These Vegan Lemon Cupcakes are bursting with flavor! Perfectly soft and moist lemon cupcakes are topped with a vegan lemon buttercream frosting. Best of all, they are easy to make in just 1 bowl!
Of all the many flavors of dessert out there, lemon has become my absolute favorite. Of course, there are times when nothing but chocolate will satisfy (I’m looking at you Vegan Brownies or Chocolate Cake), but most of the time I would choose a lemony dessert.
I am so excited to share this recipe for vegan lemon cupcakes with you! Not only are they bursting with sunshine lemon flavor, they are also incredibly EASY to make in just 1 bowl. They have just the right amount of “tang” for a lemon cupcake, and are perfectly sweet and moist. This recipe makes about 18 cupcakes, so feel free to cut the ingredients in half or double if you’re planning a party!
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What provides the lemon flavor for vegan lemon cupcakes?
A few things contribute to the lemony-ness of these cupcakes. First, freshly grated lemon zest. I highly recommend getting an inexpensive but handy Zester/Grater so you can easily have fresh lemon zest anytime you want without a struggle. Lemon zest is basically finely grated peel of a lemon, and it adds so much wonderful fresh lemon flavor to food!
There is also a bit of lemon extract in the cupcakes, and lemon juice in the frosting, as well as more zest!
Want more Vegan Lemon Dessert recipes? Try one of these:
1 Bowl Vegan Lemon Cupcakes
Ingredients
Lemon Cupcakes:
- 1 1/2 cups soy milk
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup softened vegan butter
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Lemon Buttercream Frosting:
- 1 cup vegan butter softened to room temperature
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1-2 tablespoons soy milk
Instructions
For the Cupcakes:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a standard muffin pan with paper liners. Spray the cups lightly with oil to help the cupcakes come out easily.
- In a measuring cup, combine the soy milk and apple cider vinegar. Let sit a few minutes until it curdles (this is your vegan buttermilk).
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened vegan butter and sugar with a hand mixer (or stand mixer) until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes. Add the lemon zest, lemon extract and vanilla and beat to combine.
- With the mixer on low speed, add in the soy milk/vinegar mixture and mix for 30 seconds.
- Now add the flour, then sprinkle the baking powder and salt on top of the flour. Mix on low speed until well combined, scraping the sides as needed with a spatula.
- Fill the liners 3/4 full and bake for 20-24 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean and they are lightly golden on top. Let them cool completely before frosting.
For the Lemon Buttercream Frosting:
- Wipe out the bowl you used for the cupcakes and rinse the beaters from your mixer. Beat the vegan butter until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add in 2 cups of the powdered sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla. Beat on low, then switch to medium speed and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Now add in the remaining 2 cups of powered sugar and mix. If the frosting seems too thick, add a tablespoon at a time of soy milk. If the frosting gets too thin, add a little more powdered sugar until a spreadable, thick frosting consistency is reached.
- Pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes or simply spread it on with a butter knife.
Notes
- May substitute almond, coconut or hemp milk for the soy if desired. I think soy milk makes the best vegan buttermilk though.
- For the cupcakes, softened coconut oil could be substituted for the vegan butter, but it won't work in the frosting. You really need vegan butter for the buttercream frosting.
- May also be frosted with my Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting if desired.
Nutrition
The buttercream was amazing but I messed up with the actual cupcakes and forgot the baking powder….. I’ll have to try again lol.
Oh bummer! Yes, try again with baking powder. 🙂
Light, moist & delicious!! Thank you!!
I’m glad you loved them! Thank you for sharing your review!
Hi Nora, can I use cake flour?
Thanks for sharing.
Yes, you can.
how long do these last? in the fridge, as well as out of fridge.
At room temperature they will last a few days, maybe 2-3. In the fridge about a week. You can also freeze them for longer.
Can I add food coloring to the frosting?
Yes, that’s fine.
WOW!!! This recipe was super easy, and delicious! Thank you so much for your whole website! It has made the transition from vegetarian to vegan much more smooth. You’re the best!
Hi Stacie. I’m glad you are loving my recipes! Thank you for taking time to share your review!
Would oat milk work in place of soy milk?
Yes.
