These moist lemony cupcakes have a surprise berry in the middle. Creamy lemon frosting rounds out these delicious Mini Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes!
A homemade mini lemon cupcake with a hidden raspberry inside, lemon buttercream frosting, topped with a fresh raspberry, in a bite sized cupcake equal #adorable!
We love the 101 series on Cupcakes from our friends at Life As A Strawberry. The series is full of information for mastering all things cupcakes.
- Cupcakes 101: 10 Tips to Bake the Perfect Cupcake - Master tips for baking cupcakes.
- Cupcakes 102: How to Frost the Perfect Cupcake - How to use a piping bag to create beautiful frosted cupcakes. Includes info on different size and style of piping tips.
- Cupcakes 103: 14 Ways to Decorate Cupcakes Like a Pro - Full of fun and amazing decorating ideas plus beautiful photos!
- Cupcakes 104: How to Store and Freeze Cupcakes - Tips to store and freeze both unfrosted and frosted cupcakes.
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Ingredients
Making lemon cupcakes from scratch is easy with this lemon cupcake recipe. A few basic ingredients, some fresh lemon and you are good to go. We mix it up with a hidden berry surprise for a special treat!
- Pantry Staples - Sugar, flour, powdered sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Baking Staples - Unsalted butter, eggs, vanilla extract, salt, and milk.
- Fresh Lemon - Lemon zest, fresh lemon juice, and lemon extract together give a burst of lemon flavor.
- Raspberries - Fresh raspberries and lemon are a great combo.
Basic Steps for Making Mini Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes
Mix sugar, lemon zest, and melted butter in a bowl (image 1). Add egg and mix until combined (image 2). Stir in flour, baking power and soda, salt, milk, and lemon juice and mix until all dry ingredients are combined (image 3). Set up your prepared mini muffin tin with your batter and cookie scoop (image 4).
Scoop batter into prepared muffin pan until ⅔ - ¾ full (image 5). Press a raspberry down into the batter in each muffin cup (image 6).
Place in a preheated oven and bake until golden brown.
Equipment We Used
Use a mini muffin cupcake pan and mini cupcake liners or skip the liners and use a silicone mini muffin pan. Whatever you use, make sure to cool the cupcakes on a wire rack when done baking.
Since these are mini cupcakes with a fairly small amount of ingredients, we recommend mixing these by hand or with a hand mixer (our favorite).
Fresh lemon zest is the best in this lemon cupcakes recipe and a microplane zester makes zesting the lemon a breeze. We definitely recommend doing this before juicing the lemon - YES, we have messed up and done it after and it is not fun!
We used a piping bag and large round tip to frost the cupcakes. The back of a spoon or a knife also works.
Frosting
Pretty sure you have realized we LOVE lemon! We double down on lemon flavor and frost the cupcakes with lemon buttercream frosting. Reduce the lemon-i-ness of these by using a vanilla buttercream frosting or cream cheese frosting instead.
There are so many ways to frost a cupcake and we love Cupcakes 102: How to Frost the Perfect Cupcake for a breakdown of piping tips and how to use them. We used a piping bag and large round tip to frost some of these cupcakes and a spoon to frost others. They all taste great! Of course we love the raspberry on top. So cute and adds an extra burst of raspberry.
Favorite Riffs
These cupcakes are LEMONY! If you aren't as lemon crazy as we are, reduce the zest, lemon extract, or lemon juice in the recipe. Substituting a vanilla buttercream frosting will also reduce the lemon flavor.
Substitute blueberries for a lemon blueberry cupcake or make simple lemon cupcakes with no berries!
Storing Mini Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes
Since these cupcakes have fresh fruit, we like to store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator, they will last in for up to 5 days. Remove from the fridge about 20 minutes before serving so they come to room temperature.
Other Favorite Sweet Recipes
FAQ's
If you want to freeze these cupcakes we recommend not frosting them. Let them cool COMPLETELY and place them in an airtight container. While they will be good frozen for up to 3 months, we think they are better if eaten within a month. To serve, remove from the freezer and let thaw. If thawing them in the container, wipe any moisture from the container as they thaw to help prevent them from getting sticky.
You don't have to refrigerate these cupcakes, but since they contain fresh fruit, we like to keep them refrigerated until ready to serve. Remove them at least 20 minutes before serving so they come to room temperature.
📖 Recipe
Mini Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 24-30 mini cupcakes
Description
Simple lemon cupcakes with a raspberry surprise inside! Mini size for a delicious bite sized treat. A perfect addition at Easter, Mother's Day, or a casual backyard party.
Ingredients
FOR THE CUPCAKES
- ½ cup sugar (100 grams)
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest (zest from one large lemon)
- ¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 egg
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ teaspoon lemon extract
- ¾ cups all-purpose flour (90 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- ⅓ cup milk
- 50-60 raspberries
- mini cupcake liners
FOR THE LEMON BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
- 3 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 ¾ cups powdered sugar (may need more or less, depending on the consistency you want. We like our frosting pretty thick.)
- 2-3 tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
FOR THE CUPCAKES
- Heat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Line mini muffin pans with cupcake liners.
- In a large bowl stir together sugar, lemon zest, and melted butter. Use a hand mixer, stand mixer, or mix by hand until well mixed.
- Add the egg, vanilla, and lemon extract. Mix on low speed just until combined.
- Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to the bowl. While mixing on low speed, add lemon juice and milk.
- Pour or scoop the cupcake batter into your liners, filling each liner about ⅔ of the way full. We like using a small cookie scoop for this, size #60 or ½ ounce for consistency.
- Gently press 1 raspberry into each cupcake until the top is barely showing
- Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-12 minutes, until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes come out clean.
- Remove cooked cupcakes to a wire rack and let them cool completely before frosting, usually at least 30 minutes.
FOR THE LEMON BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
- In a medium bowl, cream together soft butter and half of the powdered sugar. (This is easy to do with a spoon by hand but also works great with an electric hand mixer).
- Add 2 Tablespoons lemon juice and mix.
- Add remaining powdered sugar as needed until your frosting has achieved your desired consistency.
- Add additional lemon juice if frosting is too thick or additional powdered sugar if it is too thin.
- Frost your cupcakes, top with another raspberry (optional), and enjoy!
Notes
Substitutions: These cupcakes ARE lemony! Not a super fan of lemon (like we are) reduce the zest in the cupcakes and frost them with a plain Vanilla Buttercream Frosting or a cream cheese frosting. They will still be delicious with a more subtle hint of lemon. Use blueberries instead of raspberries.
Frosting. Use a piping bag and tip, back of a spoon, or a knife to frost the cupcakes. For frosting tips and ideas we recommend Cupcakes 102: How to Frost the Perfect Cupcake. Add a single raspberry to the top of each frosted cupcake for a cute finish.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 mini cupcake
- Calories: 170
- Sugar: 14.4 g
- Sodium: 38.8 mg
- Fat: 3.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 35.4 g
- Protein: 3.6 g
- Cholesterol: 11.1 mg
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