Erin’s Recipe Rundown
This gluten-free lemon loaf is everything I love about the Starbucks original. It’s tangy and full of bright lemon flavor, plus the glaze adds just the right amount of sweetness. I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything with this copycat recipe!
Why You’ll Love It: Anyone who loves lemon will love the bold lemon flavor of this bread! Plus the cream cheese creates a tender, bakery-style crumb that stays moist for days. It’s simple to make, freezes well, and a perfect breakfast, snack, or dessert!
Top Tips: Make sure your cream cheese is at room temperature so it blends smoothly, and lower the oven temperature after 15 minutes to prevent over-browning.
For more gluten-free Starbucks copycats, try these gluten-free Starbucks bliss bars, gluten-free Starbucks-style cake pops, and gluten-free pumpkin cream cheese muffins.
xoxo erin
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here are a few notes on some of the key ingredients to make gluten-free lemon loaf. Jump to the recipe card below for the exact measurements.
- Gluten-free flour: Use a high-quality gluten-free flour blend that contains xanthan gum. I like Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1:1 Baking Flour best for this recipe. I’ve also had good results with King Arthur Flour Gluten-Free Measure-For-Measure Flour.
- Cream cheese: This is my secret ingredient! It gives the loaf stability and an incredibly moist texture. Use it at room temperature so it blends well without lumps.
- Powdered sugar: Sift before combining with the fresh lemon juice for a smooth, pourable consistency.
- Lemon juice and zest: Fresh is best for both the batter and the glaze! The zest adds brightness and juice brings tanginess for the perfect amount of bold lemon flavor.
How to Make Gluten-Free Lemon Loaf
Here’s an overview of how to make this recipe. You can jump to the recipe for the full instructions!
Prepare the wet and dry mixtures: In one bowl, whisk together the gluten-free flour, baking powder, and salt until evenly combined. Set aside. In another bowl, beat the wet ingredients and cream cheese until smooth and well blended.
Add the butter: Slowly pour in the melted butter. Don’t rush—if you add it too quickly, the batter can look curdled. It should blend in smoothly and create a silky, emulsified batter.
Combine wet and dry: Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture a little at a time, just until fully incorporated.
Bake: Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature and continue baking until golden brown. The toothpick test in the center is the easiest way to ensure it’s fully baked.
Make the glaze: While the loaf cools, whisk together the sifted powdered sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Drizzle generously over the top of the loaf, then let it set before slicing.
MORE GLUTEn-FREE COPYCAT RECIPES
Gluten-Free Lemon Loaf (Starbucks Copycat)
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 1⅓ cups (200g) gluten-free measure-for-measure flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Other
- 1¼ cups (250g) granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs
- 4 ounces (113g) cream cheese, at room temperature
- ½ cup (113g) butter, melted
Lemon Glaze
- 1 cup (120g) powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray an 8×4-inch loaf pan with cooking spray and lightly coat the pan with gluten-free flour. Tap out any excess flour.
- For the lemon loaf: In a medium bowl, whisk together the gluten-free flour, baking powder and salt.
- Add the sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla, eggs and cream cheese to the bowl of a stand or hand mixer. Mix on medium speed for 1-2 minutes until well-combined. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl and mix for another minute.
- With the mixer running on low, slowly pour in the melted butter. Continue to mix on low and add the dry ingredients, a little at a time, until fully incorporated. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl and mix again until the batter is completely smooth.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes at 350°F, then reduce the oven temperature to 325°F and continue baking for 35-40 minutes. Bake until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- For the lemon glaze: In a small bowl, mix together the powdered sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Drizzle over the top of the cooled loaf. Let the glaze set before serving.
I too am in the process of making a copycat Starbucks lemon loaf. It’s been our favorite for years when I checked all the ingredients. Starbucks has no cream cheese and I can tell from the texture of this cake that there’s too much leavening
Starbucks is dense with very tiny texture not the airiness given with 1 teaspoon of baking powder
Today I will try recipe number six but so far the one that I made in the food processor from Anna of Cookie Madness is the closest to Starbucks in the velvety. density
This recipe might be a good cake, but there’s still more testing to come closer to Starbucks
YUM, YUM, YUM! this lemon loaf was soooo good. It had the perfect lemon flavor, perfect amount of moistness, and the glaze was the cherry on top. Like another comment mentioned, I am so glad to have more cream cheese leftover because it gives me a reason to make another loaf. I will make some to share with my coworkers 🙂
Delicious! Great balance of sweet and lemon flavors, easy quick and perfect!
Yay! We love to hear this, Carol! Thank you for your positive review!
So good!!!! It came out perfect. The cake part was just how I remember the Starbucks one tasting and the glaze was so good with the lemon. No faults! So good!
Aww, thank you, Chelsea! We’re so pleased to receive such amazing feedback! Happy baking!
This lemon loaf came out perfectly. I used Bob’s Red Mill Cup 4 Cup flour and it was moist and delicious!! I did end up baking it about 6 minutes longer but it still turned out beautifully! Thank you for another great recipe!
Thank you for sharing this positive review with us, Christy! We’re so happy to hear how much you loved the lemon loaf. Happy baking!
Absolutely loved this. Tastes like MORE. Froze some of it and it was just as delicious after defrosting. Having half the 8 oz cream cheese left gives me an excuse to make it again!
Aww, thank you for such amazing feedback! We’re so happy to hear you loved the recipe enough to make it again, Pam!
has anyone made it into smaller loaves?
Hi Barbara! Smaller loaves should work, just make sure to fill them only 2/3 full and then shorten the baking time. We’d try 10 minutes at 350°F then probably another 10-20 at 325°F. You’ll have to play around with the time to find the perfect balance for the smaller pans. We’d love to hear how it goes!
This is the closest recipe I have tried to the Starbucks loaf! I waited until the toothpick came out clean and did have an issue with it being a bit dry/dense. Do you have any suggestions on how I could improve?
Hi Regan, we’re so happy to hear you found it to be so close to the Starbucks classic! Thank you! Did you use the recommended flour blend? That can change the moisture in the loaf. Otherwise, it sounds like the loaf may have been overbaked just a bit. Things like overmixing, inaccurate wet/dry measurements, and altitude/humidity can come into play, but we’d start with pulling it from the oven a little sooner to see if that easy fix solves the dry issue. We hope this helps!