Hi, I have a child with a gluten allergy. Can I substitute GF flour for wheat flour???
Yes, it works quite well.
THANK YOU! so easy and so very yummy!
You are welcome! Thank you for sharing your great review!
i have a tree full of meyer lemons. Do you think i can use lemon juice instead of extract?
Lucky you! 🙂 You can, but lemon extract is far more potent, so the cupcakes won’t taste quite as lemony.
This recipe is fantastic!!
I was looking for a vegan cake recipe to make a birthday cake and after one huge failed attempt from another site, I thankfully stumbled upon this one. I made a cake instead of cupcakes and it was by far the best cake of any kind I’ve ever made. It had the texture of a rich pound cake and the icing was light, fluffy and delicious and great for decorating.
I used cake flour, Country Crock plant based stick “butter” and vanilla soy.
I will see if I can post a photo
This is the first vegan cake I’ve ever made but it won’t be the last!
Hi Donna! I’m thrilled you had a wonderful experience with my lemon cupcakes (cake for you)! Thank you for taking time to share your review and comments. I appreciate it! I hope you will check out my other vegan cakes, and let me know how they work for you. Welcome to Nora Cooks, and happy cooking!
The recipe and reviews look great! I am going to make these lemon cupcakes for my daughter’s b-day party! I am wondering if they can be made ahead a day and if they would need refrigeration? Thank you! I’ll let u know how they turn out!
I hope you love them! Yes, you can make them a day ahead of time. I would probably refrigerate them just to make sure the frosting stays very firm and doesn’t melt at all, but they don’t absolutely need it. Hope that helps, and please let me know how they go over! 🙂
Hi Nora, these were so great! I made them for my girlfriend’s veganniversary. I really like the texture of the cakes, as I find most vegan cakes can turn out quite crumbly. Next time I’ll fill the muffin holes a bit more to make them taller. I added some finely chopped rosemary to the batter as I love the lemon & rosemary combi. Thanks so much!
Well hi Nora! Thanks a lot for sharing your review. I’m glad you liked the lemon cupcakes!
I made these cupcakes and they are super yummy.thank you Nora.
I’m glad you loved them! Thank you for sharing your review, Susan!
These are delicious. My son was begging for cupcakes, and when I saw that these were “one bowl”, I threw them together while making dinner. Had to sub lemon juice and zest for lime, but I did have lemon extract on hand. I used oatly low fat in place of soy milk because that’s what I had. I also halved the frosting recipe and dusted them with lime zest. Thanks for a tasty and flexible recipe!
I’m so glad to hear it! I LOVE these cupcakes so much. 🙂
Hi Nora,
I really love your recipes and want to try this one this weekend hopefully, but wondered how this would turn out with 1:1 gluten free baking flour instead? Thank you!
I haven’t tried it but I think it would work fine. Thank you!
This recipe looks great except for how much sugar it uses! Could I substitute the sugar with dates?
Sorry, I’ve never tried it so it would be quite an experiment!
Hi Nora,
I’ve been enjoying your recipes, thank you! I’m trying to limit my oil consumption, wondering if there are any replacements for the vegan butter?
Thank you!
Dahlia
I’m so glad you are enjoying my recipes, thank you! It’s very difficult to substitute vegan butter in cupcakes, it’s what makes the frosting. I don’t have a good recipe for oil free frosting, sorry, but maybe you can find a recipe somewhere else. I also don’t know how to make the cupcakes themselves oil free. You could sub oil, but if you are avoiding it, I’m not sure what else will work.
Thank you for the reply! I know an oil free cream cheese, could that work?
It might, yes!
Great!! Thank you! I’ll try it!!
Awesome & very easy! Made these for my Grandsons 2nd Birthday.
Happy birthday to your grandson! Thank you for sharing, Shelly!
I’ve been using your baking recipes for a couple of years. Your best vegan chocolate cake? People don’t believe it’s vegan; it’s amazing. As I was making this recipe, I subbed the lemon parts with lime parts. The batter was thick, very thick, and I was worried. As I’m freaking out about it, my husband said , “Remember, in this house we trust in Nora.” He’s my official baked goods tester. Cupcakes came out perfect!
