This Almond Flour Lemon Blueberry Breakfast Bread includes 11 grams of protein per slice for those who love a sweet breakfast. Vibrant citrus flavor with bursts of fresh berries makes this moist and fluffy bread so inviting!
For my friends that enjoy something sweet for breakfast, this moist, fluffy lemon poppy seed blueberry bread is made with better for you ingredients for a wholesome way to start the day!
I’m calling it a breakfast bread recipe because it is made with almond flour and sweetened with pure maple syrup for a naturally gluten free loaf that is high in protein.
When cut into 8 thick slices, each slice contains 11 grams of protein. Not too shabby for a sweet bread! To provide perspective, a typical slice of banana bread contains 2 grams of protein. Check out the nutrient information in the recipe card below.
For me, breakfast breads must come with a decent amount of protein. Studies show that the first meal of the day should include at least 30 grams for optimal metabolism and muscle maintenance or growth.
I try to be the Captain of the 30-40 grams of protein for breakfast team, which is why I recommend enjoying a slice of bread with Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, or your favorite lean protein source. Egg white omelette? Go for it!
Love the idea of this protein bread? Also try my Protein Banana Bread.
Let’s dive into the simple ingredients for this tasty breakfast bread.
Breakfast Bread Ingredients:
Almond Flour: Taking the place of all-purpose flour, we need finely ground almond flour as our main ingredient. This is the main protein source for the bread and it also contributes healthy fats.
I like using almond flour because it has a lovely texture and is naturally grain-free. This is ideal for those who have specific dietary restrictions or follow a medically restrictive diet.
Tapioca Flour: The combination of almond flour and tapioca flour yields a light and fluffy texture. It comes from the cassava root, which is very high in starch. The starch aids in the overall structure of the breakfast bread.
If you don’t keep tapioca flour on hand, you can replace it with arrowroot flour, regular all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, or gluten-free all-purpose flour.
Protein Powder: Pick your favorite protein powder! I use unflavored, unsweetened protein powder such as egg white protein or Goat Whey Protein. If you pick a flavored protein powder, just be sure you enjoy the flavor because you will likely be able to taste it.
Eggs: A couple of eggs help the bread dough rise for a fluffy texture. Because this loaf is grain-free and doesn’t contain much starch, I don’t recommend using an egg replacer, as it will likely turn out very dense.
Avocado Oil: A little fat brings the moist crumb to the bread! I like using avocado oil because it has a neutral flavor and a good source of omega-3 fatty acids.
Pure Maple Syrup: The sweetener! I like using pure maple syrup as opposed to cane sugar.
Fresh Lemons: For the vibrant lemon flavor, we need fresh lemons for lemon zest and fresh lemon juice.
Poppy Seeds: While the poppy seeds are optional, I love adding them for little bursts of texture.
Blueberries: Fresh blueberries add little bursts of moisture and blueberry flavor to spruce up the whole experience.
Almond Extract and Pure Vanilla Extract: Both of these extracts are optional. They both add warm flavor to the bread.
Recipe Customizations:
- Want to omit the protein powder? No problem! Simply reduce the amount of pure maple syrup to ½ cup and leave out the protein powder.
- Prefer baking with cane sugar? Simply omit the pure maple syrup, use ⅔ cup of sugar, and add ½ cup milk of choice such as almond milk or sour cream.
- Omit the poppy seeds.
- Replace the lemon zest and juice with orange zest and orange juice.
- If you know you enjoy sweeter treats, consider adding 1 to 4 tablespoons of brown sugar or regular cane sugar.
- Swap the blueberries for dried fruit such as dried cranberries, dried apricots, or raisins.
- Make a cream cheese frosting if you’re going for a cake for breakfast vibe.
- Bake in small loaf pans if you prefer.
Now that we’ve covered the basic ingredients, let’s bake a loaf! It only requires a handful of simple steps!
How to Make Breakfast Bread:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a 9” x 5” loaf pan with parchment paper.
Mix together the avocado oil, pure maple syrup, lemon zest, lemon juice, and extracts together in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl, stir together the almond flour, tapioca flour, protein powder, baking powder, and sea salt.
