Zesty Lemon cupcakes

These zesty lemon cupcakes will remind you of late spring and early summer with every bite you take. They are light, fluffy and full of flavor.

Follow the ingredients in parentheses for gluten free and dairy free substitutes for a gluten and dairy free recipe.

Yields 6 dozen mini cupcakes or 2 dozen regular cupcakes

Ingredients:

3 cups of flour (or 3 cups gluten free flour; I like the 1to1 by bobs red mill)

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup milk (or 1 cup coconut milk)

1 tbsp vinegar

2 large lemons juiced

zest of 1 lemon

1 Tbsp vanilla

1 tsp salt

3 1/2 tsp baking powder

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees.

First, you will want to beat together eggs, sugar, and vegetable oil on medium speed in a stand mixer. Once incorporated, add in the milk, vinegar, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla. Mix until fully incorporated.

Sift together flour, salt and baking powder in a large bowel.

Add the dry ingredients to the stand mixer about a third at a time. Mix until just incorporated, and then scrape the sides with a spatula and repeat two more times. Once all the ingredients have been incorporated, set the batter aside while you prepare your muffin pan. Place cupcake liners in muffin pan then spray with cooking spray. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 of the way full.

bake for 17 minutes for mini cupcakes and 25-30 minutes for regular cupcakes or until the cupcakes lightly brown.

Remove from oven and allow cupcakes to cool on a wire rack. Once completely cooled frost and enjoy.

About the recipe

I came up with this recipe after trying to find one with enough lemon since it felt none seemed to have the punch of lemon I wanted. I also came up with this recipe so that anyone who wants a cupcake can have a recipe perfectly tailored to their dietary needs with ingredients that can be found at any grocery store. It took me a couple tries to get it just right but the best advice I can give is spray those cupcake liners so they come off cleanly from the cupcake. My toddler also really likes these especially in the mini form, so they are toddler tested and approve.