DAMN it took me a long time to perfect this bread.
I literally tested this recipe 8 times with various amounts of grain free flours, sweeteners, lemon juice, coconut oil (or no coconut oil), etc. Recipe testing isn’t always as easy as it looks. Often, it’s time consuming and frustrating. Yet I can’t complain, I love what I do and when recipes like this finally turn out beautifully, it becomes completely worth it.
Spring always reminds me of lemon things. Because of the number of requests I get for things made with almond and/or coconut flour, I decided to make a healthy lemon blueberry bread that just so happens to be grain free, gluten free, dairy free, and paleo-friendly for all of you.
This healthy lemon blueberry bread is light, perfectly sweet and ready for your oven. Oh, and we can’t forget about the glaze. It’s a mix of coconut milk (or you can use coconut butter!), berry jam, lemon zest and lemon juice. It’s SO easy, yummy and PRETTY. If you want your bread extra cute, just add some crushed freeze dried raspberries and call it a day.
Ingredients in this healthy lemon blueberry bread
While this grain free lemon blueberry bread recipe might look fancy, it’s made with simple ingredients that keep it gluten free, dairy free and paleo. Triple win! Here’s what you’ll need:
- Flours: we’re using a mix of almond flour & coconut flour to keep this healthy lemon blueberry bread gluten and grain free while adding healthy fats and a slight sweetness to the bread itself.
- Lemon juice & zest: to give it that amazing, tangy, spring flavor. Remember to zest your lemon first before juicing it! You’ll use these both within the bread itself and in the glaze.
- Eggs: to help bind the bread together and create the right consistency.
- Maple syrup: this bread is naturally sweetened with some pure maple syrup.
- Baking staples: don’t forget the baking soda, vanilla extract & salt because we’re baking bread here kids.
- Fresh blueberries: for a juicy burst of flavor in every bite.
- Coconut milk: you’ll just use the top, solid part of the can of full fat coconut milk to create the creamy glaze
- Raspberry jam: a little raspberry jam gives the glaze a beautiful pink color and delicious sweetness
Can I use a different flour?
Unfortunately, no, I cannot recommend another flour besides the almond and coconut flours as the texture and flavor will not turn out the same.
Two ways to customize this gorgeous bread
There are a couple of fun ways you can make this lemon blueberry loaf your own:
- Add a tablespoon or two of poppy seeds to make it a luscious lemon poppy seed loaf.
- Swap the blueberries for fresh raspberries if that’s your jam!
You’ll love how easy this healthy lemon blueberry bread is to mix together. It’s delicious with and without the glaze, but I personally love the slight sweetness (and gorgeous color) that the glaze adds!
How to make this healthy lemon blueberry bread
- Mix the dry ingredients. Start by mixing together the flours, baking soda & salt.
- Whisk the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together all of your wet ingredients.
- Make the batter. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until well combined. Then gently fold in your blueberries.
- Bake it up. Pour the mixture into a loaf pan lined with parchment paper and bake until a tester comes out clean. Allow the loaf to cool completely in the pan before removing it so that it doesn’t fall apart.
- Make your glaze. While the bread is cooling, place a small pot over low heat and add coconut milk, lemon juice, jam, and lemon zest. Stir constantly until the ingredients are well combined, then drizzle glaze on top of your cooled loaf and garnish with zest from 1 lemon. Cut into 8 slices and enjoy!
Storing & freezing tips
- To store: this healthy lemon blueberry bread should be kept well-covered in tinfoil or in a reusable silicone bag at room temperature for up to 3 days, then I recommend transferring it to the fridge or freezer.
- To freeze: wrap the bread tightly in foil and place it in a reusable silicone bag for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature once you are ready to eat. You can also feel free to freeze individual slices for a quick on-the-go treat. I’d recommend leaving the glaze off while freezing and adding it once you’re thawed the bread and are ready to eat.
More citrus recipes you’ll love
- Healthy Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
- Lemon Poppy Seed Blueberry Baked Oatmeal
- Orange Zucchini Cake with Orange Frosting
- The Fluffiest Lemon Blueberry Poppy Seed Pancakes (high in protein, gluten free!)
