Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
Soft, light and moist lemon cupcakes loaded with fresh blueberries and topped with an easy lemon cream cheese frosting. These Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes are the perfect dessert for spring or summer!
It’s officially been spring for a few weeks now, but it still feels like winter around here. So instead of waiting for warmer weather, I thought I’d bring a little sunshine to your day with these delicious lemon blueberry cupcakes.
If you’ve ever felt intimidated when it comes to making cupcakes, I promise they’re not too difficult. Sure they may take a few extra steps than using a box mix, but the feeling of baking a dessert from scratch is something you just can’t beat.
These cupcakes are also topped with a lemon cream cheese frosting, but I’ve made notes if you want to try these with another frosting!
Recipe Ingredients
This lemon blueberry cupcake recipe features a moist, springy cupcake topped with tangy lemon frosting. Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe:
- All-purpose flour: Spoon and level the flour when measuring it to avoid making dense cupcakes.
- Baking powder: Helps the cupcakes rise in the oven.
- Salt: Enhances the lemon flavor and balances out the sweetness of the batter.
- Eggs: Must be room temperature before being mixed into the batter.
- Vanilla extract: Pure vanilla extract will give the best flavor.
- Butter & Sugar: You’ll cream together your butter and sugar for 4-5 minutes until it’s light in color and fluffy. This incorporates more air into the batter which means softer, lighter cupcakes.
- Lemon Juice & Lemon Zest: Nothing beats fresh lemon juice and lemon zest in a lemon dessert!
- Lemon Extract: The lemon extract adds more lemon flavor to the cupcake batter. You’ll also be using it in the cream cheese frosting. If you don’t have any lemon extract, you can see my baking tips section on how to adjust the recipe.
- Buttermilk: Buttermilk creates a tender crumb and also adds moisture to these cupcakes.
- Blueberries: I haven’t tested this recipe with frozen blueberries, but I imagine that they will work just fine. I would avoid thawing them first and just gently mix the frozen berries into the batter to prevent them from turning your cupcakes purple.
- Cream cheese: For best results, I suggest sticking with full fat brick-style cream cheese so the frosting is thicker and pipes better.
- Powdered sugar: Sweetens the lemon cream cheese frosting without making it grainy.
How to Make Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes
To make these cupcakes, you’ll start by whisking together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. When it comes to measuring your flour, just be sure to spoon and level it instead of scooping it out of the container. If you scoop the flour, it can become packed inside the cup and you can end up with muffins instead of cupcakes.
In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Mix in the eggs, lemon juice, zest, and extracts.
Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients alternating with the buttermilk. Then fold in the fresh blueberries tossed with a little bit of flour.
Divide the batter between 14 cupcake liners and bake until done. Let cool completely before frosting.
How to Make Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
For the lemon cream cheese frosting, you’ll be using some cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and lemon extract.
Since cream cheese frosting tends to be softer than buttercream frosting, I’ve found that lemon extract works much better than lemon juice. You only need about 1 teaspoon of lemon extract to get the flavor of 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and it keeps your frosting thicker so it pipes better.
I find that some brands of lemon extract aren’t quite as strong as other brands, so feel free to add more if you prefer. I really love Nielsen-Massey pure lemon extract, which is what I used in this frosting. If you don’t have any lemon extract, you can just use vanilla extract instead.
If you want to try these with a different frosting, you can use my regular cream cheese frosting recipe or homemade buttercream frosting. If you want a lemon buttercream frosting, try adding 1-2 teaspoons of lemon extract.
Can I Substitute the Buttermilk?
If you don’t have any buttermilk on hand, you can make a DIY substitute in about five minutes.
Can I Make This Recipe as a Cake?
Yes, but you’d need to multiply the recipe to make it work. You can double the cupcake recipe and bake in two 9-inch cake pans. I’m not sure totally sure about the baking time, but I would guess 350°F for 25-30 minutes. I would increase the frosting by 1.5 if you prefer a thicker layer on your cake or want some extra frosting to decorate with.
Baking Tips
- If you don’t have any lemon extract, you may replace it with vanilla extract in the cupcakes and frosting.
