Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Name: Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 18 min
Total time: 1 h 38 min
Yield: 14 serving
Ingredients: 1 large egg; 1 cup granulated sugar; ⅔ cup buttermilk; ½ cup canola oil; ¼ cup lemon juice; 2 tablespoons lemon zest; 2 rounded tablespoons Greek yogurt; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 ¾ cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour; ¾ teaspoon baking soda; pinch salt; ¼ cup cream cheese; 2 tablespoons lemon juice; about 1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar; 1 to 2 tablespoons lemon zest

User Reviews

4.9

39 reviews

Excellent

Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
20 mins
Cooling Time
1 hr
Total Time
1 hr 38 mins
Servings
14
Calories
195 kcal
Course
Cake
Cuisine
American

Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Jade Rice

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Soft, fluffy, moist, very lemony cupcakes from scratch! Easy one-bowl, no-mixer recipe for cupcakes that taste like they're from a bakery!

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Ingredients

Servings

Lemon Cupcakes

1 large egg
1 cup granulated sugar
⅔ cup buttermilk or Powdered Buttermilk, use 2 1/2 tablespoons + 2/3 cup water
½ cup canola oil
¼ cup lemon juice freshly squeezed if possible
2 tablespoons lemon zest or more to taste if you’re really into lemon
2 rounded tablespoons Greek yogurt or sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ¾ cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 2 cups minus 2 tablespoons
¾ teaspoon baking soda
pinch salt optional and to taste

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

¼ cup cream cheese softened*
2 tablespoons lemon juice freshly squeezed if possible
about 1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar or as necessary for desired consistency
1 to 2 tablespoons lemon zest optional for garnishing

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Instructions

Make the Cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a Non-Stick 12-Cup Regular Muffin Pan with paper liners; set aside. You will likely have batter for a 13th or 14th cupcake, and I baked it in a cooking-sprayed mini loaf pan because my oven is small and that pan setup fits; discard extra batter if that’s easier.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the first 8 ingredients, through vanilla, until smooth.
Add the flour, baking soda, optional salt, and whisk until just combined; don’t overmix.
Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, place about 2 heaping tablespoons of batter per cupcake into each of the 12 cavities so they’re solidly 3/4-full. I poured the excess batter into the mini loaf pan.
Bake cupcakes for about 18 to 19 minutes (I baked the mini loaf for 23 minutes), or until domed, set, pale golden, springy to the touch, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean, or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter; don’t overbake.
Allow cupcakes to cool in pan for about 15 minutes before removing.
While cupcakes cool, make the frosting.

Make the Lemon Frosting:

Combine first 3 ingredients in a large mixing bowl, add about 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, and whisk to combine or beat with an electric mixer until smooth.
Continue adding sugar until desired frosting consistency is reached. Because I used light cream cheese, the frosting stayed on the runnier side. If you want frosting thick enough to pipe, do not use light cream cheese. If you like your frosting really piled on thick and high, make a double batch.
With a spoon, add 2 to 3 tablespoons frosting to the top of each cupcake and smooth with the back of the spoon if necessary. My frosting just ran naturally (from the light cream cheese). Optionally transfer frosting to a piping bag and frost the cooled cupcakes. I like the Wilton 1M tip for cupcakes.
Optionally, garnish each cupcake with a pinch of lemon zest.

Notes

*I used Trader Joe’s soft spreadable light cream cheese; don’t use light cream cheese if you want thick frosting that you can pipe.
You may have a small amount of frosting left over. It will keep airtight in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
Storing cupcakes: Cupcakes will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 3 days. I personally am comfortable storing cream cheese-frosted items at room temp, but if you prefer to store in the fridge, that’s fine, but note the fridge will dry cupcakes out much more quickly.

Nutrition Information

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Serving 1 Calories 195kcal (10%) Carbohydrates 27g (9%) Protein 1g (2%) Fat 10g (15%) Saturated Fat 2g (10%) Polyunsaturated Fat 8g Cholesterol 18mg (6%) Sodium 120mg (5%) Sugar 25g (50%)