You are going to love these simple, from scratch, Gluten-Free Lemon Cupcakes. This bakery-style cupcake is tender and has the perfect amount of lemon.
If you are looking for more gluten free cupcake recipes you might like my gluten free chocolate cupcakes. For more desserts check out my Gluten Free Desserts Recipes.
Gluten Free Lemon Cupcakes
These gluten-free lemon cupcakes are wonderful and will melt in your mouth. They are topped with a fluffy lemon butter cream frosting, adding just the right amount of tang for anyone who loves lemon desserts.
I originally posted this gluten-free cupcake recipe in April of 2014. My photography has improved by leaps and bounds over the past years, and I am having so much fun redoing photos for my recipes. I really want the photos to show you how wonderful these Gluten-Free Lemon Cupcakes are.
When I originally posted this recipe, I only took one photo. Over the years I've learned that people eat with their eyes, meaning the more photos the better! Within reason, of course.
Have you ever been to site that has ten to fifteen photos on each page? That's a bit too much for even me. I like to have three or four different shots of the recipe, showing different angles. And because that's what I like, I tend to now include three or four photos of the recipe in the post. If you don't want to see my lovely photos, simply scroll down.
These gluten-free lemon cupcakes are one of my all-time favorite gluten-free cupcake recipes. They are simple, fresh, and I just love the burst of lemon flavor you get with them.
Is lemon juice and lemon extract the same?
It's not the same. Lemon juice is acidic and can't be replaced with extract which is usually alcohol based. Similarly, fresh lemon juice and bottled juice react differently. In many cases bottled lemon juice causes batter to get rubbery. If a recipe calls for fresh lemon juice, use fresh lemon juice or you risk ruining the batter.
Gluten-Free Lemon Cupcakes
These Gluten-Free Lemon Cupcakes are MAGICAL! They have just the right amount of lemon that leaves you with a sweet and tangy finish and the frosting is second to none. Every time I bring these cupcakes to a party or a BBQ people tell me how refreshing they are.
Kids fight over them. Adults dive for them as soon as the plate hits the counter. I am lucky my family even lets me take them out of the house. Maybe it's because lemon is such a happy flavor, or maybe it's because lemons are yellow and yellow is a bright color, but lemon anything is a favorite of mine.
Just in case you were wondering, these cupcakes are neighbor tested and approved.
How to make gluten-free lemon cupcakes
There are a couple of tips and tricks to getting the right texture with gluten-free cupcakes. First, you have to follow the recipe. So many people comment on recipe posts saying that they made a ton of substitutions and the recipe didn't turn out. Other than the dairy substitute, I haven't tried other substitutes in this recipe. If you use substitutions, you are doing so at your own risk.
Second, you want to mix at the right time and not over-mix. When you are beating the oil, sugar, and eggs you'll want to beat it for the time listed. This adds air which in turn helps the cupcakes rise. Once you add your flour mixture, you'll only want to beat until combined. Beating any longer will cause the batter to stiffen.
Why did my gluten-free lemon cupcakes explode?
First off, you may have overfilled the cupcake wells. Never fill more then ¾ of the way full, and it's best to stick to around ⅔'s of the way full. I use a ¼ measuring cup to fill mine. Another reason could be that you added too much leavening agent, or that you are at higher elevation. Baking powder tends to work twice as hard at higher elevations. Consider cutting your baking powder in half if you are at a higher elevation.
These tips are relevant to most cupcake recipes, not just these Gluten-Free Lemon Cupcakes.
Working with Gluten-Free Flours
When working with or measuring gluten-free flour, spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level. Do not scoop your measuring cup into the gluten-free flour. The best method really is to weigh the gluten-free flour it but I don't have the ingredient weights for all my recipes yet.
What other milk can I use?
For this recipe I used almond milk, which is a dairy-free milk. You can use regular milk or you milk of choice.
If you like these gluten-free lemon cupcakes you might also like my Gluten-Free Vanilla Cupcakes. If you make this recipe please stop back by and let me know what you thought.
