You can’t beat a classic recipe with regular ingredients and simple instructions like this one. Blueberry Lemon Loaf has lots of fresh blueberries and loads of lemon flavour, complimented by a super sweet and lemony glaze.
My mom was given a recipe for Lemon Loaf by her best friend Marion. It made its rounds quickly in church ladies groups back in the sixties. Everyone was making it. You know it’s a good recipe when it’s been passed around like that. I guess that’s what you’d call “going viral” back then. The recipe card is so splattered and faded from multiple use that my mom can hardly read it any more. She calls it “a keeper.”
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I love the simplicity of traditional recipes that aren’t trying to fit into any trendy categories. Just real wholesome ingredients like milk, butter, eggs and flour. In fact, this recipe says just put all the ingredients together and beat well. That’s sort of against the rules we’ve learned that say don’t over mix but who is to challenge a recipe this good?
Blueberries were in season when I was testing the recipe and I loved the way the loaf turned out. But seriously, a Lemon Loaf on its own is absolutely delicious so you’ll want to keep this one as a two version recipe, Lemon Loaf and Blueberry Lemon Loaf. I wouldn’t recommend frozen blueberries because they would stain the batter. But you can make Zucchini Blueberry Loaf with frozen berries if you like.
Tips for making great Blueberry Lemon Loaf
- Parchment paper lined loaf pans are great because they keep the loaf from sticking and you can lift it right out of the pan to cool.
- Rinse the blueberries and check for stems, twigs or mushy berries. Then drain them well and dry the berries on a paper towel so you’re not adding extra liquid to the batter.
- Make sure your butter is room temperature.
- Zesting the lemon adds a huge hit of citrus flavour so use a real lemon. Make sure you only zest the yellow part because if you go too deep into the white part it gets bitter. Don’t squeeze the juice from the lemon until after you’ve zested it.
- Stir MOST of the berries in right before pouring into the loaf pan, then poke a few into the top part and scatter a few more across the top before baking. You can see from the pictures that the berries tend to sink, so you’ll still have some blueberries closer to the top.
After your loaf has baked almost an hour, check by sticking a toothpick into the centre. If it comes out clean your Blueberry Lemon Loaf is done.
The last but most important step is to drizzle the lemon syrup over top. Once you’ve zested the lemon for the loaf, squeeze out as much juice as you can, then mix in the sugar. The crystals will dissolve while the loaf is baking. Spoon the syrup over top evenly and slowly once the loaf has cooled about 5 minutes. It will sink right into the loaf and leave a sticky lemony glaze on top.
The amount of glaze is more than enough for one loaf. My friend Diana told me she made 2 loaves and used half the glaze on each and it was enough. So it’s your call how much glaze you use.
If you make Blueberry Lemon Loaf, consider leaving a comment or rating below. Here’s the recipe:
Blueberry Lemon Loaf
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 2 large spoonfuls butter at room temperature heaping tablespoons
- ½ cup milk
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 lemon, zested save for juice
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
Citrus Glaze
- 1 lemon, juiced
- ½ cup white sugar
Instructions
- Beat eggs, butter, milk and sugar.
- Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Add to egg mixture. Beat well.
- Zest lemon all over, yellow parts only. Add to batter and mix.
- Gently stir in most of the blueberries, saving some for the top.
- Pour into loaf pan fitted with parchment paper. Drop remaining blueberries on top, poking some into the batter.
- Bake in preheated oven at 350° for 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
- While loaf is baking, squeeze juice from lemon. Add white sugar and stir. Allow to sit to let sugar dissolve. Once loaf has cooled for 5 minutes, drizzle with glaze over top evenly. You may find there is more than enough glaze for one loaf.
Blueberries and lemon is such a great combination! Yum!
Right? Fresh and summery!
I made this last night and it is delicious and so easy. Thank you for sharing this recipe! It’s a 5 star!
Thanks Diana!