Lemon Blueberry Loaf Cake

Ya’ll, this recipe almost defeated me. The texture was impossible to get just right. But FINALLY, on the 4th try, the result was even better than I could have expected! This lemon blueberry loaf cake has major Starbuck’s lemon loaf vibes. But in my humble opinion, it’s even better. It is moist, sweet, and has a perfectly tangy lemon glaze on top. It has a light texture while still being moist and decadent, and is just SO good. The addition of blueberries really rounds out the flavors, and this is the perfect recipe to squeeze into your baking rotation before we have to say goodbye to summer.

The ingredients:

There are a few key ingredients here that play a crucial role in giving this lemon blueberry loaf cake the perfect texture. The first of those ingredients is greek yogurt. Sour cream would also be a great substitution. The next important ingredient is buttermilk! You could get away with using regular milk here but do yourself a favor and buy the buttermilk. It has that extra tang and creates such a moist dessert. One other important thing to note when it comes to the ingredients: use fresh lemon juice and zest. Not the bottled lemon juice you can buy and not the dried lemon rind you can find in the spice section of your grocery store. Fresh zest and fresh lemon juice make all the difference in baked goods and I promise they are worth the extra minute or so it takes to zest and juice them! You can use either fresh or frozen blueberries. If you use frozen do not defrost them first, just add them to the batter frozen.

Preparing and baking your lemon blueberry loaf:

This recipe comes together in less than 10 minutes and is super simple to throw together. In one bowl simply measure out your dry ingredients and whisk together. In another bowl whisk together your oil and sugar, add in your eggs, and then add in the remaining ingredients and mix. Next add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and fold to combine. Couldn’t be simpler! And you don’t even have to use a mixer. Once you have everything combined you will gently fold in your blueberries, being careful not to smash them. Next, pour your batter into a prepared loaf pan and bake!

The glaze is just two ingredients: fresh lemon juice and powdered sugar. Once your loaf is done baking let it cool in the loaf pan for around 10 minutes. Then carefully remove from the pan and let it finish cooling on a wire rack. When your lemon blueberry loaf is close to being cooled all the way mix together your glaze. Pour your glaze over the cooled loaf and it is ready to devour! The glaze is perfectly tart and is thick enough to drip down the sides, but doesn’t all end up dripping off of your cake. I like to let the icing set for about 10 minutes before I slice my loaf cake so it’s a little less messy.

Lemon Blueberry Loaf Cake

Sweet and moist lemon blueberry loaf cake that is bursting with lemon flavor, studded with blueberries, and topped with a tart lemon glaze.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Ingredients

  

Lemon Blueberry Loaf

• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup greek yogurt or sour cream
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tbsp lemon zest
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup blueberries

Lemon Glaze

• 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1-2 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare an 8×4 loaf pan by greasing and flouring. You can also use parchment paper in addition to greasing and flouring to make removing the loaf easy when it is finished baking.
• In a mixing bowl add flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk together to combine.
• In a separate bowl whisk together the vegetable oil and granulated sugar until fully combined, about a minute. Next, add in each egg individually, whisking until combined.
• To the oil, sugar and egg mixture add the buttermilk, greek yogurt, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla extract and whisk to combine.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and using a spatula gently fold to combine, being careful not to over mix.
• Once mixed, add in blueberries and gently fold into the batter, being careful not to smash the berries. Add batter to prepared plan and bake in the middle rack of preheated oven for 55-65 minutes until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Allow loaf to cool 10 minutes in loaf pan before transferring to wire rack for the remainder of cooling time.
• When loaf is close to being completley cooled mix together your lemon juice and powdered sugar to form glaze.
• Pour glaze over completely cooled loaf and enjoy!

Notes

Avoid using a low fat or fat free sour cream or greek yogurt. In this particular recipe I used 2% fat greek yogurt. 

I have found this recipe stays the freshest when refrigerated after it has cooled. It will stay fresh for about 3 days when refrigerated in an airtight container. It can also be stored in an airtight container at room temperature, but will only stay fresh for about 2 days that way. 

Fresh or frozen blueberries will work, just do not defrost blueberries before adding to the batter. Add them in frozen and continue recipe as written.