Did you make these gluten free lemon cupcakes? Please stop back by and let me know what you thought in the comments below.
Gluten-Free Lemon Cupcakes
You are going to love these simple, from scratch, Gluten-Free Lemon Cupcakes.
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 1 ¼ cups gluten-free flour (I used Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 gluten-free flour)
- 1 ½ teaspoons gluten-free baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup oil
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon gluten-free vanilla extract
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from 1 medium lemon, not lemon juice from a bottle)
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest (from the same lemon)
- ½ cup milk (or dairy-free milk)
For the frosting:
- ½ cup butter (1 stick), room temperature (or dairy-free butter)
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons of lemon juice (or 1 teaspoon lemon extract)
- 3-4 tablespoons milk (or dairy-free milk), as needed
Instructions
- For the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a 12-serving cupcake pan with paper liners; set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, with an electric beater, beat oil and sugar for one minute. Add eggs one at a time, beating in between each egg. Stir in vanilla extract, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
- Add the flour mixture and milk to the wet ingredients and mix just till combined. Don’t over mix!
- Divide batter among liners, filling ⅔ full (about ¼ cup of batter per cupcake).
- Bake for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool completely before frosting.
- For the frosting: Beat butter until creamy. Add lemon juice or extract and beat till combined. Beat in 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time until it’s all added, alternating with 1 tablespoon of milk. Add more or less milk for desired consistency.
- Store cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to four days.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1 cupcakeAmount Per Serving: Calories: 416Total Fat: 18gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 53mgSodium: 188mgCarbohydrates: 61gFiber: 1gSugar: 49gProtein: 3g
chrystal
Hello Stacey! I'm so glad you enjoyed them. Your version with strawberry icing sounds wonderful!
All the best,
Chrystal
Bev
Absolutely DELICIOUS!!! These came out SO moist! Thank you!!
chrystal
Hi Bev,
Thank you for letting me know 🙂 So glad they turned out!
Best,
Chrystal
Annita
These look sooooo delicious. How many cupcakes does the recipe make?
chrystal
This recipe makes 12. 🙂
Amber
12 for the lemon, but the chocolate upcake recipe from this site makes 24. They're both excellent; moist but not crumbly and with wonderful flavor.
chrystal
Hi Amber,
Thank you for stopping by and letting me know you like both cakes 🙂
Best,
Chrystal
Queta Reynolds
I made these last night and they are a hit. I am not a big lemon person, but these are delicious, the lemon is not over powering!!! Thank you for sharing your recipes. Trying the Gluten Free Lime Mojito ones next!!!
chrystal
Hi Queta,
Thank you so much for stopping by and letting me know you loved them!
Best,
Chrystal
Natalie
These cupcakes look so good! I love lemon cupcakes ♥
Kortney
Oh I would love to see the original pictures to see how your photography has changed/improved. These are truly the perfect sunny cupcake 😀
chrystal
Haha. It was just one small photo of a cupcake outside on the patio 😉 Nothing glamorous.
Best,
Chrystal
Amanda
I am a big lemon person. I can't wait to try this recipe. The blackberry on top is the perfect bit of bling for these cupcakes!
Nicole Dawson
I can't believe how light and fluffy these cupcakes look. I'm wishing I had one right now.
Celeste Noland
I love all your cupcakes and muffins, they turn out amazing every time! Can't wait to try these!
Kelly
I love lemon and these little cupcakes look like the best bite! It's a perfect spring treat.
Andrea
These cupcakes look soo good. I am into everything with lemon and I really like the frosting. Cannot wait to give them a try 🙂
Cindy
I made these for my daughter’s birthday...they are delicious! One question is it normal for the cupcake liner to be wet next day? My first time to make gluten free cupcakes
chrystal
Hi Cindy,
I am so glad you like them! Sometimes the liner will be moist the next day depending on the weather/moisture in the air, if you put them in a container when they were warm, etc. It's nothing to worry about. Hope that helps!
