This vegan lemon loaf cake is the answer to my vegan prayers. I don’t know about you, but Starbucks lemon pound cake was my jam! When I became a Starbucks barista I probably gained about 10 pounds from the mere fact that I had lemon loaves and cheese danish around me all day every day.
Once I went vegan I had to sadly bid my sweet friends goodbye as they contained multiple animal-based products. However, as soon as I saw I would be getting lemons in my Imperfect Foods box I decided I’d whip up this moist, soft, and sweet lemon loaf cake.
My vegan lemon loaf recipe is perfect to eat at home or bring to an event. This recipe is free of most major allergens: dairy, nut, egg, and soy. The recipe can also be made gluten-free by substituting out the all-purpose flour for a 1 to 1 gluten-free baking flour.
Vegan lemon loaf ingredients:
- Vegan butter room temperature
- Pure cane sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Lemon juice
- Plain vegan yogurt. Find our recipe here.
- Non-dairy milk, I used almond milk.
- Lemon zest
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Powdered sugar
Substitution and Add-in Options:
If you can’t find plain vegan yogurt either look for a vegan lemon yogurt or a vegan sour cream. Using sour cream or yogurt allows for more of a moist cake as well as adds a nice tangy flavor to match the lemon flavor.
If you’re looking for a more intense lemon flavor you can substitute or add lemon extract instead of or in addition to the vanilla extract.
Also, you can add a vegan yellow food coloring gel if you are looking for the more distinct yellow color that the Starbucks loaf has.
You can also bring your loaf up a notch by adding other flavors like poppy seeds, blueberries, or raspberries.
If you enjoyed this vegan lemon loaf recipe then make sure to check out my other recipes, like these quick Vegan Snickerdoodle Cookies. Also, make sure to subscribe to stay up to date with my latest recipes.
Vegan Lemon Loaf Cake
Equipment
- Oven
- Mixing bowls and utensils
- 9x5 loaf pan
Ingredients
Batter Ingredients
- 1/2 cup vegan butter room temperature
- 1 cup pure cane sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup lemon juice Approximately 1 large lemon or 2 small lemons. You can use store-bought lemon juice as well.
- 1/2 cup plain vegan yogurt I used silk plain almond yogurt.
- 1/2 cup non-dairy milk I used almond milk.
- 2 tbsp lemon zest
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
Lemon Glaze Ingredients
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 - 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp lemon zest
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Prepare a 9x5 loaf pan with parchment paper. Allow some paper to hang over for easy removal of the loaf once it’s baked and cooled.
- With an electric mixer cream together the vegan butter and sugar. It should be thoroughly mixed and fluffy, this should take about 3-4 minutes.
- Add the vanilla extract and lemon juice and mix until it's fully incorporated.
- Mix in the remaining wet ingredients: plain vegan yogurt, non-dairy milk, and add the lemon zest. Mine did curdle a little, this is fine.
- In another bowl sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Mix the dry ingredients into the wet mixture a little at a time. Making sure the batter is thoroughly incorporated each time. This will be a thick batter.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Cook the loaf for 40 minutes in the oven. Put foil over the top to prevent the loaf from browning more while cooking.
- Cook the loaf for an additional 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick that's been inserted into the loaf comes out clean.
- Let the loaf cool on a wire rack. Once cool remove it from the loaf pan by carefully sliding a knife around and pulling it out by the parchment paper.
- Prepare the lemon glaze by mixing the powder sugar and lemon juice. A spoon or fork should be sufficient to mix it.
- Drizzle the glaze over the cooled loaf and then sprinkle the remaining lemon zest on top of the glaze.
- Allow the glaze to set before serving. You can speed up this process by putting the loaf in the fridge for around 10 minutes.
- You can now slice and serve the bread. For ideal storage keep the loaf covered and in the fridge for up to around 5 days.