Skip the coffee shop and make this Copycat Starbucks Lemon Loaf at home. Packed full of fresh, zingy lemon flavor & topped with a simple glaze, it will quickly become your new favorite treat.
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Goodness do I love a copycat recipe. And they are consistently top performing recipes here so you all seem to love them too. Today’s copycat is Starbucks Lemon Loaf.
And I think it’s even better than the original because it tastes like fresh lemon and has the perfect citrus pucker thanks to lots of fresh lemon juice and lemon zest.
Let’s get to it.
Ingredients for Copycat Starbucks Lemon Loaf
How to Make Lemon Loaf
This loaf cake is pretty quick and easy to throw together. Start by creaming the softened butter in a stand mixer. You can also use a hand mixer or do this by hand.
Add sugar and mix for about 3 minutes, until the mixture becomes light in color. This breaks down the sugar granules and results in a better tasting cake.
Add eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla, lemon juice, lemon zest and sour cream. Once that’s all mixed, add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
Spread into a greased loaf pan and bake.
Spread the glaze, just powdered sugar and lemon juice, over the cooled loaf.
Best Loaf Pan for Baking
I find the best type of loaf pan to use when baking any kind of loaf, quick bread or cake is a nonstick light metal loaf pan. There are a few reasons this is my favorite option.
The fact that it’s nonstick helps keep the loaf from getting mangled when you remove it from the pan. I still grease the pan well just to be extra safe though so don’t skip that step.
The light metal prevents the loaf from overbrowning like they often do in dark metal or glass pans.
More Lemon Desserts
Copycat Starbucks Lemon Loaf
Ingredients
For the lemon loaf batter:
- 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature
- 2 large lemons, zested
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
For the glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a loaf pan, set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter. Add the sugar and cream for 3 minutes, until light. Add eggs one at a time, mixing between each addition. Add vanilla, sour cream, lemon zest and lemon juice. Mix until smooth. Add baking soda, kosher salt and flour then mix until just combined.
- Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan and spread the top evenly. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. If it starts to brown too much, lay a piece of foil on top (don't seal it on the pan as the loaf may continue to rise).
- Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes then remove to a cooling rack to completely cool.
- Once cool, whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice. Drizzle over the cooled loaf.
