Better than Starbucks Lemon Bread with Lemon Icing

I have made lemon bread so many times, lemon blueberry bread, lemon poppy seed bread, just plain lemon bread, with icing, without icing, and I have finally created a recipe I absolutely adore and will continue to use. It didn’t take long for this recipe to quickly become the ultimate lemon bread recipe!

You will notice that most lemon bread recipes use oil and that’s great, but I needed something different, I wanted this bread to not be just okay, I wanted it to be so good I would still be thinking about after it was all devoured. This recipe is just that, and after you make it, you won’t need another recipe. I used to get the Starbucks lemon bread all the time, and trust me when I say this recipe tops that lemon bread tenfold! It’s moist, it’s lemony, it’s fluffy and absolutely divine, but don’t let me be the one to tell you this. Try it for yourself and see what I mean!

Also, if you know my baking style, you know I am not crazy about drenching everything in sugar. In my opinion, the less the sugar, the better you can taste other flavors, and the more slices you can have without feeling guilty! With that said, I prefer no icing to most of the pastries I make, but for this particular bread, it takes it to a whole new level! Another side note, I have tried making the icing with as little confectioner’s sugar as possible, but in order for it to actually look like icing, you need a bit of a heavy hand with the confectioner’s sugar, otherwise it starts looking like a syrup and barely is barely visible. No need to fear though, since there is low sugar in the lemon bread recipe, it won’t overwhelm you with sweetness. The total amount of sugar used for the entire lemon bread is less than what you’ll find in 1-2 slices of cookie at most stores! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! I already look forward to making it again. Happy Baking!

Prep time: 15 minutes	Bake time: 55 minutes
Serves: About 8 slices (sliced 1 inch in thickness)	Total time: 70 minutes

Ingredients 3/4 cup sugar 1/2 cup butter (softened) 2 eggs 1 cup sour cream 2 tbsp lemon juice (freshly squeezed) 1 tbsp lemon zest (my favorite zester) 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract 1 1/2 cups flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt For Lemon Icing 1 cup confectioner’s sugar 1-2 tbsp lemon juice Optional 1 tsp lemon zest for garnish

Instructions 1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 12 x 6 loaf pan with parchment paper and evenly coat melted butter on the parchment paper and on the sides of the pan. 2. In a large mixing bowl, cream the softened butter and sugar. 3. Add eggs one at a time until thoroughly combined, next add the sour cream, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla extract and mix again until well combined. 4. In a separate small mixing bowl, add flour, salt, and baking powder and whisk until combined. 5. Add the flour mixture to wet mixture 1 cup at a time. Gently stir with a spatula until you can no longer see any flour. 6. Using your mixer, mix at medium heat for about a minute and pour into the loaf pan. Let it rest for about 2 minutes before placing into the oven for about 55 minutes. 7. After about 40 minutes of baking, without opening your oven, check how the edges of the lemon loaf look, if they are turning golden brown, lower the oven temperature to 335F for the remaining 15 minutes. If they are not golden brown by the 40 minute mark, leave temperature as is. The toothpick should come out clean when inserted at the center. For the icing 1. Using a large metal sieve, sift confectioner’s sugar onto a medium mixing bowl, add 1 tbs of fresh squeezed lemon juice and stir. If icing is too thick, add 1 more tbsp of lemon juice and stir well. The icing should look creamy and not too watery. Lemon Bread 1. Once your lemon bread is fully baked, let it cool in the pan for about 30-60 minutes, or until cool to the touch. 2. Once lemon bread is cooled, drizzle icing onto the bread, let it sit for about 5 minutes and enjoy! *If you make the icing ahead of time and let it sit, it might harden a bit, so stir well before drizzling. *If your bread pan is slightly larger or smaller than 12 x 6 it’s okay!

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