These homemade lemon cupcakes are soft, buttery, and packed with fresh lemon flavor, especially when filled with lemon curd! Made with fresh lemon zest and juice, the bright citrus taste is balanced by a sweet, creamy vanilla buttercream on top. If you’re looking for an easy lemon cupcake recipe that’s moist, tender, and reliable, your search ends here.
I originally shared this recipe in 2013, and I’ve since updated it with new photos and extra success tips for consistently great results.
This recipe for lemon cupcakes with vanilla buttercream is simple, reliable, and one I return to every spring. Lately I’ve been filling them with lemon curd, too, for an extra dose of lemony goodness! These make the list of our favorite lemon dessert recipes that we return to again and again.
Whether you’re baking for a special occasion or just because you’re craving something citrusy, these lemon cupcakes from scratch are always a hit. If you’ve ever wondered what sunshine tastes like, I think this might be it. 🙂
One reader, Holly, commented: “These were a massive hit at the party I brought them to. One guest said, ‘This is THE BEST lemon cupcake I have ever had in my life!’ I like that the lemon flavor was definitely there but not overpowering. ★★★★★”
Another reader, Dawn, commented: “Made this week and they might be the best dessert ever. Like ever. Used Sally’s buttercream frosting and Sally’s lemon curd recipe and piped the curd into the cooled cupcakes before frosting. They were amazing. ★★★★★”
Why You’ll Love These Lemon Cupcakes
- Citrusy with bright lemon flavor
- Soft and buttery with a tender crumb
- Easy to make with simple ingredients
- Topped with creamy vanilla frosting
- For extra lemon flavor, fill them with lemon curd
- Adaptable for other frostings or fillings—see below for suggestions!
Here’s Why This Recipe Works
This lemon cupcake recipe is adapted from my lemon blueberry cake, which is one of the most popular cake recipes on my website. I love the cupcake version because they pack more lemon flavor and are much lighter than both the blueberry version as well as this lemon layer cake.
Three simple techniques make these lemon cupcakes especially soft and flavorful:
- Fresh Lemons for Maximum Flavor: Lemon zest contains natural citrus oils that provide the strongest lemon flavor. Be sure to add the zest when you’re creaming the butter and sugar, for maximum flavor. Plus, using both zest and fresh lemon juice creates bright, balanced citrus taste.
- Creaming Butter and Sugar: Creaming butter and sugar incorporates air into the batter, helping the cupcakes bake up light and fluffy. If you’re a beginner baker, check out my tutorial on how to cream butter and sugar.
- Balanced Moisture: Milk keeps the crumb soft while lemon juice adds brightness without making the cupcakes dense.
Grab These Ingredients
You need simple, everyday ingredients for today’s cupcakes. The ingredient list is similar to my lemon cake. Let’s review:
- Flour: All-purpose flour is the base of these cupcakes.
- Baking Powder: Baking powder helps the cupcakes rise.
- Salt: A little salt adds flavor and balances the sweet.
- Butter: When a buttery taste is what you’re after, there’s no substitute for real butter! Make sure it’s proper room-temperature butter.
- Sugar: We use all granulated sugar in this cupcake recipe.
- Eggs: 2 eggs add structure and richness.
- Vanilla Extract: Pure vanilla complements the fresh lemon flavor beautifully. You can use vanilla bean paste or even homemade vanilla extract if you have a batch going!
- Milk: Milk adds moisture and tenderness. I recommend whole milk or buttermilk.
- Lemons: You need around 2 or 3 large lemons for the cupcake batter—zest them first and then juice them.
Expect a Slightly Thick Lemon Batter
Cream the butter, sugar, and lemon zest together until light and fluffy, then beat in the eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together.
Combine the wet and dry ingredients, adding the milk and lemon juice. The batter will be slightly thick, and a few small lumps are perfectly fine.
Fill cupcake liners about 2/3–3/4 full:
After baking, cool the cupcakes completely, fill with lemon curd if desired, and then top with frosting.
How to Fill Cupcakes
You can enjoy these lemon cupcakes as-is without a filling, but lately we’ve been adding a spoonful of homemade lemon curd to the center. Our taste testers have loved the extra burst of bright lemon flavor!
If you’ve never filled cupcakes before, it’s very simple. You can carve out a small center with a paring knife and spoon the curd inside (pictured below) or use a piping bag to pipe it right into the middle.
