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Farewell to March and hello to all things spring, like this bright and beautiful lemon blueberry bread. Even if blueberries aren’t quite in season yet, you can usually find them more often by April, and you can certainly use frozen blueberries. This is a soft and moist quick bread that is packed with flavor, and super simple to make.
You don’t need any fancy ingredients.
You don’t even need a mixer.
You just need patience as the bread bakes in the oven for almost an hour.
Think you’re up for it?
I knew you were!
Lemon blueberry bread deliciousness…here we come!
How to make lemon blueberry bread
To make the bread, you’ll start by whisking together the wet ingredients: Greek yogurt, honey coconut oil, eggs and lemon juice. Use melted coconut oil, but it may still clump up like it did with me since the yogurt was not at room temperature. That’s no probs.
You can use any kind of oil you prefer. But I would recommend melted coconut oil, canola or vegetable, which all have a mild neutral taste that’s great for baking.
Next, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt; and transfer the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients.
Now it’s time to fold in the blueberries and the lemon zest – aka the flavor bombs! You’ll notice that the blueberries are covered in flour. I do this to make sure they don’t sink to the bottom of the pan while baking. It’s a little trick to keep the blueberries “floating” in the bread.
And now it’s time to transfer the batter to the loaf pan and get baking. I like to spray the loaf pan with coconut oil and then dust flour all over to make sure nothing sticks to the pan. And it makes removing the loaf effortless after cooling.
Get ready for the most amazing smell in your kitchen when this lemon blueberry bread is baking, and especially when you remove it from the oven. You’ll notice it sorta looks like a pound cake that’s bursting with juicy sweet blueberries and fresh citrusy lemon zest. It’s moist, sweet and delicious, making it a wonderful treat anytime of the day! You knowwww we totally had it for breakfast around here!
Tips for making lemon blueberry bread
- Use milk instead of greek yogurt. This lemon bread does come out more dense because of the greek yogurt. Milk will make it more light and fluffy, so I recommend using that if you prefer.
- Measure flour by spooning it into measuring cup. This is ideal for baking because if you scoop the flour from the container, it tends to be super packed into the measuring cup, and you actually end up with more flour than needed, which can lead to a denser bread.
- Don’t overmix the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients. Just mix until you don’t see any more flour streaks. If you overmix the batter, it can lead to a denser loaf.
- Substitute frozen blueberries if you have to. The recipe will still taste amazing with frozen blueberries. But make sure not to thaw the blueberries. Toss them in frozen, and fold them in gently without over stirring to avoid the batter turning purple, unless you’re having a purple theme party…then yeah, totally do it!
- Allow to cool before slicing. The steam that condenses around the loaf pan actually makes it easier to remove from pan so allow for that time.
The recipe makes a moist lemon blueberry bread with an amazingly delicious flavor from the sweet bursting blueberries and fresh bright lemons. Plus it’s just really pretty for spring. So I’m all about those bright vibes right now. Hand me a fork and a cup of tea, and I’m in blueberry lemon bliss!
More quick bread recipes:
- Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Recipe
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread
- Chocolate Banana Bread
- Strawberry Banana Bread
- Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
If you’ve tried this healthy-ish feel good Lemon Blueberry Bread recipe or any other recipe on FeelGoodFoodie, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can repost on my stories!
Lemon Blueberry Bread
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup maple syrup or honey
- ¼ cup Greek Yogurt or Milk
- ¼ cup coconut oil melted
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup lemon juice plus zest of one lemon
- ¾ cup blueberries fresh or frozen
- 1 tablespoon flour for coating blueberries
- 3 tablespoons grated lemon zest
Instructions
- Preheat oven to oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a loaf pan.
- In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt.
- In a separate large bowl, beat the Greek yogurt, honey, coconut oil, eggs and lemon juice; stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and whisk until mixed through.
- In a small bowl, toss the blueberries with flour to prevent them from sinking into the loaf. Gently fold into the batter along with the lemon zest
- Transfer to prepared loaf pan and bake in the preheated oven for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.
Video
Notes
- Instead of greek yogurt, you can use sour cream or even milk.
- I tested this recipe with a whole wheat white flour, but it will work with any other all purpose flours.
- To make this gluten-free, use an all-purpose gluten-free flour mix. Do not substitute only almond flour or only coconut flour.
- Replace honey with other types of granulated sugar or maple syrup.
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
Hi Yumna!
I hope you are well!
As you might remember, I love this recipe and have now made it a couple of times. Thanks again!
Since I’m new to baking, I just wanted to make sure that substituing 1 3/4 cups of whole wheat all purpose flour for the white flour (trying to make it a bit more nutritious) is OK and won’t make that much difference in texture.
I read somewhere that maybe it won’t rise and be more dense when things are made with whole wheat vs. white flour..If this is true, I thought using almond milk instead of greek yogurt would help balance it out, since it will be less dense with milk vs. yogurt.
What do you think?
Thanks a lot!
Nadja
Hi Nadja, Thank you so much! I’m so glad you’re loving this recipe. I tested this recipe with a whole wheat white flour, but it will work with any other all purpose flours. And, instead of greek yogurt, you can use sour cream or even milk, so that should work! Let me know how it goes.
I love this recipe so much! Thank you!
I am trying a month without flour so I noticed you said not to attempt to sub with almond flour but my question is why not? I am new to baking so I don’t know if that’s obvious or not.
Also, if I don’t have greek yogurt or milk at the present, could I increase lemon juice to 1/2 cup vs 1/4 cup lemon/1/4 cup milk in order to have enough liquid but also make it extra lemony which I like.