- Be sure to toss your blueberries with a little flour before adding them to the cupcake batter. The flour will help keep the blueberries suspended in the batter so they don’t sink to the bottom of your cupcakes.
- Make sure to use brick-style cream cheese instead of cream cheese spread in your frosting. This will create a much thicker frosting that is easier to pipe on your cupcakes.
More Lemon Blueberry Recipes to Try!
- Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake
- Baked Lemon Blueberry Donuts
- Mini Blueberry Lemon Cheesecakes
- Lemon Blueberry Scones
- Blueberry Lemon Bread with Lemon Glaze
Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
For the lemon cupcakes:
- 1 and 1/2 cups (190 grams) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (115 grams) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
- 3 tablespoons (45 ml) fresh lemon juice
- Zest of 2 medium lemons
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) buttermilk
- 3/4 cup (110 grams) fresh blueberries + 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
For the lemon cream cheese frosting:
- 8 ounces brick-style cream cheese softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (115 grams) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 cups (240 grams) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
Instructions
To make the lemon cupcakes:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two standard 12-count muffin pans (or one 24-count muffin pan) with 14 cupcake liners and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using a hand-held mixer, beat the butter and granulated sugar together until light and fluffy (about 4-5 minutes). Mix in each egg one at a time, then the vanilla extract, making sure to mix well after each addition. Add the lemon juice, lemon zest, and lemon extract and mix until well combined. The mixture may look curdled at this point, this is okay.
- Mix in the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the buttermilk making sure to mix well after each addition. Use a rubber spatula or spoon to turn the batter and make sure everything is well combined.
- Toss the blueberries with the teaspoon of flour and gently fold them into the batter.
- Evenly distribute the batter between all 14 cupcake liners, making sure to only fill them about 3/4 of the way full. Bake in separate batches at 350°F for 17-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean and the tops spring back when lightly touched.
- Remove from the oven, then carefully remove the cupcakes from the pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
To make the lemon cream cheese frosting:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using a hand-held mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the butter and mix for about 30 seconds-1 minute until well combined and smooth. Add the powdered sugar and lemon extract and continue mixing until fully combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Pipe the frosting on the cooled cupcakes, serve, and enjoy!
Notes
These were so fabulous! I made them for my daughter’s birthday – she loves blueberries and these cupcakes were a huge hit. I especially loved your reassurance that the batter would be ok even though it looked curdled, that was very helpful. Thanks for a yummy recipe! 🙂
Is there a way to substitute for gluten free flour options?
I haven’t tried it with a gluten-free flour yet. If you’ve had success substituting a certain brand of gluten-free flour 1:1 for all purpose in other recipes, it may work in this one.
Would dried blueberries work here, or so you think that would be texturally wrong? I’ve never reconstituted dried blueberries – but do you think that would be a better idea than to leave them dried? Also, is it absolutely necessary to have them bake just 12 at a time in the oven? I’d like to double the batch and bake all at once – what could I expect to go wrong by doing that?
I haven’t tried it, but I think it would be okay. You could place them in a bowl of warm water for 5 to 10 minutes to rehydrate them. You can also bake more in the oven at once, but you may need to adjust the baking time slightly and rotate the pans.
This sound sooo good!! I have all the ingredients other then the blueberries. Would it be good without the blueberries or can I switch it out with raspberries or blackberries? Or any other add ins? Thank you!!
It would be fine to replace them with raspberries or blackberries! You can also just omit them for plain lemon cupcakes.
These were amazing. Great recipe. Perfect blend of lemon and blueberry. I made them for my mother in law’s birthday and everyone gobbled them up!
Thank you for this recipe, and looks amazing! I’m going to make them for a friend for her birthday this weekend, however she is more of a lemon buttercream frosting fan vs cream cheese frosting. Do you have a recipe for that option with these cupcakes?
You could use my buttercream frosting recipe here and add 1 to 2 teaspoons of lemon extract.
Thank You! Just to clarify, is the lemon extract in place of the 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, or in addition to (include both)?
In place of it 🙂
I made them today, and followed your recipe exactly, using the lemon buttercream frosting. They were an absolute hit, and will make these again and again! Thank You for the recipe and tips!