For a full written and visual tutorial, see How to Fill Cupcakes.
Frosting Options for Lemon Cupcakes
I love finishing the lemon cupcakes with classic vanilla buttercream because it’s smooth, creamy, easy to pipe, and it holds shape beautifully. More importantly, it pairs beautifully with lemon, and doesn’t take away from its flavor!
If you want to switch things up, these lemon cupcakes are also delicious topped with:
- Swiss Meringue Buttercream: Lightly sweet and holds intricate piped shape.
- Lemon Buttercream: For extreme lemon flavor!
- Strawberry Buttercream: Strawberry lemonade cupcakes, anyone?
- Cream Cheese Frosting: Tangy, silky, and luscious paired with lemon. It’s how we top these lemon blueberry cupcakes.
- White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting: Made with melted white chocolate for an extra rich flavor.
- Blueberry Frosting: From my lemon blueberry cookies.
- Raspberry Frosting (pictured below): From my lemon raspberry cupcakes.
- Blackberry Cream Cheese Frosting (pictured below): From my lemon blackberry cupcakes.
Optional Variations
- Fill them: Add a spoonful of lemon curd inside for extra citrus flavor. Or try filling them with jam, like we do with these lemon raspberry jam cupcakes.
- Add berries: Berries pair beautifully with lemon. Try these lemon blueberry cupcakes, lemon raspberry cupcakes, or lemon blackberry cupcakes.
- Add poppy seeds: Whisk 2 Tablespoons in with the dry ingredients.
- Try a different frosting: See the frosting section above for other flavors that pair well with lemon.
- Bake it as a small layer cake: This lemon cupcake batter makes just the right amount for a 3-layer 6-inch cake. Learn how in this post on 6-inch cakes.
Success Tips for the Best Lemon Cupcakes
- Use fresh lemons. Fresh lemon juice and zest provide the brightest flavor. Bottled lemon juice and dried zest just can’t compare to the real deal! Be sure to zest the lemons first, then juice them. Much harder to do it the other way around!
- Don’t overmix the batter. Overmixing creates dense cupcakes instead of a soft crumb.
- Don’t overfill the cupcake liners. Fill cupcake liners just about 2/3 to 3/4 full so they bake up evenly.
If you love bright citrus desserts, these homemade lemon cupcakes with vanilla buttercream are a must-bake. They’re soft, buttery, and bursting with real lemon flavor—one bite and you’ll see why this recipe has been a longtime favorite.
Yes. Bake the cupcakes a day ahead, let cool, then cover and store at room temperature. Fill and frost them the day you plan to serve them.
I strongly recommend fresh lemon juice for the best flavor.
Yes! Bake mini cupcakes for about 11–13 minutes. The batter yields around 30–36 mini cupcakes.
This lemon cupcake batter makes just the right amount for a 3-layer 6-inch cake. Learn how in this post on 6-inch cakes. If you’d like a larger version of this cake, use this recipe for lemon layer cake, and the vanilla frosting from this vanilla cake.
Homemade Lemon Cupcakes
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours (includes cooling)
- Yield: 12 cupcakes
- Category: Cupcakes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These homemade lemon cupcakes are soft, buttery, and packed with fresh lemon flavor, especially when filled with lemon curd! Made with fresh lemon zest and juice, the bright citrus taste is balanced by a sweet, creamy vanilla buttercream on top. If you’re looking for an easy lemon cupcake recipe that’s moist, tender, and reliable, your search ends here.
Ingredients
Lemon Cupcakes
- 1 and 1/2 cups (188g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 1/2 cup (120ml) whole milk or buttermilk, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup (60ml) fresh lemon juice
- optional filling: homemade lemon curd, cooled completely
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 4 cups (480g) confectioners’ sugar, plus more as needed
- 1/4 cup (60ml) heavy cream, half-and-half, or whole milk, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- salt, to taste
- optional for garnish: lemon slices and/or mint sprigs
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners.
- Make the batter: Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar, and lemon zest together on medium-high speed in a large bowl until creamed, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) Add eggs and vanilla, and then beat on medium-high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- Add the dry ingredients and then turn the mixer on low speed and slowly pour in the milk and lemon juice. Beat until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Pour/spoon the batter evenly into the liners. Bake for 18–21 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before filling and frosting.
