Lemon Poppyseed Cupcakes

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Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcakes are bright, zesty, and irresistibly moist, with the perfect balance of tart and sweet. Filled with fresh lemon flavor and speckled with crunchy poppyseeds, they’re topped with a light and fluffy vanilla buttercream frosting. Perfect for spring, or any time you need a citrusy treat!

Lemon poppyseed cupcakes with a white buttercream icing on top, sprinkled with poppy seeds and a fresh lemon wedge on top.

Table of Contents

I love anything lemon, especially when it’s combined with poppy seeds. Our Best Lemon Poppy Seed Cake is a favorite with the whole family. Yet smaller individual desserts are always a hit as well.

This easy lemon poppy seed cupcakes recipe are soft, moist, bursting with citrus flavor, and have that wonderful crunch thanks to poppy seeds. When topped with a smooth vanilla buttercream frosting, it’s the perfect balance of tangy and sweet.

Our Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcake Recipe have spring vibes and a fresh taste that you’ll crave all year long, like our Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes.

Make sure to celebrate spring full, by making these Lemon Curd Thumbprint Cookies Recipes next!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Perfect balance of sweet and tangy – The citrus burst is vibrant and tangy, yet balanced with the sweetness of the cake. For another, try our Key Lime Cake Recipe.
Fluffy and Moist – You’ll love how light and refreshing this sweet treat texture is, as compared to a Chocolate Fudge Cake for example.
Versatile – There’s plenty of room for recipe variations as well as an array of reasons to enjoy whether it’s for a special occasion or not. These make the best spring dessert, birthday cupcake, or a sweet snack.

Total Time: 40 Minutes

Makes: 15

Ingredients and Notes

ingredients on a table to make lemon poppy seed cupcakes such as flour, lemons, sugar, poppy seed, eggs, salt and butter.

Butter – For best results, use softened unsalted butter. If you only have salted butter on hand, you can use it in place of the unsalted butter. Just be sure to omit the salt that this frosting recipe calls for. You can also use vegan butter in its place!
Lemons – Fresh lemons are best because you need the juice, and zest for this recipe.

As always, the full ingredients and recipe is on the printable recipe card at the end of this post.

Recipe Variations

If you’d rather not use almond extract, you can omit this without a change to the other ingredients.
For an even more intense citrus flavor, make lemon poppy seed cupcakes with lemon curd filling and fill with a teaspoon or two of lemon curd. Just use a pairing knife to cut a small well in the top of the baked cupcakes, and spoon in store-bought or make our Easy Homemade Lemon Curd. Continue to frost as directed.

Frosting Variations

For lemon buttercream, use 2 tablespoons of heavy cream and 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice. You can also add a teaspoon of lemon zest for color and more fresh flavor.
Use a Cream Cheese Frosting instead. Either with a lemon taste or just a classic cream cheese icing, use the frosting from our Best Carrot Cake Recipe with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Tips for Success

Don’t overfill the cupcakes or they will overflow the liners and be difficult to remove from the tin. Fill the cupcakes ⅔ full, or approximately ¼ cup batter per cupcake.
Sifting the powdered sugar before making the buttercream will help prevent lumps and keep your frosting smooth and creamy.
Check for doneness – To avoid underbaking or overbaking, insert a toothpick into the center of a cupcake. You’ll want it to come out clean or with a few moist crumbs for the best fluffy delicious cupcakes.

How to Make Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcakes

For the Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcakes

STEP 1 not pictured – Preheat the oven to 325°F and line a muffin tin with paper cupcake liners, and set the pan aside.

STEP 2 not pictured – In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set the dry ingredients aside.

how to make lemon poppyseed cupcakes including mixing in bowls to make cupcake batter and icing.

STEP 3 – Add the sugar and butter to a large mixing bowl (large bowl). With a hand mixer (electric Mixer) or stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed until smooth, about 3-4 minutes.

STEP 4 – Add the eggs, and beat them into the butter and sugar until fully incorporated. Stir in the vanilla and almond extracts. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if needed using a rubber spatula.

STEP 5 – Sprinkle the dry ingredients evenly over the butter, sugar and eggs. With the mixer on low, begin to mix in the dry ingredients. While mixing, slowly stream in the milk. Mix the batter until just incorporated (do not over mix!).

STEP 6 – Add the lemon juice, lemon zest and poppy seeds to the batter and fold in gently.

cupcake batter with poppyseeds in it in a glass bowl with a cookie scoop, and a muffin tin with cake batter inside the cupcake liners, and baked cupcakes.

STEP 7 – Use a large cookie scoop or a ¼ cup measuring cup to fill the well of each muffin tin ⅔ of the way full with cupcake batter. Make sure not to overfill the cupcakes.

STEP 8 – Bake for 20-22 minutes (until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean) and set aside to allow the cupcakes to cool in the tin for 5 minutes.

