Lemon Cupcakes

How to Make the BEST Lemon Cupcakes

Ingredients for my Lemon Cupcake Recipe

• All-purpose flour – Measured accurately (more on this below!).
• Lemons – The star ingredient! These cupcakes call for both fresh lemon zest and lemon juice for the perfect punch of lemon flavor.
• Leaveners – Baking powder and baking soda. Find out the differences between these two leaveners in this article.
• Salt – Just a little to balance out the sweetness.
• Butter – Make sure it’s unsalted butter and at room temperature.
• Granulated sugar – Sweetens and moistens the cupcakes.
• An egg – Helps provide structure and stability for the cupcakes.
• Whole milk – Fat not only provides richness, it also enhances flavor and tenderizes the cupcakes. For those reasons, I highly recommend using whole milk – but if you only have 2% that will work in a pinch. I wouldn’t recommend skim milk.

How do I Make Moist & Tender Cupcakes?

Firstly, it’s key that you measure your ingredients properly. Especially your flour. It’s ridiculously easy to accidentally add too much flour when using measuring cups. I like to use the spoon and level method or better yet, a digital kitchen scale. Learn more about the importance of measuring flour correctly here.

Bob’s Red Mill Organic All Purpose Flour has a protein content of 10-12% – perfect to create lemon cupcakes that maintain their shape and hold up to a generous amount of frosting, but soft enough to yield a tender texture.

With this recipe, you really want to make sure not to overmix the batter which can create dense and gluey cupcakes. Use a gentle hand and stir until JUST combined.

Butter vs. Oil in Cupcakes: Which is Better?

I actually recently conducted a baking experiment of Butter vs. Oil in Baking to see how the type of fat used affects tenderness, flavor, and texture in baked goods. The results were SHOCKING. Check out the full article with more side-by-side comparisons like the one below.

How to Stop Cupcake Liners from Sticking

Oftentimes this is due to the brand of liners. This is my favorite brand that I order in bulk from Amazon. I’ve written an entire post on how to prevent cupcake liners from sticking here in case this is a common problem for you.

Cream Cheese Frosting

This recipe includes an amazing fresh lemon cream cheese frosting. Its tangy freshness balances the sweetness so perfectly. Here are some tips for the best frosting to compliment these lemon cupcakes:

• Be sure your cream cheese and butter are at room temperature before beating, for a smooth lump-free frosting.
• Scrape down the sides of your mixing bowl as you beat the butter and cream cheese – even if you have a paddle attachment that scrapes the sides as it goes, those usually don’t get the very bottom of the bowl.
• Don’t skip sifting the powdered sugar.
• The amount of powdered sugar in this recipe does make a softer frosting because I didn’t want it to be too sweet. If you need a stiffer consistency to pipe with a decorative piping tip, feel free to add more powdered sugar.
• You can also omit the lemon juice and replace with about 1/2 tsp. lemon oil (or to taste) to thicken.
• If you don’t like cream cheese frosting (gasp!) you can always add the lemon zest + juice in this frosting recipe to my Best Buttercream recipe to create a delicious lemon buttercream frosting.

Can You Bake These Cupcakes Into a Cake?

Almost any cupcake recipe can be made into a cake, and these lemon cupcakes are no exception! Check out my full guide for how to convert cupcakes to cake (and vice versa).

How to Make Cupcakes Ahead of Time

Lemon cupcakes can be baked and stored in an airtight container a day ahead of frosting. The frosting itself can be made ahead of time and stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. Just bring to room temperature and beat until light and fluffy again.

How to Store Lemon Cupcakes

The frosted cupcakes can be left at room temperature for up to 8 hours since the sugar in the cream cheese frosting acts as a preservative. After that, you’re best off refrigerating the lemon cupcakes in an airtight container for up to 2 days. Let come to room temperature before serving.

If you’re serving these outside on a warm day, just keep them in the fridge until you set up for your party, picnic, potluck, or whatever. They’ll lose their chill just in time to be eaten. This will prevent melting.