Easy Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream have a zingy lemon flavor in both the cupcakes and the buttercream for a sweet and tart flavor. I also have Strawberry Lemon Cupcakes which feature the same lemon cupcake base paired with sweet and fruity strawberry buttercream. Check out all of my cupcake recipes for even more varieties!
Ingredients & Substitutions
There are two parts to this recipe–the cupcakes and the frosting.
Room Temperature Ingredients: Using room temperature ingredients (specifically butter, eggs, and milk in this recipe) will help you get the best results when baking the muffins and making the buttercream.
Butter: Use unsalted butter in both the cupcakes and buttercream. Unsalted butter gives the cupcakes a better texture and it also allows you, the baker, to have control over the amount of salt.
Lemon Juice: For the best lemon flavor, use freshly squeezed lemon juice.
Lemon Extract: When adding the lemon extract to the buttercream, start with just 1 teaspoon, tasting as you go. Remember, the buttercream with the cupcakes will give you a full blast of lemon flavor!
Food Coloring: You don’t have to add yellow food coloring to the buttercream. However, the yellow buttercream makes this treat look like sunshine and really can brighten your day! Or, go for a totally contrasting color for a real statement!
How to Pipe the Frosting
To pipe the frosting on top, just fill your pastry bag fitted with an 8B tip. Starting at the center, apply pressure and then move the bag around the cupcake. If you want a tall frosting swirl, apply pressure and then build it up by going around 3 times. Easy peasy!
How to Store Lemon Cupcakes
Store the frosted cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature. They will last 4-5 days.
Can I Freeze Lemon Cupcakes?
Yes! Freeze the cupcakes before they are frosted with the buttercream. To freeze, let the cupcakes cool completely before storing them in a freezer-safe container for up to a month. Let them thaw in the refrigerator when ready to enjoy or frost them.
Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream
Ingredients
Lemon Cupcakes
- 1 ½ cups (187 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup (1 stick / 113 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ tablespoons lemon zest
- ½ cup (122.5 g) whole milk, room temperature, divided
- 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
Lemon Buttercream*
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1-3 teaspoons lemon extract
- 2 teaspoons whole milk, or more as needed
- 5 drops yellow food coloring, more or less as desired
- 2 cups (250 g) confectioners' sugar, or more as needed
Instructions
Lemon Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a 12-count cupcake tin with cupcake liners.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, add the butter and sugar. Using a hand mixer, beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add in the eggs one at a time, beating each egg until fully incorporated after each addition. Add vanilla and lemon zest. Beat until combined.
- To the butter mixture, add about ⅓ of the flour mixture. Next, add half of the milk and lemon juice. Repeat the steps, ending with the flour mixture. Beat until just combined, making sure not to overmix.
- Fill the prepared cupcake liners about ¾ full. Bake for about 15-17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean. Let the cupcakes cool in the pans for about 10 minutes before removing them to finish cooling on a rack.
- While the cupcakes are cooling, prepare the buttercream.
Lemon Buttercream*
- To a large mixing bowl, add butter, lemon extract, and milk. Using a hand mixer on medium speed, beat ingredients together until smooth. If desired, add yellow food coloring.
- Add confectioners' sugar into butter mixture and beat on low speed until desired consistency is reached. You may want to add more sugar.
- Frost each cupcake with the buttercream.
Video
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Thank you for making my recipe! You took pictures, right? Well go ahead and post them on Instagram! Be sure to mention me @iambaker and use the hashtag #YouAreBaker.
Figured out what I did wrong and made them again yesterday. They turned out GREAT! Thanks, I love all your recipes.
So glad it worked out for you! <3
What if you don’t have food coloring
Hi, Shirley! I work with iambaker and am happy to help with questions. Food coloring does nothing for taste, so you could definitely make these without it. Have a great day!
These cupcakes looked so wonderful, so I was excited to try them. Sadly, I was not successful, due in part to my own misreading of your recipe. I used all-purpose flour instead of self-rising. Please update your recipe to say “3 cups of self-rising flour or 3 cups of all-purpose flour + 4.5 teaspoons of baking powder and 3/4 teaspoons of salt.” Also, please update the amounts of the buttercream to make enough to decorate the number of cupcakes in the recipe. It was not until after struggling with such small amounts that I read the part that said it wasn’t enough for the cupcake recipe.
Despite these suggestions, I will say that the buttercream was delicious!
The taste of these cupcakes were a beautiful lemony flavor. Unfortunately, the recipe does not work for high altitude. The cupcakes were flat. I was hopeful that the self rising flour would not require any adjustment. I was able to rescue a few but most of them the tops stuck to the muffin pan and fell apart. Suggestions?
Looks like the perfect lemon cupcake. I cant tell from the picture, are they mini or regular size? Also thanks for sharing!
Hi, Alicia! I work with iambaker and am happy to help with questions. The cupcakes are regular-sized cupcakes. Have a wonderful day!
I would prefer to use freshly squeezed lemon juice versus lemon extract. Would the measurements be the same? Please advise. Thank you!
Amen all of the recipes look delicious. My favorite is the lemon icebox dessert. It’s yummy!!!!!
Absolutely tasty
If making lemon cupcakes into 6″ you scale instead how much batter in pan, temperature and time please
This recipe looks and sounds delicious. My question is the amount of ingredients to make the buttercream frosting. I’ve been making homemade frosting for years, and 3 tablespoons of butter does not seem correct. Typically it’s 1-2 sticks of unsalted butter, then you add in your powdered sugar, 1-2 tablespoons of milk, and some vanilla extract.