Easy Lemon Cupcakes Recipe
This easy lemon cupcakes recipe is topped with a delicious creamy vanilla buttercream frosting.
Ingredients
Cupcakes1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 Tablespoon ground lemon zest
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
1/2 cup yogurt
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
2-3 cups confectioners' sugar, SIFTED
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1-2 tablespoons milk or heavy cream
(Makes 1 1/4 cups frosting)
Makes about 12 cupcakes
Directions
Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
Whisk together flour, baking soda and baking powder. Set aside.
Beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs in one a time, beating after each addition.
Mix in lemon zest, lemon juice and lemon extract. Add in flour mixture and yogurt, mix until well incorporated.
Fill liner 3/4 with batter and bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Set to cool, once cool enough to touch remove cupcakes from pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
In a mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to beat butter for a few minutes on medium speed.
Add 3 cups of confectioners' sugar and beat on low speed until the sugar is incorporated into the butter.
Increase mixer speed to medium and add the pure vanilla extract, salt, and 2 tablespoons of milk/cream and beat for 3 minutes.
If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add the remaining confectioners' sugar.
If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add remaining milk 1 tablespoons at a time. Put into the piping bag.
Buttercream icings are so easy to work with because you can add more or less of the confectioners' sugar and milk and get to that perfect consistency.
Assembly
Pipe design on top of each cooled cupcake, serve.