Vegan Lemon Loaf
This vegan lemon loaf is easy to make and uses simple ingredients. It’s bursting with tangy lemon flavor, light and fluffy in texture, and addictingly delicious.
Servings: 10 slices
Ingredients
Dry
- 2 cups all-purpose flour sifted (245g)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 Tablespoon lemon zest about 2-3 lemons
Wet
- ¾ cup non-dairy milk (164ml)
- ¾ cup cane sugar (162g)
- ½ cup non-dairy yogurt plain or vanilla flavor (128g)
- ¼ cup lemon juice freshly squeezed (45ml)
- ¼ cup coconut oil melted (50g)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract optional (see notes)
- ⅛ teaspoon turmeric optional for color
Lemon icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar (130g)
- 2 ½ teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (10ml)
- 2 teaspoons non-dairy milk (10ml)
Instructions
To Make the Lemon Loaf
- Preheat your oven to 350ºF and line an 8x4-inch loaf pan with parchment paper. You can see how I lined my pan in steps 6 and 7 in the post above. Set the pan aside.
- Add the dry ingredients to a medium bowl and mix them together. Set aside.
- In a large bowl mix together the wet ingredients. Tip: The milk and yogurt should be added close to room temperature to keep the oil from solidifying.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the large bowl of wet ingredients.
- Carefully and gently fold the dry flour mixture into the milk mixture until there is no visible flour at the bottom of the bowl. Small lumps in the batter are perfectly fine and expected. No need to mix them down.
- Transfer the batter to your prepared loaf pan.
- Bake at 350ºF for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick poked into the center comes out clean. If there is sticky batter on the toothpick, bake another 5-10 minutes before testing it again.
- Cool the lemon loaf for about 15 minutes, then use the parchment paper “wings” to remove the loaf from the pan and place it on a cooling rack.
- Allow it to fully cool before adding the icing.
To Make the Icing
- Add the powdered sugar to a small bowl.
- Pour in the milk and lemon juice and whisk until there are no lumps. The consistency should be thick and easily break when drizzled off of a spoon.
- If the icing is too thin, add more powdered sugar. If it’s too thick, add more milk or lemon juice.
To Ice the Lemon Loaf
- Spoon the icing over the top of the lemon loaf covering as much of the top as possible. Use an icing spatula, a knife, or the back of a spoon to spread the icing to the edges.
Serve immediately after icing or store in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. Be sure to leave room for the icing so it doesn't get smashed when storing.
Notes
- Weigh the ingredients: For best results use a kitchen scale and the gram measurements above to measure the ingredients.
- To measure the flour without a kitchen scale: Spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level it off with the back of a knife. Don’t tap or pack the flour into the cup.
- Fold the ingredients together: This is the key to keeping this vegan lemon loaf soft and fluffy. You'll want to slide a sturdy flat spatula along the side of the bowl to scoop the ingredients from the bottom of the bowl up to the top. Turn the bowl and repeat until the ingredients are well combined with no patches of dry flour.
- Lemon extract: To boost the tangy lemon flavor, use the optional lemon extract. Without it, the loaf has a very mild lemon flavor and the lemon flavor will be in the icing. You can also add lemon zest to the top of the icing for more flavor.
- Icing: The icing consistency should be thick enough that it won’t drip down the sides of the loaf. If you like the drips or want a thin glaze, add more non-dairy milk or lemon juice.
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice | Calories: 220kcal | Carbohydrates: 50g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 1g | Sodium: 214mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 28g
