We love the combination of lemons and blueberries. You must try our cream cheese filled blueberry lemon bread recipe. This insanely good combination of a blueberry lemon quick bread with a cheesecake filling is fluffy, moist, full of flavor and simply to die for.
To add another hint of sweetness, we topped our blueberry cream cheese lemon loaf with a drizzle of lemon icing. If you love lemon bread and lemon cake, you will love this cheesecake lemon blueberry bread.
You can serve this oven baked bread for breakfast, brunch or dessert. It would also be a great addition to an afternoon tea or potluck.
❤️ WHY YOU'LL LOVE THIS LEMON BREAD
✔️ The cheesecake filling is just the right combination of sweet and tart, adding a brilliant juxtaposition to the lemon bread.
✔️ It's never going to go bad in your fridge because it'll all be eaten.
✔️ The lemon loaf is perfectly moist.
✔️ The glaze on top brings all the flavors together.
CREAM CHEESE FILLED BLUEBERRY LEMON BREAD INGREDIENTS
You may have all of these blueberry cream cheese lemon loaf ingredients in your refrigerator or pantry and not need to make a trip to the grocery store. See recipe card below for ingredient amounts.
- All-purpose flour: You can substitute cake flour in a pinch. To substitute, add an additional 2 tablespoon for each cup of all-purpose flour. So, if the recipe calls for 1 cup of all-purpose flour, use 1 cup and 2 tablespoon of cake flour.
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- Vegetable Oil: Canola oil can be substituted.
- Sugar
- Sour cream: Regular or reduced fat sour cream should work just fine. Plain Greek yogurt, plain regular yogurt or créme fraîche can be used as substitutes for sour cream.
- Lemon Juice: For best flavor use freshly squeezed lemon juice.
- Lemon Zest: For best results use fresh and bright yellow lemons. Make sure you only use the yellow part of the lemon peel and not the white one. The white part, also called pith, tastes bitter and might ruin the flavor of your lemon quick bread.
- Eggs
- Vanilla Extract
- Fresh Blueberries: You can also use frozen in a pinch.
- Cream Cheese: Soften it beforehand. We like to take it out of the fridge an hour before using.
SUBSTITUTIONS
- Buttermilk – Use buttermilk instead of sour cream in a pinch.
- Blueberries – Fresh blueberries can be replaced by frozen ones, or any other kind of berry that you prefer.
INSTRUCTIONS
If you'd like to print this recipe, scroll down to the recipe card where you can print the recipe or have it scaled to double or triple. You'll also find nutrition information.
PREHEAT OVEN: Preheat your oven to 350ºF.
PREPARE PAN: Prepare a 9x4 inch loaf pan. Spray your bread pan with non-stick cooking spray or line it with parchment paper. This will make a large loaf so we don't recommend using a smaller pan.
COMBINE WET INGREDIENTS: In a medium mixing bowl, combine the vegetable oil, sugar, sour cream, fresh squeezed lemon juice, lemon zest, 2 eggs and vanilla extract.
WHISK: Whisk wet ingredients until fully mixed.
COMBINE DRY INGREDIENTS: In a large bowl, stir together the dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. Then set the flour mixture aside.
🔴 TIP: Make sure your teaspoon is leveled off when adding your baking powder. Do not add extra baking powder.
COMBINE WET AND DRY INGREDIENTS: Pour wet ingredients from the medium bowl into the large bowl of the dry ingredients. Gently mix until almost combined.
TOSS BLUEBERRIES WITH FLOUR: In a small bowl, combine 1 tablespoon of flour with the blueberries. Gently mix to coat.
ADD BLUEBERRIES TO BATTER: Add the blueberries to the batter. Using a spatula, gently stir until all the ingredients are combined.
POUR INTO PAN: Pour lemon blueberry bread batter into the prepared pan.
MAKE CREAM CHEESE FILLING: In a separate medium bowl make the cream cheese filling. Combine softened cream cheese, ¼ cup of sugar, 2 tablespoons of flour, and 1 egg. Use a hand mixer to beat until smooth.
ADD CREAM CHEESE FILLING: Spoon cream cheese mixture onto the top of the batter then use a spatula or knife to spread it out and swirl it into the batter a little.
BAKE: Bake for 70-75 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted and comes out with only a few moist crumbs on it.
🔴 TIP: When inserting a toothpick to determine doneness it is best to test near the center of the bread to get the best representation of doneness. If the toothpick is gooey it is not yet done baking. If there are crumbs on it then it is done.
