Enjoy these light, fluffy, tangy lemon cupcakes topped with vanilla buttercream in under 45 minutes! Made from just 8 ingredients and enjoyable as a cheeky snack or dessert!

These fluffy lemon cupcakes are that perfect combination of tart and sweet that I absolutely adore and are a perfect addition to celebrations and get-togethers: Mother’s Day, Easter, birthdays, etc. In fact, I love to serve them as part of a dessert spread at gatherings, with pavlova cake, Simple Lemon Blueberry Loaf Cake, and/or Two-layer Vegan Strawberry Tart.

Not to mention that this is a super easy AND low effort lemon cupcake recipe (because as much as I love my raspberry and lemon swiss roll recipe, it’s not foolproof!). Best of all, all you need for this recipe is just one bowl and 8 simple ingredients, most of which are probably in your pantry right now – perfect for whipping up in a pinch. There are also several ways to adapt this recipe to your liking, with add-ins and recipe variations (check ingredient notes).

I’ve topped off these tangy lemon cupcakes with vanilla buttercream – however, you can also enjoy them with a simple cream cheese frosting or even a lemon drizzle glaze. Pump up the nutrients and flavor with the addition of extra fruits, or make them even more sinfully delicious with the addition of white chocolate – the choice is up to you!

In fact, you can even drop the icing altogether and adapt this easy lemon cupcake recipe into lemon muffins instead – keep reading to find out how. 

The Ingredients

• Lemon: the variety you use will change the flavor somewhat. For example, Meyer lemons are sweeter than regular lemons with a herbal flavor. You’ll need the juice and zest. 
• Flour: I use all-purpose flour. You could possibly use cake flour instead, but the lemon cupcakes will end up more delicate.
• Milk: I recommend using whole milk for the richest and most moist results. This recipe contains no oil in the batter, so the milk is important for moisture and tenderness.
• Sugar: I used cane sugar. Feel free to use white sugar if preferred. I haven’t tried this recipe with a sugar alternative as it can affect the texture. However, feel free to experiment.
• Butter: I actually used homemade vanilla butter within this recipe. However, alternatively, you can use unsalted butter and mix in vanilla extract or the seeds from a vanilla pod to the batter separately. 
• Eggs: it’s best to use eggs at room temperature.
• Baking powder: to leaven and provide a lift to the lemon cupcakes. 
• (Optional) Poppy seeds: lemon and poppy seed cupcakes are a delicious combo. However, they’re completely optional. 
• Frosting and decoration: I used homemade vanilla buttercream as my frosting. This can easily be adapted to lemon buttercream with some lemon juice (and optionally zest). I also used some edible flowers but they are completely optional as well.

Optional Recipe Variations and Add-Ins

• Dried fruit: cranberries, blueberries, etc. Feel free to add a large handful of your preferred dried fruit to the batter, folding them in. 
• Fruit: blueberries or raspberries, etc. – add around 1/2-3/4 cup of your fruit of choice. Be aware that the fruit’s moisture may affect the baking time, so keep an eye out. To stop the fruit from sinking to the bottom of the cupcakes, I like to add 1/3 of the batter to the cupcake liners before mixing in the fruit with the remaining batter and adding this to the liner to top them up.
• Lemon and white chocolate cupcakes: you can either use white chocolate chunks within the cupcakes or drizzle them with a white chocolate drizzle.
• Lemon drizzle: Omit the frosting and instead combine powdered sugar with lemon juice to make a glaze that you can drizzle over the baked cupcakes. I suggest using 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 1-2 Tbsp lemon juice, to begin with, for a very light drizzle.
• Lemon-filled cupcakes: after baking the cupcakes, feel free to remove the center and add a little lemon curd to it, before topping and frosting.

The Step-By-Step Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350ºF/175ºC and prepare a cupcake/muffin tray with either paper cases or buttering/oiling the pan (I’ve used both methods without any ‘sticking’.

Step 1: Prepare the lemon cupcake batter

If you plan on adding poppy seeds, first toast them in a dry pan for around 1 minute on medium-high heat. They will become fragrant quite quickly.

In a large bowl, sift in the flour, salt, and baking powder (and poppy seeds if using).

You can do the process of making the batter using a stand mixer or a hand-held one (electric or manual whisk).

In a large bowl, first, cream the butter and sugar together – I like to do this for several minutes as this will yield even fluffier cupcakes.

Then, add the eggs (and vanilla extract if you didn’t use vanilla butter) and mix until well combined.

Then add the dry ingredients to the wet and whisk until just combined.

Zest the lemon using a Microplane grater, being careful not to get the white pith, which is very bitter.

Finally, add the lemon juice, milk, and lemon zest to the lemon cupcake batter and whisk just enough to combine.

Step 2: Bake them

Pour the batter evenly into the cupcake/muffin tray.

Bake the lemon cupcakes in the oven at 350ºF/175ºC for between 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick is inserted into the center of a cupcake and comes out clean.

Remove the cupcakes from the oven once baked, allow them to cool for a little while before removing them from the tray, and allow them to cool on a wire rack fully.

Step 3: Cool and decorate

While the lemon cupcakes cool, you can prepare the vanilla buttercream. 

If you want to make lemon frosting instead of vanilla, add around 1 Tbsp lemon juice (and optionally some zest), taste, and increase slightly until you have your desired level of tang and flavor.

Once cooled, either pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes or slather it on with a little spatula/knife and optionally decorate with a candied lemon slice or some edible flowers and enjoy!

How To Make Ahead and Store

• Make ahead: you can prepare the lemon cupcakes a day in advance before frosting. Luckily, the vanilla buttercream can also be made in advance too – though it will likely need re-whipping for the airy light consistency before topping the cupcakes as it will ‘set’ in the refrigerator.
• Fridge: store any leftover lemon cupcakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
• Freezer: freeze the frosted or unfrosted lemon cupcakes (stored in an airtight container or wrapped tightly) for up to 2 months. Defrost in the fridge or within a microwave (if they’re not frosted).

Recipe Notes

• Make sure to measure the flour using the spoon and level method – spoon the flour into the measuring cup and then level it off with the back of a knife.
• Mix up the citrus for different flavor: use lime juice and zest or even orange depending on what you have available.
• For lemon lovers, feel free to add a few drops of lemon extract for an even more powerful citrus punch
• Adapt this recipe to mini lemon cupcakes and reduce the baking time to between 11-15 minutes. Use a toothpick to check when they’re done.
• Adapt this recipe to muffins by omitting the icing, instead possibly using the lemon sugar glaze or a streusel topping. If you want to put them in a larger muffin pan, this will lessen the yield, and the baking time may increase by a few minutes. 
• For gluten-free lemon cupcakes – you may be able to use an all-purpose gluten-free blend, though it isn’t something I’ve tried.

Related Recipes

If you enjoyed this easy lemon cupcake recipe, then you may enjoy these other lemon-loving recipes!

• Vegan Pistachio & Lemon Tart
• Two-Layer Raspberry-Peach & Lemon tart
• The Best Homemade Lemonade
• Raspberry Lemonade (naturally sweetened)
• Ginger Lemonade
• Lemon, Ginger & Cayenne Immunity Shots
• Lemon and Blueberry loaf cake

If you try this Lemon Cupcake recipe, then let me know your thoughts and questions in the comments. I’d also really appreciate a recipe rating and would love to see your recreations – just tag @AlphaFoodie.