Pour the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix well.
Stir in the poppy seeds, followed by the fresh blueberries.
Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf pan and spread it into an even layer.
Cover the bread pan with foil and bake for 30 minutes on the center rack of the preheated oven. Remove the foil and baking for another 30-40 minutes, or until the bread is cooked through and golden brown on top.
Bread is fully cooked when it reaches an internal temperature of 190 degrees Fahrenheit. Insert a digital thermometer into the center of the bread to check for doneness.
The total time it takes to bake bread varies depending on elevation and ingredients used, which is why I love the thermometer method.
Remove the bread from the oven and allow it to cool completely before slicing. If you have a wire rack, place the bread pan on a wire rack. I use the grates of my stove top for cooling.
Enjoy a warm slice with a little melted butter and your favorite jam on top!
This blueberry lemon poppy seed bread tastes even better the next day and the several days following preparation. The flavors develop over time and the bread tastes even sweeter!
Storage Tips:
- Room Temperature: Cover the bread pan with plastic wrap and store it on the counter for up to 2 days.
- Refrigerator: Transfer the loaf to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 5 days.
- Freezer: Slice the remaining loaf into individual slices and transfer to a zip lock bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. To prevent freezer burn, wrap all of the slices together with plastic wrap before placing them in a zip lock.
The way I see it, this lemon loaf is the ideal breakfast for those who enjoy mindful sweet treats. Combine it with an extra protein source for a complete meal!
It is the perfect way to honor the sweet tooth while taking in quality nutrients. A great idea for those who enjoy sweeter breakfast food, this may end up being your new favorite bread!
Designed to help you nail your daily values of protein, this tasty blueberry breakfast bread is here to serve.
Enjoy it throughout the week or for special occasions like Sunday brunch!
If you love quick bread recipes, also try out these reader favorites!
More Quick Bread Recipes:
- Paleo Morning Glory Quick Bread
- Cranberry Orange Bread
- Cinnamon Swirl Apple Oat Bread
- Healthy Carrot Cake Bread
- Double Chocolate Pumpkin Bread
- Almond Flour Cranberry Orange Coffee Cake
Enjoy this dreamy wakeup call!
Lemon Blueberry Breakfast Bread Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup avocado oil
- ⅔ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 Tbsp lemon zest zest from 2-3 lemons
- 3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract optional
- ½ tsp almond extract optional
- 2 cups almond flour
- ½ cup tapioca flour
- ⅓ cup protein powder of choice
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt not to be confused with table salt
- 2 Tbsp poppy seeds
- 1 ⅓ cups fresh blueberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a 9” x 5” loaf pan with parchment paper.
- Mix together the avocado oil, pure maple syrup, lemon zest, lemon juice, eggs, and extracts together in a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl, stir together the almond flour, tapioca flour, protein powder, baking powder, and sea salt.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix well.
- Stir in the poppy seeds, followed by the fresh blueberries.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf pan and spread it into an even layer.
- Cover the bread pan with foil and bake for 30 minutes on the center rack of the preheated oven. Remove the foil and bake for another 30-40 minutes, or until the bread is cooked through and golden brown on top.
- Bread is fully cooked when it reaches an internal temperature of 190 degrees Fahrenheit. Insert a digital thermometer into the center of the bread to check for doneness. The total time it takes to bake bread varies depending on elevation and ingredients used, which is why I love the thermometer method.
- Remove the bread from the oven and allow it to cool completely before slicing. If you have a wire rack, place the bread pan on a wire rack. I use the grates of my stove top for cooling.
- Enjoy a warm slice with a little melted butter and your favorite jam on top!
Nutrition
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This is the best recipe ever!!! I’ve just made this and this is the first time I’ve baked with almond flour and it’s not obvious that I’ve used an alternative flour. The tapioca flour tip is priceless, it makes the difference. I was tempted to make this without poppy seeds but I’m glad I made sure to buy them, it is such a flavorful addition! I didn’t have lemons on hand so I used 2.5 teaspoons of lemon extract. I added the vanilla and almond extracts, sooo flavorful and of course the delicious moist blueberries complete the bread. I omitted the protein powder and lowered the maple syrup amount as advised. Yes I will make again! Thank you thank you thank you for this recipe!!
