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’m dairy-free. I recently made this using Namaste gf four, Culina yogurt instead of cream cheese, and butter-flavored Crisco because I ran out of mu usual buttery sticks. I left out the salt. I reduced the sugar accidentally to 1 Cup. I also used a longer loaf pan by King Arthur flour Co. With all these subs, it still turned out yummy. It was a little dense, but still cooked through and the flavor was light and lemony! After it cooled I drizzled the frosting but I didn’t like it as much – I like just the cake! Which is great because I need to cut down on sugar (and salt). I quickly froze slices it so I didn’t eat the whole thing before my son came to visit. Thank you for this recipe!
We’re so glad to hear the recipe worked well with those substitutions! Thank you for sharing your positive baking experience with us. It’s so hard to not eat it all right away – we love freezing slices too!
This lemon bread is probably the tastiest gluten free recipe I’ve tried. If you didn’t know it was gluten free would never know. It disappeared quickly! I will definitely make this again.
Thank you for all of the work you put in to your recipes. Your site is my go to for all my gluten free cooking.
Wow, thank you for such amazing feedback, Gail! We’re so happy to hear you loved the new recipe so much!
This bread was easy to make and the flavor was so good! My only complaint is that once you cut into it, it dries out really fast!
Hi Katie! We’re so glad you loved the lemon loaf! We’re sorry it dried out fast for you. You could try pressing plastic wrap directly against the cut side before storing it in an airtight container to protect it better. It will also keep well in the fridge or even frozen for longer storage. Happy baking!
I made this copy-cat recipe a few days ago. We all loved it! Just the right amount of lemon flavor. Will definitely make this again and again.
Yay! We’re so happy to hear this, Laura! Thank you for your kind review!
As always-another delicious success!
Another delicious recipe. So lemony and the center of pound cake melted in my mouth. It was BETTER than the “original” recipe that it copied; when I was able to eat those before having to go GF
Wow, thank you for such amazing feedback, Donna! This make us so happy!
Just tried this recipe and it turned out amazing!
Yay! We’re so glad you loved the loaf, Rachel! Thank you for your kind feedback.
My son couldn’t believe it was gluten free. We demolished the cake in 2 days. It’s full of lemon flavor even without the glaze. Be sure to bake it long enough. I went around 10 minutes extra since it’s so dense. It’s a pretty cake, too!
Thank you for sharing your positive experience with us! We’re so happy to hear you and your son both loved the lemon loaf so much. Happy baking!
Nailed it! Yes, just like the Starbucks bread! My family loved it and is already asking me to make again!
Yay! We’re so pleased to hear how much your whole family loved the new recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback, Julie.
I made this for my family today and it was absolutely nothing short of AMAZING! It was gone in no time flat. Thank you for such amazing recipes. All the recipes from meaningful eats that I have baked no one believes me when I say they are gluten-free. My extended family all eat gluten regularly and say my baked goodies from your site are the BEST!
We love to hear this, Neely! Thank you for sharing such amazing feedback with us. We’re so happy to hear the recipe was a hit with the whole family!
Can I add blueberries?
Hi Helaine, we haven’t tried adding blueberries, but that may work! We’d recommend tossing them in gf flour before gently folding them into the batter. We’d love to hear how it goes!
I didn’t have a good outcome from this. All my ingredients were room temperature, but the cream cheese didn’t want to incorporate no matter what I did. It stayed in little clumps. The end result was dense. I followed the instructions of putting sugar through cream cheese in the mixer together. Do you have any ideas of how to avoid this in the future?
Hi Jill, we’re sorry you had this experience! When the cream cheese clumps that usually means the center is still too cold despite how the outside feels. It should be very soft to the tough and leave an easy indentation when pressed. The clumps can definitely lead to a dense loaf. We hope your next bakes goes much better!
Can we use yogurt instead of cream cheese ? Thanks
Hi Surbhee, we haven’t tried yogurt in this recipe. If you decide to to test it out, we’d love to hear how it goes!
I need without eggs please if you can suggest the egg replacement like Yogurt or something else
Hi Hemali! Unfortunately we don’t typically bake with egg substitutes so we haven’t tested any with this recipe. If you decide to try it egg-free, we’d love to hear how it goes!