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Strawberry Lemon Yogurt Quick Bread

Strawberry Lemon Yogurt Quick Bread

Yay for strawberry season! Besides snacking on these sweet and slightly tart vitamin A-packed red fruits, I love showcasing them in all types of recipes such as:

Let’s just say this recipe was originally supposed to be a biscuit or a scone, but then eventually morphed into a quick bread recipe. I’m so happy that it did, this recipe is a keeper! I’ve made this bread three times in a week. Part of it was quality assurance, but it’s so satisfying to eat.

Check out this delightful Strawberry Lemon Yogurt Quick Bread!

This bread is fluffy, almost cake-like (just a tad bit denser), lemon-y, and loaded with delicious fresh strawberries.

As the strawberries are baked, they soften and parts of it seem to melt into the bread while the rest is sprinkled throughout. The golden-brown top of the bread is slightly more crisp than the rest of the bread and covered with chopped strawberries.

Greek yogurt is a healthier substitute to adding additional butter. Adding plain Greek yogurt ups the protein and calcium and lessens the overall calories and fat. It will also produce a thicker dough, but will bake into a lovely sweet and tangy tender bread.

Finally, the two-ingredient glaze on top adds more citrusy sweetness and a thin sugar crust. The perfect finishing touch to this easy sweet bread.

One metal bowl containing dry baking ingredients, lemon zest, and strawberries. Another bowl containing whisked wet ingredients.

All the recipe ingredients. Get the full ingredient amounts and instructions in the recipe card below.

A large metal bowl containing Strawberry Lemon Yogurt Quick Bread dough.

No electric mixer required! Combine the ingredients together using a whisk, spatula, and by hand. The dough is now ready to be placed in the loaf pan.

Unbaked Strawberry Lemon Yogurt Quick Bread with strawberries slices on top in a loaf pan.

Line the baking loaf pan with parchment paper (it will make it easy to lift the entire loaf out at once), place the dough into it and then top with more strawberries.

Freshly baked Strawberry Lemon Yogurt Quick Bread in a metal loaf pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 45-60 minutes or until a wooden skewer come out clean. Poke some holes into the bread and then pour the glaze on top. Let it cool slightly before removing and eating.

Helpful TIPS for making this strawberry lemon quick bread:

Always zest the lemon before you juice it.

  • It’s much easier. I recommend using a microplane zester for ease, but you can also use the finest holes of a box grater or use a vegetable peel to remove the skin and then finely chop with a knife. Just make sure you only remove the yellow skin and not the bitter white membrane underneath.

To get more juice out the lemon, roll the lemon on a flat surface before slicing and juicing.

  • I like to use a citrus juicer or reamer rather than squeezing by hand to get the most juice out the lemon.

Whisk together the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another bowl before combining together to form the dough.

  • Throwing the ingredients in a bowl all at once and stirring it all together will probably result in a tough, uneven doughy bread that tastes a little off since the individual ingredients will not be uniformly mixed and you’ll have a harder time combining it together so it’ll be overmixed. Don’t do it. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Reserve some strawberries to top the bread before baking.

  • It will produce a prettier loaf and people will instantly recognize that it’s strawberry bread.
  • If you’re feeling fancy, slice the strawberries into different shapes or form a pattern on top. I’m lazy so I usually top it with chopped strawberries.
A loaf of Strawberry Lemon Yogurt Quick Bread with two slices cut on a large wooden platter.

This strawberry lemon quick bread:

  • Is delicious: it’s wonderfully soft and full of sweet, tart, and bright flavours from the fresh strawberries and lemon.
  • Is yeast-free so no proofing required: You save a little time by not having to let the bread rise first.
  • Does not require an electric mixer or food processor: everything is mixed in a couple bowls with a spatula and a whisk.
  • Uses simple ingredients that are easy to find at most grocery stores or are probably already in your baking pantry.
  • Is easy to put together: It takes very little time (about 15 minutes) to prepare the loaf. Most of the time spent to make this loaf is actually baking the bread in the oven.
  • Is so shareable: Perfect to bring to a potluck or to work to share with your colleagues.
  • Is perfect to serve for breakfast, snack, or as a dessert especially with a cup of coffee, tea, or milk.
A freshly baked loaf of Strawberry Lemon Yogurt Quick Bread on a large wooden platter.

I hope you try this recipe! If you do, please leave me a rating and comment down below, tag me, or use the hashtag #yayforfood on any of my social media. I’m @yay_for_food on Instagram. I’d love a picture.

Strawberry Lemon Yogurt Quick Bread

Strawberry Lemon Yogurt Quick Bread

Yield: 12 slices (one loaf)
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Sweet, fluffy, and easy to make. This quick bread recipe is packed full of strawberry and lemon flavour. Yogurt gives an added tanginess while reducing calories. Ready in just over an hour with no proofing required.

