactly other than I ran out of sour cream and so just added in a mix of sour cream and yogurt, Next time I will probably add a bit more lemon zest and Lemon juice but other than that, it was perfect. Light, fluffy and absolutely delicious. I used fresh blueberries and it worked very well. Thank you for this fabulous recipe. It will be a staple in our home for sure.