When life gives you lemons, make a big batch of lemon cupcakes!! These are one of my favorite cupcake recipes, I love the fluffy, moist crumb with that lemony frosting. Each bite is perfect. I loved these simple buttercream lemons as a decoration idea. They’re delicious any way you make them but if you feel like breaking those piping tips out then I highly recommend giving this a try! For another delicious recipes try my vanilla cupcake recipe!
How to Make Lemon Cupcakes
1. Preheat oven to 375F. Add the sugar and zest to a food processor and pulse until the sugar is light yellow in color and the zest has been all broken up. This really infuses the sugar with a lot of flavor from the oil in the zest but you can skip this step and add the zest to the wet ingredients later on.
2. In a medium bowl add the sour cream, melted butter, eggs, milk, sugar and lemon juice then whisk together and set aside.
3. Sift the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder together in a large bowl then whisk together.
4. Pour the wet mixture into the dry then mix until just combined.
5. Add cupcake papers to your muffin tin and fill about 3/4 the way up. I like to use an ice cream scoop with a trigger to fill the papers but you can also just spoon the mixture in. Bake at 375 for 5 minutes then reduce temperature to 350F and bake another 12 minutes or until the cupcakes are springy to the touch.
6. While the cupcakes bake it’s time to mix up some delicious buttercream. Add the butter, salt, and zest to the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat for a few minutes. You want to rough up the zest a bit so it releases the oil inside.
7. Sift in the powdered sugar in a few batches, beat until combined then scrape the bowl down. Drizzle in the lemon juice while mixing on low then increase speed to medium and beat until smooth. Scrape down one last time then beat again.
8. Once the cupcakes are cool they’re ready to decorate! You can use a star tip to pipe an easy swirl on, you can spoon on a rustic dollop or you can pipe little buttercream lemon wedges on! For the wedges start by piping a circle of buttercream on top. Use a large round tip or just snip the tip off a piping bag then use an offset spatula or small knife to smooth the top.
9. Use a large petal tip like a 128 to pipe a half circle with yellow buttercream.
10. Finish your wedge with some white accents for the pith. Use a small round tip or again just snip the tip off of a piping bag.
These homemade lemon cupcakes are so magically moist, zingy and wonderful. You will LOVE this recipe, even if you’re not a huge lemon fan.
Pro Tips for this recipe
- Measure your flour correctly! Adding too much flour to the recipe is the most common mistake. The best and easiest way to measure flour is by using a scale. If you don’t have one then fluff your flour with a spoon, sprinkle it into your measuring cup, and use a knife to level it off.
- If your frosting is runny then add more powdered sugar a cup at a time until the consistency thickens up.
- Give your frosting a mix before using for the best results.
- NEVER use bottled lemon juice! It really will not taste the same.
- You can substitute whole milk yogurt for the sour cream if desired, I do it all the time and can’t really tell the difference.
- If you’re using lemon zest for garnish then add just before serving. It will dry out fairly quickly.
- Room temperature ingredients are always the best. If your wet mixture clumps up after mixing then pop the bowl in the microwave for thirty seconds them mix together once more.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Long Will These Cupcakes Keep For?
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- These cupcakes are fine overnight if left covered. You can refrigerate them for three days but they should come to room temperature before eating. Butter-based cake needs to warm up a bit.
- If unfrosted you can wrap and freeze the cupcakes for up to two months.
Can I make these without a food processor?
Sure! I like processing the sugar with the zest but you can just mince the zest and mush it up with the sugar in a bag or just mince the zest and toss it in with the wet ingredients. Either way it will be delicious!
What Can You Fill These Cupcakes With?
Lemon Curd! Remove the center of the cupcakes with a cupcake corer, small knife, or spoon. Fill with lemon curd then place the cake cap back on and frost. Lemon curd is SO easy to make and just plain delicious. I highly encourage giving this recipe a try.
If you love this recipe try these out!
