Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcakes - Stephanie's Sweet Treats (2024)

These lemon poppy seed cupcakes are a moist cupcake full of fresh lemon flavor and poppy seeds. The lemon cupcakes are topped with lemon cream cheese frosting. If you are looking for a recipe perfect for the spring or summer season, you will love this recipe!

When I was designing this lemon poppy seed cupcakes recipe, I wanted it to be full of very fresh lemon flavor, so this recipe uses fresh lemons and freshly squeezed lemon juice. The frosting also pairs so well with this recipe!

These cupcakes are perfect for lemon lovers! They are perfect for a baby shower.

If you are looking for more lemon desserts, try Chewy Lemon Blueberry Cookies, Lemon Blackberry Cake, and Lemon Sheet Cake with Blueberry Frosting.

Why This Recipe Works

• Easy to make- These cupcakes do require a mixer, but it is still easy to make!
• Lemon poppy seed- These are full of lemon flavor and poppy seeds.
• Lemon cream cheese frosting- The frosting is a cream cheese frosting full of lemon.
• Soft cupcakes- The cupcakes are very soft and tender!

Ingredient Notes

Here are some notes on the ingredients. For a full list of ingredients, check out the recipe card below.

• Unsalted butter- The butter for the batter needs to be room temperature before baking (pull this out 2 hours before baking). The butter for the frosting needs to be slightly cold. This gives it the perfect texture for piping.
• Oil- You can use canola oil or vegetable oil.
• Lemon zest- You will need 2 lemons. Use a lemon zester.
• Fresh Lemon juice- The recipe is best with freshly squeezed lemon juice.
• Sour cream- Use full fat sour cream. Pull this out 2 hours before baking.
• Eggs- Pull the large eggs out 2 hours before baking.
• Buttermilk- Use full fat or reduced fat buttermilk. Pull this out 2 hours before baking.
• Cream cheese- Use full fat cream cheese. Pull this out 2 hours before baking.
• Powdered sugar- Sift the powdered sugar to prevent a gritty frosting.

Substitutions

• Lemon juice- You can use bottle lemon juice instead.
• Sour cream- You can use full fat plain yogurt or greek yogurt.
• Buttermilk- Use ½ cup whole milk and add in a ½ Tablespoon of lemon juice. Let this sit for 10 minutes before using.
• Poppy seeds- You can not use these.
• Cream cheese- You can do 1 cup of butter instead of cream cheese.

Step By Step Instructions- Cupcakes

Here is how to make and bake these lemon poppyseed cupcakes. Use a stand mixer or a hand mixer (electric mixer) for this recipe.

STEP 1: Mix the dry ingredients. Use a sifter to sift the all-purpose flour, this will prevent flour lumps getting into the batter. Then, add in baking powder, baking soda, salt, and poppy seeds into a medium bowl.

STEP 2: Beat butter, oil, and sugar. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter, oil, and sugar on high speed for 3 minutes.

Then, add in lemon juice, lemon zest, and sour cream.

STEP 3: Add in the eggs. Mix these in on low speed. Then, turn up to high speed and beat for 2 minutes.

STEP 4: Add in flour mixture and buttermilk. Alternate between these two until combined. Make sure not to overmix!

STEP 5: Scoop the batter. Using a cupcake pan with cupcake liners, use a cookie scoop to scoop the batter. Fill it up 2\3rds full.

STEP 6: Bake the cupcakes. Bake these for 16-18 minutes.

STEP 7: Cool the cupcakes. The cupcakes needs to cool slightly in the hot pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Cool these completely before decorating.

Step By Step Instructions- Lemon Buttercream

STEP 1: Beat butter and cream cheese. First, beat these on high speed for 3 minutes until fluffy.

STEP 2: Add in powdered sugar. Add this in slowly on low speed. This will prevent the powdered sugar mess!

STEP 3: Add in wet ingredients. Next, add in lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt Mix these in on high speed until fluffy. You can also add in the poppy seeds here.

Decorating The Cupcakes

Use a piping bag to pipe the frosting on top of these cupcakes. If the frosting is too "relaxed" or runny, place in the freezer for 5-8 minutes until it firms slightly.

I used a Wilton tip 1M to decorate these. I also topped them with a little lemon triangle.

Expert Baking Tips

• Flour- Make sure flour is spooned and leveled. If you stick your measuring cup directly in the flour it will compact it. This can dry out the cupcake.
• The wet ingredients need to be beaten on high speed for a total of 5 minutes. This helps to give it more air, and it is a more fluffy texture.
• If you don't like the taste for fresh poppy seeds, you can skip adding it to the frosting.
• The frosting should be very creamy and be beaten on high to get it fluffy.

FAQ

Storing and Freezing

Store these lemon poppy seed cupcakes in a airtight container like a cake carrier. Store in the fridge up to 5 days.

The cupcakes taste best if you let it come to room temperature before eating.

Freezing

You can freeze the cupcakes before decorating. Wrap the cupcake in plastic wrap or store in a freezer safe bag. Freeze up to 30 days.

Let them thaw for 1 hour before decorating.

Other Cupcake Recipes To Try

Make sure to leave a STAR REVIEW if you loved this recipe! Make sure to tag me on Instagram@stephaniesweettreats. To get more ideasfollow me on Pinterest.

📖 Recipe