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This moist, one-bowl lemon loaf is a delicious Starbucks copycat recipe. It has a decadent and soft crumb, bright lemon flavor and topped with a thick drizzle of icing.
I love a Starbucks dupe (hello to my Pumpkin Spice Latte and Gingerbread Latte). Let’s save some money and make our Starbuck favorites at home. This lemon loaf is even better. It’s super moist and is bursting with lemon flavor. Let’s get into it!
Ingredients You’ll Need to Make this Lemon Loaf
- Lemons – We’re using the zest in the loaf and a bit of the juice in the icing.
- Lemon extract – I love the flavor this adds to the loaf. This lemon extract (and the zest) is what is going to give us that burst of lemon flavor.
- Vanilla extract – Store-bought or homemade vanilla extract. This works well with lemon.
- Sour cream – It’s going to contribute to a super luxurious and delicious flavor and moisture.
- Oil – I played around with using butter but oil is going to be our friend and make it super moist.
- Turmeric – A surprise ingredient! This is going to contribute to a beautiful yellow color. It’s optional but it gives it a naturally bright hue.
- Eggs – We’re going to whip the eggs with the sugar until they’re pale in color. This is going to give us a light texture.
For a full list of ingredients, please see the recipe index card below!
How to Make the Lemon Loaf
- Rub sugar and zest together. This is made in one bowl! Grab a large bowl and start by rubbing the lemon zest with the sugar. This is going to bring out the oil in the zest and make the loaf that much more flavorful.
2. Crack in the eggs. Beat the eggs and sugar together until they’re pale in color.
3. Pour in oil, sour cream, lemon extract, vanilla, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Mix it together until completely dissolved.
4. Add flour. Lastly, fold in that flour; be sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl to make sure you pick up any bits of hidden flour.
5. Pour into loaf pan.
6. Bake until a skewer comes out clean and the top is medium golden brown.
7. Make the icing. Whisk together the powdered sugar, heavy cream and lemon juice. Pour it on top of the cooled loaf. Let it set and then slice it up.
Recipe Tip
- Rub the zest with sugar. Rubbing citrus zest with sugar releases its flavorful oil, so get aggressive with it!
- Oil vs butter. I love the flavor of butter but in cakes, I’m an oil-lover. They result in the most delicious and moist crumb.
- No lemon juice in this loaf. I find lemon juice to really dry out baked goods. So I decided to skip it in this loaf and add lemon extract and zest.
- Different size pan. This will also work in a 9×5-inch loaf pan; just keep in mind it won’t be as tall but still will taste amazing!
Recipe FAQs
I find the lemon loaf from Starbucks to taste a bit artificial (and I don’t mean this in a bad way). I think this comes from lemon extract.
Lemon extract is alcohol soaked in lemon peels. So it has a very intense lemon flavor without any added moisture. It’s a very concentrated lemon flavor.
To freeze any cake, I like to let it cool completely, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and cover it with foil. Label it and transfer to the fridge for up to three months.
More Cozy Cakes to Make
If you tried this Lemon Loaf Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Lemon Loaf
Equipment
Ingredients
Lemon Loaf:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest
- 3 large eggs
- 3/4 cup neutral oil
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, (store-bought or homemade)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon extract
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric, optional
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
Icing:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
To Make the Lemon Loaf:
- Preheat your oven to 350F. Prep a 1 pound loaf pan (8×4-inch) with baking spray and a piece of parchment. (See *Notes section for pan options.) I like to make it so the sides of the parchment come up the sides of the pan. This makes for easy lifting of the loaf.
- In a large bowl, pour in the sugar and lemon zest. Using your fingers, rub the sugar and lemon zest together. This will aggravate the zest and help it release flavorful oils. Add in the eggs. Using an electric mixer (you can also use a whisk), beat the eggs until pale in color, about 1 minute.
- Next, add in the neutral oil, vanilla extract, lemon extract, sour cream, turmeric, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Whisk until smooth.
