This is the ultimate vegan lemon loaf cake recipe! Super moist and tender, secretly gluten free with just oat flour, and topped with a lemon drizzle, this lemon loaf tastes even better than Starbucks!
Super Moist Vegan Lemon Loaf that’s better than Starbucks
There. I said it. This vegan lemon loaf is better than Starbucks. I’m not kidding.
This lemon drizzle cake is the very definition of tender and moist, with the most beautiful crumb texture. Bursting with fresh lemon with sweet notes of vanilla, and topped with the lightest lemon glaze on top, this vegan lemon loaf is the breakfast cake to make. Okay, and my vegan coffee cake
But that’s right, this lemon loaf cake is also vegan, meaning it’s dairy free and egg free! Plus, you’d never know this from taking a bite, but this lemon loaf is also entirely gluten free as well!
Using just oat flour (aka affordable compared to other flours, and even easy to make in the US!), we somehow get a gluten free lemon drizzle cake that has the texture and feel of the classic.
Trust me, you’ll be making this vegan lemon loaf on repeat!
How to make the easiest secretly gluten free vegan lemon loaf
What I personally love about this lemon loaf cake the most is that it’s so incredibly easy. That tends to be my favorite part of any recipe- how easy it is to make!
As long as your wet ingredients are all room temperature, you can prepare the vegan lemon loaf batter in just 5-7 minutes max.
With all of my recipes, the full recipe is found down below in the recipe card, along with the ingredients measurements. But let’s go over the basics here!
In terms of ingredients for this gluten free lemon drizzle cake, you’ll need:
- Oat flour: you can also use all purpose flour if you don’t need it to be gluten free. If oat flour isn’t available to you but you need gluten free, you can also use gluten free 1:1 baking flour.
- Sugar: you can use either granulated or coconut sugar.
- Vegan butter: you can also use coconut oil, but I will say that the vegan butter makes this vegan lemon drizzle cake taste more like the classic!
- Applesauce: this replaces the eggs found in a classic lemon loaf cake.
- Dairy free milk: you can use your favorite dairy free milk here. I personally love oat milk or coconut milk!
- Vegan sour cream: vegan sour cream isn’t available everywhere, which is why you can also use vegan coconut yogurt. That will give you the closest result to using the dairy free sour cream. I used Forager Project’s sour cream here, and I believe they are expanding into my US stores soon!
- Vanilla: the vanilla complements the lemon so nicely in this loaf cake! It really tastes like just a vegan lemon cake!
- Lemon juice & zest: you can omit the zest if you don’t want a LOT of lemon, but I personally love it!
Prepare the loaf pan and preheat the oven
I like to prepare my 9″ loaf pan with a strip of parchment paper that create wings so that you can easily pull the loaf out of the pan without hurting it.
I also grease the pan with a bit of coconut oil as well!
Cream the vegan butter
This is super important. Creaming the vegan butter with the sugar creates aeration in the batter, and helps to give this gluten free lemon drizzle cake its height.
Without doing this, you’ll likely end up with a gummy texture, so make sure you give yourself time to bring the vegan butter to room temperature.
Then you’ll cream the vegan butter with the sugar using a hand mixer or stand mixer. This will take about 2-3 minutes.
Next, add in the applesauce, dairy free milk, vegan sour cream, vanilla, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
Add in the dry ingredients
Once all the wet ingredients are incorporated into the mixture, you can sift in the oat flour and baking powder.
Be careful not to over mix the batter- mix it until you just notice there are no more dry streaks.
Then we’ll pour the batter into our prepared loaf tins and bake!
Bake the vegan lemon loaf cake
I felt a bit like Prue and Paul by just writing “Bake the lemon loaf” ha! But that’s really as simple as it needs to be.
The loaf will need about 50-55 minutes in the oven, and you’ll know it’s done by the toothpick test.
Allow the loaf cake to cool in its pan for 10 minutes post baking. Then serve with the lemon glaze!
How do you make a lemon drizzle cake?
This vegan lemon loaf has such a cake-like texture with the oat flour, that it honestly tastes just like a lemon drizzle cake.
We just need the drizzle! For the lemon glaze that you’ll drizzle over top, I whisked together powdered sugar, lemon juice, and just a bit of dairy free milk.
Drizzle the glaze over top and serve! Simple as that 🙂
How to avoid a dry cake
With this recipe, you really shouldn’t have any issue with a dry lemon loaf! It’s super moist and fluffy, while still having a beautifully tender crumb that stands on its own.