So happy to hear that, Gretchen!
SO GOOD. I just made them and tried one of them without any frosting yet but omg it’s already so good. It’s already good by itself!!!!!! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe.
These were unreal. They came out quite dense, which I like. Not sure I have ever had cupcakes this dense. When I first mixed the butter and sugar I’m not sure the result was exactly light and fluffy, then I had to let it rest as I was zesting the lemons (with a vegetable peeler and then finely chopping it). Do you think that they came out dense because that is the goal, or could it be because of leaving the butter and sugar combination sitting for a while (roughly 15 mins). I am curious because I quite like the density and would potentially try that ‘technique’ with another recipe. Unless that is a major faux-pas? The flavours were fantastic, I have never made anything so decadent. In case it wasn’t obvious- I’m a novice baker.
Hi, Kristen! It may have been because the butter and sugar wasn’t quite to the light and fluffy stage, which can take about 3 to 5 minutes (depending on the speed of your mixer). If your butter and sugars are mixed together until light and fluffy it will create lighter, softer cupcakes. If they’re not and only just mixed together, the cupcakes can turn out denser.
Made these for my mom’s birthday and they were a huge hit! Her coworkers said one of the best cupcakes they have ever had. Followed the recipe and they turned out perfectly, wouldn’t change a thing. Good thing I doubled recipe because they ate so many ? thank you for such a great recipe
Hi Danielle
I’ve tried your recipes 4 times… I used this recipes become round cake. I have 9 inch pan. I don’t know what did I do wrong… But, the Cake turned dense… it was very delicious but dense… what did I do wrong..? thank you
So sorry the cake turned out dense for you. Did you make any adjustments to the recipe? If not, one reason could be that the batter was over mixed, but it’s hard to say what would have caused it.
Indeed. I made some adjustments. I cut sugar became 1/2 cup ( because I’m not sweet tooth person), I put 1 and 1/2 table spoon lemon ( because my husband is not lemon fans)… I used frozen raspberry instead of fresh raspberry… I used home made buttermilk ( 1/2 milk +1/2 table spoon lemon) …. when you said overmixed batter – which part of that? Is it step 4? What I have done , i am using hand mixer… I put half of mixed dry Ingredients into butter ( wet ingredients) and half of butter milk… so, around 2 times mixing and the last part using spatula ( I’m not quite sure if you understand my explanation) … how should the good method of mixing? What about oven temperature… ? I’ve tried lower down the oven into 325 Fahrenheit… because I thought that my oven is too hot… it didn’t work .. it came out dense too… do you have any video of this recipes that I could check? Thank you sooooo much for your response! I’m really appreciated..!
I think a couple of adjustments you made are likely the reason it turned out dense. If you reduce the sugar it will affect the texture of the cake, I’d recommend using the amount in the recipe. Reducing the lemon juice slightly may have been another small reason, I would recommend adding an extra 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of buttermilk to make up for it. I hope that helps!
Thank you for this fabulous recipe. I have been making a lot of blueberry cupcakes during the lockdown, but I made the last batch following your recipe, minus the frosting, and they are AMAZING, simply the best! They were moist, soft, light and delicious! Sorry they were gone before I could take a picture!!
Do I need to adjust the measurements if I decide not to add blueberries?
You won’t need to adjust any ingredient measurements, but you may want to make 1-2 less cupcakes if you omit the blueberries.
I have just put these in the oven. Is the batter supposed to be on the thicker side? ?
It’s thicker than the cake batter you would get with a box mix 🙂 I hope they turned out great for you!
Could I use Meyer lemons?
That would be fine!
Can i put crushed pineapple instead of lemon and blueberry for pineapple flavoured cupcakes
You may be able to, but you would likely need to adjust some other ingredients if you do that.
What can I use instead of eggs? Have a kid allergic to eggs !
You may be able to use applesauce or flax eggs, but I honestly haven’t tried either one.
Can I halve the ingredients if I want to make half of the batch?
Yes, that would be fine!
Hi Danielle,
Can we use Greek yogurt instead of buttermilk?
