Lemon Blueberry Bread is made in 1 bowl with fresh blueberries, lemon zest, and a bright lemon and vanilla glaze. It’s a perfect summer dessert!
The fresh combination of plump blueberries and bright lemon come together to make this delightful Lemon Blueberry Bread. So soft and moist, every bite of the vanilla and lemon-glazed vegan loaf tastes just like summer! I think you’re really going to love this.
This vegan one-bowl sweet bread couldn’t be easier to make. Simply fold the blueberries and lemon into the batter, then sit back while you sip on a mango smoothie and wait for it to bake.
Dressed in a creamy and zesty lemon and vanilla glaze, this vegan lemon blueberry loaf could easily be turned into vegan muffins. The combination is always a refreshing and bright start to your day!
Fresh or frozen blueberries
Both fresh and frozen blueberries can be used in this lemon blueberry bread. If you use fresh berries, look for blueberries that are plump and without any bruises. Blueberries come into season in summer, usually from June until September.
If using frozen berries, rinse them well and pat dry with a paper towel. Toss them in flour before folding them into the dough to prevent them from leaking their color too much or sinking to the bottom.
How to make a lemon blueberry loaf
Once your loaf pan is ready and your oven is preheating, whisk the wet ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the same bowl and stir until just combined. Toss the blueberries in a bit of flour before folding them into the batter.
Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let the bread cool in the pan before transferring it to a rack to cool completely.
Finish by whisking all of the glaze ingredients in a small bowl. Pour it over the completely cooled lemon blueberry bread and leave it to set before slicing and serving.
Tips and substitutions
- Less sweet – Use just half a cup of sugar for a less sweet bread.
- Non dairy milk – Any non dairy milk will work in this bread!
- Different berries – Substitute the blueberries for fresh or frozen raspberries, blackberries, or strawberries.
- Tossing the berries in flour keeps them suspended in the bread. Don’t skip this part!
- Don’t over mix the dough or your bread will be dense.
Can it be made gluten free?
I haven’t tested this recipe with gluten free flour. If you want to try, use a 1:1 gluten free flour blend instead of all purpose flour.
Storing and freezing
Keep your glazed and cooled lemon blueberry bread at room temperature for a few days. It stays fresh for a bit longer when kept covered in a container in the fridge.
The loaf is freezer friendly but will need to be wrapped well in plastic wrap and foil to avoid freezer burn. It freezes well for up to 3 months.
Looking for more summery vegan desserts?
Lemon Blueberry Bread
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup unsweetened soy milk
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons fresh grated lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons lemon extract, optional
- 1/2 cup melted vegan butter
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries or frozen
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
Glaze
- 2 tablespoons melted vegan butter
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a standard metal loaf pan (9×5 inches or 8 1/2x 4 1/2). You can also line the pan with parchment paper for easy removal, but I like the golden edges it gets without lining it.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the soy milk, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, lemon extract (if using), melted vegan butter and vanilla until well combined.
- To the bowl with the wet ingredients, add the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir until just combined, being careful not to over mix or your bread will be dense.
- Rinse the blueberries, then toss them with the flour in a small bowl. This will help them not sink to the bottom of the pan while baking.
- Fold the blueberries into the batter, gently.
- Pour into the prepared pan, place in the center rack of the oven and bake for 60-75 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean with no wet batter.
- Cool in the pan for about 30 minutes, then carefully remove from the pan and transfer to a cooling rack with parchment paper below (to catch the glaze drippings).
- Glaze: In a small bowl, whisk together the melted vegan butter, powdered sugar, lemon juice and vanilla until smooth. Pour over the loaf and allow to set for 20-30 minutes if possible. Slice and serve.
Video
Notes
- I haven’t tested this with gluten free flour, so I’m not sure if it will work or not. Use a quality gluten free all purpose mix for best results.
- You could go down to probably ½ cup sugar for a less sweet bread.
