These homemade vegan lemon cupcakes are moist and fluffy, bursting with lemon flavor and topped with vegan lemon buttercream frosting. These cupcakes are easy to make; made with common pantry ingredients and come together in one bowl plus frosting. A great balance of sweet and tart. Perfect for birthdays, picnic and other celebrations.
Brighten up your Easter or Mother's Day celebrations with these delicious vegan Lemon cupcakes.
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Why This Recipe Works
- Simple Ingredients you already have in the pantry
- You don't need a hand mixer (except for the frosting)
- Easy to make
- Moist And Fluffy
- Bright citrus flavor
Key Ingredients
All-Purpose flour - gives the cupcakes structure.
Leavener's - baking soda & baking powder: Both help the cupcakes rise.
Unsweetened almond milk - adds moisture (see substitutes below).
Avocado oil - adds moisture (see substitutes below).
Apple Cider Vinegar - can also use white vinegar. The vinegar helps with the rise of the cupcakes.
Lemon zest and lemon extract - lemon extract adds flavor. We need the zest of 1 lemon for the cupcake batter.
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Step-By-Step Instructions
Make The Cupcakes
Step 1: Preheat 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 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 ziploc bag into a piping bag in a pinch). This is a good article on four ways to frost a cupcake.
Serve and enjoy!
Substitutions
- Other unsweetened plant-based milks (like soy or rice milk) can be used for this recipe, but we do not recommend using full-fat coconut milk. Using coconut milk will result in soggy cupcakes. Not good.
- 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.
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.
Recipe FAQ’s and Tips
Top Tips
- 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!
- Other unsweetened plant-based milk (like soy or rice milk) can be used for this recipe, but we do not recommend using full-fat coconut milk.
- 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.
Variations
- Using vegan vanilla buttercream frosting.
- Top with vegan sprinkles we like Supernatural vegan sprinkles.
Looking For Other Lemon Recipes?
Try these delicious baked goods:
📖 Recipe
Vegan Lemon Cupcakes
Equipment
- 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
- 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.
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.