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!
Lemon Blueberry Bread Ingredients
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.
Really delicious recipe – though I did tweak it a bit. Mostly due to my husband’s egg intolerance plus I like chia seeds and butter! Used 1/4 cup of butter (1/2 stick) plus 1/4 cup of canola oil. Used “Red Mills” egg replacer in place of the 2 eggs – which you can get at places like Whole Foods (it’s tapioca and potato starch but when water is added it’s egg-like). Used more lemon zest – almost 2 lemons. (put the zest in the 1 cup of sugar and hand blended the sugar and zest as a way to bring out zest). Used only 1 teaspoon of vanilla not 2. And like I mentioned, I love Chia seeds – they’re very healthy and delicious (taste like poppy seeds only better!). I used about 1/4 cup of chia seeds and soaked them in a little Kefir (3 TBS) and then added them to the wet ingredients prior to adding flour mix. Used 9 x 5 loaf and had to bake longer – until about 70 minutes (middle was too wet at just 60 minutes). So incredibly delicious !! Thank you
How much more lemon juice or lemon zest should I add to enhance the lemon flavor a bit more? Thanks!
You can add the zest of another lemon to enhance the flavor more.
Lemon -blueberry bread..Absolutely delicious!! And easy. After making 6 or 8 batches/ I tried it with raspberries instead of the blue. Verdict is still out since it’s too hot yet to try. I will say this makes a better cake than bread, tho. I get 3 smalls out of one batch. I’ve given many as neighbor gifts here in our apartment complex. You nailed it! Compliments have been many.
I do have a question. I’m in my 80thdecade and have done afair amount of bakinf — mainly self taught..I’m still learning. Why the vanilla and lemon juice? I followed your recipe exactly and it’s really very good. I’m just curious.
Thanks again. Such a find!
Thank you, Charlotte! I typically add vanilla to baked goods just because it adds a little flavor. You could definitely leave it out of this recipe though!
I did 6 batches again this morning! 18 smalls. The raspberry turned out fine but they’re bigger than blueberries, so might want to add more than a cup. I did add some raspberry jam to the glaze for the raspberry loaf. Thanks again for this recipe. Excited to try more of your recipes.
Can I add lemon extract for a more lemoney flavor and how much would you suggest? Also can I use frozen blueberries, not thaw of course?
Thank you
You can add 1-2 teaspoons of lemon extract. Frozen blueberries will work just fine too, just be careful folding them into the batter.
Just found your site and have found lots of recipes I want to try … very excited!!
Hope it’s not a problem doubling the recipe for 2 loaves. Want to bring one to work and leave one home.
Recommendations?
It’s fine to double the recipe, just be careful not to over mix the batter at the end though.
Came out beautifully. I used a little less sugar, about 2/3 cup and frozen blueberries. Also added some chia seeds and drizzled with honey lemon juice instead of the glaze. Loving it!
Hi Danielle! With a few days left until Easter, and everyone at home, what a great time for cooking and baking! I want to make the lemon blueberry recipe in a mini loaf pan. What adjustments would you make in baking time? Thanking you in advance and Happy Easter/Passover.
Hi, Jennifer! It depends on the size of your mini loaf pans, but you’ll definitely want to decrease the baking time. I would guess they’ll take somewhere between 20-35 minutes.
Hi! Could I make these in muffin tins? If so, how long would I bake them for?
Yes, that would be fine! I would probably bake them for about 20 minutes.
Can’t wait to try! Do you think I could use an 8×4 inch loaf pan? Would you alter the recipe or bake time in any way?
That should be fine, but you’ll probably need to increase the baking time.
If you are thinking about making this recipe, MAKE IT! By far the BEST recipe I have made in the last month. It is perfect in every way, just sweet enough, just lemon-y enough, super moist and delicious. I will definitely be making this again soon. Thank you for this recipe Danielle!
I made this tonight and it is fabulous! Great recipe – clear instructions! I used a different glaze recipe with melted butter but followed the bread recipe exactly. What a delicious flavor. I’ll be making this again for sure. Thank you!! 🙂
A little to sweet for me, but really good. I do feel like this needs another egg, or possibly more baking powder. Just felt a little dense after just mixing enough to combine.
I agree. Next time I plan to use milk instead of yogurt
I am so excited to try this recipe but I don’t have plain greek yogurt or sour cream but I have Vanilla Greek Yogurt, can I use that instead? Thanks!
Yes, that’s fine!
Made this recipe last week – so delicious! I’m planning to make it again tomorrow but with mini loaf pans instead to share with family members. The pans are 5.75 x 3 in, so I think I’ll make 3 mini loaves. How do you recommend I adjust the oven temperature and baking time? Thanks!
So glad you enjoyed the bread! You can keep the oven temperature the same, but I would reduce the baking time.
I get 3 smalls from 1 batch. For the small disposable foil pans, 40 minutes seemed about right. I started with 35 minutes for the little larger metal pans.
