These lemon blueberry cupcakes are gluten-free and dairy free. They are so moist and fluffy and packed with plenty of blueberries and lemony flavor. The easy recipe mixes up in just 10 minutes.
More Gluten-Free Cupcakes
Be sure to check out my full collection of gluten-free cupcake recipes including my gluten-free carrot cake cupcakes, raspberry lemonade cupcakes, gluten-free fresh strawberry cupcakes or my gluten-free mini cupcakes in chocolate or vanilla.
Ingredients
Gluten-free flour blend – My go-to for gluten-free flour is King Arthur Measure for Measure. It works well in so many of my recipes and is widely available. Pamela’s All-Purpose Artisan Blend is similar and will work as well. Both of these flours are certified gluten free and vegan. Cup4Cup is another gluten-free flour that will work in this recipe but it contains milk powder and is significantly more expensive.
All of these flours include binders like xanthan gum, guar gum and/or inulin, so they are ready to go. If your flour blend does not contain one of those binders, add ΒΌ teaspoon of xanthan gum to the recipe.
Blueberries – Fresh blueberries work best in this recipe. Frozen ones can be used too, but they tend to break down more easily in the baking process and can make the cupcakes soggy. Here’s how to use frozen:
Rinse them under cold water for 30 seconds, lay on an absorbent towel to dry, then stir them into the batter. They will bleed into the cake more than the fresh ones, but the rinsing will help.
Lemon – These cupcakes get a double dose of lemon flavor from lemon zest and lemon extract. Lemon zest is the colorful outer layer of lemon peel that has wonderful pop of flavor. When zested it disappears into the batter leaving it’s perfectly lemony flavor. To be sure that the zest gives its flavor to the batter, you’ll warm it with the milk (in the microwave) for a few seconds.
I don’t use lemon juice because the acid changes the chemistry of the batter. I prefer lemon extract for a super easy way to get strong lemon flavor into these cupcakes.
How Much Batter for Cupcakes
When testing a cupcake recipe, I always note exactly how much batter you need for each cupcake. It can be so difficult to figure out if the recipe doesn’t tell you. You might fill the liners too much and run out of batter for the last one or two. Or you have lots of batter left over and have to spend 5 minutes splitting it up evenly. NO MORE of that!
This recipe uses a heaping 2 tablespoons of batter for each cupcake. This #30 scoop is just the right size and will make it a breeze! If you don’t have the right size scoop, use a 1/4 cup measuring cup and fill it halfway. Then use a silicone spatula to scrape the batter into the liners.
Cupcake Frosting
These cupcakes go well with a vanilla buttercream frosting or a tangy cream cheese frosting. Or, to add more lemon flavor to these cupcakes add 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract to my vanilla buttercream frosting recipe.
For a pretty pop of purple add 4 drops of purple food coloring to a batch of frosting. Or use Color Kitchen Foods plant based powdered color. Mix 1 tsp each of pink and blue with a little water or milk, then add to the frosting.
Gluten-Free Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes
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Ingredients
- 1 lemon
- ΒΌ c milk or dairy-free substitute
- 2 large eggs (room temperature is best)*
- 3 Tbsp oil, (avocado, sunflower, canola or any neutral flavored vegetable oil)
- β c sugar
- 1ΒΌ tsp lemon extract
- Β½ tsp vanilla extract, vanilla powder or bean paste
- ΒΌ tsp salt
- ΒΎ c gluten-free flour blend**
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 c fresh or frozen blueberries
Instructions
- This recipe does not require an electric mixer. One bowl, a wire whisk and rubber spatula are all you need.
- If using frozen blueberries, rinse them under cold water for 30 seconds, then place on absorbent towel to air dry.
- Preheat the oven to 350Β°F and line a cupcake pan with paper liners.
- Use a microplane to zest the lemon. Here is a quick tutorial on How to Zest a Lemon with or without a microplane.
- Place the lemon zest with the milk in a glass measuring cup or in a small microwave safe bowl. Heat for 15-20 seconds until warm. This will help to release the flavor from the lemon zest.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, beat the eggs, oil, sugar, lemon extract, vanilla and salt until smooth.
- Beat in the milk/zest mixture.
- Add the flour and baking powder and stir with a wire whisk until smooth.
- Gently stir in the blueberries with a rubber/silicone spatula.
- Divide the batter evenly among the liners – about 2 Tbsps batter per cupcake or use the scoop linked above.
- Bake 20-22 minutes or until the tops are set and bounce back from a gentle tap.
- Cool the cupcakes in the pan for 5 minutes, Then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Top these cupcakes with my vanilla buttercream frosting or pipeable cream cheese frosting.
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