Lemon Loaf (Starbucks Copycat)
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Skip the drive-through and make this Starbucks copycat lemon loaf recipe instead! I spent years perfecting my recipe for an authentic texture (super plush, moist crumb) and bright, real lemon flavor. Recipe includes a how-to video!
Starbucks-Inspired Lemon Loaf Recipe
After several years and lots of help from my sisters (Casey and Nikki suffered through so many fails and likely zested hundreds of lemons), I FINALLY have a lemon loaf recipe to share with you! Like my Berger cookies recipe, this one has been a long time coming (which you’ll know, if you watch my Instagram stories and saw my many, many fails).
My goal was to capture a lot of the elements of the Starbucks lemon loaf, but entirely homemade. We finally nailed it, right down to the lemon glaze (the secret is adding a bit of butter… makes it just right!). The end result is quite similar to lemon pound cake, with a moist, tight, plush, and melt-in-your-mouth crumb. It’s incredible–well worth the (very long) journey it took to get here!
Why This Recipe WORKS
- Real lemon flavor. No artificial flavors or colors! We’re using the juice and zest of real lemons for real, fresh lemon flavor. If you really want to amp up the lemon flavor, feel free to add a teaspoon of lemon extract with the vanilla (I usually just stick with the juice and zest though.).
- Cake flour for superior results. While you can make all-purpose flour work in a pinch (instructions below), I strongly recommend using cake flour. Cake flour is finer than all-purpose and helps give the loaf that classic soft, plush, melt-in-your-mouth crumb.
- Whipped egg whites = the perfect lift. During testing, we had many loaves sink or just suffer from a lackluster, bready crumb, but we finally nailed the texture. The secret? Whipping the egg whites! The whipped egg whites add lift to the tight, denser crumb and keep it soft and melt-in-your-mouth (a trick we borrowed from my sour cream pound cake).
- Moist for days. Strategically adding just the right fats (including sour cream and a bit of oil mixed in with the butter) means this lemon loaf recipe is incredibly moist and tender. I have a few more tips for maintaining this moisture in the FAQ section below.
What You Need
Before we begin, let’s talk about a few of the key ingredients in today’s recipe.
- Lemons. You will need 3 Tablespoons of zest, then a few more Tablespoons of the juice, which usually is about 3-4 lemons, depending on their size. Make sure you zest your lemons before juicing them, as it’s nearly impossible the other way around. Another tip–only zest the yellow part of the lemon; stop once you see (or better, before you see) the white, papery layer, which is bitter and can actually detract from the pleasant lemon flavor.
- Flour. Cake flour works best here for the softest texture and is my top recommendation for this lemon loaf recipe. If you don’t have cake flour, you can substitute all-purpose, but not without some modification. I talk more about this in the recipe notes below.
- Oil. A smaller amount of oil makes the cake moist, soft, and adds a melt-in-your-mouth feel to the crumb. I usually use avocado oil, but any neutral cooking oil (like vegetable or canola oil) would also work. While this doesn’t apply to many of my other recipes, I do feel that olive oil would work fine here as well. While it does have more flavor than the other oils, I feel it would pair nicely with the citrus like it does in my olive oil cake.
- Eggs. Separate the whites from the yolks, making sure not to get any yolk in with the whites, or they won’t whip up properly. You’ll whip them to stiff peaks before folding them into the batter (like we do with my Funfetti cake).
- Sour cream. Even if you don’t enjoy the taste of sour cream on its own, you’re likely to appreciate the moisture, tenderness, and depth of flavor that it adds here (without making the loaf tase like sour cream). Just like with my blueberry muffins.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
Sam’s Tip
You will have a lot of leftover fresh lemon juice you can squeeze from your lemons, use it to make my lemonade recipe! My kids love it when I make this lemon loaf recipe because they know I’ll be making lemonade to go with it, and that’s their favorite!
How to Make Lemon Loaf (Step-by-Step)
- Cream butter and sugar. Beat the butter, sugar, and lemon zest until lightened in color and fluffy. Add the oil. Whisk together the remaining wet ingredients (except for the egg whites–we will use them later!) in a measuring cup, then stir into the butter mixture until everything is combined.
- Combine wet and dry. Whisk the dry ingredients in a separate bowl before gently folding them into the butter mixture until the batter is cohesive.
Sam’s Tip
If you bake with lemon often, you may notice that a lot of lemon recipes recommend using your fingers to rub together the sugar and zest to release the oils in the zest for a brighter lemon flavor. While this is a great technique to keep in your back pocket for some recipes, here we achieve the same results by creaming the zest with the butter and the sugar. I tried this recipe both ways (rubbing the zest and sugar together vs creaming) and it made no difference in the lemon flavor in the end.
- Whip egg whites. In a separate clean, dry, grease-free bowl, whip the egg whites to stiff peaks. They will be thick, white, and very fluffy when they are ready, and the peak that forms on the tip of the beater should hold its shape without flopping over.
- Fold together. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter using a spatula. You want the batter to be uniform, but you also want to avoid deflating all that air we just whipped in.
- Bake. Pour the batter into your prepared bread pan. Bake until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean; about 74 minutes.
- Cool slightly. Let the loaf cool in its pan for 15 minutes or so before removing to a cooling rack. NOTE: If you are adding the simple syrup, wait to remove the loaf from the pan (see next step).
