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All you dog owners out there.. I give you a round of applause!
Ryan and I dog sat this weekend. It was a lot of fun pretending to be dog owners, it gives you a great reason to go for lots of walks.
I did learn that dogs can be silly and finicky. Like when they refuse to keep walking during a walk and all of a sudden the dog becomes a 400 pound sumo wrestler that I can’t manage to move an inch.
I am pretty sure I learned how to speak dog too. It went something like this.. I was standing in the hallway. The dog came over, sat down, and looked at me. I looked at the dog because I was trying to figure out what it wanted. Then the dog looked at it’s leash hanging up on the wall and looked back at me. The dog practically said, “I want to go on a walk please” and I couldn’t refuse those cute doggie eyes.
Dogs and cupcakes.. you’re probably wondering how these two relate. If you have a dog that snatches food off of your table or counter, I’m sure you see the connection :)
A few weeks ago I brought these lemon cupcakes to small group. And Sophie, the dog we watched, snatched an entire cupcake right out of the container. I think she might have even eaten the wrapper. So moral of the story, both dogs and humans like these cupcakes :)
A few tips on making cupcakes:
-Be aware of how full you fill the muffin pan with batter. The batter will puff up when baking, so filling the cups 1/2 full is a safe amount.
-If you are wanting to pipe frosting onto the cupcakes you’ll need a large piping bag and a large piping tip. I like the 2D wilton piping tip, it creates beautiful swirls. If you only have access to a large ziploc bag, you can use that instead of a piping bag.
These are the perfect lemon cupcakes with light lemon buttercream frosting!
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Lemon Cupcakes
Ingredients
Lemon Cupcakes
- 1 ½ cups flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature (1/2 cup)
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup milk
Light Lemon Buttercream
- 1 stick butter, room temperature (1/2 cup)
- ½ cup vegetable shortening
- 2-3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2-4 tsp lemon juice, depending on how strong you like the flavor
Instructions
LEMON CUPCAKES
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, lemon zest, baking powder, and salt, set aside.
- Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Reduce mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture in 3 additions and the milk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix just until combined.
- Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling 1/2 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
LIGHT LEMON BUTTERCREAM
- In a mixing bowl, combine the room temperature butter and shortening, beat using an electric mixer for 2 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- Begin to add in the powdered sugar, about 1 cup at a time. Slowly beat the mixture until the powered sugar is incorporated. Continue this process, adding enough powdered sugar to make sure the frosting isn’t too wet.
- Add in the vanilla and lemon juice, beat until just combined.
- Transfer a portion of the frosting to a large ziploc bag or piping bag. Push or squeeze the frosting down, getting rid of any air pockets. If using a ziploc bag, cut half one corner, making a hole between the size of a dime and a penny.
- Begin to pipe the frosting onto a cupcake, starting with the outside edge and working your way into the center of the cupcake, progressively stacking the frosting as you go around in circles.
- Garnish each cupcake with a lemon slice.
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclosure
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.
So pretty! And I’m a sucker for anything lemon.
I am not a dog owner and at times, I would like one, then I think of all the times I have to go for a walk during the winter and rain. Then I think of the times that we like to leave for the weekend and the dog couldn’t come with. Just doesn’t fit ;) But this cupcakes…gotta love the lemon flavor!
I suggest that you dog sit whenever the desire to buy a dog creeps up.. and that will satisfy you for a while :)
Thanks for this one. I would definitely be using the most amount of lemon :) They sound great.
I like mine lemon-y too!
Yummm! I can see why the dog wanted to eat one! We don’t have a dog but my daughter does and her dog is always trying to snatch food too.
Those sneaky dogs :)
You’re dog sitting adventure sounds a lot like our everyday. We have one and I want another one so bad! I also want about a dozen of these cupcakes. Lemon is the best!
What?! You want another one?!
My Dogs and I both love cupcakes too! I love lemon!
People and dog approved cupcakes, now I know they must be good! Those frosting swirls are perfect!
Thank you Danae!
yes, my dogs eat the wrappers as well :) this is why I started hiding stuff in the microwave – LOVE the lemon
Hahaa, best hiding place ever!!!
Haha, trust me, dogs are amazing! I wouldn’t trade our guy for the world! However, I must admit, I am glad the warmer temperatures are here because I was dreading the walks!
As for the cupcakes, they look amazing!! I adore lemon anything.
I think it would be fun to be a dog owner if I lived in Hawaii, then I’d always want to go to walks :)
These cupcakes are like sunshine on a plate, and that lemon buttercream is SO delicious! I’m dying for one of these right now!
That’s a great way to describe them, sunshine on a plate!