Finally, maybe a silly question: if I don’t have quite a full 1/2 cup of maple syrup but plenty of honey, can I first fill up the 1/2 cup with whatever amount of maple syrup and then finish filling with honey, or is it not great to mix the two.
thanks Yumna!
Nadja
You’re so welcome! The almond flour will affect the texture of the bread. Either a yogurt or milk will be needed because they help with the moisture – adding lemon juice will overpower the flavor. Yes, you can use honey or maple syrup!
Dear Yumna,
I made the recipe today and OMG is it beauuuutiful!! Thank you so much! It’s a keeper. I did everything as you suggested in your comment to me (frozen blueberries in 1tbsp of flour, no overmixing etc.) It’s gorgeous!!
I have a question: I keep dreaming of a similar loaf but with cherries (the way my mom used to make when I was a child, but now since she passed I don’t have the recipe.) I was thinking…and would love your opinion:
My mom’s cake was just like this but with cherries vs. blueberries and no lemon. So do you think it’s worth an experiment (I understand that it might not work but I’d like to try) where instead of frozen blueberries I include frozen dark cherries and then in order to make up for the missing 1/4 cup lemon juice (hers didn’t have any taste of lemon, but rather just a vanilla/white foundation like this one with lemon-blueberry) but to make up for the 1/4 of lemon juice/liquid, I add a 1/4 cup of Almond milk. I’d still do a 1/4 cup of greek yogurt (I loved the density btw, not too dense at all for my taste but nicely hefty) but what do you think?
Sorry if I’m confusing..
Also I thought maybe 1tsp of vanilla extract or two even.
Any tips for my little experiment would be so appreciated.
Best!
Nadja
Thank you so much! I definitely think it’s worth experimenting. Let me know how it turns out!!
Thanks Yumna! I wanted to let you know that my experiment with cherries instead of blueberries worked out quite well, but the second time I try it, I will increase the amount of cherries to 1.5 cups and also try substituting coconut milk for Greek yogurt and increasing the vanilla extract to 2 teaspoons. It just needs a little more flavor. It’s been fun experiementing. I will often make your lemon blueberry loaf but it’s fun to play with variations.
Thank you so much again!
Nadja
Yay! Thank you for sharing this with me. I love experimenting too!
Dear Yumna,
I am SO excited to make this recipe! The pics and descriptions look absolutely delicious. Thanks so much!
I am pretty new, but enthusiastic!, about baking so I have some basic questions.
1) I have a 9×9 pan (the smallest one I have) so could I still do this recipe in it or do I need to double it?
2) Can I line the pan with parchment paper instead of oiling?
3) I’ll try it with Greek yogurt first but if I find it too dense (I won’t overpack flour or overmix the wet ingredients like you said 😉 but if I still find it too dense, could I sub with coconut milk or almond milk? I don’t cook with regular milk.. Would coconut milk be too rich or coconutty? Would almond milk would be too weak/watery?
Finally (sorry for so many questions and thanks!!)
4) Since I’ll be using frozen blueberries do I still first toss them in 1TBSP of flour from frozen (not thawed) and then incorporate? I just wonder if frozen remain a bit more clumped than fresh…also, is 1 whole cup vs. 3/4 cup too much (I love them so much so would like it quite blueberry-ish but at the same time, I know in baking it’s a delicate balance.)
Thanks so much! I can’t wait for your answers, I know I’ll be even more excited to try this soon!
Best!
Nadja
Can’t wait for you to make it!
1) You could double it (it will take longer to cook), or you could bake one batch in that and have thinner pieces (more like squares) of the Lemon Blueberry Bread.
2) You could. I just prefer the oil method because I know it won’t stick to the pan for me that way.
3) This Lemon Blueberry Bread does come out more dense because of the Greek yogurt, so using milk (or plant-based milk) will make it more light and fluffy, so I recommend using that if you prefer. Also, make sure to not overmix because, if you overmix the batter, it can lead to a denser loaf.
4) The recipe will still taste amazing with frozen blueberries. But make sure not to thaw the blueberries. Toss them in frozen, and fold them in gently without over stirring to avoid the batter turning purple, unless you’re having a purple theme party…then yeah, totally do it!
Hope this helps!
Either milk will work; the bread won’t be noticeably more fluffy if you use one milk over the other. I would still toss the frozen blueberries in flour before folding them in gently!
Hi there! I just made this over the weekend, and while it’s delicious (so lemon-y!), I found that the consistency was a little dense. Any thoughts as to why this could be?
I’m glad you enjoyed the taste! This lemon bread does come out more dense because of the greek yogurt. Milk will make it more light and fluffy, so I recommend using that if you prefer. Also, make sure to not overmix because, if you overmix the batter, it can lead to a denser loaf.
Love this recipe! Could I use oat milk or coconut milk instead of whole milk?
Thank you! I have yet to try it with another milk, so let me know if you decide to!
Hi, I haven’t tried any of your recipes as yet but I’m super excited about them. What type of milk would you recommend as a substitute for the Greek yogurt?
I’m so excited for you to give it a try! A full fat milk will probably be best, but you could also use sour cream!
Thank you
ok, thank you.
Made this today. So light and delicious! I even made a lemon glaze for a added touch but was great without it too! #1!!!
Thanks for the recipe. Great for me, as I always cut the called-for sugar in half, and prefer baking with oil instead of butter. Just found that the loaf didn’t brown … possibly because of the lack of granulated sugar?
You’re so welcome! That could be the case, or it could possibly use a few extra minutes in the oven.
Thank you!
Love it! I bought a bunch of blueberries at the store and needed something different. I was a little worried at first about how thick the batter was but it came out perfect! My mom and I enjoyed some with tea after dinner.
Thank you! That sounds like a wonderful way to enjoy it!