- Lemon Blueberry Smoothie
Get all of my citrus recipes here!
Hope you love this healthy lemon blueberry bread as much as my husband does. If you make it, I’d love for you to leave a comment & rating to let me know how you liked it! xo
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Paleo Lemon Blueberry Bread
Ingredients
- Dry ingredients:
- 1 1/3 cups fine blanched almond flour
- 1/3 cup coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Wet ingredients:
- 3 large eggs
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Zest of 1 large lemon
- 3/4 cup fresh blueberries (or raspberries!)
- For the glaze:
- 1 tablespoon coconut milk from the can, just the top, solid part
- 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon seedless raspberry jam
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- For garnish:
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons crushed freeze-dried raspberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8x4 inch loaf pan with parchment paper or spray pan generously with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda and salt.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together all wet ingredients: eggs, maple syrup, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well to combine. Lastly, fold in blueberries.
- Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and spread out evenly. Bake for 40-50 minutes until tester comes out clean. Allow loaf to cool completely in the pan before removing.
- Once loaf is cooled completely, make your glaze: Place a small pot over low heat and add coconut milk, lemon juice, jam and lemon zest. Stir constantly until ingredients are well-combined. Drizzle glaze on top and garnish with zest from 1 lemon and crusehd freeze-dried raspberries if you'd like. Cut into 8 slices and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
This bread just screams SPRING!
YES! All of the spring colors and flavors in here!
Just made this bread for the first time. What a welcome item this is to our Paleo lifestyle. I love this with a cup of coffee!
Absolutely STUNNING!
Thanks Marcy!
I’ve just made this!! Had all the ingredients on hand so why not. Quick question though, what did you have your oven on? Fan forced, not etc. Mine has come out flat and quite brown.
Can frozen blueberries be used, instead of fresh?
Whenever a recipe uses fresh berries I always use frozen, I just add to a bowl a little with of whatever flour I am using and toss the berries in it to help not turn the loaf blue or pink!
Yes! See Emaleigh’s comment, too, on a tip for keeping them from dyeing the whole loaf.
Great.
Thank you!
All of your recipe testing is beyond appreciated! This bread screams “spring time treat perfection.”
Aw thanks Liz! Had to get it perfect for spring 🙂
This looks absolutely amazing! I dont have coconut flour so I am going to try this with maybe 1/2 cup of oat flour in its place, I will let you know how it turns out!
Thanks girl! Yes – let me know how the oat flour works out.
oohh my gahhhh YES YES YES! I love how there’s only 1/4 cup of maple syrup in this recipe! I try to limit the amount of sweetener in recipes and sometimes have to go rogue, which doesn’t always turn out the best, so this is great how it’s already on the lower side! I think I’ll be making this this weekend….even better that I already have all of the ingredients.
Absolutely! The almond + coconut flour add a bit of sweetness, and same with the bites of blueberries. Hope you love this one!
SO pretty!! I think I’m addicted just looking at the pictures! It sounds amazing!
Thanks Kelli! It’s seriously delicious 🙂
Do u think I could sub the almond flour for oat flour or whole wheat? Thanks!
I haven’t tried it that way, so I’m not 100% sure how the texture will hold up. If you try it let me know how it goes!
Question: when you tried the recipe with coconut oil how much did you use? My ‘batter’ was closer to dough, and was so dry I had to spread it into the pan with a spatula – is that the consistency yours turned out to be?
Very strange! This recipe was perfectly moist without using coconut oil, and the batter is on the thicker side (but still light). I think when I did test it with coconut oil I used about 2 tablespoons melted and then cooled, and mixed it in at the very end before putting it in the pan!
I followed recipe completely and mine turned out super dry too. And it only took 35 minutes to cook. Any tips to make it more moist besides coconut oil?
Delicious and I haven’t even put the glaze on it yet! Your recipes are some of the best tasting ones I’ve tried. Thanks for all your hard work and sharing.
