Blueberry Lemon Bread: a tender and sweet one-bowl baking recipe the whole family will love!
This post was originally published February, 2020. It was updated on July 24, 2021.
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Recently, a friend asked me what I'd be doing with my time if I was retired and money was no issue. I quickly replied, "cooking, baking, running, doing friend's hair, and traveling the world."
And, for the first time in my adult life, I realized I'm doing for work something which I'd be doing even if it wasn't for work. I was-- and am-- so grateful.
And so, this past Sunday -- my first full day off in 2 weeks -- I woke up only to rush downstairs and instantly start whipping up a new bread recipe I just couldn't get out of my mind.
Fighting off a head cold, I wanted something light and bright and I wanted something that could hold up for breakfast and snacks in the following days.
So, I grabbed my whole wheat pastry flour, melted some butter, zested and juiced my lemon, and snagged my frozen blueberries and was off to the kitchen races.
What resulted was a Lemon Blueberry Muffin Bread Recipe my Instagram friends insisted I share the recipe and one that reminded me of just how lucky I am to be able to do what I do... and I hope that you, can enjoy this bread and a career (however you define it) you love, too.
This Blueberry Lemon Bread is...
- Tender
- Delicate
- Sweet
- Light and bright
It's the perfect sweet treat that's low on work but high on reward. With only 10 minutes of work and one bowl, you have a delicious homemade treat the whole family will love!
Ingredients:
- Whole wheat pastry flour - found at Whole Foods, most major grocery stores, and on Amazon
- Sour cream
- Lemon zest & juice - both fresh and bottled lemon juice work
- Unsalted butter
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Blueberries - fresh or frozen
- Baking powder
- Salt
Recipe substitutions:
- Flour - can also substitute in part white whole wheat flour and part white all purpose flour for the whole pastry flour
- Sour cream - 2% or 4% Greek yogurt in the place of the sour cream
How do you make blueberry lemon bread?
- Preheat the oven and grease a loaf pan with non-stick spray or butter.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients until combined.
- Whisk in the wet ingredients until combined.
- Gently fold the blueberries into the batter until combined.
- Pour the bread batter into the baking pan. Sprinkle sugar on top of the batter and bake the lemon loaf until the bread is baked through and a knife inserted into the bread comes out clean!
Recipe pro-tips:
- Measure the flour by weighing it for the best results. I love and recommend this kitchen scale, but spoon and leveling the flour is the second most precise way of measuring flour.
- This recipe can also be made at high altitude. No recipe adaptations are needed.
- If you want to experiment with gluten-free 1-to-1 flour it will likely work, but I haven't done it myself yet so I can't make any guarantees. If you are gluten-free and want to try this out, please let me know how it goes in the comments.
Recipe FAQ's:
You can easily melt butter in the microwave. First, cut your butter into inch cubes. Next, put your butter in a glass bowl and cover the bowl with a paper towel.
Then, heat the butter at 30% heat for 1-1.5 minutes in 30 second intervals, or until the butter is melted.
Both fresh and frozen blueberries work perfectly in this recipe. If fresh berries are in season, they work perfectly in this recipe. Frozen berries are also great, however, and make this recipe doable year-round!
You zest a lemon by gently running a Microplane (or lemon zester) over the outside of the lemon peel. Don't zest the lemon down to the white pithy part, as this pith is bitter; instead, zest each section of the lemon peel and move on to the next portion of unzested peel.
Storage directions:
Store leftover bread in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
This bread also can be frozen in a freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months.
Serving suggestions:
There are so many great ways to serve this bread. Here are some of my favorite ways:
- For breakfast: with tea or coffee and scrambled eggs
- For a snack: toasted with butter and a banana
- For dessert: toasted or even ala mode!
Tolls needed to make this recipe:
- Large mixing bowl
- Microplane (a lemon zester)
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Whisk
- Silicone spatula
- 8 x 4" glass baking loaf pan (1.6 quarts)
More tasty baking recipes:
- Lemon Bars
- Strawberry Lemonade Bars
- Brown Butter Banana Bread
- Healthy Apple Cinnamon Bread
- Lemon Sugar Cookies
- Meyer Lemon Curd
- Gluten-Free Zucchini Bread
- Gluten-Free Peach Cobbler
- Funfetti Cake Mix Cookies
- Protein Breakfast Cookies
- Vegan Coffee Cake
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Blueberry Lemon Bread
Email FacebookIngredients
- 2 cups or 250g whole wheat pastry flour*
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup + 1 tablespoon granulated white sugar divided
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter melted and cooled for 1-2 minutes
- 2 large eggs brought to room temperature
- ¾ cup sour cream or Greek yogurt not low-fat, brought to room temperature**
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice or juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest or zest of about 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cup fresh or frozen blueberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees & spray an 8-inch x 4-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the pastry flour, baking powder, salt, and ⅔ cup sugar until combined.
- Add in the eggs, sour cream, lemon juice, melted butter, grated lemon zest, and vanilla extract and whisk in thoroughly for 30-45 seconds, or until no clumps remain.
- Sprinkle blueberries over the batter and fold them in gently with a rubber spatula until the blueberries are just mixed in. Pro-tip: if using frozen blueberries, stop mixing once the berries start streaking blue juice throughout the batter.
- Pour the batter into the loaf pan and sprinkle 1 tablespoon sugar evenly over the top.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Move the pan to a wire cooling rack and let cool for 5-10 minutes. Turn the bread out of the pan onto the rack and let it cool until room temperature and serve!
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