Who remembers the Starbucks lemon loaf with the sugary glaze? A slice of this bread was the best way to end a trip to the mall with my mom. I’ve always wanted to recreate it, and now, here it is!
There are a couple discrepancies that you will have to decide when making this loaf. First: if you want more of a spongecake consistency, use all purpose flour. If you want it to be a bit more dense, use bread flour. Both are good. Just watch your loaf in the oven closely and be sure to use the knife test!
Second: the glaze. The Starbucks lemon loaf has a very thick, white glaze that solidifies on the top of the loaf. But here’s the thing. You need A LOT of powdered sugar to make that happen. There is already a whole cup of sugar in the loaf and I just wanted a sticky glaze with less sugar on top. BUT, if you want a really thick glaze, just up the powdered sugar. I used 1/4 cup, but you might need 2/3 cup instead.
Make the lemon loaf
Ok, I don’t think this section needs to exist. This loaf is easy. Make sure the butter is room temp so it creams together with the sugar well. Then we basically add in our eggs, lemon zest and juice, and juice concentrate. I used the concentrate to beef up the lemon power in this, but you can swap in more lemon juice or leave it out. It won’t affect the bake either way.
Then, we add in the rest of the ingredients and it’s ready to go!
Make the glaze
Like I said before, figure out how much powdered sugar you want. If you want a thick glaze, double or even triple the recommended amount below. And DON’T drizzle it on your loaf until it has completely cooled! Otherwise it will be a soupy mess.
And it’s ready to eat! If you want more dessert recipes, try my Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake or my Cookie Monster Cookies.
Lemon Loaf
Equipment
- Standard bread pan, 9 x 5
- electric mixer
- large bowl
Ingredients
Lemon Loaf
- 1½ cups bread flour (or all purpose flour)
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- zest and juice of one lemon
- 2 tbsp lemon juice concentrate optional
- ¼ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup almond milk or regular milk
Glaze
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp almond milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a bread pan with parchment paper, or grease it with butter followed by a layer of flour.
- In a large bowl, beat the sugar and butter together for 1-2 minutes until well combined and soft. Then add in the eggs, vanilla extract, lemon zest and juice. Add the lemon concentrate if you have it. Mix together on medium speed until well combined.
- Add in the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Beat again on low speed until all the batter comes together. Then add your sour cream and almond milk. Mix once more just until the batter is well combined. It should still be wet with some structure, not super runny.
- Pour the batter into your pan and spread out evenly with a spoon. Bake for 35-45 minutes, until the batter has set and does not appear jiggly. A knife should come out clean when inserted in the middle. The edges will have browned a bit.
- To make the glaze, mix together the powdered sugar, lemon juice and almond milk. To make it thicker and sweeter, add more powdered sugar to your liking.
- Once the lemon loaf is completely cool, remove from the pan. With a spoon, pour the glaze on top carefully, ensuring that the whole top is covered. Top with additional lemon slices if desired.
