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Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes are sunshine in a paper liner, tender lemon buttermilk cake bursting with fresh berries under a swirl of tangy lemon cream cheese frosting, and the batch I baked for a spring birthday converted the chocolate only holdouts at the table. They are the berry studded sibling of our lemon cupcakes.
Fresh lemon juice and zest go into both the batter and the frosting, so every layer of the bite is genuinely lemony.
Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 25 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 20 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 45 minutes
- 🍽️ Serving: 14 cupcakes
- ⚡ Calories: 382kcal
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Bright lemon and juicy blueberries under tangy cream cheese frosting
- ✋ Difficulty: Easy, on par with our funfetti cupcakes
Quick Answer
Combine flour, baking powder, and salt, then cream butter and sugar and mix in eggs, buttermilk, fresh lemon juice, and zest. Add the dry ingredients at low speed, gently fold in a cup of blueberries, and scoop 3 tablespoons of batter per liner. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, cool for 30 minutes, then pipe on a frosting of whipped cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, lemon juice, and zest, and garnish with blueberries.
Jump to:
- Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes Quick Look
- Quick Answer
- Why This Recipe Works
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Key Ingredients
- Variations and Substitutions
- How to Make Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes
- Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Serving Ideas and Suggestions
- Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes FAQs
- Other Recommended Cupcake Recipes
- Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes
Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- Buttermilk plus lemon is double the tang. The acidic pair keeps the crumb ultra tender and gives the cake a bakery bright flavor that plain milk batters cannot reach.
- Zest carries more lemon than juice. The oils in two lemons worth of zest perfume the whole batter, while the quarter cup of juice adds the tart backbone without thinning it.
- Folding the berries in last protects them. A gentle fold after the flour keeps the blueberries whole, so they burst in the oven instead of bleeding purple through the batter.
- Three tablespoons per liner is the magic fill. It bakes to a perfect just above the liner dome with room for the berries, overfilled liners overflow before the center sets.
- A full 30 minute cool saves the frosting. Cream cheese frosting melts at the first hint of warmth, patient cooling is the difference between a swirl and a puddle.
- Cold cream cheese, soft butter is the frosting secret. Room temperature butter whips fluffy while cooler cream cheese keeps the frosting thick enough to pipe tall.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Fresh blueberries in every single bite, not just the lucky ones.
- The lemon cream cheese frosting is tangy enough to balance all that sweet.
- They look bakery window fancy with a three item garnish, no more work than our coconut cupcakes.
Key Ingredients
Straightforward baking staples plus a pile of fresh lemons and berries.
- Fresh lemons: Zest and juice go in both the batter and the frosting, bottled juice cannot replace the zest oils.
- Blueberries: A full cup folded into the batter plus extra for garnish, fresh hold their shape best.
- Buttermilk: The tender crumb insurance, its acidity works with the baking powder for the softest cake.
- Cream cheese: Eight ounces whipped with butter for the tangy frosting that lemon desserts deserve.
- Room temperature butter and eggs: They emulsify into a smooth batter that rises evenly in every liner.
See recipe card for exact quantities.
Variations and Substitutions
The lemon berry base takes every twist.
- Swap the blueberries for raspberries or halved blackberries, same measurement, same fold.
- Add a teaspoon of poppy seeds to the dry mix for a lemon poppy seed berry mash up.
- Fill the centers with lemon curd after baking for a molten lemon surprise.
- Top with a candied lemon slice and a sprig of mint for wedding shower level presentation.
- Prefer bars to cupcakes? Our lemon brownies deliver the citrus fix in one pan.
How to Make Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and add cupcake liners to the pan. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a large bowl, mix the butter and sugar at medium high speed for 1 minute. Scrape the bowl, then add the eggs, buttermilk, and lemon juice and zest, and mix to combine.
- At low speed, add in the flour mixture and mix just until combined.
- Gently fold in the blueberries with a spatula.
- Scoop 3 tablespoons of batter into each cupcake liner and bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool on a rack for at least 30 minutes.
- For the frosting, mix the cream cheese and butter for 1 to 2 minutes, slowly add the powdered sugar, then the lemon juice, zest, and a pinch of salt. Whip 2 minutes until light, pipe onto the cooled cupcakes, and garnish with blueberries and lemon zest.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Toss the berries in a spoonful of flour. A light coating keeps them suspended in the batter instead of sinking to the bottoms.
- Zest before you juice. A whole lemon zests easily, a squeezed half does not.
- Mix the flour at low speed only. Overbeating after the flour goes in makes dense, tunneled cupcakes.