Just ate the last piece… made a double batch first time… one for hostess gift… one for home. LOVED it. Tasted better the 2nd day! Not cheap to get all of the organic ingredients but so worth it….the smell of coconut flour is amazing. Substituted a lil Forager Cashew Milk for coconut milk in glass… delish. Thnx so much!
The perfect gift! So glad you loved this 🙂 and love that cashew milk too!
I MADE THIS IT WAS SO MOIST AND DELICIOUS THANK YOU FOR THIS GREAT RECIEPE I WILL DEFINITELY FOLLOW YOU FOR SOME MORE HEALTHY RECIEPES
Amazing! So happy to hear that Gloria!
Any suggestions for flour substitutes for those unlucky people with an almond allergy?
You could try using cashew flour or cashew meal!
Thank you!!
That could be a problem with nut allergies. See my comment about pumpkin seed flour below.
I have not tried this recipe, but I have successfully tried other recipes where I’ve substituted almond flour with pumpkin seed flour which I make in my Vita-Mixer from GoRaw’s sprouted seeds. The flour is a little coarse (if I run it too much or with too large amounts, it starts turning oily) with a few seed particles, but I sift it through a metal colander in order to fluff it, and it’s worked famously.
Has anyone tried cassava flour?
Any suggestions for egg substitutes? This looks amazing, but I have an egg allergy.
I haven’t tried to vegan-ize this, but you could try using flax eggs!
Are you sure this doesn’t need some oil or fat? Mine came out very dry and crumbly. Just wondering if I missed an ingredient. Even the batter was thick like dough
I’m sure! When I tested it with about 2 tablespoons of coconut oil it ended up being too moist, especially the next day, which is why I opted for 3 eggs in this one. The batter should be thick but still light!
What a great recipe! Made this yesterday for Easter and everyone loved it. Our two picky eaters even went back for a second slice. I will definitely be making this again.
Amazing! So happy to hear that!
How would you recommend storing this? At room temp or in the fridge. I just made a loaf and am already anticipating breakfast!!
Hi Cara! I’d recommend this in the fridge if you’re keeping it for a couple days (or longer) 🙂 Hope you’re loving this!
In the past I haven’t had a whole lot of success with blueberries in paleo baked goods, but this bread turned out amazing! I was pleasantly surprised with how sweet the bread was with only a ¼ cup sweetener. I didn’t have any blanched almond flour, so I just used almond meal that I made in my blender. The bread was darker in color, but still tasted delicious and baked properly.
Do you think it would be possible to use only the egg yolk and add an extra yolk? I have an allergy to egg white 🙁
I think that should work!
This looks delicious! If I have a treenut allergy can I substitute using reg flour?
I wouldn’t recommend using regular flour because the consistency will change here! Try these muffins 🙂
I looove all of your recipes and tips, so had to try this one… but guess what… as soon as I put together wet ingredients with dry ingredients, baking soda reacted and made the batter full of air, is that normal?
Mine didn’t come out as the picture, it doesn’t feels/looks like bread, is more crumbly…. what do you think it might happen?
The batter will be pretty light (and not very “dense”) but it should bake up just fine! I would double check your wet to dry ingredient ratio, and also note that gluten free baked goods like this will have a different texture than traditional loaves because there’s no gluten.
Thanks for sharing! Have you tried frozen blueberries?
I like to bake with fresh ones but frozen should work! The color might just spread a bit.
Hello Monique,
I cooked this recipe for my mom and she liked your recipe!
Have you tried this with strawberries?
Thanks
Hi! I haven’t tried it with strawberries, but I bet it would be delicious!
You shared a great recipe!
Thanks
Is there a difference between blanched almond flour and raw almond flour besides the way it looks in the end?
Blanched almond flour just means that it has the skins removed before it’s ground, and it’s what I always use. I don’t think it would make a difference baking with raw almond flour besides the darker color, but I’m not 100% sure!
Really excited to make this. do you think I could use all coconut flour?
