Lemon Blackberry Bread

This lemon blackberry bread with lemon glaze checks all the boxes for summertime flavor.

It's a sweet and tart treat that will satisfy your taste buds for both breakfast and dessert. The bread has a moist and tender cake-like texture with sweet and tangy flavor bombs of lemon and fresh juicy blackberries that will please any palate.

Jump to:

• 🍋 Ingredients
• 🥣 Making the bread batter
• 🍋 Making the lemon glaze
• 👩🏻‍🍳 Expert Tips
• 🥄Substitutions
• 📖 Variations
• 🧺 Storage and freezing
• ❓FAQ
• 📝 Recipe

This quick and easy lemon blackberry bread recipe is so simple to make, just mixing a few pantry staples together and popping it in the oven. Yes, it's called a bread but it's a quick bread (meaning no yeast) and has more of a cake like texture.The hardest part is being patient while the aroma of yummy goodness baking in the oven is wafting through the house.

When blackberries are in season, Erich and I love to go picking these wild tasty morsels by the roadside. I'm not exactly sure how many make it into the bowl we're carrying and how many go straight into our mouths, but...

A few of the berries make it into my lemon raspberry cheesecake bars or berry chantilly cake, but other days they're for this yummy lemon blackberry bread.

And if you love that amazing tartness of lemons, then you absolutely must try my lemon meringue pie and lemon lavender cookies.

🍋 Ingredients

Below I discuss the various ingredients to make the bread and the glaze.

Bread

• Butter - Use salted butter that's been softened to room temperature so that it will easily cream together with the sugar.
  
• Granulated sugar - Regular white sugar will be creamed together with the butter.
  
• Eggs - Two whole large eggs are mixed into the batter. Letting the eggs come to room temperature first will allow them to mix into the batter evenly.
  
• Plain Greek yogurt - This adds a lot of moisture to the bread's texture.
  
• Milk - I normally use either whole or 2% milk in my recipes, but you can substitute any milk you like.
  
• Lemon juice - Fresh lemon juice gives this bread it's slightly tangy flavor. You'll need the juice of about half a lemon for this recipe.
  
• All purpose flour - No fancy flour here. All purpose will do the trick nicely. While not required, I always sift my flour first to make sure there are no lumps.
  
• Salt - Just a touch of regular table salt.
  
• Baking powder - Because we need a rising agent to help it puff up a bit while baking.
  
• Fresh lemon zest (about 1 lemon) - The strong flavor of lemon zest combined with the lemon juice really gives this bread a one-two punch of flavor!
  
• Blackberries - You can use either fresh or frozen berries, but just be sure to let frozen berries defrost first.
  
• Vegetable shortening for greasing 9 x 5 inch loaf pan - We certainly don't want it sticking to the pan. If you don't have shortening handy, just line the pan with parchment paper.
  
• Extra blackberries and lemon zest for garnish - To make it pretty.

Lemon Glaze

• Powdered sugar - This is the main ingredient in most glazes.
  
• Lemon juice - Lemon juice combined with the powdered sugar makes this glaze both sweet and tart.
  
• Lemon zest - For an extra zing of lemony tartness.

See the recipe card below for full list of ingredients and their measurements.

🥣 Making the bread batter

Preheat oven to 350°F. Gently toss blackberries in a bowl with 1 tablespoon of flour (this will keep them from sinking to the bottom of the batter while baking).

Using a stand mixer or a handheld electric mixer, cream butter and sugar. Next, add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each.

Once the eggs are well blended into the batter, add yogurt, milk, and lemon juice, and mix again.

In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until thick and smooth.

Finally, using a spoon or rubber spatula, fold in lemon zest and blackberries.

Grease a loaf pan with vegetable shortening or line withe parchment and pour batter into the pan, leveling the top with a rubber spatula and lightly dropping it on the counter to remove any air bubbles.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool completely on a wire rack before adding lemon glaze. If you add the lemon glaze while the lemon blackberry bread is still hot, it will soak in instead of staying on top.

🍋 Making the lemon glaze

While the bread is baking, simply whisk together powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a small bowl. Pour over completely cooled lemon blackberry bread and garnish with extra blackberries and lemon zest.

Enjoy with or without lemon glaze, with a tall glass of watermelon lemonade or a cup of tea or coffee, or with a scoop of ice cream for dessert!

👩🏻‍🍳 Expert Tips

• Slicing blackberries - If you've picked fresh blackberries, they tend to be on the smaller side and may not need to be sliced. If, however, you bought blackberries at the grocery store, they may be large and should be sliced into halves or thirds.

• Juicing lemons - The best way to get the most juice out of a lemon is to microwave it for about 15 seconds, then firmly roll the lemon under the palm of your hand on the counter. Then, slice it in half and, with a mesh strainer over a bowl, twist a fork into the lemon half to squeeze out the most juice.

🥄Substitutions

• Blackberries - If you can't get your hands on any fresh blackberries, you can use frozen instead, but as they may have added moisture, the texture of the bread may differ slightly.

• Greek yogurt - You can substitute 1 cup sour cream for 1 cup Greek yogurt.

• Salted butter - Unsalted butter can be used instead, just add a pinch more salt to the recipe.

• Vegetable shortening - Instead of greasing the loaf pan with shortening, you can line the pan with parchment paper instead.

📖 Variations

• Berries - Swap out the blackberries for raspberries, blueberries, or strawberries.
  
• Lemon juice and zest - If you prefer a sweeter take on this cake, use orange juice and orange zest instead.
  
• Lemon poppy seed - Stir a few teaspoons of poppy seeds into the batter for a classically delicious combination.
  
• Nuts - Looking for a bit of crunch with your cake? Mix in a half cup or so of your favorite chopped nuts.

🧺 Storage and freezing

Yes! My lemon blackberry bread will stay good on the counter for about 4 to 5 days. Or you can wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, then aluminum foil, and freeze for up to 1 month. Wait to glaze the bread until after it's thawed. When ready to enjoy, let thaw on the counter at room temperature for several hours.

❓FAQ

Do you have a sweet tooth like me? Check out a few more of our delicious recipes:

• Fluffy and Moist Banana Nut Bread
• Chocolate Zucchini Bread
• Italian Almond Cake
• Lemon Raspberry Cheesecake Bars
• My Best Lemon Meringue Pie
• Blueberry Crisp
• Watermelon Lemonade with Rosemary
• Dutch Oven Blueberry Cobbler

Did you make this Lemon Blackberry Bread with Lemon Glaze? Let us know in the comments below!

📝 Recipe

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