Light and fluffy vegan lemon cupcakes with a lemon buttercream frosting. Moist, packed with lemon flavor and super simple to make.
These vegan lemon cupcakes with lemon buttercream frosting 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. But there is really something special about the tangy, sunshine flavor of lemon.
These cupcakes were super good and I’m a huge fan. As is everyone else who ate them. And they’re super easy to make too.
The perfect lemon flavor
The perfect lemon flavor in these cupcakes comes from lemon zest and lemon extract. The vegan lemon buttercream frosting is made with lemon juice and lemon extract and the flavors REALLY pop.
I adapted this recipe from my vegan vanilla cupcakes which is just the best recipe! Perfectly moist with a light and fluffy texture.
And if you love lemon like I do then you’ll also love our vegan lemon cake, vegan lemon cookies, vegan lemon pound cake, vegan lemon pie and vegan lemon poppy seed cake.
Ingredients You’ll Need To Make These Cupcakes:
Ingredient Notes
- Soy milk – you can use soy milk or any other non-dairy milk that you have on hand.
- Lemon zest – we used 1 tablespoon of lemon zest in this recipe, which is usually what you’d get from 1 medium sized lemon.
- Lemon extract – this really pops the lemon flavor! If you can’t get hold of it, you could just use lemon juice but it won’t be nearly as flavorful.
- Canola oil – can be replaced with vegetable oil.
- White vinegar – distilled white vinegar reacts with the baking soda (called bicarbonate of soda in some countries) in this recipe and creates the beautiful rise. You could replace this with apple cider vinegar.
How To Make Vegan Lemon Cupcakes
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Sift all purpose flour into a mixing bowl and add white granulated sugar, baking soda and salt. Mix together.
- Add soy milk, canola oil, white vinegar, vanilla extract, lemon extract and lemon zest. Mix into a batter. Don’t overmix.
- Divide the batter evenly between 12 cupcake liners.
- Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean.
- Let the cupcakes cool for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
- When they are completely cool, frost them with vegan lemon buttercream frosting.
Recipe Tips
Measure the flour correctly. For the perfect light and fluffy cupcakes it’s crucial that you don’t accidentally use too much flour. So it’s perfect if you weigh out your flour on a food scale. If you don’t have a food scale though then the next best thing is to use the ‘spoon and level’ method. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level off the top with a knife. Don’t scoop the flour and don’t pack it into the cup.
Don’t overmix the batter. Mix it until just mixed and then stop mixing. Over-mixing can affect the texture and rise of your cupcakes.
Bake right away. As soon as the batter has been divided between your cupcake liners, bake them right away. Letting the batter sit too long can also affect the texture and rise of your cupcakes.
Gluten-free. If you’d like to make these cupcakes gluten-free then the best thing would be to use a gluten-free all purpose baking blend to replace the regular flour.
Decorate. If you want to decorate these cupcakes then a sprinkle of lemon zest on top (as in our video) works great.
Storing and Freezing
Keep them covered at room temperature where they will stay fresh for 2-3 days, or keep them in the fridge (covered) where they will last up to a week.
They are also freezer friendly (frosted or unfrosted) for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and bring to room temperature before serving.
More Vegan Cupcakes
- Classic Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes
- Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes
- Vegan Strawberry Cupcakes
- Vegan Carrot Cake Cupcakes
- Vegan Funfetti Cupcakes
- Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Lemon Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups All Purpose Flour (220g)
- 1 cup White Granulated Sugar (200g)
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup Soy Milk (240ml) or other non-dairy milk
- ⅓ cup Canola Oil (80ml) or Vegetable Oil
- 1 Tablespoon Distilled White Vinegar or Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 2 teaspoons Lemon Extract
- 1 Tablespoon Lemon Zest
Lemon Buttercream Frosting:
- 4 cups Powdered Sugar (480g)
- ½ cup Vegan Butter (112g)
- 2 teaspoons Lemon Extract
- 2-3 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and line a cupcake tray with cupcake liners.
