This Lemon Blueberry Bread bakes up soft, tender, and exquisitely moist. It’s brimming with juicy blueberries and finished with silky smooth lemon icing!

Thanks to a generous friend of ours, we received a huge bag of freshly-picked blueberries last week. And if there’s anything that brings me the best dessert inspiration, it’s definitely an abundance of fresh seasonal fruit.

So instead of simply inhaling those juicy blubes by the handful, I decided to transform them into something better…

Why You’ll Love This Lemon Blueberry Bread

Simple One-Bowl Recipe: Made with everyday pantry staples, this recipe is a cinch to throw together. The batter is made in one bowl, which means less dishwashing for you!

Light and Lemony: This bread has a light, yet moist crumb. It’s also loaded with a hefty dose of lemon zest and a good amount of lemon juice, giving it that perfect citrusy flavor.

Bursting with Blueberries: Each and every slice is speckled with juicy blueberries, giving it the perfect pop of flavor and color.

Luscious Lemon Icing: To further enhance the lemony sweetness, this bread is finished off with the most divine lemon icing. The bread is simply not complete without it.

Important Ingredients for the Best Lemon Blueberry Bread

Sour Cream and Milk: To achieve that perfectly tender and moist crumb, I like to use a combination of sour cream and milk. The high fat content in the sour cream keeps the bread soft and moist, while also preventing the bread from drying out. The milk adds moisture, richness, and produces a beautifully golden top since the natural milk sugars caramelize in the oven.

Butter: Even though I appreciate oil’s ability to produce extra moist quick breads, I love using butter for its richness and flavor. You can also incorporate air into butter (via the creaming method), which results in a bread that’s both lighter and taller.

Lemon Juice and Lemon Zest: This bread contains 3 heaping tablespoons of lemon zest and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, so it is PACKED with lemony sweetness. It’s also worth noting that the lemon zest is incorporated with the butter and sugar. The sharp sugar crystals cut into the zest, allowing its citrusy oils to be released, resulting in MAXimum lemon flavor.

Almond Extract: When lemons or blueberries are involved, I almost always incorporate a little almond extract into the recipe. Its fruity sweetness really enhances the flavor of the blueberries and lemon, while also adding a warm and nutty flavor. It’s much stronger than vanilla extract, so you only need 1/4 teaspoon in the batter and 1/8 teaspoon in the icing.

Helpful Tips

Line the Loaf Pan: No matter how non-stick your pan claims to be, it’s always a good idea to line it with parchment paper first. Not only does it allow you to lift the bread out easily and effortlessly, but you don’t end up with any bread stuck to the bottom of the pan. When lining the pan, make sure to have 2-3 inches of extra overhang on two sides of the pan, so that you can easily pull the bread up and out.

Do Not Over-Mix: This might be an obvious tip, but when it comes to muffins and quick breads, over-mixing is a huge no-no. The ONLY time you want to be vigorous with mixing is in the very beginning when you’re creaming the butter with the sugar and lemon zest. The creaming step incorporates tiny air pockets into the butter, which expands in the oven as it bakes. This results in a voluminous bread with a tender, buttery crumb.

GENTLY Fold in the Berries: The batter itself is quite thick, so I recommend using a rubber spatula to VERY gently fold the blueberries in. This will prevent any berries from smashing or bleeding into the batter.

Don’t Over-Bake: Large loaves take a while to bake, and it can vary based on your oven. I recommend checking your bread with a toothpick or bamboo skewer at the 50 minute mark. My bread ended up taking 62 minutes, but I started checking it at 50 minutes. If your bread is browning too quickly, you can put a sheet of aluminum foil over it during the last 15 minutes or so of baking.

Can I use frozen blueberries?

Yes, you may! I’d recommend folding them into the batter when they’re still frozen, rather than thawing them out first. Thawed blueberries tend to be much softer, making it more difficult to fold them into the batter without smashing them.