Stick with the almond + coconut flour combination in here so that it bakes up properly 🙂
Hi, I’ve never used coconut milk, in the ingredients you say “coconut milk from the can, just the top, solid part”, what does this mean? I just want to make sure I get the right ingredient the first time around. Thanks!
Exactly my question! I’m making this today but I don’t understand the just top solid part!
So when you buy a can of “coconut mills” from the store, don’t shake it and open the can, there will be thicker solid coconut milk on the top and liquid (more like coconut water on the bottom). She means to scoop your tablespoon from the top thick part of the can. Hope this helps
I made this over the weekend and it was absolutely DIVINE. perfectly moist, great crumb, great flavour, just the right amount of sweetness. I omitted the glaze as didnt have coconut milk on hand.
Amazing! Glad you loved it. Just as delicious without the glaze!
Can I use all purpose flour in place of coconut and almond flour? Thanks.
I wouldn’t recommend it! The ratios will be very different.
My family doesn’t like the taste of coconut milk. Is there something I could replace it with in the glaze?
I made this without the glaze and it was so delicious! I subbed honey for maple syrup and it worked well. Super moist and flavorful. Hard to have just one slice 😬. Thank you!
Perfect!! 🙂
Delicious even without the glaze!
Absolutely!
Is there a good substitute for coconut flour? My son has a coconut allergy, but I would love to make this bread!
Oat flour should work, but please know I haven’t tested it this way.
Do you think it would hold up well if it was frozen? I’m trying to make some loafs for meal prep.
Definitely!
Don’t really know what I did weight but it appears the centre of the loaf didn’t bake the same as the rest of it? It has a downward curve to it.
Still tastes amazing though!
I’m sorry you had trouble. I haven’t had this problem. Did the tester come out clean? Sometimes this is just how grain free breads are.
Wow! Seriously so delicious!!!
Glad you loved it!!
This is absolutely incredible! Followed to a T, but topped it with home made toasted coconut butter with lemon zest! Made it yesterday and its already gone!
Sounds delicious!! Glad you enjoyed!
My bread completely fell apart when cut. I ate it as chunky crumbles. Thought of it as ‘crumb cake’ ha ha. The chunks tasted good, but I would like it to hold together. My guess it is the coconut flour. I wonder why this is in there and what I can use instead.
That’s odd. Did you pack the coconut flour? It sounds like there wasn’t enough moisture and sometimes this can happen if you pack coconut flour, as it is highly absorbent.
So excited to try this! Would it freeze well if I made it in advance for holidays?? Thank you!!
I think so, yes!
Thank you so much for developing this recipe! I’ve never made a bread but this recipe sounded delicious – your instructions were super easy and it was a major hit with my husband and friends! I was so proud of myself and of course shared with everyone who created the recipe 🙂 Thank you again!
Amazing! So happy to hear that, Jaclyn 🙂 I hope you find more recipes here that you love!
I made this bread today and used raspberries. It was so easy to make and was moist and delicious. I recommend it. I didn’t have coconut cream for the glaze, so I just used a tablespoon of cream. It worked fine.
Delicious! Great tips.
I am allergic to nuts! is there something I can use to substitute the almond flour, such as more coconut flour?
Sorry I’ve only tested this recipe as is so I’m not certain it would work with other ratios/flours as they absorb liquid differently.
cant even describe how amazing and easy. Make this if you love yourself
make this!
So good!!
YUM! Literally cannot wait to make this for the weekend. Any recommendations for an egg substitute in this recipe for my vegan family?
So delicious! I haven’t tried an egg substitute in this one so I’m not 100% sure how the flavor/texture will turn out. Let me know if you do try something like a flax egg!
I made this bread last night with blueberries and I substituted oat flour for coconut flour since that’s what I had. The balance of sweetness from maple syrup & tartness from the lemons makes this bread so delicious, moist and soft!! Will definitely be making this regularly.
