These spongy and moist lemon poppy seed cupcakes are a lemon lover's dream come true! We've got the delicious combination of fresh, tangy, and soft lemon cupcakes studded with crunchy bites of poppy seeds all topped off with a silky cream cheese frosting. What's not to love??
how to make lemon poppy seed cupcakes
1. Whisk together dry ingredients. Set aside.
2. Cream together butter, oil, sugar, and lemon zest. Adding the lemon zest at this stage really helps bring out the lemony flavor (the friction created from whipping lemon zest with sugar helps draw out the zest's natural oils - that's where all the flavor comes from!)
3. Whisk eggs in one at a time. Beat well after the first egg before adding in the next egg. Then mix again until the egg fully disappears.
4. Alternate mixing in the dry ingredients and the remaining wet ingredients. Start with ⅓ of the dry ingredients, followed by milk, another ⅓ of dry ingredients, sour cream and lemon juice, and then end off with the remaining ⅓ of dry ingredients. Mix well after each addition to combine, but take care not to overmix!
5. Portion into a cupcake tin and bake. Cool the cupcakes before frosting.
6. Make the frosting: Cream together cream cheese and butter until combined, then mix in the remaining frosting ingredients until light and airy.
7. Decorate! Frost the cooled cupcakes and (if desired) top with poppy seeds and lemon zest.
how to fill cupcake cups
This may seem like an insignificant step that shouldn't really need much explanation, but it's actually very important to ensuring you have perfectly domed tops to your cupcakes!
Underfilled cupcake cups will lead to flat tops and a slightly denser cupcake. Overfilled cups will cause the cupcakes to spill over the edges then sink in the centers as they cool. Neither one leads to a terrible tasting cupcake, but they definitely aren't the prettiest.
You can see here the difference between an overfilled cupcake cup (left photo) vs a perfectly filled cup (right photo):
Both cupcakes were made using the same batch of batter, on the same day, and in the same temperature oven - so you can really see just how important it is to fill the cupcake cups properly! Cupcake liners should be filled no more than about ⅔ or ¾ of the way full for a perfect little dome on top of your cupcakes.
how to decorate lemon poppy seed cupcakes
Cream cheese frosting is softer than buttercream, so you won't get the exact same sharp lines. That being said, a little trick I like to use to firm up cream cheese frosting enough to pipe more intricate details is to pop it into the fridge for about 30 to 60 minutes. As it chills, the butter and cream cheese firm up slightly and it begins to more closely resemble buttercream in texture. I prefer this strategy over adding more powdered sugar because this keeps the frosting perfectly sweet.
If the frosting chills for too long, it will become difficult to spread. So if that does happen, just set it out at room temperature again to soften slightly.
If you want to use softer cream cheese frosting, you can just drop a scoop of frosting on top of the cupcakes and use a spoon or spatula to create a little wispy swirl. Serve the cupcakes plain or topped with some poppy seeds and/or lemon zest (I used this OXO lemon zester to create slightly longer strands of zest for the tops but you can use a regular microplane zester or just skip the zest entirely).
more cupcake tips
- use fresh lemons! It makes all the difference in flavor!
- measuring flour: Flour is best measured by weight with a food scale, but if you do prefer to use cups, it's important to measure the flour using the spoon and level method. Avoid scooping the measuring cup directly into the bag of flour - this can pack in a ton of excess weight worth of flour!
- use room temperature ingredients: Cold ingredients will NOT want to mix in together. Not only is it more difficult to whip up the batter, but it can also lead to textural problems with your cupcakes.
- mixing the batter: Avoid overmixing the batter (especially after adding in the final round of dry ingredients). This can overwork the gluten and deflate the air bubbles, leading to a dense, dry, and sad little cupcake!
- baking: Overbaked cupcakes will (obviously) end up dry, so do watch out for that as they sit in the oven. Also keep in mind that the residual heat from the cupcake tin will continue to dry out the cupcakes, so don't let them sit in there for too too long after baking.
- cooling: It's important to cool the cupcakes completely to room temperature before frosting (otherwise the frosting will melt into a soupy mess). Cool for a few minutes in the tin (just so they firm up slightly and are easier to trasnfer) then move onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
- frosting: The best cream cheese to use for frosting is the kind that's sold in blocks or bricks! Cream cheese spread is too soft and will lead to an overly soft frosting.
check out these other lemon recipes!
• Gooey Lemon Cookie Bars
• Fresh Lemon Tiramisu
• Lemon Brownies
• Lemon Curd Cake
Lastly, if you made this or any of my recipes, be sure to leave a comment and review below! I love hearing your thoughts! Also tag me on Instagram @eatsdelightfulblog so I can see what you're making.
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Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcakes
- Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
- Yield: 16 cupcakes
Description
These spongy and moist lemon poppy seed cupcakes are a lemon lover's dream come true! We've got the delicious combination of fresh, tangy, and soft lemon cupcakes studded with crunchy bites of poppy seeds all topped off with a silky cream cheese frosting. What's not to love??
Ingredients
For the lemon poppy seed cupcakes:
- 1 & ¾ cups (210g) all-purpose flour, spoon and leveled
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup (60g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¼ cup (60mL) vegetable oil, or any neutral flavored oil *see notes
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest (about 2 lemons worth)
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- ⅔ cup (160mL) whole milk, room temperature
- ¼ cup (60g) full-fat sour cream, room temperature
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
For the cream cheese frosting:
- 6 ounces (170g) full-fat cream cheese block, room temperature
- 12 tablespoons (180g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 5 cups (650g) powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- lemon zest and poppy seeds (optional - for topping)
Instructions
Make the lemon poppy seed cupcakes:
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line 2 cupcake tins with 16 liners and set aside. You can also bake them in batches in the same cupcake tin, but make sure to allow the tin to cool completely before filling with the second batch.
- In a medium sized bowl, combine flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine butter, oil, sugar, and lemon zest. Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a whisk by hand, cream together until light and fluffy. This will take about 1 minute on medium speed or 2 minutes by hand.
- Add eggs in, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Mix in about ⅓ of the dry ingredients to combine. Add all of the milk and whisk to combine.
- Mix in another ⅓ of the dry ingredients followed by the sour cream and lemon juice. Finish off by whisking in the remaining dry ingredients until just combined. Take care not to over mix!
- Scoop the batter into your prepared cupcake tin, filling each cup no more than about ⅔ of the way full. Overfilled cupcake cups will cause the centers to cave in - still delicious, but not super pretty.
- Bake the cupcakes in the center of your preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs but no wet batter.
- Cool the cupcakes for about 10 minutes in the tin, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling completely before frosting.
Make the cream cheese frosting:
- In a large bowl, combine cream cheese and butter. Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together until combined and lump free.
- Sift in powdered sugar and add vanilla and salt. Mix together on low speed until the sugar is dissolved, then increase your mixer speed to medium-high and whip until smooth and fluffy.
- If the frosting is too soft, you can pop it into the fridge for 30 to 60 minutes or until firmed up to your desired consistency. If the frosting is too thick, thin it out with a splash of milk.
- Frost your cooled cupcakes and top with poppy seeds and lemon zest if desired. Then dig in!
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Bake Time: 15 minutes
Enjoy!
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