Incredible! Thanks so much for sharing this, Jennifer! It’s super helpful to others who want to try the same things. I’m thrilled to hear lemon extract worked well! I have limited experience with lemon extract, so I never know how much to tell people to use. Thank you for the sweet note!
Will coconut oil work in place of avocado oil?
Hi Jamie! Yes, absolutely! I often use melted coconut oil in my baked recipes too and love how they turn out. Happy baking!
Can frozen blueberries be used instead of fresh? If so what adjustment to recipe is made?
Thanks
Hi Carolyn! In general, frozen blueberries leach out a little more liquid than fresh blueberries, which can cause some sogginess in baked recipes. If you’re okay with a little extra moisture, I say go for it!
This lemon blueberry almond loaf is absolutely delicious. I love almond flour, and this recipe offers the perfect flavour balance without being too sweet. I cut back on the maple syrup as I did not have protein powder. I didn’t have poppy seeds on hand, but I look forward to trying them in the next round. I’ve added this one to my favourite’s list, and I will be making it often. Thank you for yet another great recipe!
Great success! I’m happy to hear you enjoy the loaf, Susan! I’m all about anything lemon and for me, it has been a lovely treat. Thank you for your sweet words!
Please tell us when the eggs go in, I proudly placed my bread in the oven, only to look around and see 2 lonely eggs waiting! I’ll let you know the results! I did quickly take it back out, and mix the eggs in, who knows what we’ll get!
Hi Lyn! My apologies for the confusion. The eggs get mixed in with the rest of the ingredients (avocado oil, pure maple syrup, etc). I hope it ended up turning out for you in the end!
Yes! It did! Was absolutely delicious, thank you for the recipe, it’s been filed under “Favourites” and will become a regular item on the snack list! 🥰
Amazing! I’m so happy to hear that, Lyn!!
Excellent and very easy making recipes.
I’m happy you enjoy it, Agnes!
This sounds delicious, only thing I don’t have is tapioca flour. Do you have any recommendations for substitutes?
Hi Katie! The tapioca flour can be replaced with arrowroot flour, regular all-purpose flour, gluten-free all purpose flour, or more almond flour. Let me know if you need more options! Happy Baking!
Can you use stevua instead of maple syrup? My husband is diabetic and always looking for new recipes
Sorry I meant stevia
Hi Renee! Is your stevia in granulated form or in droplet form? You can replace the pure maple syrup with any granulated sweetener and add 1/2 cup of any kind of milk to offset the loss of liquid. Let me know if you have any other questions!
As an alternative, I have a lemon pound cake recipe that is sugar-free and low-carb that you might enjoy: https://www.theroastedroot.net/keto-lemon-pound-cake/
Do you need to adapt the recipe if you skip the protein powder?
Hi Alex! If you skip the protein powder, I would reduce the amount of pure maple syrup to 1/2 cup. This is to keep the liquid to solid in balance. If you’d like, you can add a few tablespoons of regular sugar if you prefer your treats to be sweeter 🙂 Enjoy!
Thank you!! I’m excited to make this!
My pleasure, I hope you enjoy it!
Hi,
as a cancer patient I try to leave out as many carbs as possible.
Can I use for example coconut flower instead of the tapioca flower?
Thanks in advance for your help!
Christel
Hi Christel! I’m sending well wishes your way! I would recommend my Keto Lemon Pound Cake for a recipe using coconut flour: https://www.theroastedroot.net/keto-lemon-pound-cake/ Coconut flour is it’s own thing, so it needs a lot of eggs and liquid to work. You can add blueberries to that recipe too if you’d like! Sending all the healing energy your way!
Just made this, but realized I didn’t put the eggs in because they’re not mentioned in the instructions. Do they just go in along with the wet ingredients?
Still tastes lovely though!
Hi Laura! In Step 2, all of the wet ingredients, including the eggs, are combined 🙂 When I initially published the recipe, I neglected to mention the eggs, but I updated it quickly thereafter. My apologies for any confusion! I’m glad the bread still turned out alright!