This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
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!
Tap stars to rate!
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.
I love how light and fluffy these look!
Dear Beth, These cupcakes look beautiful. I love lemon desserts. Pinning. xo, Catherine
I love lemon too!
I love lemon these would be perfect for Easter. Feel free to share your recipe at my weekly party if you like. Hope I get to make the recipe soon.
These are so pretty, Beth! I love how spring-y they are, so perfect for Easter!
Having two dogs, I totally get the sumo wrestling. It is usually sumo mud wrestling in my case. These cupcakes are gorgeous!!
Yes, now that’s it’s spring.. mud sumo wresting makes sense :)
These are so pretty Beth! I love baking with lemons. As for the dogs, you are braver than I! I’m more of a cat person ;)
I think we are more likely to be cat people in the future!
These look so darling Beth! Love the simplicity of them and that little slice of lemon just adds something a little sweet and extra :)
These look incredible Beth! I have a hard enough time hiding treats from my teenage boys, I’m glad I don’t have to deal with a dog thief too. ;)
Dog sitting sounds like the perfect way to get a taste of a pet without having to commit!! I love that you speak dog now :) These cupcakes look delicious! My husband loves lemon desserts, I need to make these for him!
Roof roof roof! In dog speak that means thank you Cate!! :)
Dogs are just like kids… mine eat part of the wrappers too. ;-) And I can’t blame them with these!
Hahaha :)