Classic Lemon Cupcakes
I had so many lemons in my crisper drawer and needed to find a way to use lots of them up at once. Lemon cupcakes with lemon frosting was the answer. Lemon seems to be one of those ingredients that when people like it, they really like it. They’re super into it and have recipes for lemon pound cakes, lemon muffins, lemon pies, and lemon bars. Name a lemon thing, and they love it. I’m indifferent with lemon, and while I do love these lemon bars, between a lemon bar or a Triple Peanut Butter Chocolate Bar, I will always pick the latter. However, my almost 7-year old loves lemons. She eats them like oranges. She calls it “her strange food addiction.” I don’t judge because I can eat balsamic reduction by itself, by the spoonful. I can also sit down to a half jar of homemade peanut butter by itself, by the spoonful. I wish the latter wasn’t quite so easy for me.
Since I knew she’d love them, I made soft, springy, moist lemon cupcakes with a tangy, zippy lemon cream cheese frosting. One of my peeves with lemon recipes is when they’re not lemony enough. These lemon cupcakes are pretty darn lemony, but if you’re really a fiend, you can always add more zest to the batter. Taste it as written and see what you think, and if you’re in need to really pucker up, add more zest, to taste. To make them, I very loosely adapted my Red Velvet Cupcakes recipe. It became very popular on Pinterest before Christmas and I’ve had hundreds of positive comments saying they’re the best (and easiest) red velvet cupcakes, so I knew I had a winning base if I could just tweak it to omit the cocoa and incorporate lemon.
The cupcakes are made in one bowl, no mixer, no creaming ingredients, and it’s a cupcake batter that’s more like a muffin batter. Whisk together wet ingredients, fold in the dry, pour into liners, and bake. One issue with lemon cupcakes, and cupcakes in general, is that they’re prone to dryness. Dry calories aren’t worth my time. These easy lemon cupcakes are incredibly moist from the trifecta of moistening and tenderizing ingredients: oil, buttermilk, and Greek yogurt. I stopped at nothing to make sure they weren’t dry. For baked goods that I want to soft, springy, and bouncy, like cakes, cupcakes, and muffins, I generally prefer using oil to butter because oil does a better job keeping things soft and moist. My daughter was in lemon heaven.
What’s in These Lemon Cupcakes?
To make these ultra lemony cupcakes and the lemon cupcake frosting, you’ll need:
Egg Granulated sugar Buttermilk Canola oil Lemon juice and zest Greek yogurt Vanilla extract All-purpose flour Baking soda Salt Cream cheese Confectioners’ sugar
How to Make Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Frosting
To make the lemon cupcakes, whisk together everything but the flour and baking soda. Then, gently whisk in the remaining dry ingredients just until combined. Fill your muffin cups 3/4 full, then bake the cupcakes until domed, set, pale golden, springy to the touch, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean. After the lemon cupcakes have been allowed to cool completely, make the lemon cupcake frosting. To make the lemon cream cheese frosting, whip together the cream cheese, lemon juice, and zest until smooth. Slowly add in the confectioners’ sugar until the frosting reaches your desired consistency. Pipe or spoon on the frosting, then garnish with additional lemon zest and enjoy!
Can I Use a Buttermilk Substitute?
Yes! Buttermilk does a fabulous job of tenderizing and softening the texture and crumb of breads and cakes, and when in doubt, I always opt for buttermilk over plain milk or cream. However, if you’re the type of person who doesn’t tend to keep buttermilk on hand, you can make your own by adding about 2 tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup regular milk, letting it stand 10 minutes to curdle, and then use as indicated. Or, you can buy a tub of Powdered Buttermilk and it’s shelf stable for years. It’s the perfect solution for that once-in-a-blue moon recipe that calls for buttermilk. Although, I’ve got tons of recipes to help you use it up.
Can I Freeze Lemon Cupcakes?
Yes, you can freeze the unfrosted, cooled cupcakes for up to 3 months. You can also prepare a batch of lemon cream cheese frosting and freeze it separately, or you can make a fresh batch of frosting when you’re ready to serve the frozen cupcakes.
Can I Make This Recipe Into a Cake?
I’ve only made this recipe as cupcakes, so I can’t say for certain if you can bake this as a cake. However, I’ve had some readers report success with doubling the ingredients and baking the batter as a layer cake!
Tips for Making Lemon Cupcakes
The batter makes enough for about 14 cupcakes, but because I have a small oven, I can only fit one 12-cup muffin pan in my oven at a time. The remedy is to either sample the batter (raw eggs don’t bother me), discard the batter (criminal), or bake a mini loaf in a mini loaf pan that fits on the same oven rack as the muffin pan. I use my mini pans all the time for a 13th or 14th cupcake, extra muffin batter, or for mini cakes. Four mini pans for $10 bucks is such a steal. I used light cream cheese in the frosting which always creates softer frosting, and in conjunction with the lemon juice, the frosting is on the thinner and runnier side. It’s perfect here and you can just spoon it on with the hassle or fuss of piping, but if you want to pipe it, don’t use light cream cheese. It’s the perfect tangy, sweet-with-a-little-sour complement to the soft, fluffy, moist, lemony cupcakes.
More Lemon Desserts:
ALL OF MY LEMON RECIPES! Tried this recipe? Leave a review! Consider leaving a 5 star rating if you’ve made and loved one of my recipes! Softbatch Glazed Lemon Cream Cheese Cookies — These super soft, very lemony cookies are topped with a lemon glaze that adds to the pucker-up power.
Lemon Buttermilk Cake with Lemon Glaze — An easy buttermilk cake with big lemon flavor!! Soft, fluffy, and foolproof if you like puckering up!!
The Best Lemon Loaf (Better-Than-Starbucks Copycat) — It took years, but I finally recreated it!! Easy, no mixer, no cake mix, dangerously good, and SPOT ON!! You’re going to love this lemon pound cake recipe!
Lightened Up Blueberry Lemon Pound Cake — The blueberry-lemon combo is always a win, and so is pound cake that won’t break your caloric piggybank. This Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake is a keeper!
Soft and Chewy Lemon Cookies — The cookies pack a powerful lemon punch, they’re soft and dense rather than cakey, and they’re thick enough to sink your teeth into.
Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake with Lemon Glaze — Almost more berries than cake in this soft, fluffy lemon blueberry bundt cake! The lemon glaze is plate-licking delish!!
Lemon Lemonies — Like lemon brownies, but made with lemon and white chocolate! Dense, chewy, not cakey and packed with big, bold lemon flavor!
