Spring is coming, and this Lemon Blueberry Bread is just perfect for the season! Moist, tender, and delicious quick bread filled with blueberries and infused with fresh lemon.
The weather is getting warmer, and with all the craziness going on right now, a good loaf of lemon blueberry bread is all we need! Seriously, this easy lemon blueberry bread recipe is one of my favorites ever. It always comes out moist, tender, and full of freshness.
This easy recipe is my tried-and-true. I love the freshness of the blueberries and the scent of fresh lemon. It’s great for breakfast, but I love having a slice as a snack too. Let me show you how to make it!
My Favorite Quick Bread
I love quick breads so much! They are so easy to make and are highly customizable. My favorite quick breads are always made with fresh fruit, such as my Fresh Strawberry Quick Bread, one my the top recipes on the blog!
Here’s why I love this lemon blueberry bread:
- Lemon and blueberries are a match made in heaven!
- It tastes fresh thanks to all the blueberries and the lemon
- It browns beautifully
- It’s super moist and tender
- Not overly sweet at all!
I could name so many other reasons. It’s so good!!
Fresh Ingredients
Here’s what you will need:
- Flour: All-purpose flour works great here.
- Baking powder: This will help it rise and brown beautifully.
- Salt: To bring out all the flavors.
- Granulated sugar: For sweetness. I used 1 cup for a regular loaf and it was perfect!
- Greek yogurt: For moisture and tenderness.
- Eggs: Eggs provide structure and lift to baked goods.
- Vanilla extract: For flavor.
- Vegetable oil: Oil in quick breads will result in a lighter texture and more separated crumbs (versus using butter)
- Lemon zest: Lots of it!
- Fresh lemon juice: Emphasis on “fresh.”
- Blueberries: Fresh or frozen, preferably fresh.
I didn’t make an icing to go with it, but you can totally do it if you want. Just combine about 1 cup of confectioner’s sugar with 1-2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice and some lemon zest. It’s really quick!
How to Make this Lemon Blueberry Bread
Making quick breads is really really easy! Just remember to 1) not over-mix the batter and 2) not open the oven often while it’s baking to avoid a sunken bread (been there, done that…).
Here is an overview of the instructions. Per usual, find all the details in the recipe card below!
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
- Combine the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
- Combine the wet ingredients: Greek yogurt, eggs, vanilla extract, vegetable oil, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
- Mix dry and wet ingredients until just combined. Don’t over-mix, bu there shouldn’t be any flour pockets.
- Fold in blueberries and transfer batter to the loaf pan. The pan should only be 2/3 full with batter so that the quick bread has room to rise.
- Bake! At 350 degrees for 65-70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Tent with foil after 45-50 minutes to prevent it from browning too much.
Remember to let it cool before cutting into it! The other day, my mama cut into a very hot quick bread loaf and it fell apart…just saying…
Can I Use Frozen Blueberries?
I get this question a lot, and the answer is: yes, absolutely!
While I like to use fresh blueberries (I like to pick plump and large blueberries), frozen blueberries will work just fine. If you can’t find fresh blueberries, feel free to use frozen ones.
Now, for the lemon juice, use freshly squeezed. Pre-packaged lemon juice doesn’t taste great, in my opinion.
Customize it!
Quick breads are highly customizable. Here are some ideas:
- Glaze it: To make a simple lemon glaze, combine about 1 cup of confectioner’s sugar with 1-2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice and some lemon zest.
- Thick glaze: To make a thick lemon glaze, combine about 2 cups of confectioner’s sugar with 1-2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice and some lemon zest.
- Make muffins instead: Make the batter per the recipe instructions, and bake in muffin tins at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes.
- Sprinkle sanding sugar over the top before baking.
There you have it! My favorite quick bread of all time.
It’s so easy to make and it always comes out so beautiful. I love making it for brunches, breakfast, or just to impress friends. Yes, everyone goes crazy whenever I bring blueberry lemon bread!
I’ll be making lots of spring recipes to bring a little sunshine to April. Stay tuned and don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter!
If you’re looking for more spring recipes, sweet and savory:
- Strawberry Quick Bread
- Asparagus and Prosciutto Quiche
- Asparagus and Sweet Potato Salad
- Moist Carrot Cake Cupcakes
- Fruit Salad with Orange Poppy Seed Dressing
Thank you for reading, and happy baking!
