This easy lemon bread is soft, chewy and has a nice lemon flavor. The bread is just 3 ingredients and doesn’t require any yeast, eggs, butter or oil. The bread takes only about five minutes to prepare. It’s a great bread to make when you need a quick and easy bread.
This loaf of lemon bread is not a cake-type bread. It is soft and chewy like traditional yeast bread and also flavored with lemon. The lemon makes the bread taste lemony but without any tartness. You can eat the bread plain or you can also sweeten the bread with a simple lemon glaze.
Ingredients
- Lemonade
- Self-Rising Flour
- Lemon Yogurt
Lemonade: I used store-bought lemonade. Make sure to use regular fresh lemonade. Avoid using lemonade from concentrate and lemonade with reduced sugar.
Self-Rising Flour: Self-rising flour is all purpose flour already mixed with baking powder and salt. If you don’t have self-rising flour on hand, you can also just make your own by mixing together all purpose flour, baking powder and salt.
Lemon Yogurt: This bread is also made with lemon Greek yogurt. The Greek yogurt helps with the texture of the bread and using lemon yogurt adds more lemon flavor to the bread. You can use vanilla Greek yogurt as well but I would recommend you also then add some fresh lemon zest to it so that you have enough lemon flavor in the bread.
How to Make Lemon Bread
The three ingredients are mixed together until a wet dough forms and no flour lumps remain. The dough is then poured into a prepared loaf pan and it’s ready to bake.
Bread Texture and Flavor
Unlike most lemon bread which are sweet and have a cake-like texture, this bread has a texture more like traditional yeast bread. This bread is soft but also chewy and sturdy, similar to European bakery-style bread loaves. It is not like American white sandwich bread. You can eat it plain or add a spread. If you prefer a cake-like bread, I also have a sweet lemon quickbread.
This bread has a nice fragrant lemon flavor but is not tart or zesty.
You can also customize this bread. With a simple lemon glaze on top, the bread becomes sweeter, while still maintaining its soft and chewy texture. The lemon glaze also adds a zesty lemon flavor for those wanting that zesty flavor in their bread.
More Easy Bread Recipes
3 Ingredient Lemon Bread
Ingredients
- 3 cups (375 g) self-rising flour see note regarding flour amount
- 1 cup (8 oz/ 237 ml) lemonade
- 1/2 cup (119 g) lemon Greek yogurt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F (191°C). Line an 8 x 4 inch loaf pan with parchment paper.
- Add flour, lemonade, and yogurt into a large mixing bowl. Mix with a spatula until you have a very wet dough and no lumps of flour remain.
- Add dough into the prepared loaf pan. Use your spatula to evenly spread the dough across the pan and level the surface.
- Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until the surface is browned and bread is fully cooked. When you apply pressure to the surface, it should bounce back. Let bread cool before slicing and serving. If adding a glaze, let bread cool before pouring glaze over bread.
Notes
- This recipe was originally tested with White Lily's self-rising flour which has a lower protein content than some other brands of self-rising flour. Please check the protein content of your flour before starting. If your self-rising flour has 2 grams of protein per 1/4 cup, then you can use the amount stated in the recipe. If your self-rising flour has 3 grams of protein per 1/4 cup, then remove 6 tbsp of the flour from the amount in the recipe and replace with 6 tbsp of cornstarch.
- Homemade self-rising flour: If your all purpose flour has 3 grams of protein per 1/4 cup, use the following measurements: Add 2 cups + 10 tbsp all purpose flour, 4.5 tsp baking powder, 6 tbsp cornstarch and 3/4 tsp salt to a bowl. Whisk until evenly combined. If your all purpose flour has 2 grams of protein per 1/4 cup, use the following measurements: Add 3 cups all purpose flour, 4.5 tsp baking powder, and 3/4 tsp salt to a bowl. Whisk until evenly combined.
- To properly measure flour, spoon the flour into the measuring cup and then level off with a knife. Do not directly dip the measuring cup into the flour because this results in too much flour. Use this method of measuring whether you are measuring self-rising flour or measuring all purpose flour to make your own self-rising flour.
- I used Simply Lemonade. Try to use fresh lemonade (not from concentrate) and with regular sugar (no reduced sugar).
- I used Chobani Lemon & Cream Greek Yogurt. You can also use vanilla Greek yogurt and 1/2 tbsp of fresh lemon zest as a substitute.
- Optional lemon glaze: Add 1 cup of powdered sugar to a medium bowl. Add 1-2 tbsp of lemon juice and whisk until powdered sugar is completely dissolved. Start with just 1 tbsp of lemon juice and if the glaze is too thick, add another tbsp. If you prefer an even thinner glaze add more lemon juice or make the glaze thicker by adding more powdered sugar. Spoon the glaze all over the surface of the bread after it has cooled. I also sprinkled some fresh lemon zest over the glaze.
- Nutrition estimate does not include optional glaze.
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
Super easy. Moist with good texture. Not impressed with the taste. I’m thinking I’d switch to plain yogurt and maybe milk for the liquid, then it would be good warm with butter.
Thanks for trying the recipe!
I made this yesterday. It’s pretty decent,; just very dense. My bread definitely doesn’t look like the picture. How do I make it look nice and flat on top?
