Light and spongey vegan lemon cupcakes with lemon buttercream frosting. Packed with lemon flavor, deliciously moist and super simple to make.
These vegan lemon cupcakes with lemon buttercream frosting and lemon zest are so divine, they are my latest favorite cupcake in the whole entire world.
Well, of course that is until I bake one of my other absolute favorites in the entire world – such as – any of the other cupcakes on this site. Love them all I must admit.
These were super good and I’m a big fan. As is everyone else who ate them.
That being said I didn’t have the easiest time in making these. I had the idea of using lemon juice (in quite a large quantity, maybe that was the mistake) to make these, but hey, it just didn’t work out.
The moment I added that lemon juice to the batter it fluffed up in a way that just didn’t look right, so I was highly sceptical even before they went into the oven, and I wasn’t wrong!
They came out just as ‘not quite right’ as they went in.
The perfect lemon flavor
So I had to ditch the lemon juice idea and instead went for lemon zest and lemon extract to create the deliciously lemon flavor for these cupcakes. The lemon buttercream ended up being where the lemon juice got a chance to shine!
The lemon buttercream has lemon juice and lemon extract and has a fabulously lemony taste, and topped with lemon zest there is no doubt that these are lemon cupcakes!
I adapted the recipe from my vegan vanilla cupcakes which is just the best recipe! Perfectly moist with a light and spongey texture.
I think you are going to love these vegan lemon cupcakes! They are:
- Deliciously lemony
- Light and spongey
- Perfectly moist
- Topped with lemon buttercream
- Super easy
Keep them covered at room temperature where they will stay fresh for a couple of days, or keep them in the fridge (covered) where they will last up to a week.
More vegan cupcakes!
- Classic Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes
- Vegan Pumpkin Cupcakes
- Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes
- Gluten-Free Chocolate Cupcakes
And if you love lemon flavor then check out our vegan lemon cake and our vegan lemon pie.
So let us know what you think of these lemon cupcakes! Leave a comment and rate the recipe if you’ve made it!
And definitely sign up to our mailing list – you’ll get a free book with 10 great recipes – and you’ll stay updated with all our latest recipe postings!
Vegan Lemon Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 and ¾ cups All Purpose Flour (220g)
- 1 cup White Granulated Sugar (200g)
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 cup Soy Milk (240ml) or other non-dairy milk
- ⅓ cup Vegetable Oil (80ml)
- 1 Tbsp Distilled White Vinegar or Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2 tsp Lemon Extract
- 1 Tbsp Lemon Zest
Lemon Buttercream Frosting:
- 3 cups Powdered Sugar (360g)
- ⅓ cup Vegan Butter (75g)
- 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice freshly squeezed
- 1 tsp Lemon Extract
Decoration:
- Lemon Zest
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and add the sugar, baking soda and salt. Then add the soy milk, vegetable oil, vinegar, vanilla, lemon extract and lemon zest. Whisk briefly with a hand whisk to combine properly and remove any lumps.
- Line a cupcake tray with cupcake liners and divide the batter between them.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- When baked transfer to a wire cooling rack and allow to cool completely before frosting.
- Prepare your frosting by adding the powdered sugar, vegan butter, lemon juice and lemon essence to an electric mixing bowl. Start at slow speed and gradually increase speed until smooth and thick. If it's too thick, add a little more lemon juice (a couple of drops at a time) until you reach the right consistency.
- Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes and then decorate with some lemon zest.
Video
Notes
- Nutritional information includes frosting.
- Adapted from our Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes.
I make these all the time and love them! However I’ve got home and realised I don’t have any vegetable oil left! Can I use vegan butter?
Hi Amelia, melted vegan butter should work fine! They might not be quite as moist as with the oil but it will work!
Will these work without lemon extract and just use the lemon zest? Thanks
Yes it will work, but the lemon flavor will be much more subtle.
I was at a birthday party today where these cupcakes were served – oh my goodness they were heavenly! My niece gave me the link to your recipe and I have it printed out and ready to go once I get some fresh lemons. Although I’m not vegan myself, I think these will definitely replace my non-vegan cupcakes.. Thank you.
So happy to hear that! Thanks for the amazing review!