Love citrus in every way, shape and form? Then look no further than this sweet and tangy Glazed Lemon Bread that marries a refreshing citrus flavor with a super-moist texture into one perfectly sliceable loaf.
This simple recipe does double duty as either a breakfast treat or an afternoon snack. It’s dense and buttery like a pound cake but moist and tender like everyone’s favorite quickbread. (Looking at you, banana bread!) Just imagine a cake-slash-bread hybrid that’s doused with lemon glaze for the perfect balance of sweet and sour flavors.
In need of more quickbread inspiration? Don’t miss recipes for Chocolate Swirl Banana Bread, Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread, Pumpkin Bread and more fast and flavorful favorites.
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Ingredients
For the bread:
- 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest
For the glaze:
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice (adjust to taste)
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
Instructions
Make the bread:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9x5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper (leaving an overhang on the two longer sides) then grease the parchment paper lightly with cooking spray.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating between each addition.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, lemon juice and lemon zest. Alternately add the flour mixture and the buttermilk mixture to the stand mixer, beating between each addition. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake it for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Remove the bread from the oven and allow it to cool for 15 minutes in the pan. Using the parchment paper overhangs, transfer the bread to a cooling rack, remove the parchment paper and allow the bread to cool completely before topping it with the glaze (recipe follows).
Make the glaze:
- Sift the confectioners’ sugar into a small bowl then stir in the lemon zest. Start by whisking 2 tablespoons of lemon juice into the sugar until you have a smooth, pourable glaze. If the glaze is still too thick, stir in more lemon juice 1 teaspoon at a time until it reaches a pourable consistency.
- Pour the glaze atop the completely cooled bread. Allow the bread to sit for 30 minutes before slicing and serving.
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Nutrition
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Recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour.
Can you use coconut oil instead of butter?
Hi Leigh – I’ve never tried that but it *should* work!
Does it matter if the buttermilk is low fat or whole?
Either will work!
I made this yesterday and it is dense, moist and flavorful!
Can i make it without lemon zest?
Hi Jean! The zest highlights the citrus flavor of the bread, you could leave it out but the taste won’t be the same.
Could this be made gluten free I love love lemon but need gluten free if so what would I use. Thank you
Hi Patsy! You could try using a gluten-free flour such as Cup4Cup that’s a 1:1 ratio as regular flour. I’ve never tried this so I’m not sure what the result would be. Let me know if you give it a shot!
Hi Kelly!
This cake/bread looks so yummy! Is it possible to substitute lemon for orange.? Thank you! :)
Kind regards
Sara
That should work, Sara! Enjoy :)
I’ve made it about 100 times and everytime is just delicious!!!can i use the same recipe and make cupcakes?
So glad you’ve been enjoying the recipe, Eleni! And I haven’t used this recipe to make cupcakes so I’m not sure what the result would be. Let me know how they turn out if you try it!
I made this today and it turned out great. It’s a heavy cake/bread with a nice lemon flavor. It really needs the glaze. I made a little extra to cover the bread well. Also, I was lazy and didn’t want to break out the Kitchenade so I just used my hand mixer. It worked fine. The butter and sugar didn’t get as fluffy as maybe they could have but the bread is cooked evenly through and rose as expected. There’s snow on the ground here but this bread tastes like spring!
So glad you enjoyed the recipe, Phil!
Looks delish! Can this be made in bread machine?
Thanks so much, Hedy! This is more of a stir-and-bake pound cake so I’m not sure if it’d work in a bread machine, as I’ve never used one with this recipe.