- Sift all purpose flour into a mixing bowl and add white granulated sugar, baking soda and salt. Mix together.
- Add soy milk, canola oil, white vinegar, vanilla extract, lemon extract and lemon zest. Mix into a batter. Don't overmix.
- Divide the batter evenly between 12 cupcake liners.
- Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean.
- Let the cupcakes cool for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
- Prepare your frosting by adding the powdered sugar, vegan butter, lemon extract and 2 tablespoons lemon juice to the bowl of your stand mixer. Start at slow speed and gradually increase speed until smooth and thick. If it's too thick, add the remaining lemon juice a drop at a time until you reach the right consistency.
- When the cupcakes are completely cool, pipe on the frosting and serve.
Video
Notes
- Measure the flour correctly. For the perfect light and fluffy cupcakes it’s crucial that you don’t accidentally use too much flour. So it’s perfect if you weigh out your flour on a food scale. If you don’t have a food scale though then the next best thing is to use the ‘spoon and level’ method. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level off the top with a knife. Don’t scoop the flour and don’t pack it into the cup.
- Lemon extract – this really pops the lemon flavor! If you can’t get hold of it, you could just use lemon juice but it won’t be nearly as flavorful.
- Lemon zest – we used 1 tablespoon of lemon zest in this recipe, which is usually what you’d get from 1 medium sized lemon.
- Don’t overmix the batter. Mix it until just mixed and then stop mixing. Over-mixing can affect the texture and rise of your cupcakes.
- Bake right away. As soon as the batter has been divided between your cupcake liners, bake them right away. Letting the batter sit too long can also affect the texture and rise of your cupcakes.
- Gluten-free: To make these cupcakes gluten-free the best thing would be to use a gluten-free all purpose baking blend in place of the regular flour.
- Storing and freezing: Keep them covered at room temperature where they will stay fresh for 2-3 days, or keep them in the fridge (covered) where they will last up to a week. They are also freezer friendly (frosted or unfrosted) for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and bring to room temperature before serving.
- This recipe has been updated with new photos and extra tips but the recipe itself is the same.
Louise Vinehill-Cliffe says
Made these cupcakes last weekend for my son who is vegan, he loved them as did all the rest of us, they are delicious!. They were really easy to make too! Just trying to decide which of your gorgeous looking recipes to try next!
Alison Andrews says
So happy to hear that Louise! Hope you find lots of other recipes here that you enjoy. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Louise Vinehill-Cliffe says
These look amazing and I want to make them but I can’t find apple cider vinegar, I have cider vinegar and white wine vinegar can I use one of these instead? Thanks
Alison Andrews says
Cider vinegar would be fine as it is apparently really the same thing. 🙂
Louise Vinehill-Cliffe says
That’s great thank you, I thought the cider vinegar might be the same but just wanted to check. ?
Luna says
I made these with pastry flour, and I was scared that I overfilled the cupcake liner, but they came out perfect and rose beautifully! Thanks for the easy recipe.
Alison Andrews says
Glad to hear they came out great, thanks Luna! 🙂
Tiffany says
I normally don’t write reviews, but these are terrific! I made them for my birthday using whole wheat pastry flour; tonight I made them with a fine pastry flour and they rose so much better. Either way, they are absolutely delicious. Just enough lemon flavor!! I made these for a potluck at my job tomorrow, I can’t wait as none of my co-workers are vegan, so I’m interested in what they are going to think of these.
Alison Andrews says
Fantastic Tiffany! Great to hear it works well with pastry flour, I have never tried that. Thanks so much for sharing and your awesome rating! 🙂
Tiffany Washington says
I would say the only thing you need to do differently with the pastry flour is adjust the time. I made these again and baked them for 19 minutes instead of 25 and they came out moist and spongey.