I haven’t tried it, but it would likely make the cupcakes denser. You could make a buttermilk substitute with lemon juice/vinegar and milk.
I regularly bake for family and work colleagues so always looking for new ideas. I made this in a single 9 inch round pan and slathered 3/4 of topping on top (full amount seemed too much) just swirling it randomly and then sprinkled more fresh blueberries and lemon rind over. Very homemade look and cuts nicely into 12 wedges. Totally delicious and renamed as Lemon and Blueberry Muffin Cake.!!!…….thank you.
I am a huge lemon-flavored dessert fan so these are right up my alley! I made these last night for my husband and me since I thought it would be a great way to kick off spring and give our taste buds a little treat. Wow! These are so easy and delicious. My husband and I raved about them all night long and this morning. They are going to be on our menu all summer. Thank you so much!
So glad you liked the cupcakes, Emily!
I made these with low-fat buttermilk bc that’s all I could find. They came out a bit dry. Is there something I could use, some oil maybe and in what amount?
You could probably replace a little butter with some oil, but I find that when I use a combination of the two the cake can stick to the liner/pan. It’s possible that they may have been slightly overbaked, that can dry out cupcakes as well.
I need to make 24 cupcakes. Can I double the ingredients and bake 12 at a time (and the rest of the batter will be sitting on the counter top waiting or I should put it in fridge)? I only have a 12 size cupcakes pan.
That would be fine. If you let the batter sit too long, the second batch of cupcakes may not rise quite as much as the first batch. You could always just make two separate batches of the cupcakes too.
I made these for my roommate’s birthday; I didn’t have lemon extract so I used vanilla extract as recommended and topped the frosting with blueberries and lemon zest. My roommate said they were the best cupcakes she’s had in her 24 years of life! Thank you for this incredible recipe!
So happy to hear that, Tori!
the lemon extract isn’t in my grocery store. What could i use instead?
You can use vanilla extract.
If I wanted to use this recipe to make one large cake can you recommend what size tin, oven temp and cooking length?
Hi, Sarah! Do you mean a layered cake? If so, you can double the cupcake recipe and bake in two 9-inch cake pans. I’m not sure on baking time, but I would guess 350°F for 25-30 minutes. I would increase the frosting by 1.5 if you prefer a thicker layer on your cake or want some extra frosting to decorate with.
Perfect, thank you 🙂
Have you ever substituted other fruits, such as blackberries?
I haven’t yet, but I think that other berries would work fine!
Hi, I would like to know the calories of 1 cupcake including the frosting.
I’m not sure on the nutritional info, but you can plug the ingredients into a website like My Fitness Pal to get an estimate.
These cupcakes were fabulous. Flavorful, light and moist. They were a hit at our family barbecue. I will be making them again very soon.
So happy to hear that everyone enjoyed the cupcakes, Shelly!
Hi again, thanks for the tip! Another question: can I store the batter for a few days if I have too much of it?
I wouldn’t suggest storing the batter because once you combine the wet and dry ingredients the baking powder is activated. If you let it sit too long, the cupcakes won’t rise as well. You can bake them all and freeze any leftover cupcakes that you have though 🙂
Could I add the baking soda at the end? If that is what starts the process why not add it at the end by itself?
I haven’t tried it, but you may be able to add the baking powder at the end. If you refrigerate the batter though, it’s going to firm up in the refrigerator and you’ll need to let it come to room temperature to mix in the baking powder properly. For best results, I would just recommend baking all of the cupcakes and freezing any extras.
Hi, great recipe! Can I use normal milk to substitute the buttermilk?
You can make a buttermilk substitute! Just add 1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice to a measuring cup, fill it to the 1/2 cup line with milk, then stir and let it sit for 5-10 minutes.
I made these last night and they were incredible and beautiful!! Great recipe! 🙂
Easy to make. Delicious! I definitely reccomend it
This is such a perfect recipe for the summer!!! I love the combination of lemon and blueberries! So good!
Thank you, Samina!
Can I use frozen blueberries? These look so yummy
Yes, that would be fine. I would leave them frozen, no need to thaw them, and just gently stir them into the batter.