This Copycat Starbucks Lemon Loaf Recipe is full of sweet, fresh flavors! This easy recipe using simple, wholesome ingredients tastes just like the real thing! Soft, dense, moist, it’s a perfect breakfast treat!
Why You Will Love This Lemon Loaf
- INEXPENSIVE – We all love Starbucks. But it can be pricey to go there too often. Now, with our version of their Lemon Pound Cake, you can eat it whenever you want without emptying your wallet! The price of all these ingredients together is about the same as one slice of lemon loaf at Starbucks!
- DELICIOUS – Dense, moist and full of fresh lemon flavor, it’s topped with a sweet icing for breakfast treat that will get your day started off right!
- EASY – With only a few, common pantry staples and a couple minutes of prep, this is an easy baking recipe that is perfect for beginners.
How To Make Starbucks Lemon Loaf
Like I mentioned above, nothing crazy here and you probably already have most of these in your kitchen already! For step-by-step instructions, read below or check out the printable recipe card. But here is what you’ll need to get started.
For The Lemon Loaf
- all-purpose flour
- baking powder
- salt
- granulated sugar
- large eggs, room temperature
- butter, softened
- fresh lemon juice and lemon zest
- whole milk
For The Glaze:
- confectioners’ sugar (also known as powdered sugar)
- milk
Do You Need To Put The Glaze On This Lemon Loaf?
No, not really. But that is a large part of the awesomeness of the Starbucks recipe. You could have this lemon bread just plain if you needed to cut out some of the sugar. Some other options to put on top of the this loaf would be lemon curd or even a thin layer of vanilla pudding. In this case, you would need to keep it refrigerated. But it may be tasty!
Storage and Freezing
This recipe can be kept in plastic wrap or an airtight container at room temperature for up to about 5 days. We love to use this tupperware to keep all our loaves fresh. If you keep this in the refrigerator, it may extend the freshness by a couple of days.
This Lemon Loaf freezes well. Let the loaf fully cool, slice into individual servings and then wrap in freezer wrap or put in freezer bags. Or do both! Put parchment paper between the slices. This way, you can only take out and thaw what you need! It will be good in your freezer for up to 5 months.
Can You Double This Recipe?
Yep, you sure can. Just double all of the ingredients and use two loaf pans. You can also make mini loaves, or bake this in a larger cake pan or casserole dish. But please note that the cooking times will vary with these methods and I can’t say for sure how the results will be because we haven’t tried it.
Can You Make This Gluten Free?
This is a popular questions. The only thing you’ll need to do to make this a Gluten Free Lemon Loaf is to substitute with Gluten Free Flour. There are several options. We are not necessarily a gluten free website, but the few times we’ve subbed for gluten free flour, our results have been fine. I have no reason to think it would be different for this recipe!
Tips, Suggestions and FAQs
- WHY DO YOU USE BUTTER INSTEAD OF VEGETABLE OIL? – We use butter in this recipe instead of oil. From some research, it appears that that is what Starbucks uses in their recipe, so it makes sense to do that.
- DO YOU USE LEMON EXTRACT IN A LEMON LOAF? – If you want to make this recipe have even more of a lemon flavor, you could add a small amount of lemon extract to the mix (I wouldn’t put more than one 1 tsp in). Do NOT use lemon oil. That is way more powerful.
- MAKE SURE YOU USE A PREPARED LOAF PAN – Whether you spread butter on the inside of your loaf pan or use cooking spray, make sure you use something or this Lemon Loaf Cake will be very hard to get out of the pan.
- HOW TO MAKE A LEMON GLAZE – If you would like a lemon glaze on top instead of normal icing, substitute 2 tablespoons of lemon juice (or as much as needed for desired consistency) to mix together with the confectioners sugar.
I hope you enjoy this recipe for Copycat Starbucks Lemon Loaf Recipe. I’d love to know how it turns out for you in the comments. Happy Baking!
Some Tools To Help With This Recipe
LOOKING FOR MORE LEMON FLAVORED TREATS? CHECK OUT:
- LEMON BREAKFAST MUFFINS
- CRANBERRY LEMON BARS
- LEMON BLUEBERRY BUNDT CAKE
- LEMON BLUEBERRY CUPCAKES
- LEMON PARFAIT
- MEYER LEMON COOKIES
Copycat Starbucks Lemon Loaf Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 stick butter approx. ½ cup, softened
- Juice and zest of one lemon approx. 2 tbsp lemon juice and 1 tbsp lemon zest
- ½ cup whole milk
For Glaze
- 1 cup confectioner's sugar
- 3 tbsp milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Grease an 8x4 loaf pan with butter and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, sift together all dry ingredients: flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together sugar and eggs until creamy.
- Add butter and mix thoroughly, followed by the lemon juice and zest.
- Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, alternating with the milk. Mix thoroughly.
- Pour batter into greased loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.
- Mix together confectioners’ sugar and milk and pour over cooled loaf. Serve and enjoy.
Notes
Nutrition
Comments & Reviews
Laura says
Had to not do glaze as there is zero instructions on how much powder sugar:
Kathy says
Thank you for pointing that out.
C says
I need the instructions for your glaze also
Kathy says
added. Thank you for pointing that out.
Mimma says
Bake until knife comes out dry? I put it in for 45 min but knife is still moist., not sure how to proceed.
Sarsh says
I actually want to ask HOW do I get the recipes that show in the tiny videos at the bottom? There’s no way I’ve been able to go to the recipe. 😔 Thank you! 🙂
Kathy says
So glad you enjoyed it!