If you’ve tried this Lemon Cupcake recipe then don’t forget to leave a rating and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
Lemon Cupcakes
Video
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes:
- 1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour 213g
- 1 cup granulated sugar 200g
- 2 tbsp lemon zest zest of two lemons
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter 170g, melted
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1/2 cup sour cream 120mL, room temperature
- 1/4 cup whole milk 60mL, warm
- 1/4 cup lemon juice 60mL
For the Buttercream:
- 1 cup butter 226g
- 4.5 cups powdered sugar 540g
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 2 tbsp lemon zest
Instructions
For the Cupcakes:
- Preheat oven to 375F. Line the cupcake tin with papers.
- Add the sugar and lemon zest to the bowl of a food processor then pulse until zest is broken up and the sugar is pale yellow In color.
- Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a large bowl then whisk together and set aside.
- Add the eggs, milk, melted butter, lemon juice, sour cream, and sugar to a medium bowl and whisk together. Everything should be room temperature, but If things clump up after mixing then just microwave the bowl for 30 seconds and mix once more.
- Add the wet to the dry mixture and mix until just combined. Fill cupcake papers about 3/4 the way up. Bake for 5 min at 375F then reduce temperature to 350F and bake another 10-12 or until the springy to the touch.
For the Buttercream:
- Cream the butter, salt and zest for a few minutes then sift in the powdered sugar in a few batches, mixing in between.
- Scrape the bowl down and pour In the lemon juice while mixing on low. Scrape down once more and mix then transfer to a piping bag and decorate the cooled cupcakes.
Notes
- Measure your flour correctly! Adding too much flour to the recipe is the most common mistake. The best and easiest way to measure flour is by using a scale. If you don’t have one then fluff your flour with a spoon, sprinkle it into your measuring cup, and use a knife to level it off.
- If your frosting is runny then add more powdered sugar a cup at a time until the consistency thickens up.
- Give your frosting a mix before using for best results.
- NEVER use bottled lemon juice! It really will not taste the same.
- You can substitute whole milk yogurt for the sour cream if desired, I do it all the time and can’t really tell the difference.
- If you're using lemon zest for garnish then add just before serving. It will dry out fairly quickly.
Khuemy Nguyen says
Super easy and moist cupcakes. I used oil for the cupcakes and top it your Swiss Meringue buttercream- yum. Can I use cake flour instead of all purpose flour next time?
John Kanell says
Yes, just use equal gram
Heidi says
Amazing cupcake! Perfectly fluffy and beyond amazing! This was my first time baking and everyone thought I was a pro chef! Thank you SO much!
John Kanell says
Yay Heidi!!!
Lily says
This recipe is sooooo good! They might be the fluffiest cupcakes I’ve ever had.
Stacy says
Why do you reduce the heat? How does that effect the baking? Obviously if left at the higher temp the whole time it’ll dry out, but why not just leave it at the lower temp the whole time?
John Kanell says
it gives them a nice rise 🙂
Elbee says
The cupcakes were kind of dense so I musta overblended. The lemon buttercream frosting was easy and very lemony as promised. Will make again, with less vigorous blending.
John Kanell says
mix until just combined, makes a big difference 🙂
Mackenzi Steczkowski says
Hi John,
This recipe was amazing. I was planning on making blueberry muffins and I forgot to change which recipe page I was on, so I made these cupcakes with blueberries in them. I did all the steps but forgot to add in the sugar lemon mix into the mix. When I put the first batch in the oven I saw the sugar mocking me from the corner if the counter. I realized what I had done and I put the sugar in the remaining batch of the cupcakes. They took a. little longer to bake because I put blueberries in and I had messed up the recipe so much, but they turned out delish.
John Kanell says
I love that you saved it !!!
Mir Nasim Tabassum says
This is a very tasty and amazing lemon cake. I would love to try.
reena says
SO amazing and oh so addictive. It goes perfect with a lemon buttercream. I will definitely make again. Thanks so much for a wonderful recipe.
John Kanell says
Thank you Reena!
Victoria says
Easy to make, very moist and lemony. will make again
Ines says
Would greek yogurt be a good alternative?
John Kanell says
yes!