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This lemon blueberry bread is 100% whole-wheat, sweetened with honey, and bursting with fresh lemon and blueberry flavor. It’s moist, tender and just perfect for on-the-go breakfasts or afternoon snacks. A true delight!
I’ve been baking with whole-wheat flour for years. I love the deep toasty flavor, but it often gets a bad rap for creating dry and dense baked goods. Luckily, over the years I’ve cracked the code—in a few different ways.
When you’re short on time, opt for a recipe that uses whole-wheat pastry flour (like this recipe does). If you’re planning ahead, check out some of my recipes that use my “soaker method.” This game-changing method is what makes my whole-wheat muffins to light and fluffy and my bran muffins moist for days.
My go-to ingredients for most whole-wheat quick breads include whole-wheat pastry flour, honey, yogurt and olive oil. This particular combination creates a tender quick bread that’s sweet and moist.
This bread also gets a hefty dose of lemon zest, fresh blueberries and a buttery-oat topping which is optional, but certainly ups the ante on flavor and texture.
How to Achieve Bold Lemon Flavor
This bread is first and foremost about the lemon, with blueberry as a secondary flavor (though it’s also important). I wanted this bread to satisfy your craving for a slice of lemon bread from a bakery or coffee shop, but from the comfort of your own kitchen.
In order to achieve that bold, bright lemon flavor, I found I needed to use a combination of lemon zest (lots of it!), lemon juice, and pure lemon extract, the most important being the zest.
For this recipe, I call for two packed tablespoons of freshly minced lemon zest. It sounds, and looks, like a lot. But this is where most of the lemon flavor will come from, and it’s absolutely essential to the recipe.
Just a tablespoon of lemon juice adds a nice bright note; don’t be tempted to add more, too much lemon juice and the bread won’t rise correctly.
And finally, the pure lemon extract. This stuff is magic, but too much of it and the bread will start to taste “fakey.” I found one teaspoon to be the ideal amount, boosting and enhancing the lemon flavor just enough without making its presence obviously known.
Ingredients Needed
- Whole-wheat pastry flour: find this in the baking aisle near other flours.
- Pantry: baking powder and salt.
- Eggs: make sure you’re using eggs labeled as “large.”
- Honey: liquid sweetener adds sweetness and moisture to the bread.
- Olive oil: I often use an extra-virgin olive oil because I like the flavor. But if you don’t want the flavor to compete with the lemon and blueberry, opt for a mild olive oil.
- Greek yogurt: use whole-milk plain greek yogurt.
- Lemons: you’ll need two lemons—both for zesting, one for juicing.
- Pure lemon extract: boosts the lemon flavor even more.
- Blueberries: I find smaller blueberries work best. Regardless of size, use fresh ripe blueberries that are fairly firm in texture. The softer the blueberries, the more likely they will bleed into the batter.
- Topping: this is optional but I like to top the batter with a sweet butter oat topping. For that you will need: quick oats, turbinado sugar unsalted butter.
How to Make Whole-Wheat Blueberry Bread
- First things first, read over the recipe and make sure you have everything you’ll need. Get out a few mixing bowls, a microplane, whisk, rubber spatula, 8½ × 4½-inch loaf pan, parchment paper, and nonstick spray.
- Preheat your oven to 350ºF before you even get started measuring out ingredients or mixing up the batter. Oftentimes the oven is’t adequately pre-heated even if it says it’s up to temperature.
- Prepare the loaf pan by coating with nonstick spray and lining with parchment paper.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, honey, oil, yogurt, lemon zest, lemon juice and lemon extract.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until mostly incorporated but some pockets of flour remain.
- Toss the blueberries with a bit of flour to coat (this helps them from sinking to the bottom of the bread). Fold the blueberries into the batter then scrape the batter into the prepared pan.
- For the oat topping, combine the oats, turbinado sugar, and melted butter then sprinkle evenly over the batter.
- Bake the bread until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 minutes.
- Let the bread cool in the pan on for about 15 minutes, then turn the bread out and cool completely.
Top With a Lemon Glaze
If you want to keep the ingredient list short, and keep this recipe butter-free, skip the crumb topping and finish the baked loaf with a simple honey-lemon glaze. I originally featured this glaze on the Lemon Poppy Seed Zucchini Bread, and it would be great here as well.
For the glaze, combine 1 tablespoon each of honey and lemon juice in a glass bowl, microwave on medium power for 30 seconds, then whisk to combine and brush over top of the baked bread.
Fresh vs Frozen Blueberries
If available, fresh ripe blueberries are the best in this bread. Ideally, on the smaller end in size as well. But that’s if I’m being really picky…
You can use fresh or frozen blueberries in this bread, and if you’re using frozen, it’s best to not thaw them prior to using. Just measure them out frozen and mix them right into the batter.
If you’re planning to use frozen, try to find some frozen wild blueberries, they are SO good (I’ve found them at Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, and Hy-Vee).
Storage
Stored at room temperature, wrapped in parchment paper (just use the same parchment it was baked in!) and foil, this bread will last up to 3 days, though it’s best enjoyed within 2 days.
If you need to store it longer, pop it in the refrigerator in a zipper-lock bag or wrapped in parchment paper and foil for up to 5 days.
My Favorite Way to Enjoy Blueberry Bread
Looking for the ultimate treat? I love to cut this bread into thick slices (like almost an inch thick), heat up a nonstick skillet over medium, drop in a pat of butter and sear both sides of the bread until golden brown and slightly crispy. The result—buttery, caramelized goodness!
More Quick Breads to Try
Baking Recipes
Banana Yogurt Bread
Baking Recipes
Whole-Wheat Browned Butter Carrot Bread
Desserts
Pistachio Bread
Breakfast
Honey Peanut Butter Bread
Whole-Wheat Blueberry Bread
Description
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Ingredients
Bread
- 2 cups (234g) whole-wheat pastry flour + more for blueberries
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup honey
- ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons packed minced lemon zest (from 2 lemons)
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon pure lemon extract
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
Topping
- 3 tablespoons quick oats
- 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
- 2 tablespoon melted unsalted butter
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°F (176ºC) with rack set in middle position. Coat an 8½ × 4½-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray. Line pan with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides; coat paper with nonstick spray.
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl, set aside.
- Whisk together eggs, honey, oil, yogurt, lemon zest, lemon juice, and lemon extract until smooth. Add liquid mixture to flour mixture and stir until mostly incorporated but some pockets of flour remain.
- Toss blueberries with 1 teaspoon flour to coat; fold blueberries into the batter just until combined. Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth top.
- In a small bowl, combine oats, turbinado sugar, and melted butter; sprinkle evenly over batter. Transfer pan to oven and bake until top of bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 55–60 minutes, rotating halfway through baking.
- Let bread cool in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes, then turn bread out on to rack to cool completely.
- Store bread wrapped in parchment paper (I just use the paper from baking) and foil at room temperature for up to 3 days, though it’s best within 2 days. If you need to store it longer, pop it in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
all of your recipes look delicious !
Would love to try this recipe.
Any thought about using maple syrup in place of honey ?
Hi Vera! Great question, I should test this. My main concern with the swap is that maple syrup is so much thinner than honey and it could make the batter looser which in turn could cause the bread to not rise as much. If you end up using maple syrup, I would decrease the total amount to 1/3 cup to account for the moisture different. Just know the bread may be a little less sweet! Let me know what you end up doing and how it turns out!