This lemon bread is an easy citrus quick bread topped with a crunchy lemon glaze for a knock-your-socks-off tangy tea bread that everyone will love.
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We love all things lemon in this house and this lemon bread is seriously amazing! I love that it only uses pantry ingredients I always have on hand so I can whip it up if someone comes over last minute.
I think the best part is that crunchy topping though. My family loves the crunchy streusel topping on my pumpkin apple bread so I was sure they would love the crunchy lemon sugar on this lemon bread. I was right!
You'll also love our lemon zucchini bread, which also has a delicious lemony glaze on top.
Ingredients
Here are the simple ingredients you will need:
- butter
- granulated sugar
- fresh lemons
- eggs
- all-purpose flour
- baking powder
- milk
- salt
This is meant to be a brief overview of this great recipe. For step-by-step instructions and a full printable recipe card with ingredients, please scroll down to the teal box below or Jump to Recipe.
Instructions
- First, preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 9 by 5 loaf pan and line the bottom with parchment.
- Then, in a large bowl, beat lemon juice, butter, and sugar together until light and fluffy.
- After that, add eggs and beat until the mixture is blended.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Add half of the flour mixture to the egg mixture. Beat just until blended. Add milk and beat again. Repeat the process with the remaining flour and milk.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean.
- Remove bread from oven and allow to cool for about 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, combine lemon juice and sugar.
- After the bread has cooled for 15 minutes but is still warm, pour the glaze over the whole bread.
- Finally, let the bread soak up the glaze for 20-25 minutes before turning the bread out and cooling it on a wire rack.
Variations
Because we test all our recipes, we recommend that you make this delicious lemon bread once just as it is without substitutions or changes. Sometimes variations can go awry. Making our lemon bread recipe as we have tested it will yield the best results.
If you really want to get creative, here are some ideas for variations that might work well. (Please note, we have not tested these variations).
Instead of lemon juice and zest, try another citrus such as:
- orange
- grapefruit
- lime
For a super moist lemon bread, add 1 cup of sour cream or Greek yogurt and 1 extra teaspoon of baking powder.
Can I freeze the lemon bread?
Cooled bread can be frozen glazed for up to 3 months. For best results, wrap the lemon bread in plastic wrap and then store in a foil wrapping or a freezer Ziploc bag.
Before serving, remove the bread from the freezer, remove the wrappings, and allow it to come to room temperature before serving.
More Delicious Recipes
Lemon Bread with Glaze
Full of bright citrus flavor, this sweet quick bread is the perfect accompaniment to tea or for an afternoon snack.
If you enjoy this recipe, I'd love for you to give it 5 stars!
Lemon Bread
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Ingredients
- ⅓ cup butter softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 2 eggs
- 1 ½ cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup milk
Lemon glaze:
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ½ cup sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350-degrees F. Grease a 9 by 5 loaf pan and line the bottom with parchment.
- In a large bowl, beat lemon juice, butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.⅓ cup butter, 1 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons lemon juice, Zest of 1 lemon
- Add eggs and beat until mixture is blended.2 eggs
- In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients.1 ½ cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt
- Add half of the flour mixture to the egg mixture. Beat just until blended. Add milk and beat again.½ cup milk
- Add the remaining flour and beat just until blended. Add the remaining milk and beat until combined.
- Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean.
- Remove bread from oven and allow to cool for about 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, combine lemon juice and sugar.¼ cup lemon juice, ½ cup sugar
- After the bread has cooled for 15 minutes but is still warm, pour the glaze over the whole bread.
- Let the bread soak up the glaze for 20-25 minutes before turning the bread out and cooling on a wire rack.
Amy says
This looks so tasty!!!!