Light, soft, and irresistibly moist, this super easy vegan lemon bread is sure to be a hit with friends and family!
Frosted Vegan Lemon Loaf
This delicious recipe is perfect for breakfast or brunch.
If you are a fan of the popular classic lemon cake from Starbucks, hopefully you will love this one too!
It calls for only basic ingredients, comes together without much fuss, and can be enjoyed all week long. Leftovers can also be frozen for later.
Also be sure to try these Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
This iced lemon bread recipe has been a long time in the making.
It was inspired by reader feedback I received on a Healthy Lemon Cake I posted a few years ago. People loved the subtly tart and sweet flavor of that cake, but many of you were saying the same thing: that you wanted a lemon cake that was taller, with a much lighter and fluffier texture.
So here it finally is – a bigger, fatter, bolder vegan lemon loaf!
I thought about simply doubling the ingredients of the original to make a larger loaf. But with half a cup of lemon juice already in the recipe, I feared this might make things way too acidic.
So I played around and was even able to cut down the oil in the process.
Currently Trending: Almond Milk Ice Cream – 5 Flavors
I made the recipe for a brunch last Sunday, because of course I did.
You know how much I love brunch!
(For the record, brunch is always lunch for me. No way I can go until after noon before eating any food.)
Our potluck brunch also included english muffins, frosted donuts, roasted potatoes, Vegan Mac And Cheese, and vegan lasagna soup… so, um, lots of carbs.
While I do love all of the Keto Dessert Recipes on the blog, we also really love carbs over here.
This secretly vegan lemon bread recipe can be soy free, gluten free, and oil free (although I personally prefer the version with oil).
Because so many readers ask about using almond flour in my recipes, I did go ahead and test it here. The results were delicious but not very attractive.
The recipe will also work as Vegan Lemon Cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 F, and bake 17 minutes or until the cupcakes have risen and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out mostly clean.
If you make the lemon bread, please feel free to leave a comment or share photos and let me know your thoughts.
When you guys make my recipes, it is my favorite part of what I do.
Watch the vegan lemon bread recipe video above
Vegan Lemon Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour (For flourless, make this Keto Lemon Bread)
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup sugar, or xylitol for sugar free
- 3/4 cup milk of choice
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt, such as almondmilk yogurt
- 1/4 cup oil, or sub applesauce for fat free
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- zest of 1 large or 2 small lemons (1 tbsp total – don’t omit)
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- The recipe works with spelt, white, or oat flour. It technically works with almond flour (and tastes delicious) but won’t rise or look pretty. Gluten free all purpose flour can work but will be much denser. I prefer the oil version’s flavor and texture, but if you’re used to the texture of oil free baked goods it’s fine to sub applesauce.Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9×5 loaf pan. In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Whisk liquid ingredients in a separate bowl, combine wet and dry, then stir until just evenly mixed. Spread into the pan. Bake 50-55 minutes, or until loaf has risen and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If desired, frost with either melted Coconut Butter or 1/2 cup powdered sugar combined with 1 tbsp milk of choice.View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
Currently Trending Vegan Recipes:
(20 Healthy Recipes)
Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Could one use erithrytol and a vanilla liquid stevia to achieve a desirable result? If so what would be the proportions of those?
Unfortunately there’s just no possible way to know how such substitutions would turn out without trying. If you experiment (and edible experiments are the best), be sure to report back!
Jason
Is the yogurt you use sweetened or unsweetened?
Katie used unsweetened, but either will work. Even vanilla would work if you cut back on the vanilla extract in the recipe.
Which flour did Katie use?
Katie (or one of her testers) has tried each of the flours listed in the recipe as options. She won’t ever list an ingredient for a recipe that she hasn’t tried (unless she mentions that with an asterisk or in parenthesis). It doesn’t always mean those are the only flours that work, it just means we don’t know what the results using another flour would be and therefore can’t recommend anything we haven’t tried.
Sure would appreciate high altitude adjustments for recipes over 5,000 ft at the bottom of each recipe!!!!!
Sadly there’s just no way we’d be able to do that, because Katie doesn’t live in a high altitude and therefore would have no way to test the recipes in that environment.
Just made this! Soo good! I used AP flour, organic sugar, mixture of 1/8 c coconut oil & 1/8 c applesauce, doubled the lemon zest, used less than For the glaze I used 1/4 c powdered sugar, used some fresh squeezed lemon juice & 1 T lemon zest. I wanted it more tart. My husband just went back for a third huge slice lol! I should have let it cool 100% before putting on the glaze but I couldn’t wait! Thank you for all your delicious recipes these past years & proving that no animal is ever needed to make delicious food!!! ???
Good call on doubling the lemon zest! I am a huge lemon lover (more than chocolate, sorry Katie), so that sounds perfect to me 🙂
Did you substitute the coconut oil and applesauce for the yoghurt?
Thank you so much
Can not wait to try this recipe
What organic sugar did you use?
Tried this recipe today. It was DELICIOUS! I had a few substitutes and it was very good! It did not change the texture or appearance of this wonderful bread. The lemon smell flowed throughout my entire home as it was baking.