Ingredients

For the bread:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 1 lemon, zest
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 1½ cup (7½ oz) fresh strawberries, hulled and chopped, divided
  • 1 cup plain Greek yogurt (fat free)
  • ½ cup (4 oz.) unsalted butter, melted
  • ½ lemon, juice
  • 1 egg
  • ½ tsp pure vanilla extract

For the glaze:

  • ½ cup sugar
  • ½ lemon, juice

Instructions

  1. For the bread. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x5 loaf pan with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, lemon zest, baking soda, and salt until well combined. Then, using a spatula, gently fold in 1 cup of strawberries so that the strawberries are covered with the flour mixture. Set aside.
  3. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, butter, lemon juice, egg, and vanilla extract until creamy and uniform in appearance. Then, pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients.
  4. Using a spatula, fold the mixture together until the batter is just combined (you no longer see dry ingredients and the dough will look a little raggedy, thick, and not completely smooth).
  5. Using clean hands, knead the dough a few times to form a loaf shape. Do not overmix. Pick up the dough and place it in the loaf pan. Top it with the remaining ½ cup of strawberries, pressing the strawberries down gently into the dough.
  6. Bake for 45-65 minutes, or until a wooden skewer (or cake tester) comes out clean in the center.
  7. For the glaze. As the bread bakes, whisk together the lemon juice and sugar until well combined. After the cake is ready and still hot, poke holes using a wooden or metal skewer or the tip of a knife into the top of the bread and pour the glaze over it.
  8. Let the bread cool slightly in the loaf pan before eating. Best enjoyed the same day it’s baked.

Notes

  • To store, allow the bread to cool completely and tightly wrap several times with plastic wrap or place in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 163Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 18mgSodium: 171mgCarbohydrates: 34gFiber: 1gSugar: 17gProtein: 5g

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RenoRae

Wednesday 10th of January 2024

This recipe is worth its weight in gold! By way of explanation: my neighbor dropped off cases of a brand name yogurt that I don't purchase for my family because it is full of preservatives and artificial flavors. He also dropped off two flats of strawberries that were beginning to turn. I am not a baker and while I am learning to make sandwich bread for my family, I'd never made a Quick Bread before. Baking is generally hard for me because of the precision required. I used 10 ounces of yogurt instead of the eight called for because two cups came to 10 ounces and the point of baking the bread was to use up the yogurt. I also used more strawberries than called for. Because the yogurt was already sweetened (Dannon Light + Fit Greek Strawberry Cheesecake which, as far as the label is concerned, contains NEITHER strawberries nor cheese but does include Black Carrot Juice (?) for color. Is it any wonder I won't feed these to my children?) I also used more strawberries than called for because the purpose of the baking was to prevent these foods from becoming compost. I only used 1/4 cup of sugar. I did not have any lemons on hand and so I used two small limes. I used ALL of the zest and all of the juice from the limes. I was concerned that I had really mucked everything up when it came time to knead the dough and I stuck my hands into a goopy, unkneadable mess. Without much optimism I resignedly dumped the sticky batter into the loaf pan. Then (because, why not) I carefully arranged my thinly sliced strawberries into a sunburst design on top. My heart sank (with those oh-so-carefully placed berry bits) as I pushed the jiggly disaster into the oven. Imagine my surprise when I checked my loaf at the 45 minute mark, it was turning golden brown and the sunburst seemed to be oh-so-slightly rising again. My batter clung to my knife at 45 min and again at 55 min, but at exactly 65 minutes my knife came out practically clean. I removed the loaf from the oven and hurriedly made and drizzled the glaze. Then I left the loaf to sit while we prepared, and ate, and (much to the consternation of my five-year-old) cleaned up dinner. My husband made some maple whip cream and, after commenting on my "beautiful strawberry sun" (he's a keeper), decorated each slice with a dollop. It was delicious. I'm making more today. I do really wish we knew if it will hold up in the freezer. But I'll proudly send a loaf across the street to the man who instigated all this quickbread madness. Thank you, Marie, for putting this recipe where I could find it. While it may not be healthy, it is a delectable dessert, even when using highly processed and artificial ingredients. It is also resilient enough to stand against my insuppressible desire to deviate from the recipe.

Marie | Yay! for Food

Wednesday 10th of January 2024

You're welcome! You're such a great storyteller! I'm glad that recipe turned out well even though you didn't have ingredients that you normally would use. To tell you the truth, I have never tried freezing this recipe because we usually make one at a time and eat it over a few days.

I hope your neighbour enjoys this quick bread too!

Patty

Monday 28th of February 2022

This bread looks fabulous! Have you ever tried making it as muffins? I try to keep muffins on hand so my teenagers can grab one before school. The healthier the better!

Marie | Yay! for Food

Sunday 6th of March 2022

Hi Patty! I have not tried making it into muffins. If you do try it, please let me know how it goes.

Ilka

Tuesday 30th of June 2020

Help! Made this twice when I top the strawberries as decor before baking, they all sink and create ugly holes. Tips?

Marie | Yay! for Food

Tuesday 30th of June 2020

Hi Ilka! Usually, the strawberries will sink a little as it bakes; however, I'm not sure why it would create holes. If you choose to make this again, I would use smaller pieces or thinly sliced strawberries. Just scatter them on top and not press them down into the top of the batter. You can also skip the step and not add the strawberry pieces on top.

Greengablesgal

Saturday 20th of June 2020

Great recipe! Bottom was a little soggy, but very tasty! Thanks for the recipe. Will make this again!❤️❤️

Marie | Yay! for Food

Sunday 21st of June 2020

Glad you like the bread! Thank you!

Carmen

Thursday 14th of May 2020

An absolutely delicious, moist and fragrant strawberry lemon bread! Just made it, and it’s a keeper!

Marie | Yay! for Food

Thursday 14th of May 2020

Thank you so much, Carmen!

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