These fluffy Vegan Lemon Cupcakes are flavored with real lemon and topped with a zesty-sweet vegan lemon buttercream frosting. These cupcakes are easy and made with simple ingredients that anyone can whip up!
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We love all things lemon here. The best part? The power this little citrus fruit holds! Lemon is used in baking, cooking, drinks and even cleaning! Some of our favorite lemon recipes include Easy Vegan Lemon Blueberry Muffins, Vegan Lemon Pepper Wings, or Fresh Squeezed Passion Fruit Lemonade.
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Why This Recipe Works
- Made with pantry staples. Every ingredient in these vegan lemon cupcakes are common household staples.
- Minimal equipment. These cupcakes and frosting can be made by hand without a stand or hand mixer.
- Bright lemon flavor. Fresh lemon zest and lemon extract create the perfect balance of lemon flavor in the batter and vegan lemon frosting.
Key Ingredients
All-Purpose Flour - All-purpose flour is versatile and commonly found in household pantries.
Unsweetened Almond Milk - I usually have almond milk in the fridge but any non-dairy milk can be used.
Avocado Oil - Oil in baking are used to lock in moisture creating light and moist cakes.
Apple Cider Vinegar - Vinegar reacts with the baking soda creating a chemical reaction that creates and expands air bubbles for a fluffy cake.
Vanilla Extract - Vanilla is a complimentary flavor that enhances the richness of flavors around it.
Lemon Zest and Lemon Extract - Lemon extract acts as a base to enhance the lemon zest flavor.
Variations
- Other unsweetened plant milk. Use what you have in your fridge, but other good choices are soy milk and oat milk. We don't recommend using full-fat coconut milk as it will result in a soggy cake.
- Regular white vinegar can be used in place of apple cider vinegar with no issues.
- A neutral flavored oil like Canola oil can be used in place of avocado oil if desired.
- Store bought frosting. Use vegan vanilla buttercream frosting or vegan cream cheese frosting and add the lemon extract if you're pressed for time.
- Make it your own. Add vegan sprinkles (we like the brand Supernatural) or add poppy seeds for vegan lemon poppy seed cupcakes.
Detailed ingredients, measurements, and instructions are provided at the end of this post in the printable recipe card. This recipe has not been tested with substitutions not listed. If you make any changes please share your results in the comments!
Step By Step Instructions
Make The Cupcakes
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners.
TIP: Buy reusable silicon baking cups they are a great eco-friendly option for your baking needs. You can order from Amazon.
Step 2: In a large bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt, mix and set aside.
Step 3: In a large measuring cup combine non-dairy milk, oil, vinegar, extracts and add to dry ingredients. Add 1 teaspoon lemon zest.
Step 4: Slowly mix in the dry ingredients until the batter is smooth and well combined.
Step 5: Fill the cupcake liners ⅔ full, to prevent the batter from overflowing. Bake for 23-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
Make The Frosting
Step 6: While the cupcakes are cooling, make the vegan buttercream frosting. Add the softened vegan butter, powdered sugar, almond milk, and lemon extract to a large bowl and beat until light and fluffy.
Step 7: Frost the cupcakes. If using a piping bag and tip. Pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes (if you don’t have a piping bag you can fashion a ziplock bag into a piping bag in a pinch). This is a good article on four ways to frost a cupcake.
Serve and enjoy!
Expert Baking Tips
- Measure your flour. It's essential in baking to measure all the ingredients correctly, it's science after all! You can also use a baking scale if you have one.
- Don't over mix. Mix until the ingredients are blended and that's it for the fluffiest lemon cupcakes. Over mixing results in the air bubbles bursting and a dense dough or batter.
- Bake immediately. Like over-mixing, allowing batter to sit out can cause the air bubbles to dissipate. The mixing process activates the reaction of leavening agents and they are again activated when heated.
- Allow the cupcakes to chill before frosting. Ever try to frost a warm cake? Yeah, we all have. I promise, when they're chilled it's easier!
- Cool the cupcakes for a few minutes in the cupcake tin before transferring them to a cooling rack. This allows them to cool enough to bond and not break when transferring them.
- We found that our hands warmed the frosting when piping it on the cupcakes. We recommend chilling the frosting before you pipe it on. Not required but recommended!
- Buy reusable Silicone Baking cups. They are a great eco-friendly option for your baking needs. You can order from Amazon.
Recipe FAQ's
Yes, you can substitute lemon extract for fresh lemon juice in vegan lemon cupcakes. However, keep in mind that lemon extract is more concentrated than lemon juice, so you'll need to use less of it. Start with about half the amount of lemon extract called for in the recipe and adjust to taste.
Yes, you can freeze vegan lemon cupcakes. Place them in an airtight container or freezer bag, making sure to remove as much air as possible to prevent freezer burn. They can be stored in the freezer for up to three months. Thaw them in the refrigerator overnight before serving. We don't recommend freezing frosting, make this day of!
Storage
- To Store. Store these at room temperature for up to a day. Leftover cupcakes keep well covered tightly in the refrigerator for 3 days.
- To Prepare in Advance. Separately, place the cupcakes in an airtight container or tightly covered and chill the icing. On the day you plan on serving. Bring the icing to room temperature. Then ice them and serve.
Looking More Vegan Lemon Recipes?
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Lemon Cupcakes
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Print Recipe Leave A Review Pin RecipeEquipment
- 12 Cupcake liners
- 1 12 count muffin/cupcake pan
Ingredients
Vegan Cupcake
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- ½ cup avocado oil
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
Lemon Buttercream
- 1 3⁄4 cup Powdered sugar
- ½ cup vegan butter room temperature 1 ¾ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened almond milk
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the almond milk, oil, vinegar, extracts, and lemon zest.
- Slowly mix in the dry ingredients until the batter is smooth and well combined.
- Fill the cupcake lines ⅔ full and bake 23-25 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cOOl.
- While the cupcakes are cooling, make the frosting. Add the softened vegan butter, powdered sugar, almond milk, and lemon extract to a large bowl and beat until light and fluffy.
- Pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes and serve!
Notes
- I found that my hand warmed the frosting when I was piping it on the cupcakes. I would recommend chilling the frosting before you pipe it on. Not required but recommended!
- Other unsweetened plant-based milk (like soy or rice milk) can be used for this recipe, but I would not recommend using full-fat coconut milk. Initially, I tried making these cupcakes with full-fat canned coconut milk and the result was soggy cupcakes. Not good.
- Regular white vinegar can be used in place of apple cider vinegar with no issues
- Canola oil can be used in place of avocado oil if desired.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
Marion Davis
Just made these again today. So good. Delicious lemon flavor.
Courtney
I'm going to make these this weekend. Do you think I could use GF flour? Thanks!
Nija Clark
Hi Courtney, we haven't tested this cupcake recipe with gluten-free flour. I would recommend using a gluten-free flour mix that contains xanthan gum if you try the recipe with gluten-free flour. Please let us know how you like the recipe.