A lemon cupcake has one job: to taste the way a lemon smells. Too many recipes get the tartness right and stop there. The smell is in the zest, not the juice, so this recipe gets most of its lemon flavor from the zest. The second job, the one nobody writes on the recipe card, is staying moist until the party.
Bake the cupcakes the night before, frost them the day of, and the swirls will still be holding their shape when you set them out.
Read This Before You Turn On Your Mixer
Check the butter and cream cheese before you start. They should be soft enough that your thumb leaves a dent, but firm enough that it doesn’t sink all the way in. If they’re softer than that, the frosting will be too loose to pipe, and no amount of powdered sugar will fix it.
Zest the lemons before you juice them. You can’t zest a lemon after you’ve squeezed it flat. Grate the zest, squeeze the juice, and have both measured and sitting next to the mixer before you start the batter.
This recipe incorporates lemon cream cheese frosting, but you can swap it for lemon buttercream instead.
Why These Lemon Cupcakes Are Moist, Not Dry
I first published this recipe in February 2023, and I was never completely happy with it. The cupcakes weren’t as moist as I would have liked.
So in December 2024, I asked my independent recipe tester, Teresia, to bake a batch and tell me what she found. She baked the cupcakes for less time than the recipe called for, and they still came out dry. I had her test them again, splitting the batter between two pans and baking each pan for different lengths of time.
It became apparent that the issue wasn’t how long the cupcakes were in the oven. The batter just didn’t have enough moisture to stay soft through a normal bake.
THE FIX TO MAKE THEM MOIST: So I changed the batter. More buttermilk, less lemon juice. (Too much lemon juice can make cupcakes firmer.) Now the cupcakes stay soft through the full bake time.
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When To Take the Cupcakes Out of the Oven
Lemon cupcakes are hard to judge by eye. The tops stay pale even when the cupcakes are fully baked, so if you wait for the tops to turn golden, you will overbake them.
Check the cupcakes with a toothpick instead. If it comes out with a few moist crumbs on it, the cupcakes are done. They’ll finish cooking in the hot pan while they rest.
If you’d rather skip the oven on party week entirely, this no bake lemon pie or these lemon cheesecake bites are what I make when it’s too hot to bake.
Getting the Cream Cheese Frosting Right
Just like with the cupcake base, color tells you what’s happening with the frosting. The most important step comes after you add the heavy cream. Watch the color while you beat. The frosting starts out dense and slightly yellow, and when it’s ready to pipe, it will be almost white. Stop too early and it will look dull and heavy on the cupcake.
If the frosting gets too soft while you work, don’t add more powdered sugar. Extra sugar makes it sweeter, but it won’t make it hold its shape. Chilling it will.
The cream cheese itself matters too. Use a block of full fat cream cheese, not the spreadable kind in a tub. Spreadable cream cheese has more water in it, and that water turns the frosting runny no matter how much powdered sugar you add.
There’s no lemon zest in this frosting and that’s on purpose. The cupcake already has plenty of lemon flavor, so the frosting doesn’t need zest. I add a sprinkling and lemon slice on top for color.
Skipping it also has practical reasons, too. Not only does it keep the frosting white, it keeps the piping tip from clogging.
Making These Ahead for a Party
Most people bake these lemon cupcakes for a birthday, a shower, or a spring holiday, so here is the schedule, counting backward from the party.
- Up to 3 months ahead, you can freeze the unfrosted cupcakes in an airtight container.
- Thaw them in the refrigerator overnight while they’re still wrapped, so the condensation collects on the wrapper instead of soaking into the cupcake tops.
- The day before, bake the cupcakes and keep them unfrosted, covered, at room temperature.
- Frost them the day of the party.
- If the crowd is big enough that you need a cake instead, my lemon velvet cake feeds more people with the same flavor.
Take them out of the refrigerator about 20 to 30 minutes before serving. Cream cheese frosting shouldn’t sit at room temperature for more than about 2 hours. The frosting softens, and the cupcakes taste softer too.
Lemon Cupcakes
Ingredients
Lemon Cupcakes
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup unsalted butter melted and cooled slightly
- ¼ cup canola oil
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoons lemon zest
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
- 6 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 4 ½-5 cups powdered sugar sifted
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Optional Garnish
- Lemon zest
- Thinly sliced lemon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a standard muffin tin with parchment liners and set aside.
- Stir together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- Beat together the melted butter, canola oil, granulated sugar, and lemon zest in a large bowl with a handheld mixer on medium speed until well combined.
- Add the eggs and vanilla extract, beating again until fully incorporated.
- Add half the dry ingredients, mix on low speed just until combined, then mix in the buttermilk and lemon juice, followed by the remaining dry ingredients. The batter should be smooth but not overmixed.
- Fill each paper liner ¾ full with batter.
- Bake the cupcakes for 18-20 minutes or just until lightly golden around the edges and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the cream cheese and unsalted butter. Beat on medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until smooth and fluffy.
- Add the lemon juice and vanilla extract, beating again until fully incorporated.
- With the mixer on low, slowly add 4 ½ cups of the powdered sugar until fully incorporated.
- Add the heavy cream, increase the speed to medium-high and beat for another 2-3 minutes or until light and fluffy. The frosting should be firm enough to hold its shape when piped. After adding the heavy cream, you can mix in up to an additional ½ cup of powdered sugar if you prefer a slightly stiffer frosting for piping.
- Transfer the frosting to a large piping bag fitted with a large decorative piping tip (Wilton 1M used), then pipe decorative swirls onto the tops of each cupcake.
- Garnish with a sprinkle of lemon zest and a piece of thinly sliced lemon if desired.
Notes
- If making the frosting ahead, cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Let it soften slightly before piping.
- For best results, serve these lemon cupcakes immediately after frosting and garnish. Store frosted (but not garnished) cupcakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days then garnish just before serving.
- If your frosting is slightly too warm and soft, you can refrigerate it for 20-30 minutes or just until it firms up enough to hold its shape when piped.
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