Little Lemon Loaves
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
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Serves: 3 mini loaves or 1 large loaf
Ingredients
Bread
  • 1½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1¼ teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1½ tablespoons lemon zest (from about 1½ lemons; you'll use the other half of the lemon to zest for the glaze)
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice (from about ½ a lemon)
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ¼ cup vegetable oil (canola or coconut oil would work fine as well)
  • ¼ cup applesauce
  • 1 cup plain, Greek yogurt
Glaze
  • 2 teaspoons lemon zest (from the other half of the lemon zested for the bread)
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • ½ cup powdered sugar
Instructions
Bread
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a mini-loaf pan or a large loaf pan by greasing it with butter or cooking spray. If using a mini-loaf pan, the recipe will yield 3 mini loaves.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, add the sugar and lemon zest. Use your fingers to work the lemon zest and sugar together, until the sugar feels like wet sand and smells lemony. Add the lemon juice, vanilla, oil, applesauce and yogurt. Whisk to combine thoroughly.
  4. Using a large spatula, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir gently until just combined. Take care not to over mix the batter. Scoop or pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan, filling each about ¾ full if you're using the mini-loaf pan.
  5. For mini loaves, bake at 350 degrees for 23-25 minutes. For a larger loaf, bake for 35-40 minutes (my larger loaf took about 38 minutes). Use a toothpick to check for doneness. The edges will be slightly golden brown, the bread will look firm on top and a toothpick will come out clean or with a few moist crumbs on it. Let the bread cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then invert the bread onto a cooling rack.
Glaze
  1. In a small bowl, combine the zest, lemon juice and powdered sugar and stir until smooth. The glaze should be thin enough to drizzle it with a spoon. If it's too thick, add more lemon juice. If it's too thin, add more powdered sugar.
  2. Place a piece of wax paper under the cooling rack with the bread. Use a small spoon to drizzle the glaze over the top of the bread(s). (If any glaze drips down onto the wax paper, don't be afraid to scrape it back onto your spoon and drizzle it again so you get all of that glaze-goodness.) Let the loaves cool completely before slicing and serving.
Notes
You can store the bread in an airtight container, or wrap in plastic wrap once the icing is hardened, for 2-3 days.
Recipe by Sweet Peas and ABCs at https://www.sweetpeasandabcs.com/little-lemon-loaves/