This vegan lemon loaf is super easy to whip up and bursting with zippy, lemony flavor! It's a perfect dessert for everything from special dinners to just enjoying with an afternoon cup of tea.
'Tis the season for lemon flavored sweets! I don't know about you, but I absolutely love the bright, tangy flavor of lemon, especially during the early days of spring.
This time of year I always find myself whipping up lemony treats like my vegan lemon bars, vegan lemon bundt cake, and vegan lemon curd. One treat that was missing until today was a vegan lemon loaf, Starbucks style. I have to admit, I've never had the Starbucks version, but I can't imagine it's better than this!
This loaf is most, tender, and so flavorful. It's also really easy to make, so it's perfect if you need an easy dessert or have a craving that you need to satisfy asap!
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Ingredients You'll Need
- Flour. We're using all-purpose wheat flour for this recipe, also known as white flour. The recipe might work with other types of flour, but I haven't tested any of them, so I can't guarantee results.
- Sugar. Use organic sugar. Conventional sugar may be processed using animal bone char, so it's not vegan.
- Baking powder.
- Salt.
- Yogurt. Any variety of unflavored and unsweetened non-dairy yogurt should work.
- Oil. You can use your favorite oil for baking here. Canola oil, coconut oil, and even olive oil will work!
- Lemon juice. Since lemon is the star flavor here, you absolutely want to use freshly squeezed juice. Skip the bottled stuff!
- Lemon zest.
- Lemon extract.
- Yellow food coloring. This is totally optional. If you don't care about the color of your loaf, skip it. If you want a yellow loaf but don't want to use food coloring, use a few pinches of turmeric instead.
How It's Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
Start by whisking your dry ingredients together in a large bowl: flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Combine the wet ingredients in a separate container: yogurt, oil, lemon juice, zest, lemon extract, and food coloring. Stir them together.
Tip: Measure the yogurt carefully! I like to first scoop it into a dry measuring cup, level it off, then use a spatula to transfer it to a large liquid measuring cup, which I use to combine all of the wet ingredients. Gently tamp it down by tapping it on the counter after adding the yogurt, then confirm the amount by checking the level on the liquid measuring cup.
Stir the wet and dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Stop stirring as soon as they're completely combined. Overmixing the batter can negatively affect the texture of your loaf.
Transfer the batter to a greased loaf pan, then pop it in the oven. The loaf is done when the edges are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Variations: Add some stir-ins to your batter! Blueberries, raspberries, and vegan white chocolate chips would all be delicious.
Let the vegan lemon loaf cool on a wire rack. Once it is completely cool, you can remove it from the pan and mix some powdered sugar and lemon juice to make the glaze. Slather the loaf with the glaze, then slice and enjoy it!
Shelf-Life & Storage
Your vegan lemon loaf will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for about three days, in the fridge for about five days, or in the freezer for about a month.
Frequently Asked Questions
A few things could have happened. First, check your baking powder by sprinkling a pinch of it into a glass of water. If it doesn't fizz, it's old and needs to be replaced. The second likely culprit is taking it out of the oven too early. Make sure it's fully set and your toothpick is clean before taking it out of the oven. Finally, make sure you're not overmixing your batter.
You can, but it will probably need a little less time in the oven. Start checking it at about 25 minutes, then every five minutes after that.
More Vegan Lemon Desserts
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Lemon Loaf
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup organic granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- â…” cup unflavored and unsweetened vegan yogurt
- â…“ cup vegetable oil
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- ½ teaspoon yellow food coloring, optional (Note 1)
For the Glaze
- 1 cup organic powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease the bottom and sides of an 8-inch loaf pan (Note 2).
- Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a large mixing bowl.
- In a small container such as a liquid measuring cup, stir together the yogurt, oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, lemon extract, and yellow food color, if using.
- Pour the yogurt mixture into the bowl with the flour mixture. Stir the ingredients together just until they're combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan, smoothing out the top with a spoon or spatula.
- Bake the loaf until the edges are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Place the loaf on a cooling rack and allow it to cool completely before removing it from the pan.
- When the loaf is cool, make the glaze by stirring the powdered sugar and lemon juice together in a small bowl. Add more powdered sugar if it seems too thin, or more lemon juice if it seems too thick.
- Remove the loaf from the pan. Spread the glaze over the top and sides of the loaf. Let it sit until the glaze has fully set.
- Slice the loaf. Serve.
Notes
- A few pinches of turmeric can be used if you'd like to give your loaf a yellow tint without using food coloring.
- A 9-inch loaf pan can be used, but the bake time could be up to 15 minutes less, so keep an eye on it.
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This came out really poorly for me. I followed the directions to a T. Bought new baking soda just in case the one I had on hand was too old. The batter was pretty dry to begin with, so I added a little bit more oil, but it was still pretty lumpy when it went in the oven. Then it took over 60 mins to rise. I took it out when the edges browned and a knife came out clean, but it still seemed uncooked inside. I don't mean that it was raw, but more like a gelatin. My boyfriend is the vegan and he said it tasted pretty good regardless, but I won't be making this again.
This looks delicious! Beyond being vegan, I don’t use refined oils. I generally sub applesauce for oil when baking. I’ll give that a go, I think…or do you think it would be better to increase the plant-based yogurt to 1 cup?
Thank you! I'd go with the applesauce - I usually have luck subbing that for oil. Enjoy!!