Glad the swap worked out! Such a great snack or treat 🙂
Soooo good! I have been following a 10 day detox diet and this fit into my clean eating plan- I omitted the topping. I will be making it again soon👍
Glad you loved this one! Such a great snack to have on-hand.
This was SOOO good!! Thank you, Monique. You’re pretty much a genius! 🥰
So glad you loved it!
So good! My 9 year old would of happily eaten the whole loaf. Super simple to make. I left off the glaze and I definitely didn’t miss it!
Delicious! Happy to hear that 🙂
Could I omit the maple syrup? Maybe sub w some coconut oil? Literally can’t have sugar but dying to try this bread. I know blueberries still have sugar but I’m okay with that.
I have only tried the recipe as written so I’m not sure how leaving out the maple syrup would change the result, however I don’t think coconut oil would be a good substitute.
Wonderful favour yet healthier
Absolutely!
My husband and I LOVED this recipe!! I did not have coconut flour so subbed whole wheat flour instead and it was perfect! Should have doubled the recipe… Thank you!!
I’m glad that swap worked out well!
My store only had Meyer lemons. Would I be able to use them for this recipe? Thanks!! 🙂
Absolutely!
We didn’t have blueberries, so I subbed for 1/2 cup apple sauce and 1/4 cup strawberry jam. Came out so well we decided to skip the glaze! Can’t wait to try with blueberries, but will also be making with these subs again. Thank you!
I’m glad that worked out well! So delicious 🙂
My bread is in the oven and smells divine! I plan to serve it for Easter breakfast tomorrow. Would you recommend that I wait to glaze it just before serving? Thank you for another great recipe!
I hope you loved it! Feel free to glaze it once it’s completely cooled or just before serving – I’m sure it was delicious either way 🙂
Man oh man. This stuff is good. Mine came out a little bit flat but that happens with gluten free baking, and after reading other comments I realized I might have packed the flour a little bit. I used marionberry jam in the glaze because it was the only seedless one I had on hand. My “batter” was more like light, fluffy clouds floating into the loaf pan vs pouring. Still, SO GOOD.
So glad you enjoyed! And yes gluten free baking doesn’t “rise” quite like recipes with regular flour.
Delicious! Made my own jam but other than that followed the recipe word to word and it was scrumptious and healthy.
Perfect! Homemade jam sounds amazing in here 🙂
Delicious! Made this loaf this morning and have really enjoyed it. It came together quickly and was very moist. I did substitute the 1/3 cup of coconut flour for 1/3 cup of Bob’s Red Mill Paleo Flour because I didn’t have enough coconut. It was sweet, moist and delicious! Will definitely make again. Monique’s recipes are always winners!!
I’m glad that swap worked out well! Such a great snack or breakfast 🙂
Could I use lime juice instead?
Yes that would be fine. Lime bread sounds yummy!
This looks amazing!! Any recommended subs for the coconut milk?
I don’t have any sorry, you could make a simple glaze from my lemon blueberry muffins here if you’d like!
I was stoked for this recipe – literally all the lemon recipes! Unfortunately mine did not come out moist nor anything like the picture. I did use frozen blueberries and coated in some of the flour to reduce discoloring the entire loaf with fail – the loaf is blue. The taste is good, but wondering why it’s not fluffy and moist.
It should definitely be moist considering the ratio of ingredients. Did you follow the recipe exactly as written?
So pleased I found this recipe. I added two teaspoons of Stevia, a little extra honey and a splash of milk and it turned out great! Will definitely be making this again and again 🙂
I’m glad that worked out well!
Hihi I don’t have coconut flour, can I use all almond flour?
Hi! You could try subbing the coconut flour with oat flour. I wouldn’t recommend using all almond flour.
What is a zest of lemon?
Zesting a lemon means you use a zester or grater to finely scrape off the very outer skin of a lemon 🙂
For the drizzle/glaze, could I use coconut cream instead of milk? Thank you
sure! sounds delish.
What a genius idea to use dried crushed raspberries as a topping!! Making this tomorrow and can’t wait!!