- Fill the cupcakes (optional): Using a sharp knife, cut a circle into the center of the cooled cupcakes to create a little pocket about 1 inch deep. The piece you removed will be sort of cone-shaped. Spoon cooled, thickened lemon curd inside each carved-out cupcake—use however much will fit. (I use a teaspoon measuring spoon for this. Usually you can fit between 1–2 teaspoons of filling in each.) Slice/tear off the pointy end of the “cone” piece of cupcake you removed, and gently press the round piece back on top of the filling. See my How to Fill Cupcakes post if you need extra visuals or help with this step, or if you want to pipe the curd in with a piping tip.
- Make the frosting: With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the confectioners’ sugar, heavy cream/milk, and vanilla. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to medium-high speed and beat for 2 full minutes. Taste. Add a pinch of salt if frosting is too sweet. I always add 1/8 teaspoon. Add up to 1/2 cup more confectioners’ sugar if frosting is too thin, or more cream/milk—a Tablespoon at a time—if frosting is too thick.
- Frost cooled cupcakes and top each with a lemon slice and/or mint sprig, if desired. You can swipe the frosting on with an icing knife or use a piping tip such as Wilton 1M or Ateco 826.
- Store leftover cupcakes in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. A cupcake carrier makes storing and transporting easy.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Make and fill the cupcakes 1 day in advance. Keep the cupcakes covered tightly at room temperature or in the refrigerator. Frost the next day. Unfrosted cupcakes can be frozen up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before frosting and serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 12-count Muffin Pan | Cupcake Liners | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Citrus Zester | Citrus Juicer | Piping Bag (Reusable or Disposable) | Ateco 826 Piping Tip or Wilton 1M Piping Tip | Cupcake Carrier
- Lemons: You need about 2–3 medium lemons to yield this amount of zest and juice.
- Whole Milk or Buttermilk: You can use either. You can use lower-fat or nondairy milks in a pinch, but the cupcakes won’t taste nearly as rich and moist.
- Lemon Curd Filling: This is optional, and I recommend using homemade lemon curd. Make sure it’s prepped in advanced and has thickened and cooled completely.
- Mini Cupcakes: For around 30–36 mini cupcakes, bake for about 11–13 minutes, same oven temperature. I do not recommend filling mini cupcakes; they’re simply too small.
- Be sure to check out my 10 tips for baking the BEST cupcakes before you begin!
Reader Comments and Reviews
I love loved loved loved this recipe!! Is there a coconut flour equivalent measurement?
We haven’t tested these cupcakes with coconut flour, but recommend sticking with the recipe for best results. Glad you loved them!
Made these lemon cupcakes for my gourmet group. They LOVED them.
Definitely a keeper recipe.
I didn’t put as much powdered sugar in the lemon frosting as it’s often too sweet, but the lemon flavor on all was intense. Just the way we like them!
Made these for my husband’s birthday and used the lemon buttercream frosting. Fabulous. And, the cupcakes really didn’t need frosting they are good all by themselves. I will definitely be making these again.
I used this recipe but made it dairy free by using 1/2 cup coconut oil instead of butter and then I used unsweetened vanilla oat milk instead of the whole milk. The cupcakes turned out AMAZING and so fluffy!!! I totally recommend doing this if you can’t eat dairy.
Hi Sally!
Have you tried these with cake flour, or would you recommend not doing that?
Hi Chelsea, we fear cake flour would be a bit too light for this recipe. We’d recommend sticking with all-purpose flour for best results.
Absolutely perfect
hi, i was going to make a lemon cake for father’s day tomorrow. i was wondering if i just put the batter in a 6 inch round cake pan would it turn out right?
Hi Addy! The batter from this cupcake recipe should work well as a three layer 6 inch cake. You can read more about using cupcake recipes for 6 inch cakes in this post!
The cupcakes came out really good, and they were really moist!
There were a few things I wanted to ask about…
1) my cupcakes came out flat at the top, is that normal?
2) what’s the difference between adding all the eggs in and mixing vs one at a time and mix in between each?
3) what’s the difference between adding all the dry ingredients in followed by milk vs alternating between dry and milk?
Thanks so much!
Hi Ren! Glad you enjoyed them. Flat tops are totally normal, as long as the texture inside is light and fluffy. Adding eggs one at a time and alternating wet and dry ingredients are both ways to help batter come together more smoothly, without over-mixing. Some recipes need these methods, and others don’t always need it. It’s best to follow the written recipe for best results!
