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!
Recipe 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.
Connie
I loved this recipe. Next time I will use more lemon zest, lemon juice, and will try with gluten free alternatives. The cake came absolutely delicious and it looks gorgeous.
I did have a hard time though with the frosting. Any suggestions for a thicker frosting? I put it in but it ran down. The cake was already cooled for one hour.
I also added 2 eggs to the ingredients. I didn’t see any vegan eggs in the recipe. Will it work without the eggs or egg substitutes?
Nora
So glad you love the recipe! The tofu works like eggs for loaf, so there is no need to add eggs. It is a glaze, not a frosting, so it will drip down. To make it thicker simply add more powdered sugar or less liquid. OR if you want a spreadable frosting, try making this frosting from this Lemon Cake. Thank you!
Katie
So impressed with the rise on this loaf! I’m happy to see that some people have cut the sugar. I didn’t this time, but I might try another time. Thanks for this fantastic recipe.
Nora
You’re welcome!
Jami Akins
Has anyone had an issue with the lemon juice curdling the milk? I used unsweetened almond milk and fresh lemon juice
Melissa
Just made this tonight for lunches tomorrow and had to try a slice…er to be sure it was good, and dang girl! Its perfect! I cut the sugar to 1/2c (cuz yikes! 1c?!) and added two drops lemon essential oil. It’s truly perfect. So moist, yet dense but not without some ‘spring’. I loved the use of tofu for added nutrition. Thank you! I’ll have to come back here for more recipes!
Nora
You’re welcome! So glad you liked it. 🙂
Becky Balboa-Carter
This is by far the best lemon loaf I’ve ever tasted, and I’ve tasted a lot. It’s so easy to be vegan 😁 thank you Nora
Nora
You’re welcome! Thanks for the positive feedback. I agree, it’s quite easy to be vegan. 🙂
Michelle
Can you use another type of oil?
Nora
Yes, you can. Coconut oil works but makes it a bit more dense. I’m sure avocado oil or grapeseed oil would work, or even melted vegan butter. Thank you.
Betsy T
I used Avocado oil and it came out beautiful
Jenny J
I made it with gluten free flour and add lemon extract too.. it came out amazing . Thank you very much for satisfying my pregnancy craving 🙂
Jo
Is there any substitute for the tofu as I’m allergic?
Nora
I haven’t tested it with anything else, but I bet aquafaba would work, maybe 1/2 cup of whipped aquafaba? It will make for a lighter, fluffy loaf. Applesauce could work, or perhaps just a bit more oil. Sorry I can’t be more helpful! The tofu is what really makes it more of a pound cake loaf.
Marlene
H9a Nora,
Just wondering what kind of Tofu you used. There are several varieties available.
I’m currently going to try lite firm.
I will share the results.
Marlene
Nora
I have used silken firm tofu and even regular firm tofu that I just drained. Both actually worked fine, but I prefer silken. Hope the lite firm works out, thanks!
Jodi
Hello, Nora! Can this recipe be used for a Bundt pan? I have a standard-sized Bundt pan and also a new pan that makes six smaller Bundt cakes (two pans of which, I’m told, would equal a regular Bundt pan). I’ve been dying to make this, and Bundt cake shapes are my favorite.
Nora
Bundt cakes are so fun, and small bundt cakes are even better! I imagine it would work, but I’m not totally sure as I’ve only ever baked this as a loaf. It’s more of a pound cake texture, so if you are looking for a lighter, fluffier cake to try, go for my Vegan Lemon Cake. I’m quite sure it would do fine in a bundt pan.
Michelle
Hi! I just want to thank you for this recipe. I have a friend who is began and her brother just passed away very young. Their whole family is vegan due to health issues their dad has and passed from. I made them this lemon loaf to share as people come to share their condolences and it was soooooo appreciated. It’s a great recipe and I shared it with a bunch of people already 🙂 I did add a little lemon extract just because I love a strong lemon flavor but it would have been just as good without! Great texture and I did double it. I couldn’t get the tube silken tofu so I used the silken water packed and rinsed it good and squeezed it a little to get the water out. I have another friend who is dairy and egg free for health reasons and I made her some too for her bbq tomorrow!