Alison Andrews says
Thanks Tiffany! 🙂
Lauren Curzon-Price says
Tried these cupcakes and was astounded at the results! They tasted as good as, if not better, than ‘real’ cake! I need to make an 8inch cake for this weekend – what quantities would I need to use for this please?
Lauren x
Alison Andrews says
Hi Lauren! So glad you liked the cupcakes! Thanks for sharing! I have done a perfect 2 layer 8 inch lemon cake recipe that would be perfect, you can find it here: vegan lemon cake.
Lauren says
Super, thank you for your help!! Can’t get enough of your recipes … not a vegan myself but just love the simplicity and results with these recipes!
Monique says
Can you use gluten free flour?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Monique, I have not tested this as gluten-free so can’t advise the specific adjustments you would need to make, but if you do try it, use a gluten-free all purpose flour blend.
Aimee says
I’ve made your strawberry cupcake recipe and it’s amazing! I’d need to make a lemon cake in a 9×13 pan. Will these amounts work for that? And what’s the difference in cook time? Thank you!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Aimee, take a look at my vegan lemon cake recipe, I think that might work better. I’m not sure about adapting for 9×13 but you could definitely try it, in terms of baking times I would probably check it somewhere around the 22-25 minute mark and see from there. Let us know how it goes! 🙂
Cindi says
Hi Alison made these today can I tell you how wonderful they are I ran out of vegan butter so I just dusted them with a little powdered sugar! pleased even my picky husband he said they were super moist would you happen to have a strawberry cupcake recipe I heard that you can use freeze-dried strawberries for natural flavoring for the buttercream would love to try thanks again for all your amazing vegan recipes!:0)
Alison Andrews says
Hi Cindi! So happy they came out so well! We do have a strawberry cupcake recipe, but I didn’t use freeze dried strawberries, even though I have heard that can work out great! However, I can’t get hold of them at all in my part of the world, so went with fresh strawberries instead, but check it out anyway! 🙂
Raquelle Thomas says
Omg your cake looks delicious!!!! Can I substitute cake flour?
Alison Andrews says
You should be able to, but I haven’t tried it with cake flour. Cake flour has less gluten than all purpose flour which ‘could’ result in it being a bit more crumbly or holding together less well, but it could also be just fine! Please let us know how it turns out if you do try it like this. 🙂
Lynn says
Can I use bread flour instead?
Alison Andrews says
Not really, at least not without changing the end result quite a bit. It would result in a more bread-like texture, more chewy and tough, less light and fluffy.
Kathy says
I’m making this now for my 15 year old grandson to bring to work. He works with some people that can’t have dairy. Hope this tastes as good as it looks. By the way my grandson pick this recipe.
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! I’m sure they will love it! ?
Lorinda says
These are delicious! The recipe is very similar to my mother’s “crazy cake” recipe. I think it was called that because it didn’t use eggs. Anyway it’s basically a chocolate version of this recipe. I did changed this recipe to coconut lime because I used so many coconut based ingredients. I used coconut milk and oil and then halved the sugar with coconut palm sugar. Trying to limit sugar intake. I also used white whole wheat flour to put in some whole grain. Still very moist and delicious but more reminiscent of a sweet muffin. Anyway the recipe is great as is or as a base to play with other flavors. Thanks so much for posting!
Alison Andrews says
Cool! Thanks for sharing!
Lexy says
Could I use Lemon Juice instead of Lemon Essence? Thanks 🙂
Alison Andrews says
It won’t work as a flavoring as it won’t be strong enough – the lemon essence is very intensified lemon flavor, however if you don’t really mind less of a lemon flavor then it’ll work fine.
Jahna says
I use food grade lemon essential oil instead of lemon extract or essence. Just a tip ?
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Kelly says
Can you clarify for me what you used for lemon essence please? I’m not familiar with any.
Alison Andrews says
It’s like vanilla extract, it’s a flavoring extract but you get essence and extract basically the same thing! So you can use either.
Anna Andrews says
Looks lovely and tastes better!