Any time is a good time for cake, right? This lemon blueberry loaf is the perfect thing to bake when you’ve just got to have something bright, sweet, and utterly refreshing!
If you make blueberry bread with lemon glaze or without a glaze, the perfect combination of lemon zest to fresh (or frozen!) blueberries and just the right amount of sugar means you can have a piece with your coffee in the morning, as a mid-morning break at the office, or with a dollop of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream for dessert! Serve it with some honey butter for a decadent treat.
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Lemon blueberry loaf cake makes an excellent hostess gift, potluck offering or even a sweet gift for new parents!
Can You Bake Blueberries?
Blueberries love to be baked into nearly anything! Cakes, muffins, waffles, or pancakes – go for whole berries that aren’t broken or crushed so they burst in your mouth! And this lemon blueberry bread recipe will be a year round favorite!
Do Blueberries and Lemon Go Together?
They sure do! The sweet burst of blueberry flavor is perfectly accented by the tartness of lemon. Use real lemon zest and real lemon juice for the best flavors! Live a zesty life! I love using a zester to add so much flavor to baked goods!
How to Make Lemon Blueberry Bread
This easy lemon blueberry cake loaf is a snap to make as long as you have all of your ingredients ready to go!
- Preheat the oven and grease a loaf pan. Line it with parchment paper. Place the pan on the parchment paper and cut diagonally from the corner of the parchment to the pan corner. This helps the parchment fit easily in the pan and stay put. The parchment will overlap on the corners.
- Add a 1/2 Tablespoon to enough milk to make 1/2 cup and set aside.
- Whisk the dry ingredients together.
- Mix the sugar and lemon zest, then beat in the butter until it is fluffy. Add the eggs and the rest of the lemon juice. Beat well.
- Gently fold in the wet to the dry, keeping the mix barely moistened.
- Toss the blueberries with some flour to coat them. This is to prevent them from sinking to the bottom (see below).
- Add half the blueberries to the mix and pour half the mix gently into the loaf pan.
- Place the rest of the blueberries on top of the batter and add the rest of the batter.
- Bake 60 to 70 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Cool about 10 minutes and then turn out onto a cooling rack.
How Do You Keep Blueberries from Sinking Into A Cake?
The real trick here is to make sure they are whole and dry. If they are wet or broken, the liquid will make them sink. Gently tossing them in flour helps suspend them in the batter while it bakes as well. If you are making a blueberry lemon pound cake loaf, this is a perfect tip!
The kids love this (school safe) loaf in their lunches, along with some overnight oats. Enjoy this lemon blueberry loaf with a lovely fruit salad and a mimosa. What a perfect brunch! No matter when you serve (or eat) it, you’ll be very glad you did!
Lemon Blueberry Loaf
Ingredients
- 3 ½ Tablespoons lemon juice divided
- ½ cup milk
- 1 cup flour plus 2 teaspoons, divided
- ¾ cup whole wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- zest of 1 lemon
- ½ cup butter softened
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup blueberries plus more for garnish (optional)
- ½ cup powdered sugar sifted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 9x5 loaf pan and line with parchment paper (see note).
- Add ½ Tablespoon lemon juice to a measuring cup and add milk to reach ½ cup. Set aside and let rest 5-10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together 1 cup all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, and baking powder.
- Beat sugar and lemon zest for 30 seconds. Add butter and beat (using whisk attachment) for 3 minutes or until fluffy.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well mixed. Add 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice.
- Mix ⅓ of the flour mixture into butter mixture (on low or by hand). Add ½ of milk mixture (from step 2), remaining flour, and remaining milk mixture. Do not overmix.
- Toss blueberries with 2 teaspoons of flour. Fold half of blueberries into the batter and add half of the batter to the loaf pan.
- Sprinkle batter in the loaf pan with remaining blueberries and top with remaining batter.
- Bake for 60-70 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool for 10 minutes. Turn loaf onto a rack and remove parchment paper. Cool completely.
Lemon Glaze
- In a small bowl, whisk together powdered sugar and 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice. If needed, add ¼ teaspoon of water at a time (if needed) to reach desired consistency.
- Drizzle glaze on top of loaf and allow to set. Garnish with blueberries if desired.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information does not include optional ingredients or garnish and is an estimate. It may change based on actual ingredients and cooking methods used.
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Recipe slightly adapted from Canadian Living Blueberry Lemon Loaf
Can I just use all purpose flour and not whole wheat? Would this effect the portion size for the flour?
You sure can, no changes. Enjoy the loaf Lorraine!
It’s not clear what to add to the milk in step 2. I’m guessing lemon juice since it’s divided.
Add ½ Tablespoon to a measuring cup and add milk to reach ½ cup. Set aside and let rest 5-10 minutes.
Hi Jennifer, lemon juice is right, I’ve updated it. Thank you for letting me know!