Lemon Loaf (gluten-free)

Easy, incredibly moist, and filled with tons of lemon flavor, this gluten-free Lemon Loaf is a great Easter, Spring or Summer breakfast (or brunch) recipe!

I think lemon can be a tricky flavor to bake with.

Not only because it can be hard to get a full lemon flavor, but also because of the acidity of the lemon juice which can affect the way your baked good rises/falls.

But, my husband and my son in particular LOVE lemon, so over the last few years I’ve sort of made it a personal mission of mine to master several lemon recipes for our family.

I’ve got loads of options too, for breakfast, snacks or dessert! All gluten-free:

• For breakfast: Lemon Chia Scones, Lemon Poppy Seed Waffles, Lemon Zucchini Oat Muffins
• For snacks: Lemon Snack Balls and Lemon Honey Granola
• For dessert: Lemon Cookies, Paleo Lemon Cookies (for a healthy treat), Lemon Cupcakes with lemon buttercream frosting

If it were up to my son, he would be eating a Paleo Lemon Cookie everyday! He seriously loves lemon and the great chewy texture of my paleo cookie recipe.

If it were up to me, I would be eating Chocolate Oat Pancakes for breakfast everyday… but, I’ve learned to love lemon too now.

This Lemon Loaf.. yum. It’s a thick bread made extra moist with Greek yogurt, filled with lemon zest and a little lemon juice inside, and topped with a light lemon glaze for total lemon takeover.

I think my son could eat this for breakfast everyday now too. So, he’ll start with Lemon Loaf for breakfast and end the day with a Lemon Cookie. Any other lemon addicts out there like him?! 🙂

There’s a few things to know first.

First, you read that right in the recipe. Only 1 1/2 tsp of baking POWDER not soda. I know, it’s odd for a quick bread recipe to have that little amount of a rising agent. But, that’s what works for lemon bread. Stay with me!

While this recipe is based off my Blueberry Muffins, the key difference in this recipe is the Greek yogurt. It adds extra moisture and melt-in-your-mouth status to this bread.

The Greek yogurt is the best part!

I prefer to use Fage 2% plain Greek yogurt, but you can use whatever kind of Greek yogurt you prefer (even vanilla instead of plain). I haven’t made this bread with regular yogurt before, so I can’t guarantee that it would work, but I’d think that it would.

The other key difference from the Blueberry Muffins is the baking temperature and the way the ingredients are added in.

You’ll cream your butter and sugar together, and then add one egg at a time and beat them into your mixture. This helps the bread have a little more lift. Then, you’ll add your milk, Greek yogurt, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla.

Then you’ll add your dry ingredients to your wet ingredients and stir them together. You’ll have a pretty thick batter, and that’s good! Then add your batter to a bread pan and bake at 350 for about 50-55 minutes.

After your Lemon Loaf has COOLED, then you can drizzle your glaze across the top. Simply whisk together powdered sugar, more lemon juice, and milk for the drizzle. Depending on the texture you want for your glaze you can use more powdered sugar or more milk.

You can also omit the Lemon Glaze entirely. I think it really gives this bread the extra punch of lemon flavor, but isn’t necessary.

If you are a total lemon lover and are looking for a great spring or Easter breakfast recipe, I hope this one is a game changer for you!

And if you want more quick bread recipes to check out, I’d recommend my Carrot Cake Banana Bread, Apple Cinnamon Bread, Zucchini Bread, Cinnamon Applesauce Oat Bread and Banana Bread.