Absolutely! Delicious and so pretty 🙂
This was a simple yet delicious recipe. I was pleasantly suprised at how it turned out, and it was delicious without icing. This is now in my recipe collection!
Love it! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
Made this with frozen wild blueberries (the tiny ones) and did not make the glaze. Came together quickly – most time consuming was squeezing lemons. Incredible taste and texture. Super impressed with this recipe and grateful for paleo options that are comforting and delicious. Both kids, 7.5 and 2.5, are obsessed. This bread went quickly! Excited to make it again and again.
Perfect! So glad you all enjoyed!
This tastes absolutely divine!! I used frozen wild blueberries since I didn’t have fresh on hand. Tossed them in a tablespoon of flour mix and gently folded them in to prevent turning bread too purple. Also just made a glaze with fresh lemon, zest, powdered sugar, and vegan butter since I didn’t have coconut milk or raspberry jam. Turned out fantastic!! Thank you!!
Forgot to add 5 stars on my initial review! 6 stars if I could! ⭐️
Aw thank you!!
SO happy you loved this one, Kristine 🙂 Great call on tossing the blueberries in flour, and that glaze sounds delish!
Hi, I have loved so many of your recipes and am looking forward to trying this one. Just one question: do you happen to know if I can sub flax eggs for the eggs? Many thanks!
Hi, Diane! I actually haven’t tried that in here, but it might work! Sorry I can’t be sure. Let me know if you do 🙂
I liked it as I was trying to use up almond flour and blueberries I had on hand. I didn’t have maple syrup so I substituted honey and that seemed to work fine. Mine seemed crumbly but I think that’s been pretty consistent with other almond recipes I’ve done.
Glad that you enjoyed it, Bianca! Mine didn’t come out crumbly, but I get what you mean about the texture of almond flour in baked goods. I recommend being careful to not overbake, as it could get dry.
Hello!
I am wondering if I can make these as cupcakes?
Hi! I haven’t personally tried that but I imagine it would work well!
Delicious! I made this in minimuffin pans lined with baking paper. Will make these often!
Oh so happy that worked out well! Thanks for sharing 🙂
This loaf was delicious! I even got my husband who’s normally addicted to sugary things to eat it! I used 1/2 cup frozen blueberries & 1/2 cup frozen raspberries that I thawed in microwave before I mixed them in the batter. As for the glaze, I did not have raspberry jam in hand so I smashed a few raspberries & blueberries with a sprinkle of monk fruit as a substitute. It all came out great!
Yummmm that sounds amazing! So happy you both enjoyed it 🥰
Well I tried this with flax eggs and it didn’t turn out at all. From everything I can find, it seems that almond flour-heavy recipes don’t do well with flax eggs. The flavor of the batter was delicious though! 😂 I’m not vegan but have a slight sensitivity to eggs so I may just bite the bullet and make it with the eggs anyway. I’m sure it would be excellent as written!
Sorry to hear the flax eggs didn’t work well in here! I haven’t tested this one without regular eggs so I don’t have a great recommendation for a substitute.
It’s such a wonderful dish, it looks delicious, I really want to eat it, but there are no blueberries in my country, which is a pity.
I made this yesterday and it was DELICIOUS!!! I still have some leftover blueberries and am considering making a second loaf, but I have a question about the directions. Should the almond flour be packed for this recipe? I noticed that many of your other recipes mention packing it, so that’s what I did for my first loaf. As amazing as it was, I just want to double check that I’m following the recipe correctly!
Thanks!!!
Easy and so delicious ! Have made this 4 times already. It’s a crowd favorite. Not too sweet and moist and yummy!
Excellent! Happy to hear this recipe is a hit for everyone, Juliet!!
I have made this 5 times already. delicious, easy and a family favorite!!!
Ahh I am so glad this turned out amazing for you!
It’s rare for me to make a recipe exactly according to the recipe because I change things to suit my preferences but I made this one exactly as posted and it’s *chef’s kiss* perfection! Having to use all my self-control to save some for the rest of my family and not eat it all myself!
Love it! This one’s perfect for spring 🙂