Lemon Blueberry Streusel Bread

There's something about the smell of lemon zest hitting hot butter that makes me slow down in the kitchen. I discovered this bread on a Sunday morning when I had a surplus of blueberries from the farmer's market and a lemon tree that wouldn't stop producing. The combination felt inevitable, like it had been waiting for me to connect those dots.

I baked this for my neighbor who had just moved in, and she knocked on my door twenty minutes later asking if the recipe was a family secret. Watching someone's face light up over homemade bread might be my favorite part of cooking. We ended up sitting on her front steps with thick slices and coffee, and I realized this wasn't just breakfast anymore.

Ingredients

• All-purpose flour (1 1/2 cups for bread, 1/3 cup for streusel): I learned to measure by weight on my scale rather than scooping, which prevents packing the flour and keeps the crumb tender.
• Baking powder and baking soda (1 tsp and 1/2 tsp): This combination creates lift without an eggy taste that baking soda alone can leave behind.
• Salt (1/2 tsp): It awakens the lemon and balances the sweetness so nothing tastes one-dimensional.
• Unsalted butter (1/2 cup plus 1/4 cup): Room temperature butter creams better, and unsalted lets the lemon take the spotlight instead of competing with salt.
• Granulated sugar (3/4 cup plus 1/4 cup): Keep the sugar separate for streusel—it won't fully incorporate into the butter, and that's exactly what you want for texture.
• Large eggs (2): Room temperature eggs emulsify more smoothly into the batter, creating a finer crumb.
• Whole milk (1/2 cup): The dairy richness makes this bread taste more substantial than if you used just lemon juice.
• Fresh lemon juice (1/4 cup): Bottled juice works, but fresh juice is brighter and somehow tastes less aggressive in the final bake.
• Lemon zest (from 1 full lemon plus 1/2 lemon): Zest is where the real lemon flavor lives, not the juice, so don't skip this or use that dried stuff in the tin.
• Vanilla extract (1 tsp): A small amount rounds out flavors without making the bread taste like vanilla.
• Fresh or frozen blueberries (1 1/4 cups): Frozen blueberries work just as well and actually prevent bleeding into the batter better than fresh ones.

Instructions

Get your pan ready and heat the oven:

Preheat to 350°F and grease your loaf pan well or line it with parchment paper. A dry pan will stick even if you coat it, so don't skip this step.

Build the streusel while your hands are clean:

Mix flour, sugar, lemon zest, and cold butter until it looks like coarse crumbs. Refrigerate it so the butter stays cold and creates pockets of texture.

Combine dry ingredients:

Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. This distributes the leavening evenly so you won't get a dome or dense spots.

Cream butter and sugar into submission:

Beat for a full 2-3 minutes until pale and fluffy. This incorporates air, which becomes bubbles in your finished bread.

Add eggs gradually:

Add one egg at a time, beating well after each. This creates an emulsion that keeps the batter smooth instead of grainy.

Mix in the wet flavor components:

Pour in milk, lemon juice, zest, and vanilla. The batter might look curdled from the acidity, but that's completely normal and won't affect your bread.

Fold in dry ingredients gently:

Add the dry mix to the wet mix and stir just until you don't see streaks of flour anymore. Overmixing toughens the crumb.

Fold in blueberries carefully:

Use frozen berries straight from the bag and fold them in last so they don't bleed. Keep your hand movements gentle and purposeful.

Pour and top:

Transfer batter to your pan, smooth the top, and sprinkle streusel evenly. The weight of the streusel will sink slightly into the batter as it bakes.

Bake until golden:

Bake 50-55 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. If the top browns faster than the inside bakes, tent loosely with foil for the last 15 minutes.

Cool with patience:

Let it rest in the pan for 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Cutting into a warm loaf will make it crumble, but a cooled one slices cleanly.

Save to Pinterest

My teenage son, who usually turns his nose up at anything homemade, ate three slices of this bread one afternoon and didn't even realize it was something I'd made from scratch. That's when I knew this recipe had something special—it tastes just indulgent enough to feel like a treat, but it's actually something you could feed to anyone without apology.

The Magic of the Streusel

The streusel topping is where this bread moves from simple to something you'll think about for days. Keeping the butter cold is the secret—when those little chunks of frozen butter hit the heat, they create gaps in the topping that stay crispy instead of melting into the batter. I make extra streusel now and store it in the freezer because it's useful on other things too: muffins, cinnamon rolls, even plain vanilla yogurt.

Lemon Juice Versus Lemon Zest

Most people think lemon juice is where lemon flavor lives, but that's only half the story. The zest is pure essential oil and aromatics, while the juice is mostly acid and water. I use both in this bread, but if I could only pick one, the zest wins every time. The first time I forgot to zest and only added juice, the bread tasted thin and sharp instead of complex and bright—a lesson I only needed to learn once.

Make It Your Own

Once you master the base, this recipe invites experimentation in ways that feel safe. I've tried drizzling with a quick lemon glaze made from powdered sugar and lemon juice, swapping half the flour for whole wheat to add nuttiness, and even adding a handful of fresh rosemary for an herb-forward version. The bread also keeps wrapped at room temperature for three days, though it rarely lasts that long in my house.

• A simple lemon glaze of powdered sugar mixed with lemon juice makes slicing feel fancy without any extra effort.
• Whole wheat flour can replace up to half the all-purpose flour if you like a denser crumb and earthy undertones.
• Make this bread on a day when you can enjoy the smell filling your kitchen, because that's part of the whole experience.

Save to Pinterest

This bread has become the thing I make when I want to say thank you without words. There's comfort in sharing something warm and homemade, and this particular loaf seems to do that better than most.

Recipe Questions & Answers

→ How do I keep the blueberries from sinking?

Gently fold the blueberries into the batter and avoid overmixing to prevent them from sinking to the bottom during baking.

→ Can I use frozen blueberries?

Yes, frozen blueberries work well. Use them directly from the freezer without thawing to reduce color bleeding into the batter.

→ What is the purpose of lemon zest in the streusel?

Lemon zest adds a bright citrus aroma and flavor that complements the sweetness of the streusel topping.

→ How should I store the bread?

Once cooled, wrap tightly and store at room temperature for up to three days to maintain freshness.

→ Can whole wheat flour be used?

Yes, substituting half the flour with whole wheat creates a nuttier taste and slightly denser texture.