I can’t wait to try your lemon blueberry cupcake recipe now. I plan to use frozen blueberries, should those be thawed before tossing into some flour? Thanks!
Hi Ren, do not thaw the blueberries before tossing in flour. Enjoy!
I have made these a few times….and they are perfect! I do have one question though. I have buttermilk in the fridge. Can I use that for the whole milk or would that be too sour?
Hi Sheila, Buttermilk is ok but will give these a tangier taste.
By freezing the baked cupcakes, how would the overall taste and texture change compared to not freezing it?
Thank you so much for all the advise!
Hi Ren! When frozen properly, cupcakes and cakes really hold up well. We do it all the time! But it’s definitely up to your personal preference.
Thank you! I plan to make it again this week!
Due to time, I may have to make the cupcake batter ahead of time and freeze it in the freezer. Since this recipe has baking powder, do you think freezing it would cause some type of affect on the cupcake at the end?
Also I want to add blueberries into the cupcake, would I need to increase th3 amount of baking powder?
Hi Ren, we don’t recommend freezing cupcake batter. Once the wet and dry ingredients are mixed together, the leaveners are activated and its best to bake the batter right away. The batter will not bake up the same once thawed. You can, however, freeze baked cupcakes. If you’d like a lemon blueberry version, we recommend trying these lemon blueberry cupcakes!
I made this yesterday and loved it! It came out moist, not dry, but really dense. Was that how it was suppose to be?
The batter was also on the thicker side. As a result when it baked it didn’t have a nice dome but was lumpy. Any ideas on what may have caused that?
But the flavor was there! Thank you!
Hi Ren, we’re happy to help troubleshoot. These are certainly moist cupcakes, but if you found them to be dense, it’s possible they were simply over mixed. This was likely the cause for the flatter, lumpy baked cake. This most on how to prevent dry and dense cakes may be helpful to review. Thanks so much for giving these a try!
I have made this recipe twice now and it has failed both times- I’m an experienced baker and I’m not sure what is going wrong. In adding the wet to the dry, the batter immediately bubbles and by the time they start to bake, they overspread, and have big holes in the center and the texture is way off.
Curious about why you don’t recommend baking at a higher temp for first five minutes of bake time for this recipe.
Can’t wait to try these! Have loved every
one of your recipes that I’ve tried!
Hi Amy, we like to use the initial high burst of heat for our muffin recipes, when we’re looking to get that nice, tall domed top signature to bakery-style muffins. For cupcakes, we don’t want a high dome as it would make it difficult to decorate. Hope this helps!
I’m 12 years old and love baking! I make these for my family and they’re always a big hit! Even for those who normally don’t like lemon! I love your website and am going to try and make your maple bacon doughnuts soon!
Hello! I’m looking forward to trying this recipe for my son’s 2nd birthday! I always love every one of your cake recipes. Do you have a conversion of how these can be made as a cake rather than cupcakes? Pan size and how long? Thank you!!
Hi Taylor, this amount of batter is the perfect amount for 3, 6 inch round layers. We also have a lemon cake recipe that yields a larger amount and this cake pan sizes and conversions guide will be helpful for determining different sizes. Happy baking!
Hi Sally. Thank you for letting us know that these can be turned into 3 layer 6inch cakes, which is what i would like to make. But I wanted to know if i half the recipe can i make it into just one 6 inch cake? We are a family of 2 and one layer is plenty. Thank you for all the wonderful recipes that bring sweetness into our homes. X
Hi Nargess! Half the batter would likely be a bit too much for just one pan. You could either 1/3 the recipe, or make 1/2 a batch, fill your pan 2/3 way full, and use any leftover batter for a few cupcakes. Enjoy!
I’m 12 and only recently started baking. I love your website, and I accidentally put the dry ingredients first before the eggs and vannila extract..are my cupcakes gonna be OK?
Thanks for the awesome website!
Hi Chloe, it’s really best to combine all the wet ingredients before adding the dry. You may have to mix the batter more to get the ingredients to combine correctly which would lead to a dense cupcake.
Hi Sally, I was wondering if I could replace the lemon with lime or orange! I use this recipe a bunch and I haven’t been able to find a perfect orange or lime recipe! Thanks in advance!