- You can use any non-dairy milk you like place of the soy milk.
- This would also work well with raspberries or even chopped strawberries.
So delicious!!! My husband is really excited to take a big slice to work tomorrow morning for breakfast. Your recipes never disappoint. ❤️
Thank you so much for your wonderful review!
this is delicious and it has a good fluffy texture 🙂 i’ve made this 3 times now and it tasted good even when i forgot the sugar one time. nora cooks always comes through
I’m thrilled you loved the bread (even without the sugar 😉 )! Thank you so much for your feedback and review!
So delicious! I made this bread with coconut milk and coconut oil and did not make a glaze. We LOVED IT. Today is my 2nd time making it. We loved it so much I’m doubling the recipe to fill a bundt pan and changed to Smart Balance in place of the previous coconut oil (trying to cut back on the saturated fats). Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe!
You are welcome, Susie! I’m thrilled you love the bread! Thanks for taking time to share your awesome review and feedback! Happy baking!
I made this for first time and it is delicious!!! My family enjoyed too. I have made many of Nora’s recipes and they are always spectacular!!!!! I skipped the frosting as bread already pretty sweet. Love, love, love!!!!!
I’m thrilled you loved the bread! I appreciate you using my recipes! Thank you for sharing your fabulous review and feedback!
Loved this loaf but now I would love to try this recipe as a cake if possible, would this fit in one 8inch cake pan or 2?
You can try baking the cake in two 8-inch round pans.
Truly an excellent recipe which turned out amazing and will be a keeper for us to enoy and when we entertain as special breakfast treat and a dessert! I’m a lemon lover and used the entire zest of large lemon which was 4.5 tsp and squeezed an additional half a lemon in the batter and found it delightfully lemony and not too tart. Next loaf, I will reduce the sugar in half as it was a bit too sweet for us but still amazing! By reading your comments Nora, which I do whenever I use a new recipe, the additional 2 Tbsp of flour direction was very clear and did make my frozen organic blueberries disperse nicely in the bread and kept them from leaking juice into the batter.
Thank you for creating a most excellent recipe and sharing this! I use of lot of your recipes and have founds ALL of them amazing. Thank you Nora for sharing your creative culinary skills with your fellow vegans!
Hi Paula. Your kind words are inspiring! I appreciate you! Thanks for taking time to share your fantastic feedback and review! I’m thrilled you love the bread!
Could I make this oil free?
You could try subbing applesauce or vegan yogurt for the vegan butter, but they might make the cake more dense and a bit gummy. Haven’t tried it though!
So excited to make this for easter this weekend!! I’ve loved every recipe of yours so far!
Is it possible to make it in a Bundt pan?
I can’t wait for you to try it! You could make it in a bundt pan but you might want to double the recipe to fill the pan with more batter. It should also need to be baked for around 35 to 45 minutes.
Thanks Nora!! I made two loaves this weekend and everyone (all non-vegans) loved it and kept raving about it! I always get that kind of praise any time I’m serving up one of your recipes.
Will try in a Bundt pan for another event next weekend 🙂
Looooved it. I made it gluten free with King Arthur all purpose gf flour but kept everything else the same and it came out AMAZING. Thanks so much for a delightful and convenient recipe!
Hi Margo. You are welcome. I appreciate your fabulous feedback and review! Thank you for sharing!
I used gluten free flour and it turned out perfectly. I will be using this recipe again and again
Awesome! Thank you for sharing your great feedback! Happy baking!
Might honestly be the most delicious dessert recipe I’ve ever made, THANK YOU! So easy and flavorful!
Yummy! I finished this 🍋 loaf yesterday and enjoyed every crumb. The small changes I made were adding more zest to the loaf and omitting the lemon extract. Added zest to the glaze and omitted the butter. A moist loaf with some density, in a good way–like a pound cake. Thinking about making it with other fruits (🍑, 🍎, 🍊) and flavors (maple, cinnamon, ginger).