- Add simple syrup (optional). After cooling for a few minutes, poke holes in the top of the loaf with a toothpick. Brush 2-3 tablespoons of your prepared simple syrup overtop and let sit for another 5 minutes or so before removing the loaf to a cooling rack.
- Add glaze. Whisk together your glaze, then spread or pour over the loaf. Let the glaze set for at least half an hour before you cut in and enjoy!
Sam’s Tip
Don’t panic if your loaf looks a little dark or speckled when you take it out of the oven! This is totally normal and to be expected.
Frequently Asked Questions
Using enough fats (oil, butter, sour cream, and eggs here), avoiding over-baking, and storing properly are all very important when it comes to moisture. Make sure to store your loaf at room temperature either in an airtight container or wrap in plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out.
The simple syrup is only strongly recommended if you are baking the lemon loaf with all-purpose flour With cake flour, it stays moist and properly textured, but it really benefits from the simple syrup otherwise. You can certainly add it if you are using cake flour as well, but I didn’t find it to be necessary.
This lemon loaf recipe is best with cake flour, which provides a tighter, more plush crumb. I added a note below on how to make this recipe with all-purpose flour instead, but just know you’ll have a more open crumb. To help with this, I recommend you add a simple syrup if you use all-purpose flour; you can find instructions for this in the recipe notes as well.
More Starbucks-Esque Favorites
After all the trial-and-error I went through for this lemon loaf recipe, I really can’t wait to hear what you think about it. Please leave me a comment below if you give it a try! 🍋
Enjoy!
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Lemon Loaf (Starbucks Copycat!)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ⅔ cups (335 g) granulated sugar
- 3 Tablespoons lemon zest
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter
- ¼ cup (60 ml) neutral cooking oil , (canola, vegetable, or avocado oil)
- ⅔ cups (160 g) sour cream
- 4 large eggs, room temperature, yolks and whites divided
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cups (250 g) cake flour, (see note to sub all-purpose flour)
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon table salt, (or fine sea salt)
Lemon glaze
- 1 ½ cups (190 g) powdered sugar
- 1-3 Tablespoon lemon juice, as needed
- 1 ½ Tablespoons salted butter, melted
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and lightly grease and flour a 9×5” (23x12cm) bread pan or line with a parchment paper sling. Set aside.
- Cream butter, sugar, and zest: In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, butter, and lemon zest and use an electric mixer to beat until light, fluffy, and well-creamed (about 3-4 minutes on medium-high speed).1 ⅔ cups (335 g) granulated sugar, 3 Tablespoons lemon zest, ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter
- Stir in the oil until well combined.¼ cup (60 ml) neutral cooking oil
- In a separate bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together sour cream, egg yolks, lemon juice, and vanilla extract until well-combined, and then stir into the butter mixture on low-speed until fully incorporated. Set aside.⅔ cups (160 g) sour cream, 4 large eggs, 1 Tablespoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Whisk together the dry ingredients: In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together cake flour, baking powder, and salt.2 ¼ cups (250 g) cake flour, ¾ teaspoon baking powder, ¾ teaspoon table salt
- Whisk together the dry ingredients & add to the batter: In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet until completely combined.
- Whip the egg whites. In a separate, medium-sized clean, dry, grease-free mixing bowl, use an electric mixer (with clean, dry beaters), to beat the egg whites on low-speed, then gradually increase to high and beat until you have stiff peaks (mixture will be thick, white, fluffy, and voluminous and the peaks that form when you lift the beaters out should hold their shape and not dissolve back into the bowl).
- Fold in egg whites. Add the egg whites to the batter and use a spatula to gently fold together until batter is just combined, smooth and uniform. Pour evenly into prepared loaf pan.
- Bake. Transfer pan to center rack of 350F (175C) preheated oven and bake for 74 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs (no wet batter).
- Allow the loaf to cool in the baking pan for 15 minutes before running a knife around the edges to loosen and carefully removing to a cooling rack. Prepare the lemon glaze.
- Lemon glaze: Whisk together powdered sugar, 1 Tablespoon lemon juice, butter, and vanilla extract. Continue to add lemon juice as needed until mixture is smooth. Spread or pour evenly over loaf (it’s OK if it’s still warm).1 ½ cups (190 g) powdered sugar, 1-3 Tablespoon lemon juice, 1 ½ Tablespoons salted butter, ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Allow loaf to cool and glaze to set for at least 30 minutes after frosting before slicing and serving.
Notes
Substituting all-purpose flour
Cake flour is best for this recipe, but if needed you can substitute 2 cups (250g, yes the weight is the same but the volume is different) of all-purpose flour. If making this substitution, I recommend making a simple syrup to maintain the loaf’s soft, plush texture, otherwise it could be slightly dry (this simple syrup can also be used on the original loaf with cake flour, I just don’t find it necessary there). Simple syrup: After removing the loaf from the oven, combine ¼ cup (60ml) water and ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar in a small saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in 3 Tablespoons lemon juice. Allow loaf to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then use a toothpick to poke holes about ½” (1.5cm) apart all over the loaf (the toothpick will not reach the bottom, this is fine). Use a pastry brush to slowly brush 2-3 Tablespoons of simple syrup evenly over the loaf (you will NOT use all of it). Allow the loaf to sit in the pan another 5 minutes then carefully remove to a cooling rack, then prepare the lemon glaze.Storing
Wrap in plastic or place in an airtight container and store at room temperature for up to 3 days. Note: the loaf may look a little dark when you take it out of the pan or even speckled, this is normal and not concerning.Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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