Description
These soft, moist vegan lemon cupcakes are full of real zesty lemon and filled with a quick dairy free lemon curd. This recipe yields just 6 perfect zesty lemon poppy seed cupcakes for the perfect easy one bowl cupcake recipe!
Ingredients
Scale
- 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp lemon zest, about 1 lemon
- 1/3 cup (65 g) avocado oil
- 1/2 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp poppy seeds
- 1/3 cup (90 mL) dairy free milk, room temperature
- 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
- 1 cup (125 g) all purpose flour
- 1/2 batch vegan cream cheese frosting
- 1/2 batch vegan lemon curd
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350F, and line a cupcake tin with 6 cupcake liners.
- Whisk the wet ingredients: In a medium bowl, add in the sugar and lemon zest. Rub the zest into the sugar with clean hands. This helps release the oils in the lemon for a brighter flavor. Then add in the oil, vanilla extract, baking powder, and sea salt. Whisk until combined.
- Finish the cupcake batter: Add in the flour, dairy free milk, and lemon juice. Whisk just until combined, then add in the poppy seeds and whisk again to evenly distribute.
- Bake: Scoop the cupcake batter into the cupcake tin, filling each cupcake to be about 3/4 of the way full. Bake the cupcakes fro 17-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. *While the cupcakes are baking, start on the lemon curd, following the instructions in the post linked in the ingredients section.
- Cool: Cool the cupcakes fully, along with the lemon curd, before filling.
- Fill the cupcakes: If you’d like to fill the cupcakes with lemon curd, use a butter knife or cupcake corer, and remove a small hole in the tops of each cupcake. Fill with about 1 tbsp of lemon curd per cupcake. Save any extra lemon curd for topping and other treats.
- Frost: Follow the instructions for making vegan cream cheese frosting. Pipe or smear the frosting on top of each cupcake, and top with more lemon curd and poppy seeds if desired.
- Serve and enjoy! Serve immediately or store covered in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Notes
Gluten free: You can make these cupcakes gluten free by swapping in a gluten-free 1:1 baking flour, such as King Arthur Measure for Measure baking flour.
Dairy free milk: You can use almond milk, soy milk, or oat milk here.
Oil: You can also substitute in coconut oil, but the cupcakes might have a coconut flavor, and might be a touch less moist.