This Blueberry Lemon 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 blueberry lemon 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!
To make the bread, you’ll start out by whisking together some flour, baking powder, and salt. When it comes to measuring your flour for this bread, you want to avoid scooping it out of the container. Instead, 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.
For the wet ingredients, you’ll be using some oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla, lemon juice and zest, and sour cream. You can use any kind of oil that you prefer, but the best options are canola, vegetable, or melted coconut oil. 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!
Then, 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.
Baking Tips For Blueberry Lemon Bread
- 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.
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 350 degrees. Spray a 9x5 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 two 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.
Notes
Lightly adapted from Betty Crocker
More lemon blueberry recipes to try!
Mini Lemon Blueberry Cheesecakes
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!
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.
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.
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.
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 🙂
Thanks, i got the recipe il try it out on my free time, eager to have a nice bread
Hope you enjoy the bread!
My daughter and I made this tonight. It came out so tasty.
So glad you liked the bread, Lara!
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.
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.
AMAZING! Love the flour tip.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
Omg! This recipe was so easy and delicious. I used cake flour and frozen blueberries.
It turned out scrumptious!
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.
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!
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!!!
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.
Could I make this recipe using a tray of mini loaf pans ?
Yes, absolutely! You’ll just need to reduce the baking time.
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👍
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.
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.
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 🙂
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.
Love this recipe! I use lemon Greek yogurt to add a little more lemony flavor.
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.