Vegan Lemon Cupcakes
Vegan lemon cupcakes are moist and light, with a silky smooth lemon buttercream on top! These plant-based treats strike the perfect balance between sweet and tangy. Easy to customize, with a gluten-free option too!
Servings: 12 cupcakes
Calories: 355kcal
Ingredients
Cupcake Batter
- ½ cup oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- 1 cup unsweetened soy milk or unsweetened almond milk
- 1½ cup all-purpose flour or whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 cup sugar
Frosting:
- ½ cup vegan butter, room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2-4 tablespoons unsweetened soy milk
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F / 170 C. Line a 12 hole muffin tray with cupcake liners.
- In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the oil, lemon juice, lemon zest and soy milk.
- In a separate bowl whisk together the remaining ingredients.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir to combine.
- Evenly distribute the batter between the prepared cupcake liners.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15-18 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean.
- Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before topping with frosting.
- To prepare the frosting by placing the vegan butter into a stand mixer and whip until smooth, pale and fluffy.
- Add the lemon zest and slowly add the powdered sugar ½ cup at a time. Whipping in between each addition.
- Finally, add the soy milk to the frosting mixture and whip until desired consistency.
- Pipe the frosting onto the cold cupcakes.
Notes
- If you find the frosting is a bit thick continue to add a little more soy milk.
- Cupcakes can be stored, covered, in the fridge for up 5 days.
- Cupcakes can be frozen for up to 3 months.
- Always use fresh lemon juice and not bottled.
- To make these cupcakes gluten-free substitute the all-purpose flour for gluten-free flour.
- You can reduce the amount of frosting you put on each cupcake by half, if you want a thinner layer of frosting. This will reduce the amount of sugar in each cupcake to 27 grams and the total calories per cupcake to 315 calories.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cupcake | Calories: 355kcal | Carbohydrates: 50g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 1g | Sodium: 113mg | Potassium: 86mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 37g