- Lastly, add in the flour and beat until completely combined. I like to take a spatula and scrape the bottom of the bowl to make sure there aren't any bits of flour hiding.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Transfer to the oven to bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
To Make the Glaze:
- While it's cooling, whisk together the glaze. In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, heavy cream and lemon juice. It will be pretty thick! That's ok!
To Serve:
- When the loaf has cooled, pour the glaze on top. Spread it on top with the back of a spoon. Let it set. I'll sometimes put it in the fridge to speed up the process, for about 10 minutes. Slice up the loaf and enjoy!
Notes
-
- Rub the zest with sugar. Rubbing citrus zest with sugar releases its flavorful oil, so get aggressive with it!
-
- Oil vs butter. I love the flavor of butter but in cakes, I’m an oil-lover. They result in the most delicious and moist crumb.
-
- No lemon juice in this loaf. I find lemon juice to really dry out baked goods. So I decided to skip it in this loaf and add lemon extract and zest.
- Different size pan. This will also work in a 9×5-inch loaf pan; just keep in mind it won’t be as tall but still will taste amazing!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Better than Starbucks!
Love to hear it!
LOVE!
I took the advice of others in the comments and added more lemon extract. The cake is delicious however my glaze did not come out as thick. I wasn’t sure if I didn’t whip it long enough but the cake altogether as tasty.
I was wondering if you’ve ever frozen this loaf. I would like to make it for Easter. Making and freezing the unglazed loaf would be helpful in my prep for hosting. I’d thaw it and glaze it the day we eat it. What do you think about this?
I haven’t but it should work fine! I would bake it, let it cool completely and then wrap it in plastic wrap (twice). I would thaw it on the counter overnight and then glaze it right before you serve it. 🙂
The texture of this cake is great. I only had access to McCormick lemon extract, and like others have mentioned the loaf was very light in lemon flavor. Almost more like a vanilla loaf. Unfortunately, I did not see the comments until after I had already baked the loaf. To remedy this, I made a lemon juice simple syrup soak and poured it on the loaf while it was warm. It definitely helped get the lemon flavor across much better.
Loved it! Easy and delicious, no notes!
The loaf itself was good in texture (it took me closer to 55min in my 8×4 pan), but very light in lemon flavor like others have commented. I also only had access to McCormick brand, so I wish I had seen the comments prior to baking. What I did to remedy is made some lemon juice/simple syrup soak to slowly pour over the loaf while it was still warm to try and add some lemon flavor/taste in there. Without this last step the loaf itself was more vanilla loaf leaning with this particular extract brand. But original recipe with the glaze should be enough for those who don’t mind the lemon flavor to be mostly coming from the glaze part and not from the loaf part.
This was amazing! Love that I was able to make a lemon loaf at home and just as good, if not better than Starbucks! Plus, I know what ingredients are being used!
so glad you loved it, rhola! 🙂
Nothing special unfortunately. I liked the idea of adding turmeric however there was not nearly enough lemon extract. The bread itself does not taste like lemon. Truly needs like five times the amount of lemon extract or more.
Hi April, what brand of lemon extract did you use? Mine was SUPER lemony and wondering if the brand matters.
Although the bread was delicious and moist I found mine lacking in lemon flavor too 🙁 it was missing that punchy tartness. I used Mckormics brand extract. Would make again but I’d try to sub lemon juice!
Hmm…let me try it with the McCormicks. Something tells me theirs is not that strong. I used Simply Organic Brand and it was super strong. I tested one loaf where it had 2 teaspoons and I thought it was too much :/
So good and easy to make! The glaze is to die for, it is so good!! May I say it’s better then the one at Starbucks!
AMAZING. I love to hear it! Thanks so much for the feedback, Devyn. 🙂
So so good! It has the perfect crust and delicious texture inside. The turmeric leaves no taste, but really does enhance the color! I could eat the whole loaf
omg this makes me so happy!! so glad you loved it 😉