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.
Would it be possible to make these as muffins?
Oh yes, I’m sure you can make this recipe as muffins! Bake the muffins for about 20 minutes. The recipe will probably give you 12-16 muffins, but I haven’t tested it to know for sure. Enjoy!
So, so good!!! Everything is just right taste-wise and all in one bowl!! Thank you for being someone I can always depend on for a great recipe❤️
Thank you for your wonderful feedback, Janice! I’m so glad you loved the bread!
Hi Nora,
I made this and it came out FANTAFANTABULOUS! (tagged you on my IG post). Question: rI eally want to make this into a chocolate chip bread. Aside from taking out all the lemon stuff are there any other changes that I need to make? Extra vanilla? Do the mini chocolate chips need to be tossed in the flour? Anything for added fluff? Bake time? All suggestions are welcome 🙂 Thanks so much! I love your blog! Sara from NYC
Maybe a bit more vanilla and just add chocolate chips! No need to toss them in flour. I think that should work just fine. So glad you enjoyed the bread, thanks for sharing on IG!
Thank you!
Hi! I’m making this for the first time, do you think I can sub the vegan butter with coconut oil? I don’t know where to find vegan butter 🙁 thanks!
Yes, that should work fine in this recipe. Enjoy!
Nora! Been a fan of your blog for awhile now. This is my all time fav recipe. Thank you so much!!!
Hi Ramya! You are so welcome! Thank you for using my blog recipes! I am so glad you are loving them! I appreciate you sharing your fantastic review on the bread!
I had blueberries in my fridge that were begging to be used and this recipe did them justice! Biggest bummer is that I didn’t have any actual lemons, so I had to omit the zest. I’ll definitely use that next time, though! Thankfully I had lemon extract so I think that helped 🙂
Hi Tracy! I’m so glad you loved the bread! Thank you for taking time to share your wonderful review and comments!
Beyond delicious! Blueberries and lemon is such an amazing combination! I added a bit extra lemon zest for extra lemon flavor since I didn’t have lemon extract. Mouthwatering!
I agree! I love the lemon/blueberry combination! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review and comments! I’m glad you loved the bread!
This was a wonderfully simple and delicious recipe! The berries with the lemon were absolutely perfect together. The loaf didn’t last long before being completely devoured by the family 🙂
I’m glad you guys enjoyed the bread! Thanks for sharing your fun comments!
Delicious! Has a pound cake like texture. The only change I’d make next time is cut the sugar in half it is very sweet. I already cut the glaze in half but the bread itself is super sweet.
I’m glad you enjoyed it! You can probably cut the sugar in half, but it is supposed to be a sweet bread, basically a loaf cake. 🙂
This delicious fruity loaf is great, even for new bakers like me. Thanks a lot for the recipe and option for the metric system instead of cups. Kind wishes from an aspiring vegan from Amsterdam.
Hello in Amsterdam! Thanks for sharing your kind review and comments! I’m glad you loved the bread!
The lemon blueberry bread is another winning recipe! The combination of lemon and fresh blueberries is perfect. I just used icing sugar and lemon juice for the drizzled icing and it was so delicious! Thank you Nora!
You are welcome! I’m glad you love the bread! Thanks so much for sharing your comments!
If I don’t have fresh lemons, but I do have lemon extract, can I still make this? Thanks Nora!
Sure, it won’t be quite as lemony, but it will still be good!
I used less than half the sugar and half the glaze. It was delicious.
I’m glad you loved the bread! Thanks for sharing your review!
Wow, these were excellent. Our family isn’t vegan but we have one milk allergy and one egg allergy, so vegan baking helps us out.
I’m not sure about that hour long wait after they come out of the oven though (30 min to cool and 30 for the glaze to set). Just not possible to wait that long
I’m glad you loved the bread! Thank you for sharing your review!
Hi Nora! I’m not sure what went wrong because I followed the recipe & your instructions to a T! But my loaf didn’t really turn into a loaf it became all blue and blackish from the berries and ended up like a soup? are we really supposed to only use two tablespoons of flour? Any advice would help as I love everything else I have made from your blog!