Best,
Chrystal
Kristina
ahh, these are stunning! I love lemon, I cannot wait to try this one!
Kaila (The Wanderlust Celiac)
I love the lemon flavor in the cupcakes, including the use of zest. They're decorated so beautifully as well. Each one is it's own masterpiece!
Patricia
In this recipe you specify all purpose gluten free flour. Can I use bob red mill 1.1 gluten free flour.
chrystal
Hi Patricia, for the all purpose, it's a link to my gluten-free flour blend. You can also use bob's red mill 1-to-1 in this recipe. It works really well 🙂
Best,
Chrystal
Amanda
Could the oil be coconut oil? Could the sugar be coconut sugar?
chrystal
Hi Amanda,
You can use coconut oil, but I haven't tried coconut sugar in these cupcakes yet.
Best,
Chrystal
Heather
Would these cupcakes work as filled cupcakes? I’m wanting to do lemon cupcakes with lemon curd filling and a cream cheese frosting.
chrystal
Hi Heather,
Yes, you can add filling to these cupcakes 🙂
Best,
Chrystal
Heather
Have you tried freezing these? Would it lock in moisture like with a regular cake?
chrystal
Hi Heather,
These cupcakes freeze well 🙂 It does lock in the moisture.
Best,
Chrystal
April
I was tasked with making six dozen GF cupcakes for a catering job I was helping with this weekend since our usual chef was incapacitated following a surgery. We already had raspberry cream cheese frosting, so our chef suggested that a lemon sponge would be perfect. This café usually offers GF desserts that I find less than delightful texture-wise and taste-wise. One of the staff asked me “couldn’t you make some regular cupcakes, too, with gluten?” I promised her that I would not serve a cupcake if it didn’t taste and feel like a cupcake, that I would bet she would have no idea it was GF if I didn’t tell her! The only problem? I’ve never made a lemon Gf cake! So I scoured recipes and found this one (honestly, it was my second choice—the first one called for xanthan which I didn’t think the café had.) It seemed promising, both your description and the photos were what I wanted. Still, I was cautious—I made one batch as a test. I tasted the cupcake while it was still warm. It seemed rather eggy, but it was definitely not heavy nor did it have the weird aftertaste GF baked goods often have. I decided eggy was better than nothing, and went ahead to make the other 5 dozen cupcakes. This morning as I packed the cupcakes to take to the event, I had four that wouldn’t fit in the containers. I decided to eat one, and oh my goodness!!! They were perfect! The eggy-ness was totally gone, the crumb was beautiful, delicate, light, moist little cakes of the perfect amount of lemon! There was absolutely no way anybody would think these GF cupcakes after one bite! In fact, several people did come back to the serving table to confirm that they were GF!
I apologize for the long post, but I had to explain how much was riding on the success of these cupcakes! (And our usual chef kept the recipe for future use!). Thank you!
chrystal
Hi April,
Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know that they were a hit 🙂
All my best,
Chrystal
Helen
Can you advise what kind if oil I can use? Thanks
chrystal
Hi Helen,
You can use vegetable oil or avocado oil in this recipe. I haven't tried coconut oil in it yet.
Best,
Chrystal
Heather
Would this recipe work as a cake? BTW, I made the cupcakes and filled them with lemon curd and they were a HUGE hit! Really hoping this will work as a cake
chrystal
Hi Heather,
I'm so glad you like it! I have a cake version, that is slightly different, at https://www.glutenfreepalate.com/gluten-free-lemon-cake/
Thank you for stopping by and leaving a review.
Best,
Chrystal
Karin
Have you made them as mini cupcakes? I was wondering how long to bake them?
chrystal
Hi Karen,
If you make mini cupcakes, I would start with 9 minutes and watch for doneness. Depending on the size of your mini cupcake pan, they should take up to 13 minutes.