Hm, ours isn’t flat on top – it actually has a slight dome which happens when the batter rises from the baking powder. If yours was dense it sounds like either the batter was overmixed or the baking powder might be expired. Did you use self rising flour or did you mix your own?
This didn’t turn out at all like the photo, more biscuit like and crumbly.
Sounds like too much flour was added. How did you measure out the flour?
Tast so good
We’re glad you enjoyed it!
I followed this recipie to a T! The dough was very dry and crumbly so I added more “simply lemonade”
The result was a very heavy dense bread, which I normally enjoy but the outside was hard and the very middle was chewy. It almost seemed undone although I followed doneness tips. Overall I wasn’t too impressed, I couldn’t taste the lemon too much either. I’ll try adding the glaze….I don’t know what went wrong as I’m a pretty good baker.
The dough should be wet when it’s mixed – not dry and crumbly. It sounds like there might have been too much flour – how did you measure yours? We have a note about how to measure the flour to ensure you don’t add too much. As mentioned in the post, the bread does not have a cake-like texture. It’s chewier and sturdier – similar to a yeast bread.
Well, I just made this this evening and it looks nothing like the picture! I read the comments first, so I made sure I measured exactly as it said. It has no flavor so I had to make the lemon glaze. The texture was very odd, not bread like or cake like. It was just doughy. Probably will not be making it again. But I do enjoy making and trying new things. Wish I could post a picture!
If the bread was doughy it might have been underbaked.
They are so easy. But the flavor not composite. Love the recipes.
Please sent me the lemon bread 3 ingredients receipt. Thank you
The recipe card at the end of the post has all of the information you need to make it.
This can’t be right. The dough looks like pie crust dough, dry and cracked. Nothing wet about it. I can’t imagine what it will look like out of the oven.
The dough shouldn’t be that dry – it sounds like too much flour was added. Did you use the spoon and level method to measure it?
Great job I love fixing ,preparing and baking .thanks for your recipe
You’re welcome!
Just saw Your Lemon ? Bread on Google. Sounds Great, but Why can’t something like Stevia be used on place of the sugar ?
Because, I’m a Diabetic.
And, Why not use ‘Real’ Lemon Juice instead of Lemonade with all the Sugar in ?
Thank You.
We have a Keto Lemon Cake recipe you might like to try.
I didn’t have any luck with this recipe. I used the exact ingredients, exact measurements, and my dough was so thick and dry I couldn’t stir it at all. I kept checking to make sure the recipe didn’t call for 2 cups of lemonaid because my dough was like thick bread dough. I could have kneeded it not stired it. The recipe indicated that the dough would be wet, but it was anything but wet. I added more lemonaid so I could stir it. Probably another 3/4 cup. Still very thick and lumpy. The loaf is still in the oven. The dough didn’t have much lemon flavor. I’m not hopeful this recipe will be a keeper.
It sounds like you added too much flour. When measuring the flour are you using US measuring cups or weight? If using cups, you need to spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level it off with a knife. Otherwise you end up with too much flour which would result in a dough that is too dry.
1 cup of lemonade in 3 cups of flour does NOT make a wet dough even with 1/2 cup of yoghurt
It is if you measure your flour correctly. Plenty of people have made this recipe without any issues
This has really nice flavor and looks pretty. I’m not fond of the texture. I wonder if it would be better texture with a couple eggs added? Seems a little gummy to me. Not bad but think it could be improved somehow.
As mentioned in the post, the texture is more sturdy and bread-like instead of fluffy and soft. If you prefer a more cake-like lemon bread, we have a 4 Ingredient Lemon Bread that has eggs.
Yout recipes are easyto
Make and taste good
Thanks!
Another home run! I’m two for two! Haha! I love this bread! The hint of lemon is a pleasant, very subtle note. It is exactly as described- crusty on top and chewy in the middle. Toasted with butter puts it on a whole different level of awesomness! And it is so simple even I couldn’t mess it up!! I’m looking forward to exploring the rest of your receipts!
I’m so glad it worked out for you!
It’s so easy to make that cake mix
I like it too
I’m so glad you liked it!
Really enjoying the recipes that you are sharing with us , thank you so much!
You’re welcome!
Yummy!
I’m glad you liked it!
Is the lemonade you use fizzy?Have you ever tried using different tasting lemonades and yoghurts? ?
Just regular lemonade. Not carbonated
Looks like a delicious,easy bread. I can’t wait to try it .I will have to get flour and yogurt when I grocery shop again.. then I will make this amazingly simple treat!
Let us know what you think!
I may have to get out of my Night gown and go buy these ingredients
This made us laugh! We hope you give it a try.
Not a very good week, thank you for asking.
We hope it gets better for you!
Excellent.
I’m so glad you liked it!
Can’t wait to try this bread!
Question rather than comment: can I use home-made lemonade (water, lemon juice, sugar)? if yes, can you give me a ratio of sugar to water? I can’t find lemon yogurt in my store. Can I use regular yogurt and flavor it with lemon and sugar? I guess this sounds like a silly request for a different recipe, but I know it woud be possible to make the lemon bread with homemade lemonade and with regular yogurt with added lemon juice and sugar
thanks
If you can find vanilla Greek yogurt, you can add some fresh lemon zest to it so that you have enough lemon flavor in the bread.