If you love the lemon desserts - then you need to try this Starbucks Copycat Lemon Loaf! It's buttery, moist, bursting with lemon flavor, and topped with sweet lemon glaze.
1/4cupunsalted buttermelted and at room temperature
1/4cupvegetable oil
1cupgranulated sugar
3large eggs
1teaspoonvanilla extract
1teaspoonlemon extract*or add additional 1/2 tablespoon of lemon zest
1tablespoonlemon zest
2tablespoonslemon juice
1/2cupsour creamor buttermilk
Lemon Icing
1cuppowdered sugaradd more until desired consistency is reached
1tablespoonlemon juice
1-2tablespoonscream or milkadjust as needed for consistency
Instructions
Lemon Loaf
Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Grease and flour an 9x5-inch loaf pan, or line with parchment paper.
In a medium size bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, with a electric mixer on medium speed, mix the granulated sugar and the eggs for 2 minutes. The extra time helps to incorporate air into the batter which makes the bread more fluffy.
Add the melted butter and the oil. Mix to incorporate.
Add the vanilla, lemon extract, lemon zest and lemon juice. Mix on medium speed until all ingredients are combined.
Add in the sour cream and mix well.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet, approximately 1/3 of the mixture. Mix until almost incorporated and add more. Continue until all the flour is incorporated in the wet mixture. Don’t over mix. Sometimes I will use my hand mixture but finish with a spatula when I only have a little bit of dry flour left.
Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf pan.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean and the top feels firm to the touch. If after about 30-40 minutes the top is browning too much, tent a piece of aluminum foil over top and continue baking.
Cool completely. Once the loaf is cool, prepare your glaze by mixing all ingredients together
Lemon Icing
In a medium bowl whisk together the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and cream/milk until smooth. Add in more powdered sugar or cream as needed for desired consistency.
Remove the cooled loaf from the pan and drizzle or pour over top.
Notes
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3-4 days.
Melt butter in the microwave then let it cool for a few minutes before adding to the batter.
The original recipe used buttermilk, but I adjusted and now use sour cream instead. It provides more moisture, preventing the bread from turning out dry.
This recipe uses a 9x5-inch loaf pan. The size is important! You can use an 8x4-inch pan, but will need to adjust the time and temperature. It would also result in a thicker loaf and you risk losing moisture.
This recipe was updated in May 2022 when we adjusted a few ingredients and swapped out buttermilk for sour cream, reduced the butter and added oil. This adds more moisture to the bread.
If you preferred the old recipe - use 1/2 cup buttermilk instead of sour cream, omit the oil and add an additional 1/4 cup of melted butter, and reduce the amount of baking powder and vanilla to 1/2 teaspoon each. Bake in an 8.5x4.5 loaf pan.