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Bird's eye view of a lemon bread loaf on a wooden cutting board with slices stacked in front and a knife in the upper right hand corner.
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5 from 2 votes

Lemon Bread

This lemon bread is tangy, rich, and soft! With a yummy caramelized sugar top, this sweet and tender loaf is sure to brighten any day.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time1 hour
Course: Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: American
Keyword: lemon bread
Servings: 16 servings (1 large loaf)
Author: Karli Bitner

Ingredients

  • 4 oz cream cheese softened
  • 1 cup granulated sugar + extra for topping
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1/3 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 cup melted butter
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp lemon zest
  • 1 tbsp lemon bakery emulsion*
  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • yellow food coloring

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350° F.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer cream together the cream cheese and granulated sugar on low until completely smooth.
  • With the mixer still running on low, add one egg at a time, mixing until smooth and then add in the sour cream.
  • Once the sour cream is incorporated, add the melted butter, lemon juice, lemon zest and lemon bakery emulsion all while the mixer is mixing on low.
  • Allow the mixer to continue mixing- in a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt.
  • Slowly add the dry ingredients into the mixer, mixing until completely combined and smooth.
  • Lastly, add in yellow food coloring, if desired.
  • Prepare a 8x4 inch bread pan by spraying with non-stick spray. Pour the batter into the bread pan and then top generously with extra granulated sugar.
  • Allow the batter to rest in the pan in the fridge for 10 minutes prior to baking.
  • Bake at 350° for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the center with only a few moist crumbs. You may need to place some tinfoil over the bread at about the 40 minute mark to keep your bread from being over cooked and too brown on top.
  • Remove from the oven when it passes the toothpick test and allow the bread to sit in the pan for 15 minutes before cutting.
  • Enjoy!

Notes

*You can substitute Lemon Extract, if you prefer. Extracts tend to bake out of the baked good while in the oven, so I would suggest adding more than 1 tbsp of the lemon extract to have a strong enough flavor. 

Nutrition

Calories: 149kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 25mg | Sodium: 143mg | Potassium: 77mg | Fiber: 0.2g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 303IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 37mg | Iron: 0.2mg