If you like Starbucks Lemon Loaf, you will love this VEGAN copycat lemon loaf! This recipe is easy to make, loaded with lemon flavor and topped with a delicious lemon glaze.
If you find yourself standing in the line at Starbucks in front of the pastry case, staring longingly at that glazed lemon loaf, then this recipe is for you! Anyone else wish Starbucks would get some vegan pastries already? I know sometimes they have salads that are vegan, and maybe some snacks, but can I get a vegan scone or muffin with my coffee, PLEASE?
I did several trial runs to perfect this vegan lemon loaf. My first several tries were delicious, but they didn’t have that pound cake quality I was going for. Instead, they were light and fluffy, like a delicate lemon cake. To achieve a pound cake texture, I had to get creative! The secret ingredient? Tofu. Okay, don’t run away! I promise you can’t taste it at all, but it works like magic to achieve pound cake perfection.
How to make Starbucks Copycat Vegan Lemon Loaf:
It’s super easy! You should know by now I like to keep things as simple as possible in the kitchen.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a loaf pan.
- Blend all wet ingredients in a blender (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW)
- Whisk dry ingredients in a bowl, then add the wet and mix.
- Pour in pan and bake for 35-45 minutes.
- Let cool, then glaze.
Glaze for Lemon Loaf:
The glaze is probably the best part of this whole thing. It’s simple: 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon non-dairy milk and 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice. Whisk in a bowl, pour over your loaf, and devour. Well, I do like to let the glaze harden for a little bit before slicing and serving, but it’s not necessary!
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What kind of tofu should I use and where can I find it?
For this recipe, you want the silken tofu in the vaccum packs. You could use soft, firm or even extra firm. But it should be silken. Try to avoid the tofu packed in water, as it tends to leave a bit of a taste of tofu, while the silken in vaccum packs is pretty much undetectable. It’s in several grocery stores, but you can also order it on Amazon here.
You will only use 1/2 the package for 1 loaf, so maybe consider doubling the recipe and make 2 loaves at once! You can freeze the 2nd.
Want more vegan baked goods? Try one of these:
- 1 Bowl Vegan Blueberry Muffins
- 1 Bowl Vegan Pumpkin Muffins
- Easy Vegan Banana Bread
- Starbucks Copycat Vegan Pumpkin Scones
- Vegan Lemon Cake
Starbucks Copycat Lemon Loaf (Vegan)
Ingredients
Wet ingredients:
- 6 ounces silken tofu (1/2 package)
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1 cup non-dairy milk
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- zest from 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dry ingredients:
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Lemon glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon non-dairy milk
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease a standard loaf pan.
- Blend all of the wet ingredients in a blender until smooth.
- In a large bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients. Now pour the wet mixture into the dry and mix with a large spoon until just combined. Do not over mix.
- Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 35-45 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let the loaf cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then move to a cooling rack.
- While the loaf cools, add the icing ingredients to a medium sized bowl and whisk until smooth. Once the loaf is cooled, drizzle or pour the glaze on top of the loaf. Let the glaze harden, if desired, before slicing and serving. Enjoy!
Notes
- Calories estimate is for 1/8th of the loaf.
- Look for the silken tofu in a vaccum pack, not packed in water.
- May sub coconut oil or melted vegan butter for the canola oil. For oil free, sub non-dairy yogurt or applesauce.
- May use any non-dairy milk, such as soy, coconut, almond, hemp or oat. Unsweetened is best; if you only have sweetened milk you may want to reduce the amount of sugar you add.
- Make sure to use fresh squeezed lemon juice for the best flavor, and a full zested lemon. I love this grater/zester!
- You can try subbing white whole wheat flour/ whole wheat pastry flour for the white, but it will change the flavor. I haven't tried this with gluten free flour.
what is all purpose flour?Is it Low-gluten flour?
All purpose flour is just white flour, not low gluten. Hope that helps!
Hi Nora! I want to make this for a Sunday brunch but want to prepare it the day beforehand in the morning. How should I store to keep fresh? Thanks 🙂
I would just keep it at room temperature and cover it with wrap or something so it doesn’t dry out. Thanks!
I used only 50% of sugar from the ingredient and the taste is alright. Love it!
We got a new classic 🙂
Thanks!
Hi Nora. I make the regular better than Starbucks copy cat and it is amazing! In that one I use 2 tablespoons of pure lemon extract and no lemon juice. There is also no vanilla. If I do the same with yours do you think it will be ok. I’m making to this for a vegan friend and I just don’t want to lose the flavour I’m looking for but don’t want to compromise your receipt.
I think that would work just fine, thank you! Hope you enjoy.
Delicious!!
I made this recipe with plant butter instead of canola oil. I also added 1 squeeze pouch of unsweetened strawberry applesauce. I was a little skeptical about the tofu but the cake came out very moist. I will definitely be making this again ?
I have my first attempt today, super easy yet very delicious! I replaced the sugar with honey. Thanks!
You’re welcome!!
Hi Nora, I made this twice now and both times the cake wouldn’t cook through. The first time I was a little lazy with the ingredients so I made it a second time following the amounts to a T and it was still raw in the middle. Any thoughts on what could have gone wrong?
