With a soft and tender crumb, these lemon poppy seed cupcakes are a must bake for citrus season. Easy to make with sour cream, melted butter, lemon juice and crunchy poppy seeds. Frosted with a simple, light and airy lemon mascarpone frosting.
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These bakery worthy lemon poppy seed cupcakes are bursting with lemon flavor! They are moist and simple to make. You should have the cupcakes baked in about 30 minutes. Then they need to cool before you make the frosting, which should take less then 10 minutes.
Since we are all busy, this cupcake recipe mixes up with a whisk and a spatula, like my olive oil cupcakes and lemon pistachio cake. While I do recommend a mixer for the mascarpone frosting, you could do that with just a whisk if you wanted an arm workout!
The crunch of the poppy seeds is a nice contrast to the soft cupcake and the whipped lemon mascarpone frosting is light and not too sweet.
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🍋 ingredient notes
Please scroll to the printable recipe card at the end of this post for the full list of ingredients and baking directions.
I wanted this lemon cupcake recipe to be less fussy, like my lemon snack cake. So I tested it with melted butter and mixed it by hand. I had to adjust the amount of poppy seeds to reach the desirable tender cupcake texture with the right amount of crunch. I went heavy in the initial test, but it led to a tougher cupcake. If you like an even lighter cupcake, reduce the poppy seeds to one tablespoon.
Use room temperature ingredients. Depending on the temperature of your kitchen you will want to pull out the milk, sour cream and eggs about 2 hours before baking. My kitchen is on the cooler side, so I usually go 2-3 hours before baking.
Lemons ~ for the best flavor, use fresh lemons (washed and dried) for the zest and lemon juice. Lemon zest provides a ton of flavor! Squeeze the lemons for the fresh juice after you have zested them (this Microplane zester is my favorite!). Typically one medium-large lemon will yield one tablespoon of zest and about 2-3 tablespoons of juice.
Poppy seeds ~ If you have access to buying poppy seeds in the bulk section of your grocery market it tends to be the least expensive way to buy them. And if you have to buy a larger amount, you can bake lemon poppy seed shortbread, grapefruit poppy seed cake or orange poppy seed donuts with your extras.
Sour cream ~ use full-fat sour cream at room temperature for the best results. If some water separates from the sour cream, just stir it back into the sour cream before adding it to the recipe. Sour cream helps to bring extra moisture, creating a soft and tender lemon poppy seed cupcakes.
🧁 how to make tender homemade cupcakes
Melt the butter and set aside to cool slightly.
Then preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare a 12 count muffin pan with cupcake/muffin liners. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, baking soda and kosher salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, use your clean hands to work the lemon zest into the granulated sugar.
Then whisk together the lemon sugar, eggs, vanilla and sour cream until well combined.
Then whisk in the butter and lemon juice.
Once combined whisk in the milk.
Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix with a spatula until just fully combined. The batter is on the thick side.
Divide the batter evenly between the 12 cupcake liners. They will be about ⅔ full.
Bake for 16-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean.
Allow the lemon poppy seed cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.
🥣 how to make lemon mascarpone frosting
Add the mascarpone, confectioners' sugar and vanilla to a bowl.
With a hand mixer or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat until smooth and creamy.
Now add the heavy whipping cream and beat until soft/medium peaks. Gently fold in the lemon zest with a spatula.
Spoon or pipe the lemon mascarpone frosting on the cupcakes. If desired, garnish with more poppy seeds and/or lemon zest.
🫙 storage tips
The freezer is your best friend when wanting to bake easy lemon poppy seed cupcakes ahead of time. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely, then store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let the cupcakes defrost, then decorate them.
I often will bake cupcakes the day before I need them. Then I freeze them overnight to lock the moistness in and decorate them the day I am serving.
Lemon poppy seed cupcakes can be stored at room temperature with the whipped lemon mascarpone frosting for up to two hours. They can also be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, but they will be more prone to drying out.
The cupcakes can be frozen in an airtight container for 2-3 months. Allow them to defrost at room temperature before serving. I freeze mine with frosting all the time!
Remember to snap a picture and tag me on Instagram if you make these easy moist Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcakes. It warms my heart to see you bring these recipes to life! Thank you for being here and happy baking!
If you make this recipe {or any recipe!} from two sugar bugs please come back and leave a review and a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star rating. I read every comment, and I LOVE hearing from you!
📖 recipe
Easy Moist Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcakes
recipe created and tested by:
I highly recommend using weight (metric) measurements when available for more accuracy and the best results.
Please note
When using 2x or 3x ingredients, the grams in parenthesis DO NOT adjust, you will have to manually do that.
Ingredients
cupcakes
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled (113g)
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (188g)
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds*
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200g)
- lemon zest from 2 medium-large lemons
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup sour cream room temperature (60g)
- ½ cup milk room temperature (120mL)
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (15mL)
lemon mascarpone frosting
- 4 ounces mascarpone cold (113g)
- ¾ cup confectioners' sugar (90g)
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream cold (120mL)
- zest of one lemon
Instructions
- For the lemon poppy seed cupcakes: Melt the butter (½ cup/113g) and set aside to cool slightly.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare a 12 count muffin pan with cupcake/muffin liners. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour (1 ½ cups/188g), poppy seeds (2 tablespoons) baking powder (½ teaspoon), baking soda (¼ teaspoon) and kosher salt (¼ teaspoon). Set aside.
- In a large bowl, use your clean hands to work the lemon zest (from 2 medium-large lemons) into the granulated sugar (1 cup/200g). Then whisk together the lemon sugar, eggs (2 large), vanilla (1 teaspoon) and sour cream (¼ cup/60g) until well combined. Then whisk in the melted and cooled butter (½ cup/113g) and lemon juice (1 tablespoon/15mL) and once combined whisk in the milk (½ cup/120mL).
- Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix with a spatula until just fully combined. The batter is on the thick side.
- Divide the batter evenly between the 12 cupcake liners. They will be about ⅔ full. Bake for 16-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean.
- Allow to cool completely before frosting.
- For the lemon mascarpone frosting: With a hand mixer or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the mascarpone (4 ounces/113g), confectioners' sugar (¾ cup/90g) and vanilla (½ teaspoon) on medium until smooth and creamy. Now add the heavy whipping cream (½ cup/120mL) and beat on low until combined. Then increase the speed to medium and beat until soft/medium peaks, about 2-3 minutes. Gently fold in the lemon zest (from one lemon) with a spatula.
- Spoon or pipe the lemon mascarpone frosting on the cupcakes.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutrition information is based on third-party calculations, is an estimate only and may not be entirely accurate. Actual nutritional values will vary based on brands used and portion sizes.
Michelle says
These lemon poppyseed cupcakes really hit the spot -- had a mad craving for them and happened to have all the ingredients on hand. Super tender, and full of flavor from that lemon mascarpone frosting... so good!
Tasia says
Love this Michelle! Thank you for making them and sharing. That mascarpone frosting is one of my faves!