I don’t have sour cream or Greek yogurt. Can I substitute with whole milk?
I haven’t tried it, but you probably could. I would probably only use 3/4 cup of milk, but it’s hard to say because I haven’t actually tested it.
Alright, y’all. I made this tonight and it is fantastic! I am allergic to dairy products so instead of using sour cream or Greek yogurt, I used Silk unsweetened almond milk yogurt alternative! Still turned out very good! My only semi-complaint is that it takes longer to bake than anticipated. I baked this for closer to 70 minutes, but it was worth it! Highly recommend and I will be making again!
Can you use a mix of blueberries, blackberries and strawberries?
Yes, that would be fine.
Can frozen blueberries be used? If so, would they need to be defrosted firsf?
Frozen blueberries are fine. I wouldn’t defrost them, just fold the frozen blueberries into the batter.
Made this a few times! I love it. I decreased the sugar a bit, and still sweet and delicious
I made this recipe today for my dairy-free granddaughters and son-in-law, for breakfast tomorrow. I cut a heel off to taste it, and it was fantastic! I used tofutti sour cream, (non dairy) and tweaked the amount of lemon juice to a quarter cup. It came out perfect and looked exactly like your picture. Nice and lemony, moist and buttery tasting, like pound cake. My family will be in for a treat in the morning! Thanks for this recipe. It’s a keeper.
LOVED this recipe! I’ve had some frozen blueberries in my freezer since picking them last summer and really wanted to bake something delicious with them. I’m not normally a lemon fan but a lemon-blueberry loaf just sounded delicious.
Made a double batch to gift to my MIL and SIL for Mother’s Day and was SO pleased with the outcome, so much so I made an extra loaf yesterday for hubs and I to enjoy.
The texture is beautiful and moist (I can’t stand dry baked goods), the blueberries didn’t sink to the bottom, and the lemon flavor was well balanced.
I loved this recipe so much I just hand wrote it in my recipe book I’m keeping with all my favorites I discover over the years (with credit given so I can always come back to the blog to search for more recipes and so I don’t forget).
Not normally one to write reviews either for recipes but I’m trying to give good feedback on recipes I really enjoy. Thanks so much for this one!
I made this loaf for my husband as he was craving something lemony…. Its beautiful. Not too sweet, a hint of blueberry and the freshness of lemon is perfect. I added some lemon zest to the glaze and it was amazing. I will definitely make this again. And again….. And again….. Thank you!
Okay this recipe is honestly amazing. The texture of the loaf is phenomenal – so delicious. I used Greek yogurt instead of sour cream and cut the icing recipe in half to try and cut down on the sugar. Make this, you won’t regret it!
I hope that you are right! What kind of oil did you use? I also used Greek yogurt.
First, I would like to say do NOT use coconut oil unless it is already liquified. We had the cold pressed cocount oil and I melted it before using it but as soon as it hit the cold eggs, it coagulated, leaving me with a very lumpy batter. It’s baking now, but im not sure that it will turn out ok, sadly.
I’ve made a lot of lemon blueberry bread, varying which recipe I use each time. We’ll see
I also don’t want the nuts.
If you use melted coconut oil, you’ll want to make sure your other ingredients area at room temperature, since coconut oil does solidify when cold. I hope it still turned out okay for you though!
hi!! I want to try this recipe but can I use Honey instead of sugar?
I honestly haven’t tried it, so I’m not quite sure. Honey is quite different from granulated sugar though and much sweeter so it would likely affect the texture and taste of the bread.
This bread is sooo good! I used bottled lemon juice and no zest and it was delicous! The bread had a nice rise and moist crumb. I will make it again and again!
Just made this today for my family (I can’t eat it due to food restrictions but man, it looks/smells good!). Quick question – I bake a lot of cookies, brownies, cakes etc but not many loaf recipes. My loaf is a little bit sunken in the middle. Not much but the glaze is pooling there a bit. I followed the recipe word for word. Is this just a thing that can happen sometimes? It’s most definitely fully baked, the color is beautiful and it feels moist but firm.
Hi, Victoria! Was the center sunk when you took it out of the oven? If so, it could be that the batter was a bit over mixed – which can incorporate more air into the batter and cause it to fall. It could also be the baking powder you used, have you tested it to make sure it’s still fresh?
Turned out perfectly! I made it for my dad for Father’s Day and it was a hit! All the instructions were so clear and helpful. I did have to tent the cake closer to the end of its baking time but it was perfect! Only changes I made were adding the zest of two lemons to make it a little more lemony and I added 1/4 tsp of vanilla to my glaze! All and all amazing recipe, will definitely be making it again soon! Thanks for the recipe Danielle! 🙂
I baked for nearly 75 minutes and but the batter was still sticking to my fork… If I want to bake this in muffin tins, what would the temperature and time be?
Hi, Jessica! It definitely shouldn’t take that long to bake, have you checked your oven temperature with an oven thermometer? You can bake these into muffins at the same temperature for about 20 minutes, give or take a few minutes.