Tips for Success
- Don’t over-mix the batter: Mix until jut combined. There should be no pockets of flour. The batter will be thick.
- Resist the urge to open the oven: Opening and closing the oven while baking will result in sunken bread. You only need to open it once to cover with foil, and one more time when it’s done.
- If browning too fast, cover with aluminum foil: I loosely covered it after about 45-50 minutes.
- Here are some more tips for baking the perfect quick bread (Scroll down to the Tips section!).
If you try my recipe, use #cookingformysoul on Instagram! Follow me on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook for the latest fun updates and recipes!
Lemon Blueberry Bread
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus 1 tablespoons (divided)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- Zest of 2 lemons (about 1 tablespoon of zest)
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 cups fresh blueberries (fresh is best, but frozen will work too)
- Butter for greasing the pan
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan with butter.
- Combine the dry ingredients: in a large bowl, combine the 1 3/4 cups flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Set aside.
- Combine the wet ingredients: In another bowl, mix the Greek yogurt, eggs, vanilla extract, vegetable oil, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. There should be no pockets of flour. Don’t overmix. The batter will be thick.
- Reserve about 1/4 cup of blueberries for later and set aside. In another bowl, toss the rest of the blueberries and the remaining 1 tablespoon of flour to coat. Carefully, fold in the floured blueberries into the batter.
- Pour the prepared batter into the prepared loaf pan. Top with the reserved 1/4 cup of blueberries, gently pushing them down into the batter but letting them still be visible.
- Bake for about 65-70 minutes total, tenting with aluminum foil after 50 minutes into the baking time to prevent it from browning too much. It will be ready when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean and the top is golden brown. Tip: don't open the oven too many times while baking or the bread will not rise properly.
- When ready, remove from oven and let cool completely (remove the foil too). Slice and enjoy! See note below if you want to make a quick lemon glaze.
Notes
- Special equipment: 9x5 inch loaf pan, whisks, mixing bowls.
- Simple lemon glaze: To make a simple lemon glaze, combine about 1 cup of confectioner's sugar with 1-2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice and some lemon zest.
- Blueberries: frozen or fresh will work, but fresh is best.
- Storing: Store in an airtight container for 3 days in the refrigerator. I usually keep blueberry bread in the fridge to prevent the moisture from the blueberries from making the bread soggy. You can always warm it up in the microwave whenever you want a slice!
- Freezing instructions: Let the bread cool completely. Wrap with 2 layers of aluminum foil tightly and store in a freezer-friendly container or bag for up to 3 months.
Randy says
Just took this out of the oven. It looks and smells wonderful. I used light tasting olive oil and for the first time, added some fresh chopped basil. I will be making this again.
Tania says
Happy to hear, Randy! Thank you for trying my recipe!
Gina says
I was wondering can I use a sugar substitute like splenda? Or something else
Tania says
Hi Gina, I haven’t tested this recipe with splenda, so I can’t say for sure unfortunately. If you try it with splenda, let me know how it turns out!
Marlenne says
We just made our first Lemon Blueberry Bread and it came out PERFECT! Moist, zesty and with a billion blueberries (just what the recipe said) and OMG! Great recipe and easy to follow!
Tania says
Thank you so much, Marlenne!
Martin Walasek says
Hi Tania. On Sunday I made this recipe and it turned out wonderful. Two quick things. One in the recipe I overlooked the tossing the blueberries in the 1 tbsp. of flour. Well, actually I didn’t overlook it as much as I did not separate that 1 tbsp. when prepping my ingredients. Why do you have to coat the blueberries in flour? The other thing I just noticed on your pictures is that the inside of your bread is more pores, like bread. Mine is not like that, it’s still tasty but what did I not do. I only baked it for the max 75 minutes because I was too worried of burning it. Thank you.
Tania says
Hi Martin, I’m so glad to hear! Thank you so much for your kind comment. So, tossing the blueberries with flour prevents them from sinking to the bottom. Regarding the inside of my bread (in the photos) having more “pores,” overmixing could cause dense quick bread. I mixed mine until JUST combined and until there were more no flour pockets. Also, for the batter, did you use oil or butter? I always bake quick breads with oil because oil creates more tender and separated crumbs. I Hope it helps!