If it wasn’t cooked in the middle, then it sounds like you just didn’t let it bake long enough. I always recommend checking with a toothpick, stick it in the middle of the loaf. If wet batter comes out, it’s not done. Oven temperatures can vary, so this is the most important check to make sure the cake/loaf is done all the way through. Also, bake it in the middle of the oven for best results (always do this whether with cookies/cakes/muffins etc.). Hope that helps!
Taste was there but it got stuck to the pan. Unfortunately it all feel apart. Taste was there but too sweet for me. I also added more lemon and lemon zest. Any ideas on how not letting it stick. I did use a non stick pan.
It will stick to the pan unless you grease it or use parchment paper to line it. You can always add a little less sugar if you found it too sweet. Hope that helps!
Hi Nora, thank you so very much for all the recipes. Am not a baking person but being a Vegan I have to bake so I can have all my favorite cakes ?
Just wanted you to know,’the cake was bouncy as I pressed, sweetness was just right. I couldn’t get the vacuum packed tofu so had to dry the one packed in water.
What will the difference be with the cake by using these different type of tpfu?
I’m so glad it worked out for you, thank you so much! Silken tofu might make it a little less firm, but either works. 🙂
Great recipe, but what to do with the other half of my silken tofu?
Whatever you’d like! 🙂 Make another loaf, put it in a smoothie…
Oh my goodness Nora! This cake is to die for! My husband just ate two pieces it was so good!
I’m so glad it turned out great!!
Greetings from the UK re standard loaf tin. Here in the UK we have 1lb or 2lb loaf tins. Any idea which size might be the right one? Despite hating tofu I have a pack silken tofu in the cupboard and I am going to make your recipe once I know what size tin to cook it in. Also any recipe ideas what I can use the other half of pack of tofu in? I only just recently found your fabulous blog…Big thanks stay safe…
Use the 1 lb loaf tin. That should work perfectly. Standard here is 9 x 5 inches, or 8 1/2 x 4 1/2. Hope you enjoy, and so glad you found my blog, thanks so much!
If I drain the silken tofu really well from the water, will it still be okay? I lov your recipes so much!
Yes that works! Thank you so much!
Can u use powder sugar instead of granulated sugar for the loaf?
I’ve never tried it but it might work.
I made this for two separate groups of omnivores (I doubled the recipe as suggested by Nora). Group one was a group of big time meat eaters and this thing went over like gangbusters!! They raved about it and asked for the recipe more than once. Group two was a very vegan friendly couple who were also blown away by it. I also added lemon extract to the batter and upped the lemon zest.
Wow, thanks for letting me know! That’s so great!
This recipe is excellent! Agree with the other reviews to increase the zest, but other than that it’s perfection.
I was very nostalgic for Starbuck’s lemon loaf this morning so thought I would give this recipe a try. I am soooo glad I did! It was great.
The only thing I did differently was add about a teaspoon more lemon zest to the batter and two teaspoons more lemon juice to the glaze as I like a more lemony flavour. It was fantastic!
Thank you for brightening my day!
Kari from Vancouver, BC Canada
So glad it was good!
These were excellent! Used all purpose flour because my son has an almond allergy and they turned out amazing! My husband and boys were so happy they could eat brownies that tasted like the brownies they used to eat before becoming allergic to dairy. Thank you!! ❤️
You’re welcome!
This was delicious! After making the chewy vegan brownies became an instant fan. For the lemon loaf I will probably add more lemon to the loaf batter. I added more lemon zest using a previous reviewer’s comment but still feel it needs more. Should I add more lemon juice or more lemon zest?
Thanks!
Thank you! I’m so glad. If you want more lemon flavor, I would use more lemon zest. You could even add a little lemon extract if you have it.
Hi, I’m under quarantine and only have medium tofu in my fridge right now. Can I use it instead or will it totally change the result? Thank you so much in advance!
Sorry, I wish I could erase my previous post. I now see that you mentioned the use of other types of tofu. The one I have is not silken, so I guess I’m out of luck.
If you only have medium or firm tofu, it really will work! I had to use it a while ago and it actually worked quite well.
Can you use red mills gluten free all purpose flour?
It should work pretty well, though I haven’t tested it myself.
Not sure what I did wrong. The bread is very good and moist, but it looks more like vanilla pound cake or cake. It just doesn’t taste very lemony and the color is white. The glaze is very lemony and good and helps. I used fresh lemon and lemon zest of 2 lemons (I doubled the recipe). Very moist and tasty. Will add more lemon and zest next time?
Really meant to give it 5 stars. Sorry. There wasn’t anything bad about this loaf at all! Just needs more lemon! 🙂
Try adding some lemon extract.
What can be used to make this soy-free? I’m struggling to find a tofu replacement.
You might be able to sub non-dairy yogurt, but I’m not sure. Tofu really makes it sponge-cake like, a little denser than regular cake. I haven’t tried it with anything else, sorry!
I used cashew milk yogurt. Forager brand and it worked perfectly
Wow! So good and so easy. This recipe is a keeper. I agree with one of the comments to use more lemon zest. I also added some lemon zest to the top of the glaze which looked great.
Sounds great!