But to ensure that you always get this consistency, here are a few of my favorite tips:
- Spoon and level your flour. Whether it’s oat flour or regular all purpose, it’s always a good practice to spoon and level rather than scooping the flour. Scooping the flour leads to more flour than you need, which then results in a dry loaf.
- Allow your loaf to rest for 10 minutes in the pan post baking. It’s always good to give your bakes a little rest right out of the oven. This is because it’s technically still cooking, and the pan will keep the heat within the loaf, rather than escaping to the “cooler” air (I know a 70F kitchen isn’t cool, but compared to the 350F oven, it is ha!).
- If your loaf still feels dry: you can drizzle a few tablespoons of a simple syrup over the top of the vegan lemon loaf after it’s baked to help give it some extra moisture.
Storage & Reheating Instructions
Room temperature. Place the whole loaf or slices into an airtight container and store at room temperature for up to 2-3 days.
Refrigerator. You can wrap the loaf in parchment paper and place the whole loaf or slices into an airtight container. Store for up to 5 days.
Freezer. Slice the loaf and wrap the slices in parchment paper. Store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months.
To reheat from frozen. The best way to reheat from frozen is to place a slice onto a piece of tin foil and baking sheet, and heat the slice in the oven at 350F for 5-7 minutes. You can also use the microwave (no tinfoil though please!!), but I find the oven is the best method!
I hope you love this vegan lemon loaf as much as I do! It seriously is one of my favorite treats to have with a cup of coffee.
If you make this lemon drizzle cake, let me know how it goes by leaving a comment down below, as well as a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ so that others may find it.
As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there!
Happy lemon loaf cake baking!
More vegan lemon recipes:
One Bowl Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
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This is the ultimate vegan lemon loaf cake recipe! Super moist and tender, secretly gluten free with just oat flour, and topped with a lemon drizzle, this lemon loaf tastes even better than Starbucks!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup vegan butter, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce, room temperature
- 2/3 cup dairy free milk, room temperature
- 1/4 cup sour cream, room temperature
- Juice from 1 medium lemon
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 3 1/2 cups oat flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 cup powdered sugar, for the glaze
- 1 tbsp dairy free milk, for the glaze
- 2–3 tsp lemon juice, for glaze
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F, and grease and line a 9″ loaf pan with olive oil and parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to cream together the vegan butter and sugar. The sugar should begin to dissolve into the butter, and the butter should be fluffy. This should take about 2-3 minutes.
- Add in the applesauce, dairy free milk, sour cream, lemon juice, vanilla, and lemon zest, and mix again until all wet ingredients are combined.
- Sift in the oat flour and baking powder, and gently fold the dry into the wet until there are no dry streaks left, being careful not to over mix.
- Pour the batter into your loaf tin, and bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and allow the lemon loaf to cool in the tin for 10 minutes. Then carefully remove with the parchment paper flaps on the side.
- Mix the powdered sugar with the dairy free milk and lemon juice until you reach a runny consistency. Drizzle the glaze over the loaf. Slice and enjoy!
- Store any leftover slices in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days, in the fridge for 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
- Gluten free: If you don’t need this vegan lemon loaf to be gluten free, you can swap in an equal amount of all purpose flour.
- Sour cream: The vegan sour cream I used in this recipe is by Forager Project. If you don’t have access to this, you can also swap in an equal amount of full fat unsweetened plain coconut yogurt.
- Refined sugar free: If you’d like to make this lemon loaf cake refined sugar free, you can use coconut sugar.
- Dairy free milk: you can use any dairy free milk here. I recommend coconut (either refrigerated or from a can) or oat milk for the best results.
- Vegan butter: you can also swap in coconut oil in place of vegan butter here.
Keywords: vegan lemon loaf, vegan lemon bread, lemon loaf cake, gluten free lemon loaf, vegan lemon drizzle cake, gluten free lemon drizzle cake
I made this and followed all instructions 100% and came out gummy in the middle.
★★★
Hi there, I’m so sorry to hear this! Gumminess can happen from a few things: scooping the flour (which leads to too much flour), wet ingredients that aren’t fully at room temperature, or activating the baking powder with the wet ingredients, and not immediately getting the batter into the oven (the baking powder reaction happens immediately when the liquid is added, so the quicker it’s into the oven, the more your loaf will rise!). Let me know if any of this sounds like it could be the case!
This was really good! I read the comment above and followed those tips and didn’t have any issues with the loaf being gummy. Thanks for a great recipe!!
★★★★★
Aw this is so wonderful to hear!! Thank you so much for giving it a go 🙂 Enjoy!!