I followed your lemon curd recipe and filled my lime cupcakes with those. And made the frosting a lemon-lime. Husband took them to work and now there’s a mutiny on his hands if he doesn’t bring back more.
Hi Antha! Thank you for your incredible review! I feel so honored that I am trusted in your home! I appreciate you, and that you use my recipes! I’m glad these cupcakes turned out delicious for you. They sound really good with the filling and lemon-lime frosting! Thank you!
Made these into rainbow cupcakes and they were delicious! My husband is the only vegan in the house, but we all loved them.
Hi Nichol. I’m glad you all loved them! Thank you!
How did you make them into rainbow cupcakes? I have to know! 🙂
I’ve made this recipe twice and both times turned out wonderful! I used some candied ginger I made for the second batch and put some on top. Really wonderful, thank you!
Hi Megan. I love your candied ginger idea! I’m glad you are enjoying the lemon cupcakes. Thank you!
So both my friend and I have made these cupcakes. And both of us have found the texture to be really wrong – dense, almost like steamed buns. I have never had this issue with any other recipes from you.
But the batter was like custard when it went into the cupcake liners.
It literally steamed.
Any ideas why?
It’s so weird we both have the same issues with this recipe.
Hi Anna! Let’s see if I can help. Are you making any substitutions at all? Are you sure you are measuring everything correctly, and not accidentally adding too much flour? Is your baking powder fresh? Those are good places to start. It shouldn’t be like custard going into the liners, so something is off I think. Many people have made them with success, and I have made then many times myself with no issues, so I’m not sure what’s happening. You can see more photos of people’s remake here on Pinterest as well, and I have never heard of them turning out like buns. Hopefully we can figure out the issue so you can enjoy the cupcakes in their best form. 🙂
As far as I know I am not measuring anything wrong, nor are the ingredients stale. In fact, I also made the chocolate cupcakes yesterday and they came out perfectly.
I used earth balance for butter. And oat milk for the liquid.
Like I said, it felt realllllly liquidy and custard like going into the oven. They took way too long I the oven as well
And like I said, my friend has had exactly the same issue with this recipe
I would love some advice.
The only issue I can think of is that when the “butter milk” when into the batter, it split and curdled a bit.
The big difference between this one and the chocolate one is butter vs oil, baking soda and powder + more liquid in this one.
Any ideas. We have made this multiple times now with the same results.
Are you at a high altitude by any chance? I haven’t used oat milk here, but I can’t imagine that would make a difference, as I typically use all plant milks interchangeably in baking and don’t see a problem. It’s really hard for me to know exactly what’s going on without being there in the kitchen with you. I suppose you could try using soy milk if you can have it, instead of oat milk and see if that helps. The vegan buttermilk should curdle, that is what is supposed to happen so I don’t think that’s an issue. Sorry you are having trouble! Many people have made it with success, as well as myself multiple times so I know the recipe works. I’m just not sure what’s going on here, sorry!
Nope 🙁 not altitude.
I don’t doubt they can turn out magically. Perhaps i can try it one more time and hope for the best 🙂
I really appreciate you trying to help!
Btw cutting the recipe in half shouldn’t affect it l, should it?
Sometimes cutting cake/cupcake recipes in half can have negative effects actually. So if you had done that, definitely try it as written and see if that helps! I hope they turn out good next time if you try them again!
Thank Nora. The recipe is for 18 so with the issues we have had with this recipe I certainly didn’t want to make that many – and use that much butter – it’s so expensive!
But I wlll give it another shot. Thanks again
I understand, and normally that is just fine to do. Just a thought as to why the recipe might not be turning out for you, as sometimes with cakes I do find it makes a difference. Thanks!
Can we use cake flour? If so, how will this change the recipe/ingredients?
Yes, just sub cake flour for the regular flour. They will be even lighter and fluffier.
Favorite cupcake recipe ever! Def a staple and i constantly make it. I use coconut milk and it works just fine.
Do you think this would work as a 6” cake? I’m trying to find a cake recipe for my daughter’s first birthday. She has an egg allergy and I cannot find anyone to make her smash cake.
Yes, that should work! I don’t know how tall you want the cake to be, it might be quite tall in a 6 inch cake.