REMOVE FROM OVEN: Remove from the oven and let cool for 10-20 minutes in the pan, then remove to a cooling rack.
MAKE THE GLAZE: Mix powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice to make the glaze. For a less lemony taste, use water in the glaze instead of lemon juice.
GLAZE LOAF: Once bread is completely cool, drizzle the top with your glaze.
SERVE: Slice the blueberry cream cheese lemon loaf and serve.
⚠️ TIPS FOR THE BEST CREAM CHEESE FILLED BLUEBERRY LEMON BREAD
✔️ Stir and loosen your flour before measuring. Spoon the loosened flour into your measuring cup. Use a flat utensil to level off the measuring cup.
✔️ Be careful not to overmix the blueberry lemon loaf batter when combining the wet and dry ingredients. Overmixing may cause the bread to become dense, form air pockets inside or bake unevenly.
✔️ Check the bread at the 45 minute mark, and when it is beginning to get overly brown on top, loosely tent with foil until it is completely cooked to prevent the bread from burning.
✔️ If you add the glaze before the bread is completely cool, it will melt and soak into the loaf. For a nice white glaze drizzle, wait till your bread has cooled completely before adding it.
STORAGE TIPS
Refrigerate: Blueberry cream cheese lemon loaf can be stored in an airtight container or zip top bag for 2-3 days. Because of the cream cheese filling, we recommend storing the bread in the fridge rather than the counter.
Freeze: Blueberry cream cheese lemon bread can be frozen in a Ziploc freezer bag or an airtight plastic container for up to 3 months.
Defrosting: Let the blueberry lemon quick bread defrost in the fridge overnight.
MORE LEMON BREAD RECIPES
Don't miss Stef's Lemon Cream Cheese Cookie Bars, the Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins, or Cherry Cheesecake Hand Pies along with these lemon bread recipes:
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
To avoid the disappointment of a sunken quick bread, make sure you measure out all the ingredients correctly, especially the baking powder. Be careful not to overmix the batter, because this can lead to a dense and unevenly baked loaf. Also make sure you do not underbake your bread. Insert a toothpick into the center of the bread and only if it comes out clean (or with a few moist crumbs stuck to it) you can remove the loaf from the oven.
It's not a problem if you don’t own a lemon zester. You can also use the fine side of a box grater to rub off the lemon zest. Another way to zest a lemon is using a vegetable peeler. First, peel off very thin slices of lemon peel (avoid the white part) and then chop the lemon peel finely on a cutting board with a knife.
Yes, you can try frozen blueberries instead of fresh ones. It is important NOT to defrost the berries before adding them to the batter. Toss the frozen berries with a tablespoon of flour before adding them to the batter. You might have to increase the baking time of the loaf bread by a couple of minutes.
Equipment
Ingredients
Blueberry Lemon Loaf Ingredients:
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour, plus 1 tablespoon - divided
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup sour cream
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 2 tablespoon lemon zest - about 2 medium to large lemons
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup blueberries
Cream Cheese Filling Ingredients:
- 8 oz cream cheese - softened
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 egg
Glaze Ingredients:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350ºF.
- Prepare a 9x4 inch loaf pan. Spray your bread pan with non-stick cooking spray or line it with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, combine 1¾ cups of all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the vegetable oil, sugar, sour cream, fresh squeezed lemon juice, lemon zest, 2 eggs and vanilla extract.
Whisk wet ingredients until fully mixed.
In a separate medium bowl make the cream cheese filling. Combine softened cream cheese, ¼ cup of sugar, 2 tablespoons of flour, and 1 egg. Use a hand mixer to beat until smooth.
In a small bowl, combine 1 tablespoon of flour with the blueberries. Gently mix to coat.
Pour wet ingredients from the medium bowl into the large bowl of the dry ingredients. Gently mix until almost combined.
Add blueberries to batter. Using a spatula, gently stir until all the ingredients are combined.
Pour batter into the prepared pan.
Spoon cream cheese mixture onto the top of the batter then use a spatula or knife to spread it out and swirl it into the batter a little.
Bake for 70-75 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted and comes out with only a few crumbs on it. Loosely cover with foil after 45 minutes to prevent the top from burning.- Remove from the oven and let cool for 10-20 minutes in the pan, then remove to a cooling rack.
Mix powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice to make the glaze.
Once the bread is completely cool, drizzle the top with your glaze.
Slice and serve.
Leave a Reply