**I used Turbinado sugar, Coconut oil, “SO delicious” Coconut milk Key Lime yogurt.The yogurt did not take away from the lemon taste nor did the bread taste like key lime…besides it was all I had in the fridge. 🙂
I think this is a great recipe (I made it tonight) but I would like to add a note! I followed the exact recipe and used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free One-to-One baking flour and greek yogurt. I think the greek yogurt made it doughy, because greek yogurt is thicker. So I would recommend only used regular yogurt or dairy-free yogurt that’s not the same consistency and thickness as greek yogurt. But overall, the flavor was great! Thank you for this recipe!
Good to know! I know Katie used coconutmilk yogurt, and I’ve made it with plain yogurt, which works well (if you’re not vegan, of course). Thanks for the heads up about greek yogurt so I will always stay with regular in the future.
Literally just finished eating my first slice! Very impressed and very tasty. It rose lovely and the texture is so fluffy. Havent put a frosting on yet but I’m going to try the icing sugar mixed with milk. I’ve made a few recipes of Katies now and so impressed with them all.
Thank you so incredibly much for making it! 🙂
I made this today. It is delicious and I think it would be wonderful with a cup of tea.
I appreciate the info about the almond flour since that’s what I usually use (Keto). I wonder if I used more baking powder – like doubled it – if this would give it some lift. I make some super yummy Keto cheddar biscuits with almond flour and a good bit of baking powder and they do rise (they do also have egg in them). Thoughts? And if I did use egg in this recipe, what would I need to eliminate? Thank you!
Unfortunately there’s just no way to know unless you experiment! But be sure to report back if you do 🙂
Jason (media relations)
Did you find a solution? Also on the keto diet and I loved this recipe before! If you found a good change please let me know ??
Hmm, what about adding some lemon zest to these? https://lett-trim.today/2019/06/10/keto-muffins-recipe/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
If it’s not too late: apple cidre vinegar (I’d say about 1 tbsp) and/or a flaxseed egg (1 tbsp ground flaxseed, 3 tbsp water, mix and let sit at least 10 mins before adding) usually helps with making the cake rise a bit more 🙂
hi, could i substitute the yoghurt or leave it out completely? Wanna make this tonight as our lemon trees are very abundant this year 🙂
Unfortunately there’s just no way to know unless you experiment, because we haven’t tried anything else such as silken tofu, coconut cream, mashed banana, etc. But be sure to report back if you do experiment ?
Jason (media relations)
I tried making this using coconut cream and it didn’t work 🙁
It ended it up being a totally delicious puddle of warm goo! I’m having trouble finding ingredients like vegan yogurt. I will try making it again later with tofu (although I’m a little nervous about experimenting since all our grocery stores and practically empty right now).
Also, Katie, I just wanted to let you know I saw this recipe posted at veganfoodrecipe.info/2019/04/10/vegan-lemon-bread/#respond and they didn’t really give you any credit, just sayin…
Oh no! What other ingredients did you use? I’ve actually used coconut cream here and didn’t have an issue. How thick was yours? And wow yes it looks like that blog copied multiple of Katie’s recipe without giving any credit at all. It’s really disappointing people think this is okay, and sadly there are so many of them that we don’t even have time to do anything about it because as soon as you get one to take the recipe down, another will take its place. I know it’s not an issue specific to Katie – pretty much any food blogger can find his or her work plagiarized all over Pinterest 🙁
The lemon bread turned out delicious, so light and fluffy, thank you Katie for the recipe
Hey Jodi, Respect for looking out🙏, just wanted to mention that the lemon loaf image is tagged chocolatecoveredkatie.com
Just tried it out! I used whole wheat flour and some buckwheat flour and more yogurt instead of oil! The texture is little gummy but the taste is amazing! I will bake this again for sure!
Ooh awesome to know it works with buckwheat!
This was amazing. Just wanted to mention that I made it with whole wheat flour and it turned out great.
Hi could I add any mix ins to this recipe? I was thinking maybe 1/2 cup of fresh blueberries?
I know one person made the recipe into muffins and added blueberries successfully. I don’t know of anyone who’s tried adding blueberries to the bread version, but be sure to report back if you experiment. Katie is also working on a regular (not lemon) blueberry bread recipe to hopefully have posted this coming Monday.
I have this in the oven now, with blueberries! I just added a 3/4 of a cup of frozen blueberries tossed lightly in some flour. I folded them in very gently. I can’t wait to see how it turns out!
This turned out amazing, perfect lemon flavor and very moist. Thank you !
I have made this recipe twice with a cup of fresh blueberries and it turns out excellent!
Just made this today with vanilla yogurt because it’s raining and I’m too lazy to go to the store for eggs or plain yogurt and it’s quite delicious. I did lower the sugar a bit and the extract a bit to compensate for my different yogurt. And I skipped the lemon zest, so it’s probably not as lemony as it could be. But still great, as usual!
Can we use more milk instead of the yoghurt? I can’t get non-dairy yoghurt where I live (Laos). Thanks.
We haven’t tried anything else, but be sure to report back if you experiment with other ingredients!
I have just made and it is delicious. I have used whole spelt flour, coconut sugar, coconut oil, vanilla unsweetened coconut yogurt and I have also added 50 grams of roughly chopped almonds. Next time I will try it adding poppy seeds. Thank you Katie for your easy, delicious and stunning recipes! I have tried a dozen and never been disappointed! Lol from Italy ☀️
Oh wow- the idea for poppy seeds sounds amazing!