Best,
Chrystal
Erin
Hi,
Do you know if substituting margarine for the oil would work?
chrystal
Hi Erin,
I haven't tried margarine in this recipe. I'm not sure how it would work. Sorry I couldn't be more help.
Best,
Chrystal
Selin
Hello Chyristal,
I came upon your recipie on Pinterest. First I was gping to do the vanilla bean cupcake but saw this lemon version and give it a try. OMG ! I want to give you a real hug. I love when people give accurate delicious recipies..
This cupcake was a surprise for my motherinlaw who started to eat gluten free and it is slowly growing on me too. And these cupcakes turn out super yummy. I cannot wait to see their face tonight when they eat theae birthdy cupcakes and realise it is glutenfree and yummy..
Thanks a million..
Love from London
Selin
chrystal
Hi Selin,
Thank you so much for stopping by and letting me know you love these cupcakes. Your comment made my day! I recommend trying my vanilla ones too, next time you bake. They are a favorite as well.
Hugs,
Chrystal
Martha
I made these today as a test for my daughter’s wedding. I am doing a variety of desserts and these will be mini. They are delicious!! In your pictures the cake is very white. Mine is very yellow. I used organic canola oil and can’t think of a reason mine are not white. Just wondering. It doesn’t matter I guess, but I know she would like them pure white. Thanks for a delicious gluten free option. It rarely happens.
chrystal
I am so glad you like them. Thank you for stopping by to let me know. Yes, it's okay if yours are more yellow than mine. Sometimes the eggs are darker and creature an orange color to the cake.
Best,
Chrystal
Karen
These were amazing. Took them to our ladies weekend and they were gone in no time. I did have leftover frosting and was wondering if I could freeze it. I used goat butter and milk in my frosting as I'm allergic to cow's protein.
chrystal
Hi Karen,
I am so glad you liked them! I haven't used goat butter and milk in frosting, so I'm not sure how well it would freeze in the frosting. If you do freeze it, when you are ready to use it bring it to room temperature and whip it a little.
Best,
Chrystal
GG
These cupcakes were oily. Did I do something wrong? Thanks.
chrystal
Hi GG,
These cupcakes shouldn't have been oily. Did you use fresh lemon juice (not bottled)? Sometimes bottled lemon juice creates a reaction that causes baked goods to gummy or oily. Also what flour blend did you use?
Best,
Chrystal
Norma J. S.
Hi Chrystal. I made a test batch of the cupcakes before making them for a desert party this summer. I used NOT from concentrate lemon juice (from Italy) and not the bottled one. Honestly I was a bit lazy. The cupcakes taste wonderful but the centers are a tad gummy. I couldn't figure it out until I read this comment and your reply. This summer I will make them with the real thing! Thank you for the recipe and for responding to each of the comments. Norma
chrystal
Hi Norma,
Thank you for stopping by! Yes, using bottled lemon juice can cause it to be gummy because of the acidity level and how its processed. It's best to use real lemon juice.
All my best,
Chrystal
Liz
Hi there! Looking forward to making these for Easter. How much lemon juice is needed for the frosting? It didn’t state how much to use for frosting
chrystal
Hi Liz,
The ingredients for the frosting is right under the cupcake ingredients 🙂 It states how much, 2 tablespoons or juice. There is a lemon extract option too. Hope that helps.
Best,
Chrystal
Ken Pearce
Made your recipe for gluten free lemon cupcakes this afternoon to see how they come out. Came out great! Probably one of the better gluten free recipes I have used over the past 4-5 years. Since we live at 6,500 feet of elevation I made four changes to your recipe. They included temperature, baking powder, liquid and sugar. Cupcakes came out nice and light with a very nice texture and only slightly moist. Thank you! I will probably make them again for my piano class some day. Sincerely, Ken, an 84 year old baker person.
chrystal
Hi Ken,
I am so glad you liked it and were able to make it work at your elevation. Thank you for stopping by to share. Have a great weekend!
Best,
Chrystal