- Use an ice cream scoop for even filling. Fourteen identical cupcakes bake in the same 20 minutes, uneven ones do not.
- Chill the frosting 10 minutes if it goes soft. A brief refrigerator rest firms it right back up for tall piping.
- Garnish just before serving. Fresh berries and zest on the frosting weep if they sit overnight.
Serving Ideas and Suggestions
They are the star of spring showers, Easter tables, and birthday boxes, sitting pretty next to our strawberry angel food cake on a dessert spread.
For a citrus themed party, pair them with our lemon brownies and lemonade, the yellow and blue color story does the decorating for you.
Brunch dessert is a real thing, serve them alongside our lemon blueberry poke cake and let guests pick their format.
Store frosted cupcakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 days, and let them sit at room temperature for 20 minutes before serving so the cake softens. Unfrosted cupcakes freeze for 2 months, thaw and frost fresh.
Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes FAQs
Toss the berries with a spoonful of the measured flour before folding them in, the light coating grips the batter and keeps them suspended. A thick batter like this one helps too, most sinking happens in thin, overmixed batters.
Yes, fold them in straight from the freezer without thawing, thawed berries bleed purple streaks through the batter. Expect to add a minute or two to the bake time since frozen berries cool the batter down.
Almost always overmixing after the flour went in, or cold butter that never creamed properly. Mix the dry ingredients at low speed just until the streaks disappear, and start with genuinely room temperature butter, it should dent easily with a finger.
Bake the cupcakes a day ahead and store them airtight at room temperature, then frost the day you serve. The frosting itself keeps refrigerated for 3 days, let it soften slightly and rewhip before piping. Fully frosted cupcakes hold 3 days in the refrigerator.
Because of the cream cheese frosting, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Bring them to room temperature for about 20 minutes before serving, cold cake reads dry even when it is not.
Once frosted, yes, cream cheese frosting should not sit out more than 2 hours. Unfrosted cupcakes are fine airtight on the counter for 2 days, which is a handy split if you are baking ahead for a party.
Made these Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes? Leave a comment and a star rating below, and tell me who claimed the tallest frosting swirl!
When the holidays roll in, my grinch cupcakes bring the whole Whoville energy.
For the pink and pretty version of a from scratch cupcake, bake my Valentine’s Day cupcakes.
Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcake Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temp
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 1/4 cup lemon juice fresh squeezed
- zest of 2 large lemons
- 1 cup blueberries
Frosting Ingredients:
- 8 ounces cream cheese room temp
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temp
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice fresh squeezed
- zest of 1 lemon
- Pinch of salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Add cupcake liners to the pan and set aside.
- In a bowl, combine all dry main cupcake ingredients (flour, baking powder and salt).1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt
- In another large bowl, mix the butter and sugar at medium-high speed for 1 minute in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with an electric hand mixer.½ cup unsalted butter, 1 cup sugar
- Pause to scrape the bowl, add in the eggs, buttermilk, lemon juice/zest. Mix to combine.2 large eggs, ½ cup buttermilk, 1/4 cup lemon juice, zest of 2 large lemons
- At low speed, add in the flour mixture.
- Once combined, gently fold in the blueberries.1 cup blueberries
- Scoop 3 tablespoons of mixture into each cupcake liner and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- Remove cupcakes from the oven and allow to cool on a rack for at least 30 minutes before frosting.
- To make the frosting, mix together the cream cheese and butter for 1 – 2 minutes on medium-high speed.8 ounces cream cheese, ½ cup unsalted butter
- Slowly add in the powdered sugar until fully combined.2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- Pause to scrape the sides of the bowl and add lemon juice, zest, and salt if necessary. For a stronger lemon flavor, add in more lemon zest.2 tablespoons lemon juice, zest of 1 lemon, Pinch of salt to taste
- Mix again for 2 minutes until the frosting is light and smooth. Transfer to a piping bag and add frosting to the cupcakes.
- Top cupcakes with blueberries or lemon zest if desired. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Once you add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, stir gently and avoid overmixing to prevent tough, dense cupcakes.
- Make sure your cream cheese and butter are at room temperature, not melted. That helps your frosting stay thick and pipeable.
- Use a handle-held mixer or a paddle attachment on a stand mixer for best results.
- Use and ice cream scoop to evenly portion the batter into your cupcake tin so you get the same size cupcakes every time.
- Stick a toothpick in the center of the cupcake. If it comes out clean (or with just a few crumbs), they’re all cooked and good to go.
- A warm cupcake plus frosting can spell disaster. Give them at least 30 minutes on a wire rack for best results.
Nutrition
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