Hi Olivia! The two tablespoons of flour are simply for tossing with the berries. There are also 2 CUPS of flour used in loaf, which is the bulk of the recipe! So I’m sure that’s why you ended up with soup, if you left 2 cups of flour out.
A delicious blend of lemons and blueberries. The only thing I’d change is making half the amount of glaze. This recipe is a keeper!
Thank you for sharing!
Hi Nora,
I know the nutritional information is an estimate, but where does the 1 gram of Trans Fat come from? I’m surprised to see it listed.
Thank you!
Oh yes, that was an error, sorry about that! There is no trans fat in the recipe. 🙂
My 8yo is a huge fan of your banana bread. I feel like I make one a week for him. Today I tried this lemon blueberry bread. He hasn’t had a piece yet but my husband and I have and we are fans.
Thank you!
I’m so glad you love the bread! Thank you for sharing your review! I’m glad your son is loving the banana bread!
I made this for midsommar and it was delicious! I’ll definitely be making it again, your recipes are my favourite, Nora 🙂
Thank you! I appreciate you sharing your review! Thanks for using my recipes! I’m glad you are loving them!
So delicious! I especially love Nora’s Lemon Cake recipe, the best ever, vegan or not… and now this Lemon Blueberry Bread! My favorite is still the cake but this is a close 2nd! I used blueberries and lemons from my own garden, and the lemon extract always gives it that extra lemony taste that I love.
Nora knows how to write a recipe, she explains why she does things, like stirring too much makes the cake denser or tossing the blueberries in flour so they don’t sink to the bottom. Her recipes are easy to follow, another bonus. Thanks, Nora
Thank you for sharing your wonderful review! I’m glad you love the bread! It is also great to know that my recipes are helpful and easy to follow. I appreciate your feedback!
Thank you! This was easy to make and a huge hit. I followed the recipe to a T, and – as in your suggestions- I would use 1/2 cup sugar next time, because I don’t love super sweet, although the icing is almost all sugar and is AMAZING!
PS- I used the optional lemon extract. Game changer! Loved it.
Thanks for sharing your wonderful review, Emily! I’m glad you loved the bread!
I made this today for my husband, and he said it was one of the best things I have ever made. Thank you, Nora, for all of your wonderful recipes! We are huge fans!
Hi Alexis! I’m thrilled the bread is a hit with you guys! Thank you for using my recipes, and for taking time to share your review and comments!
Can I use another milk? I don’t eat or drink soy.
Yes, any non-dairy milk you like is fine here.
Had it for Shabbat breakfast. Made it the day before and did not use the glaze. It was soooo very good. I only used half the amount of butter, but neither I nor my family could detect any problem in taste or texture. Next time, I need to make two.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the lemon blueberry bread. Thanks for sharing!
Can I make muffins instead of a loaf. If so, any idea how many I would get and how long to bake?
Oh yes I’m sure you can! I’d say to bake the muffins for about 20 minutes, and I think you will probably get 12-16 muffins, but I haven’t tested it to know for sure. Enjoy!
This looks delicious! THANK YOU!
But I have a question, please… 2 teaspoons of lemon extract? Is that right?
I don’t use many extracts but it’s my understanding that lemon extract especially is very strong, and on its own, extremely bitter.
If that is not a typo, can you please clarify exactly which extract you used?
THANK YOU!
Yes, that is correct and what I used. Extracts should not be bitter, and using that much lemon extract will make it delightfully lemony. It has a fairly mellow lemon flavor without it, but is still perfectly good. Hope that helps!
Thank you Nora.
Can you please let us know what specific kind/brand you used?
Sure! I used Mccormick lemon extract. Found it at Wal Mart. 🙂 Hope that helps!
Thank you!
we cook with no oil and try to use whole grain flour but would love to try this recipe-do you have any suggestions?
Whole wheat pastry flour will work quite well, and you could try subbing applesauce or vegan yogurt for the vegan butter, but I’m sure it will be more dense and a bit gummy. Haven’t tried it though!