Lemon Cupcakes

These Lemon Cupcakes are the perfect summertime dessert. Super moist and full of fresh lemon flavor topped with a lemony buttercream frosting.

Prep Time15

Cook Time18

Total Time33

Course: Cupcakes, Dessert

Cuisine: American, Cupcakes, dessert

Keyword: Lemon Cupcakes

Servings: cupcakes

Author: Jennie Duncan

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

1 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
2 Eggs
2/3 Cup Sugar
3/4 Cup Unsalted Butter (melted)
2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
1/2 Cup Milk
1/3 Cup Lemon Juice
Zest of 2 Lemons

Frosting:

2 Cups Confectioners Sugar
1 Cup Unsalted Butter (softened)
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 Teaspoon Heavy Whipping Cream
Zest of 1 Lemon

Instructions

Cupcake:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a muffin tin by lining with cupcake liners.
Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together, then set aside.
Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugar for 1-2 minutes until eggs are light yellow. While still mixing very slowly pour in the melted butter and vanilla.
Slowly mix in the milk and dry ingredients. Adding in a little at a time back and forth, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Continue until all ingredients are well combined. Then mix in the lemon juice and zest.
Spoon cupcake batter into the prepared muffin tin; about 3⁄4 the way full. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until cupcakes are cooked through and a toothpick can come out clean. Cool completely on a rack before frosting.

Frosting:

With an electric mixer cream together the confectioners' sugar and softened butter. Once combined add the vanilla and heavy whipping cream then mix again until smooth.
Pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes and then sprinkle with lemon zest. Adding as much or as little zest as desired.

Notes

Tips for making a great cupcake:

Use room temperature ingredients: Room temperature ingredients will not cause any drastic temperature changes to your batter when mixing. Yes, you need to melt the butter, but allow it to cool to room temperature before you mix it in with the ingredients.

Make sure to use accurate measurements: If you do not measure accurately and use a heaping “cup” of flour you will have too much and your cupcakes will be dense and/or dry. One thing about this recipe is it is very simple to make but does need to be precise. Making a fluffy, moist cupcake is tough for a lot of people (including me), and using accurate measurements definitely helps!

Allow to cool before icing: This may sound like a no-brainer, but icing these cupcakes that are still even a little warm will melt your frosting and make the frosting look runny. part of the appeal and deliciousness of cupcakes is how the frosting looks. Having beautiful frosting will make your mouth water before even tasting them!

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