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Lemon poppy seed cupcakes and lemon slices.
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5 from 1 vote

Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcakes

These lemon poppy seed cupcakes are light and fluffy with loads of tangy lemon flavor and crunchy poppy seeds. Topped with a lemon buttercream frosting.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time35 minutes
Course: Cupcakes, Dessert
Cuisine: American
Diet: Vegetarian
Servings: 12
Calories: 503kcal
Author: Alison

Ingredients

  • 1 ¾ cups All Purpose Flour (218g)
  • 1 cup White Granulated Sugar (200g)
  • 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
  • ½ teaspoon Salt
  • 2 Tablespoons Poppy Seeds
  • ¾ cup Homemade Buttermilk (180ml) or Real Buttermilk*
  • cup Canola Oil (80ml) or Vegetable Oil
  • 1 Large Egg
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 2 teaspoons Lemon Extract
  • 1 Tablespoon Lemon Zest

Lemon Buttercream Frosting

  • 1 cup Butter (230g) Lightly Salted, Softened*
  • 4 cups Powdered Sugar (480g)
  • 2 teaspoons Lemon Extract
  • 2 Tablespoons Milk or Heavy Cream
  • 2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice Freshly Squeezed

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and line a cupcake tray with 12 cupcake liners.
  • Sift all purpose flour into a mixing bowl and add white granulated sugar, baking soda, salt and poppy seeds. Mix together.
  • Prepare your homemade buttermilk by adding 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to a measuring jug and then adding room temperature milk up to the ¾ cup (180ml) line. Let it sit for a couple of minutes to curdle into buttermilk.
  • Add the buttermilk, oil, egg, vanilla extract, lemon extract and lemon zest and mix it into a batter. Don't overmix.
  • Divide the batter evenly between the 12 cupcake liners.
  • Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean.
  • Transfer the cupcakes to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

Lemon Buttercream Frosting:

  • Add softened butter to the bowl of your stand mixer. Start at slow speed and gradually increase speed. Let it whip until your butter is smooth and slightly pale in color.
  • Add powdered sugar, lemon extract, milk and lemon juice and beat for a few minutes until the frosting is very fluffy and smooth.
  • When the cupcakes have cooled completely, pipe on the frosting.

Notes

  1. Spoon and level the flour. If you accidentally use too much flour in these cupcakes, they will be dense and dry. The best way to measure it by volume is to spoon it into your measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife. Don't scoop it and don't pack it into the cup, just spoon it and level it with a knife. If you have a food scale, then an even better way to do it is simply to weigh it out on your food scale.
  2. Homemade buttermilk - we used our homemade buttermilk recipe, which is a mix of lemon juice and room temperature milk. If you have real buttermilk on hand, then you can also go ahead and use that.
  3. Lemon extract - adds all the lemon flavor you could dream of! If you don't have it, you can just use lemon juice and the lemon zest will still bring a very nice amount of lemon flavor to the cupcakes, but lemon extract is highly recommended.
  4. Lemon zest - make sure that when you're zesting your lemons that you only grate the yellow outer part of the lemon. Don't grate too far into the lemon or you'll hit the pith, which is white and bitter and doesn't have that lemon flavor. Your zest should be bright and yellow.
  5. Butter - can be unsalted or salted, it really will not make any big difference. We used lightly salted butter. If you use unsalted then you may want to add ⅛ teaspoon of salt or to taste. It's ideal if your butter is softened before you make your frosting but if you forget to take it out the fridge in time then simply cut it into cubes and beat it in your stand mixer for an extra couple of minutes to soften, before you add your other ingredients.
  6. Storing: Keep your cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days or in the fridge for up to a week. Let them come to room temperature before enjoying.
  7. Freezing: They are freezer friendly, either frosted or unfrosted for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge and then bring to room temperature before enjoying.
  8. Nutritional information includes both cupcakes and frosting. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1Cupcake | Calories: 503kcal | Carbohydrates: 72g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 58mg | Sodium: 334mg | Potassium: 70mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 57g | Vitamin A: 524IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 53mg | Iron: 1mg