Hi Sandra. I’m thrilled you loved the bread! Let me know how it turns out if you try it with different fruits! Thanks for sharing your great feedback and review!
Wonderful! I agree about specifying the instructions (for the flour that goes on the blueberries) as that wasn’t clear. But this recipe was incredibly flavorful, loved it!
Any particular brands of vegan butter and lemon extract you recommend?
Not really, I use a variety. I like Miyoko’s butter the best but it’s often expensive or I can’t find it, so I use Country Crock, Earth Balance, Melt, whatever I can find. And usually generic lemon extract from my local store. Thanks!
Could I sub canola oil for the melted butter?
Yes, you can. It might not be as buttery flavored, but it should work.
This bread is the BEST! I have made it several times for family and friends!! Thank you for the recipe. QUESTION: Can you use coconut butter in lieu of vegan butter?
I’m so glad you like it, Justine! I don’t think coconut butter would work the same as vegan butter, however, coconut OIL should work. Hope this helps!
Made this today, and it turned out great! Your directions were spot on, and the only difficulty in the preparation was zesting 2 Tablespoons worth of lemons. Worth it though, and will use the extra naked lemon in my dinner tonight 🙂 Also, I did use the optional lemon extract because the more lemony the better!
Hi Elaine. I’m so pleased that your bread turned out great! I agree with you on the lemony! Thanks for taking time to share your terrific feedback!
I made this recipe but baked as mini loaves for Christmas presents. They were delicious! I followed the recipe except for only using 1/2 tbsp of lemon zest as I’m lazy. So far, this is my absolute favorite vegan dessert! Nora was also quick to respond to my question regarding baking time!
Do you know how long I should bake using mini loaf pans?
They should need to bake for about 30 to 40 minutes, but check them at the 30-minute mark just in case.
Great Recipe! The taste is amazing!
I’m so glad you love it! Thanks for your great feedback and review!
Are there any recipe adjustments for high altitude?
I’m unsure of the exact changes, but you’ll likely need to reduce the baking powder and sugar, and increase the liquid and oven temperature. This baking chart should help!
How long would I bake this as a 6-inch round?
I would use two 6-inch cake pans as there may be too much batter for just one pan. They should need to bake for about 18-22 minutes.
This bread is amazing. I love the lemon glaze and the blueberries. I used frozen blueberries, rinsed and coated in flour and it turned out great. Total cook time for me in a clear glass bread pan was 65 minutes. The only bad part is waiting for the bread to cool and then waiting again for the glaze to set. It smells wonderful as it is cooking.
One thing I think should be changed for clarity in the recipe is to specify that the two tbsp of flour are for the berries and the two cups are for the mixture. Seems obvious but just in case, I saw one review where someone missed the two cups and just used the two tbsp total.
One thing I’d do differently next time is cut the bread prior to drizzling the frosting, because quite a bit of the drizzle is wasted dripping off the bread onto the parchment paper. This would allow more even coverage and less waste. I ended up scooping a lot off the parchment paper and reapplying it to the load a few times and that kind of worked.
Hi Nora
Quick question: can this be made a normal cake? If yes, which cake pan do you recommend using?
Thanks so much!
Hi Sara. Yes, you can try baking the cake in a 9-inch round pan or 8-inch square pan for about 30-35 minutes.
Great. Thank you so much!!!
Can you use oat milk instead of soy?
Yes, you can! Happy baking!
My husband and I love this bread so much we call it his “happy bread”. Ive made 3 loaves in the last 5 days to share with family. Everyone has loved it!
That is so awesome and fun! Thank you for sharing your wonderful feedback! I’m thrilled everyone loves the bread!
I have made this recipe into muffins and they taste/smell amazing! The fruit needs to be chopped up much smaller as it sunk the muffins, but they still taste fab!
This bread is so good as muffins! Thanks for your wonderful feedback! I’m glad you loved the recipe!