STEP 9 – Remove to a wire rack to finish cooling. If you are adding a lemon curd filing, do so once the cupcakes cool completely and before you frost the lemon cupcakes.

For the Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

frosting being mixed into a bowl and Lemon poppyseed cupcakes with a white buttercream icing on top, sprinkled with poppy seeds.

STEP 1 – Add the softened butter to a large mixing bowl. With a hand mixer or stand mixer on medium speed, beat the butter until smooth and creamy, approximately 2-3 minutes.

STEP 2 not pictured – Add in the powdered sugar (icing sugar), vanilla extract, almond extract, salt and 2 tablespoons of cream, and mix on medium speed until the buttercream is smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

STEP 3 not pictured – Add the remaining cream one tablespoon as a time, if desired, for a creamier frosting consistency.

STEP 4 – Use a piping bag and tip or nozzle of your choice to pipe frosting onto the cupcakes, or frost them with a flat offset spatula to glaze.

Storage

Store leftover frosted cupcakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator to keep the frosting fresh. They will keep for up to 5 days. Our Lemon Icebox Pie stores well too.

Make Ahead Instructions

Store with cooked cupcakes without frosting in the freezer for up to a month. Make sure to thaw at room temperature before frosting.

If you have buttercream leftovers or want to make the buttercream ahead of time, it’ll store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks when stored in an airtight container.

Recipe FAQ

Do you have to soak poppy seeds before baking?

Some recipes suggest soaking poppy seeds helps to helps to soften them, so the nutty flavour stand out more. Personally, I haven’t noticed a difference between tastes, so I don’t think it’s necessary. Plus, I like the hint of crunch too.

What is the secret to super moist cupcakes?

It’s a combination of proper measuring, making sure not to over-mix the batter by using high speed mixing, and not over baking the cupcakes.

What frosting got on lemon cupcakes?

While you can do a lemon buttercream frosting or cream cheese frosting, I love a vanilla buttercream because vanilla is the perfect compliment to citrus.

More Cupcake Recipes to Try

If you’ve tried this Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcakes or any other recipe on my blog please let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you. Finally, consider leaving a 🌟 star rating while you’re here. Thanks!

Lemon Poppyseed Cupcakes

Lemon Poppyseed Cupcakes are bright, zesty, and irresistibly moist, with the perfect balance of tart and sweet. Filled with fresh lemon flavor and speckled with crunchy poppyseeds, they’re topped with a light and fluffy vanilla buttercream frosting. Perfect for spring, or any time you need a citrusy treat!

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin

Prep Time: 20

Cook Time: 20

Servings: cupcakes

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Author: Tammi

Ingredients

For the Cupcakes

1½ cups all purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ cup unsalted butter (softened)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp almond extract
½ cup milk
¼ cup lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
1½ tsp poppy seeds

For the Frosting

1 cup unsalted butter (softened)
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp almond extract
¼ tsp sea salt
2-4 tbsp heavy whipping cream (as needed)

Instructions

For the Cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 325°F and line a muffin tin with paper liners.
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set the dry ingredients aside.
Add the sugar and butter to a large mixing bowl. With a hand mixer or stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed until smooth, about 3-4 minutes.
Add the eggs, and beat them into the butter and sugar until fully incorporated. Stir in the vanilla and almond extracts. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if needed.
Sprinkle the dry ingredients evenly over the butter, sugar and eggs. With the mixer on low, begin to mix in the dry ingredients. While mixing, slowly stream in the milk. Mix the batter until just incorporated (do not over mix!).
Add the lemon juice, lemon zest and poppy seeds to the batter and fold in gently.
Use a large cookie scoop or a ¼ cup measuring cup to fill the well of each muffin tin ⅔ of the way full. Make sure not to overfill the cupcakes.
Bake for 20-22 minutes (until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean) and set aside to allow the cupcakes to cool in the tin for 5 minutes.
Remove to a wire rack to finish cooling.

For the Frosting

Add the softened butter to a large mixing bowl. With a hand mixer or stand mixer on medium speed, beat the butter until smooth and creamy, approximately 2-3 minutes.
Add in the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, almond extract, salt and 2 tablespoons of cream, and mix on medium speed until the buttercream is smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Add the remaining cream one tablespoon as a time, if desired, for a creamier frosting consistency.
Use a piping bag and tip of your choice to pipe frosting onto the cupcakes, or frost them with a flat offset spatula.

Notes

Sifting the powdered sugar before making the buttercream will help prevent lumps and keep your frosting smooth and creamy.

Fill the cupcakes to 2/3 full, or approximately ¼ cup batter per cupcake. Don’t overfill the cupcakes or they will overflow the liners and be difficult to remove from the tin.

Store leftover frosted cupcakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator to keep the frosting fresh.

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