Nora
Thank you so much, I’m so glad people enjoyed the recipe and I’m so sorry to hear about their loss. I hope your friend enjoys it as well at the bbq. Thank you for sharing this with me, I appreciate it!
Jess
YOU DID IT AGAIN!!! My picky family loves this recipe!!! Even the teenager is won over! We even tried doing half a batch and made 12 cupcakes, they were gone so fast! The kids get a total kick out of telling everybody who will listen that they contain tofu 😉 thank you so much!!!
Sweet regards from Switzerland!
Jess
xxx
Amy Crosby
Plan to try these this weekend–can I make them as mini-muffins? How long should I bake them?
Nora
Oh fun, I hope it works! I would guess 15-20 minutes, but I can’t be sure as I haven’t tried it myself. Thanks!
Sherri Switala
Just realized I’m out of canola … can I use grapeseed oil? Or, would it be better if I used melted vegan butter? Thanks!
Nora
I would go for the melted vegan butter, but grapeseed oil would work as well. Thanks!
delilah
at first the batter was hard to mix and i had alot of dry clumps, then i added it to a blender but it seemed like it was too thick for the blenderm i dont know if i overmixed it?? Its so dense and kinda dry and it never would turn golden ): i wanna try it again but i dont know what i did wrong.
Nora
Hi there! So putting the dry ingredients plus the wet ingredients in the blender is not something I would recommend, it will likely create a very dense, dry loaf, not the texture we are going for here. Some small clumps are okay, and if you felt it was too clumpy for some reason, use a whisk for a minute instead of putting it in the blender. But some clumps are fine and are better than over mixing. Did you make any substitutions at all or follow the recipe exactly? I can only vouch for the recipe exactly as written, substitutions will change the way the loaf turns out. Sorry you had trouble, and hopefully we can find out why so you have success next time!
Alpa Gorji
I m not a vegan but eat eggfree bakes so what can I substitute silken tofu with ..will cottage cheese work instead…thank you
Nora
Sorry I haven’t tested it with anything else so you’d have to experiment! Tofu helps make it more of a pound like cake.
lillian
This is so good. Someone had mentioned adding more zest and I think I will do the same. I made some lemon curd to go with it too because I love 🍋🍋😁
Gloria
I am so happy with this lemon loaf! I followed the recipe exactly and it is very delicious. The only changes I plan to make next time is to add a bit more lemon zest and make my glaze a bit thicker. Can’t wait to try again!
Deborah Baker
Hi, Nora! I just made this and it’s wonderful! I used 3 of those small cardboard loaf pans, it’ll be easier to share them. So delicious and moist, I must save a big slice for my coffee in the morning. The only thing is mine isn’t really lemon or “yellow” looking. Did you use a pinch of turmeric for color?
Thanks so much for this great recipe!
Nora
I’m so glad you enjoyed the lemon loaf! I didn’t, but that is a great idea! Not sure why mine turned out more yellow than yours. 🙂
Natasha Carter
Hi. I can only find silken tofu in water. I really want to make this loaf. Can I use it? Thanks. (So far all your recipes are amazing…thank you).
Nora
Yes, it will work! I actually made it with firm tofu (packed in water) the other day and it worked just fine.
Yolanda Lonnie Pavey
BIG hit with the family!!! Absolutely yummy!
Once again Thank you for all your work making veganism delicious!!
Nora
Thanks Yolanda! So glad it was a hit. You are so welcome! 🙂
Patti
Wonderful. When I went to make it(just got home from the grocer), I realized I only had one cup of flour. I ground up some oatmeal into flour and used that for the other cup. Crossed my fingers and it turned out great!
Atticus
I don’t even know where to begin. Didn’t think it was possible for this to taste as good as it looks in the picture, but holy smokes, I was wrong. This loaf is amazing. Better than the one at Starbucks!! Thank you so much!
kim
hi could y ou make this gluten free as well?
Nora
I haven’t tried it yet, but I think it could work.
linda
OMG i made this last night with GF flour and it turned out perfect! I had to cook it for an extra 10 minutes.
The GF mix I used was from minimalistbaker.com
Nora
Oh goodie, I’m so glad it worked with gluten free flour, thanks for sharing!!