For example 1/3 lime juice instead of lemon & 2 TBSP of lime zest
Or
1/3 cup orange juice instead of lemon & 2 tbsp of orange zest
Hi Morgan, we can’t see why not! Or you might like these margarita cupcakes, too — see recipe notes there for a non-alcoholic sweet lime version.
The conversion from Fahrenheit to degrees is wrong – it should be 180 degrees, not 117. Otherwise a great and simple recipe that I enjoyed making with my toddler
I love the flavor. I followed the directions per recipe and baked for 24 minutes as they weren’t done at 22. The tops were firmer like a cookie but the inside was soft. Any ideas why?
Hi Dawn, Any chance you are using convection/fan heat in your oven? We always recommend conventional settings for baking (not convection/fan). The flow of air from convection heat can cause baked goods to rise and bake unevenly and it also pulls moisture out of the oven (leading to brown exteriors and under-baked interiors, which is why I ask). If you do use convection/fan settings for baking, lower your temperature by 25 degrees F and keep in mind that things may still take less time to bake.
can I double this recipe to make 24 cupcakes?
Hi Mary, for best taste and texture, we recommend making two separate batches of batter instead of doubling.
I’m trying to find a recipe for a lemon cupcake for my mom’s birthday dessert (after my lemon pound cake went wrong) and was wondering if I can take out the lemon zest in this recipe? Would I have to add more lemon juice to substitute? Let me know! Thanks!
Hi Hannah! If you leave out the zest, the cupcakes will lack some of their lemon flavor. We don’t recommend adding more lemon juice because it will throw off the consistency of the cupcake batter. You could always add a tiny bit (1/4 – 1/2 tsp) of lemon extract if you have it. Let us know what you try!
Hi! I’ve made this recipe before and they were delicious. I was wondering if I could make them with grapefruit instead of lemon. Or would it be better to make your grapefruit greek yogurt cake into muffins and top with frosting? Thanks!
Hi Audrey, we haven’t tested this recipe with grapefruit but don’t see why it wouldn’t work! The greek yogurt cake texture would be a little dense for cupcakes. Let us know how the cupcakes go if you give them a try!
This looks amazing! Do you think I could replace the eggs for flax eggs?
Hi Madison, we haven’t tested that substitution, but please let us know how it goes if you do!
Can I skip lemon in the cupcake batter and instead fill it with lemon curd? I’m worried if I do a double lemon, it will be too lemony. Do I need to replace the lemon juice with something else?
Hi Niharika, it shouldn’t be too lemony with the lemon cupcake + lemon curd, but if you’d prefer a cupcake without lemon flavoring, we’d recommend using our vanilla cupcakes recipe instead.
these are delicious, but could i replace the juice and zest for orange, and then convert it to a 6 inch cake?
Hi Emily! While we haven’t tested swapping lemons for oranges with this recipe I believe it should work. You can also use this batter to bake a 6 inch cake. Let us know if you try it!
I often have trouble baking here at altitude but these worked perfectly! They rose beautifully and didn’t collapse at all like I sometimes experience. Only thing I did differently was bake at 375 instead of 350. Now to make your lemon buttercream! Thanks for such great recipes – love your site!
Thank you for the positive feedback, Debbie, and enjoy your cupcakes!
I was looking for a lemon cake recipe that wasn’t as involved as the last one I made (which had lemon syrup and lemon glaze and took all afternoon). This recipe was just what I was looking for. It made 12 regular-size cupcakes and 4 minis. Since the regular cupcakes are supposed to go with me to celebrate my grandson’s birthday tomorrow, having 4 minis to “taste test” was just right! I found that it took the juice of 1 large lemon, but needed 2 large lemons for the zest. My aluminum cupcake pan took 22 minutes. I will use my dark cupcake pan next time, to see if they bake faster in that one. The minis took 11 minutes. I used my tried-and-true Betty Crocker buttercream frosting recipe. I did add lemon extract to both the cupcake batter and the frosting (about 1/2 tsp to each).
Update on the cupcakes. They were delicious! I loved the texture — they were more dense than some of my other cake recipes and I really liked that. This recipe is a keeper!
We’re so glad you loved them, Judy!
Oh my Sally – I used this recipe to make a 3-layer 6-inch cake and it was absolutely beautiful!! Lemon sponge isn’t my flavour of choice usually but this recipe was honestly beautiful – as was your vanilla buttercream recipe which I paired it with. Thank you so much!! ☺️