Healthy Lemon Loaf

If you’re a fan of lemon flavor, this tasty citrus recipe is for you! Delicious Healthy Lemon Loaf is made with a mix of all-purpose flour and oat flour and naturally sweetened with maple syrup or honey. This easy lemon bread bakes up perfectly soft and moist with a golden exterior for the perfect brunch treat or snack.

This healthy lemon loaf is light, tender, and bursting with flavor from the fresh lemon zest. I love to enjoy it for breakfast or as an afternoon snack. They are so easy to make, so delicious, and make for a perfectly healthy breakfast, snack, or dessert. You will want to make this lemon loaf bread every week.

Ingredients needed

This lemon loaf has the perfect soft, tender crumb, plus a sweet, slightly tart flavor from the lemon zest. Here’s everything you’ll need to make it:

• Flour: This recipe uses a combination of all-purpose flour and oat flour for added fiber and nutrition. Whole wheat pastry flour is a great substitute for all-purpose flour.
• Baking powder: For a light, fluffy texture.
• Baking soda: To help the bread rise.
• Fine kosher salt Balances the sweetness and really brings out the lemon flavor!
• Vanilla extract: For added flavor and sweetness.
• Plain yogurt: Adds wonderful moisture to the bread without having to use very much oil. For a boost of protein use plain Greek yogurt. And for extra lemon flavor use a variety of lemon yogurt.
• Eggs: You’ll just need 2 eggs for the whole loaf.
• Lemon and Lemon zest: Lemon zest is very important to the flavoring of this loaf, so don’t skip it.
• Sweetener: My favorite antioxidant-rich and unrefined sweeteners to use in baked goods are either pure maple syrup or honey.
• Coconut oil: For additional moisture. You can sub with olive oil or avocado oil if you’d like.

How to make this recipe

Like most quick bread, this lemon loaf recipe is easy to make from scratch and requires just a few minutes of preparation. Grab a mixing bowl and your loaf pan!

You can find the full, printable recipe card at the bottom of this page, but let’s walk through all of the steps.

• Prep: Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a bread loaf with parchment paper. Spray with a bit of cooking oil spray.
• Dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, sift both flours with baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
• Wet ingredients: In a second bowl, whisk the vanilla, yogurt, eggs, lemon juice, lemon zest, maple syrup (or honey), and coconut oil until well blended.

• Combine wet and dry ingredients: Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ones, and stir gently until just combined.

• Bake: Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan and bake at 350ºF for 40-50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Tips for recipe success

Making lemon quick bread is really quite simple, and here are my tips for making sure it turns out perfect every time you make it!

• Room temperature ingredients: For easy mixing, always allow wet ingredients to come to room temperature before incorporating.
• Measure flour correctly: Too much flour can cause baked goods to be dry and crumbly. Start by whisking the flour, then spoon it into a dry measuring cup and level off the top (without shaking the measuring cup). If you have a food scale, use that for even more precise measuring.
• Do NOT overmix batter: Stir the wet and dry ingredients together by gently folding them with a large spoon or spatula and mixing just until moistened. Over-mixing the batter can produce tough bread.
• Cover bread: If you notice the loaf of bread is browning too quickly while baking, cover it loosely with aluminum foil after about 30 minutes or so. This will prevent the top and sides from getting too brown.

Frequently asked questions

Storage Tips

• Cover loosely with a tea towel and store at room temperature for 24 hours.
• Like most homemade baked goods, you’ll get the longest shelf life by storing this bread in the fridge. Place the loaf into an airtight container, wrap it in plastic wrap, or store slices in a zip-top bag. It should keep fresh in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can eat the bread straight from the fridge, lightly toast it in the toaster oven or warm it up for about 25 seconds in the microwave.
• To freeze, wrap in aluminum foil, then plastic wrap and store in the freezer for up to about 3 months. Defrost at room temperature overnight, remove the plastic wrap, then gently reheat in a 350ºF oven for 10-15 minutes. Or simply reheat slices in the toaster or microwave.

Recipes you may like

• Blueberry Banana Smoothies
• Chunky Monkey Overnight Oats
• Sweet Potato Brownies
• Cranberry Almond Breakfast Cookies

More healthy bread recipes to try

• Healthy Apple and Walnut Bread
• Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
• Banana Date Nute Bread
• Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread
• Blueberry Zucchini Bread
• Lemon Poppy Seed Zucchini Bread