This Iced Lemon Bread is one for the books! Supremely moist with bright citrus flavor and a nice pound-cake-like denseness. This bread is perfectly sweet and ultra soft, thanks to yogurt in the batter!
PREP: It's important that the wet ingredients are all at the same temperature (room temperature) for them to combine nicely. Remove from the fridge about 45 mins to an hour before using. Grease and lightly flour a 9x5-inch loaf pan. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
WET INGREDIENTS: Add all the wet ingredients to a large bowl. Whisk together until completely smooth.
DRY INGREDIENTS: Add all the dry ingredients to a large bowl. Whisk together. Make a well in the center.
COMBINE: Pour wet ingredients on top of the dry ingredients and mix until it forms a batter.
BAKE: Pour and then smooth batter into prepared pan. Top with 2 tablespoons sugar (just sprinkle on top; don't press down). Bake for 60-75 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with moist crumbs.
COOL: Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 15 minutes before inverting onto a wire cooling rack. Let cool another hour before slicing. Don't rush the cooling-- the bread is still "baking."
GLAZE: Place powdered sugar in a small bowl. Add a tiny pinch of salt and slowly whisk in lemon juice until a glaze consistency is formed. Transfer the glaze to a plastic bag and cut off the tip. Pipe the glaze over the completely cooled bread.
STORAGE: We like to finish this bread within 1-3 days of being made. After that, it begins to lose texture (becomes too moist). It can, however, last up to a week stored in an airtight container and tightly wrapped in plastic wrap. After the third day, I recommend storing it in the fridge. Wrap each slice tightly and place in an airtight container.
Notes
Note 1: Loaf pan: Be sure to use the correct size of pan so the recipe works properly. Here's the loaf panwe use and love. An 8x4-inch pan is too small! If you do use an 8x4-inch pan, only add about 75% of the batter (use leftovers for some muffins) and note that bake time is shorter. Don't forget to generously grease the bread pan. Grease with nonstick spray (or rub on shortening) and then lightly dust with flour. Alternatively, line it with parchment paper. If you line with parchment paper, leave an overhang for easy removal. Note 2: Lemonzest: There is a lot of zest — and it’s all needed here--and no juice in the bread. We'll use lemon juice for the glaze. When zesting the lemon, avoid the white pith of the lemon — this is very bitter. Using a microplane (like this one) zest only the very outside yellow part of the lemon for this recipe.Note 3: Lemon extract: Not to be confused with lemon juice, lemon extract is a flavor enhancer (just like vanilla extract) that gives this bread an intense citrusy lemon flavor. We use lemon extract to pack in as much lemon flavor as possible without messing up the consistency of the bread (like lemon juice would). Lemon extract can usually be found near other baking extracts and spices in the grocery store; I recommend using a pure lemon extract. We've tested both McCormick and Watkins in this recipe and both perform comparably.