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Gather up your fresh lemons and get ready to make the best Glazed Vegan Lemon Loaf! It’s super moist, soft, and bursting with bright lemon flavor from the lemon juice and freshly grated lemon zest.
Table of Contents
This Vegan Lemon Cake recipe is one of those Lemon Desserts everyone loves, not just lemon lovers. Just like our Gluten-Free Lemon Poppyseed Loaf, this classic cake is the perfect balance of sweet and tart, and when drizzled with homemade lemon icing, it’s practically irresistible.
Enjoy for a sweet vegan breakfast alongside your favorite fresh berries and a matcha latte or cold brew. Or cut yourself a slice for an after-dinner treat. All in all, it’s an easy, delicious vegan cake recipe for weekly meal prep or special occasions.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Sugar: To keep the color of the loaf light and bright, it is important to use granulated white sugar. To ensure your loaf is vegan, opt for organic cane sugar.
- Lemon: You’ll need both fresh lemon juice and a full tablespoon of fresh lemon zest (the zest from about 2 lemons).
- Non-dairy milk: Any unsweetened or very lightly sweetened non-dairy milk will work. Try our Homemade Almond Milk, or use store-bought dairy-free milk, such as soy milk, oat milk, or coconut milk (from the carton, not the can!).
- Vegetable oil: One of the best baking oils for its neutral taste and ability to make moist, tender cakes. If preferred, opt for another light-tasting oil, such as avocado oil or refined coconut oil.
- Vanilla: A splash of vanilla extract adds depth of flavor, sweet aromatics, and balances the tangy lemon.
- Leavening agents: For this lemon loaf cake, you’ll need both baking powder and baking soda. Baking powder helps to rise the loaf and make it light and fluffy in texture. Baking soda helps to encourage browning, and makes the outside of the loaf a beautiful golden brown.
- Powdered sugar: Sometimes also called icing sugar. Used to make the simple lemon glaze. Again, to ensure your sugar is vegan, opt for organic.
Equipment Needed
How to Make Glazed Vegan Lemon Loaf
- Make the lemon sugar. To a large bowl, add the granulated sugar and lemon zest. Using your hands, massage the lemon zest into the sugar for 30 seconds or until the sugar is fragrant and the sugar is lightly colored yellow.
- Add the wet ingredients. In the same bowl, add the non-dairy milk, vegetable oil, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Whisk until well combined and uniform.
- Add the leavening agents and salt. Sprinkle in the baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and whisk again until combined.
- Fold in the flour. Add in the all-purpose flour and, using a rubber spatula, gently fold it into the wet ingredients until it is combined.
- Bake for 40-50 minutes. Transfer the lemon loaf batter to an 8×4″ loaf pan lined with parchment paper and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool completely. Let the loaf cool in the loaf pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely to room temperature.
- Prepare the icing. Once the loaf is cool, prepare the icing. Whisk together the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and non-dairy milk until smooth. If you’d like a thinner consistency, add additional non-dairy milk, as desired.
- Glaze the lemon loaf. Spread or pour the icing over the cooled lemon loaf and let set before slicing and serving. Enjoy!
Recipe FAQs
We have not personally tested a gluten-free version and cannot say for certain, but based on our recipe testing, we think a quality 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour Blend should work. If you give it a try and experience good results, please let us know in the comments! Or, try our tried and true Gluten-Free Lemon Poppyseed Loaf!
Absolutely. If you prefer a more indulgent glaze, make the Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting from our Homemade Vegan Cinnamon Rolls recipe, but replace the vanilla extract with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice.
When stored in an airtight container or loaf pan tightly covered with plastic wrap, this lemon loaf will keep for up to 4 days at room temperature. Avoid refrigerating – it makes the cake overly dense.
Vegan Baking Tips
- Use the weighted grams measurements. This will ensure the lemon loaf is made with the correct amount of flour and will keep it extra moist.
- Gently fold the dry ingredients and wet ingredients together. Over-mixing or mixing too vigorously can cause excessive gluten development and will result in a dense, tough loaf cake.
- Use an aluminum loaf pan. While glass pans are popular, they are poor conductors of heat. This means it takes them longer to heat up and cool down and causes baked goods to overcook on the outside while remaining underbaked in the center. For best, even baked goods, always bake in light-colored aluminum loaf pans.
More Vegan Spring Desserts You May Enjoy:
Make sure you tag us on Instagram @sweetsimplevegan and @consciouschris and hashtag #sweetsimplevegan if you make this recipe. We love to see your photos!
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Glazed Vegan Lemon Loaf Recipe
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8 slices
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Gather up your fresh lemons and get ready to make the best Glazed Vegan Lemon Loaf! It’s super moist, soft, and bursting with bright lemon flavor from the lemon juice and freshly grated lemon zest.
Ingredients
Lemon Loaf
- ¾ cup (150g) sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest (about the zest of 2 lemons)
- ¾ cup non-dairy milk
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2½ (300g) all-purpose flour
Icing
- 1¼ (150g) cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon non-dairy milk
Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat and line. Line an 8×4” loaf pan with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Make the lemon sugar. To a large bowl, add the granulated sugar and lemon zest. Using your hands, massage the lemon zest into the sugar for 30 seconds or until the sugar is fragrant and the sugar is lightly colored yellow.
- Add the wet ingredients. Into the same bowl, add the non-dairy milk, vegetable oil, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Whisk until well combined and uniform.
- Add the leavening agents and salt. Sprinkle in the baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and whisk again until combined.
- Fold in the flour. Add in the all-purpose flour and using a rubber spatula, gently fold it into the wet ingredients until just combined.
- Bake for 40-50 minutes. Transfer the lemon loaf batter to an 8×4″ loaf pan lined with parchment paper and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool completely. Let the loaf cool in the loaf pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely to room temperature.
- Prepare the icing. Once the loaf is cool, prepare the icing. Whisk together the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and non-dairy milk until smooth. If you’d like a thinner consistency, add additional non-dairy milk, as desired.
- Glaze the lemon loaf. Spread or pour the icing over the cooled lemon loaf and let set before slicing and serving. Enjoy!
Notes
- Storage: When stored in an airtight container or loaf pan tightly covered with plastic wrap, this lemon loaf will keep for up to 4 days at room temperature. Avoid refrigerating – it makes the cake overly dense.
- Gluten-free: We have not personally tested a gluten-free version and cannot say for certain, but based on our recipe testing, we think a quality 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour Blend should work. If you give it a try and experience good results, please let us know in the comments! Or, try our tried and true Gluten-Free Lemon Poppyseed Loaf!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
Super easy and turned out perfect!! 💞