I love a fresh slice of sweet bread right out of the oven with a cup of tea for an afternoon snack. Lemon cranberry loaf is the perfect blend of tart and sweet flavors. It’s a great summer bread to make when you want something light, but tasty. You can make this for an afternoon snack, nightly dessert, or weekend ladies’ brunch.
This lemon cranberry loaf is not only sweet and delicious, but it’s also healthy as well. It’s not loaded with sugar like most lemon loaves. And non-fat Greek yogurt adds the creaminess it needs in the batter without adding a ton of fat and calories. You can even get a bit of protein from a slice – each serving has 4 grams of protein!
Three reasons why you need to make this recipe!
It’s tart and sweet – the perfect summer dessert combination.
In the heat of summer, you want a dessert that’s light and refreshing. This lemon cranberry loaf is just that. The tartness from the lemon and the cranberries give you the refreshing bite you need to balance out the sweetness of the loaf.
Lemon and cranberry are a classic flavor combo.
Nothing goes better together than lemon and cranberry! But if you’re really not a fan of cranberries, you could technically use any berry that you like. Strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries, or a mixture of all three would work.
It’s low in sugar!
Most lemon loaf slices from coffee shops or bakeries are going to have about 40 grams of sugar. Per slice! That is a lot of unnecessary sugar. Each slice of this lemon cranberry loaf is just 8 grams of sugar. That is a total of 32 grams of sugar you are not ingesting just by making this recipe at home.
Ingredients you need to make Lemon Cranberry Loaf:
- 1 egg
- 2 egg whites (or ¼ cup liquid egg whites from the carton)
- 3 tablespoons white sugar
- ½ cup Skry plain yogurt 0% Greek is fine too
- ½ cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon
- 1.5 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1.5 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 heaping cup of fresh cranberries.
FOR THE GLAZE
- 2 teaspoons fresh squeezed lemon
- 3 tablespoon confectioners sugar
How to make Lemon Cranberry Loaf (step by step):
- Preheat the oven to 375F and spray a regular size loaf pan with some nonstick cooking spray.
- In a bowl, whisk together the egg, egg whites, and white sugar until it’s light and fluffy.
- Add in the yogurt, apple sauce, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.
- Stir in the all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and lemon zest.
- Gently fold in the cranberries.
- Fill the loaf pan with the batter and bake in the oven for 40 minutes.
- To make the glaze, mix the remaining 2 teaspoons of lemon juice with 3 tablespoons of powdered sugar. Once the loaf has cooled a bit, pour the glaze over the top. It does not give you a lot but it is enough to add a light coat to the top of the loaf.
- Cut into 10 pieces.
Makes 10 slices. Nutrition info for 1 slice: Calories 120, Fat 1 g, Saturated fat .15 g, Carbs 24 g, Fiber .88 g, Sugars 8.73 g, Sodium 195 mg, Protein 4 g.
WW Points
- Egg 0 points
- Egg whites 0 points
- White sugar 11 points
- Skry plain yogurt 0 points
- Unsweetened apple sauce 0 points
- Vanilla 0 points
- Freshly squeezed lemon 0 points
- Lemon zest 0 points
- All Purpose flour 19 points
- Baking powder 0 points
- Baking soda 0 points
- Fresh cranberries 0 points
FOR THE GLAZE
- Freshly squeezed lemon 0 points
- Icing sugar, confectionery sugar, or powdered sugar 7 points
4 points per slice based on the WW app recipe creator.
If you’re using an older version of WW, check out these points below.
3 SP on blue, green & purple/3PP
Different ways to change up this recipe:
- Like it’s stated above, any berries will work for this recipe. Fresh or frozen, as long as you let the frozen berries thaw before adding them to the batter. And drain off any juice from the thawed berries- you don’t want extra liquid in the batter.
- You could make an orange cranberry loaf (a great Christmas flavor!) by substituting the lemon juice and lemon zest for freshly squeezed orange juice and orange zest.
- This recipe would make fantastic muffins as well. Just place the batter in nonstick muffin tins and bake for about 18-20 minutes.
- Add a bit of Lily’s No Sugar Added White Chocolate Chips for a delicious surprise.
Tips and Tricks for Making Lemon Cranberry Loaf:
- Lemon cranberry loaf freezes well. Wrap it tightly with Saran Wrap and place it in a freezer ziplock bag. It will store for up to 3 months. To thaw, let it sit on the counter at room temperature overnight.
- If you find that your cranberries are falling to the bottom of the loaf while baking, mix the cranberries into the all purpose flour before folding the flour into the batter. Coating the berries with flour keeps them in their place while baking.
- If you want more glaze, consider using Swerve Zero Calorie Confectioners sugar along with the lemon juice.
Similar recipes you’ll enjoy:
Lemon Cranberry Loaf
Ingredients
- 1 egg
- 2 egg whites, 1/4 cup from the carton
- 3 Tbsp white sugar
- 1/2 cup skry plain yogurt, 0% greek is fine too
- 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon
- 1.5 tsp lemon zest
- 1.5 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 heaping cup fresh cranberries, frozen will work, just might be a little more water to them
- FOR THE GLAZE
- 2 tsp fresh squeezed lemon
- 3 Tbsp icing sugar, confectionery sugar, AKA powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F and spray a regular size loaf pan with some nonstick cooking spray.
- In a bowl, whisk together the egg, egg whites, and white sugar until it’s light and fluffy.
- Add in the yogurt, apple sauce, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.
- Stir in the all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and lemon zest.
- Gently fold in the cranberries.
- Fill the loaf pan with the batter and bake in the oven for 40 minutes.
- To make the glaze, mix the remaining 2 teaspoons of lemon juice with 3 tablespoons of powdered sugar. Once the loaf has cooled a bit, pour the glaze over the top. It does not give you a lot but it is enough to add a light coat to the top of the loaf.
- Cut into 10 pieces.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Is there anything I could use instead of apple sauce? I dont have any on hand 🙁
Apple sauce can usually be replaced with mashed banana, sometimes greek yogurt, pumpkin puree..
since there are no cranberries around in Aug/Sep I assume I can use dried cranberries
Yes but it will increase the points, you can use frozen cranberries or switch up the fruit
Can you freeze this?
Yes, all my muffins and loaves freeze well 🙂
Do you need to use egg whites? Or can you just use a whole egg in place of it?
You can use an egg if you want, I must of made this pre- freestyle when eggs still had points 😉
UM, yum. Had no idea how it would turn out, and I was pleasantly surprised. For only 3 points per slice?!?!?!? Like I’m dead. My family loved it, going to make another for my coworkers. They won’t even know it’s borderline healthy!!!! Obsessed with your recipes.
Yay, so happy to hear that Liz 🙂 Glad the family enjoyed and hope the coworkers do as well!
How long would you say this is still good? Can it last up to 7 days? Thank you! Looks amazing and I can’t wait to try it!
Hi Casey, I wouldn’t leave it out for 7 days, because they are no preservatives it is typically only good for maybe 3 days then I’d freeze .. I hope you enjoy it 🙂