Published by Sheena Strain, last updated
Recipe
Quick and Easy Gluten Free Lemon Cupcakes, mixed all in one bowl!
How to Make Gluten Free Lemon Cupcakes from Scratch
My gluten free Lemon Cupcakes recipe is very easyto make from scratch, you simply addall the ingredients into one bowl and mix it all together!
You don’t even need to cream the margarine and sugar or fold in the gluten free flour, it just all goes into one bowl along with the eggs and lemon juice. Once you’ve mixed the batter well (you can do it by hand, it doesn’t need a mixer) you are ready to add it to the cupcake pan.
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How to Make Dairy Free Frosting
When you make your frosting you want to make sure you sift the powdered sugar, it can be a bit tricky to get the lumps out otherwise.
I’ve found that dairy free margarine in frosting gets soft much more quickly than butter so use your own judgement regarding adding in milk, you may not need it if you think its soft enough.
I usually keep the cupcakes in the fridge after they are frosted, I’m sure I’m breaking baking rules on that but there’s no way the frosting will stay solid in my Mississippi house year round!
More Gluten Free CakeRecipes
So this is not the only cupcake recipe I have! Before you go make sure you check out my most recent Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcake Recipe, it’s another really easy recipe that’s perfect for those of you who are new to gluten free baking.
And lastly if you’re looking for an easy to make layer Cake then this fabulous Gluten-Free Lemon Cake from Gluten Free Palate would go down a treat, it looks delicious!
Gluten Free Lemon Cupcakes
Really easy lemon cupcakes you can make from scratch at home!
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 9
4.63 from 51 votes
Ingredients
- 1cupall purpose gluten free flour, 130g
- 1/2tspxanthan gum, omit if your flour mix has gum added
- 2tspgluten free baking powder
- 1stickdairy free margarine, 110g
- 1/2cupgranulated sugar, 110g
- 2large eggs
- 2tsplemon juice
- lemon zest, from 1/2 lemon
- FROSTING
- 1/2cupdairy free margarine, 110g
- 2.5cupspowdered sugar, 315g
- 6tsplemon juice
- 2-3tablespoonsdairy free milk
- 2 -3drops yellow food coloring, optional
Instructions
*READ NOTES FIRST*
Preheat your oven to 350F
Add all purpose gluten free flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, margarine, sugar, eggs, lemon juice, and lemon zest to your mixing bowl.
Mix well until combined.
line a cupcake baking tin with cupcake wrappers.
This mix will make 9 - 12 cupcakes, it depends how much you fill the cupcake wrappers.
Spoon about a tablespoon of the cupcake mixture into each cupcake wrapper.
Bake for 18-20 mins on the middle rack in the oven, until cakes are fully cooked.
Allow them to cool on baking rack.
While cakes are baking make your frosting by mixing together powdered sugar, margarine, lemon juice. Add in some milk if you need to make the frosting thinner.
When cakes are fully cooled, pipe or spoon on the frosting, I used a wilton large star tip to pipe the frosting.
Recipe Notes
1. I bake by weight using a digital kitchen scale as I find that gives the most consistent results, especially when baking gluten free. One cup of your gluten free flour blend may not weigh the same as my blend.
I’ve weighed cups of different blends of flour and noted that a cup of gluten free flour can vary in weight from 125g up to as much as 170g depending on how you scoop it, and what type of mix you use. You can see how this could drastically alter the outcome of a recipe.
2.I recognise that most Americans are used to the cup method which is why I also include those measurements, but they may not give you accurate results as they are approximate only. If you are a keen gluten free baker I would encourage you to invest in a digital kitchen scale.
3. I prefer to use my own homemade gluten free flour blend as it's cheaper and I get really great results.
4. If you can, avoid buying flour with gums already added. The reason for this is that you have no way of knowing how much gum is in there and that can alter the outcome of the recipe. So for example, too much gum can give you a more sticky texture in a cupcake. And though the cupcake recipe will still work, it won’t be as nice as if you measured and added the gum yourself.
Nutrition Facts
Gluten Free Lemon Cupcakes
Amount Per Serving
Calories 244
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutritional information on Noshtastic is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site.
Author: Noshtastic
Course:Cake/ Dessert
Cuisine:American
About Sheena Strain
Sheena Strain is the proud owner of Noshtastic, a gluten free website that specializes in easy family meals including Low Carb, Keto, Paleo, Whole30, and many pressure cooker recipes.
Reader Interactions
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Rowan Boone says
LOVED the cupcake, but didn’t really like the frosting. I’m just very picky when it comes to frosting.Reply
Katherine P. says
Bust. Was more like cornbread texture, but super oily, like the oil separated to the bottom of the cupcake tin and even went through the tins. Measured everything exact (including using weight, not measuring cups).Reply
Sheena Strain says
What kind of flour did you use? that may change it, also make sure you are using dairy free margarine that is suitable for baking as not all of them are.
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Melinda Parsley says
Would I be able to double this recipe and do it as a sheet cake instead of cupcakes?
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Sheena Strain says
I’ve not tried it as a sheet cake but I don’t see why not.
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padma rudra says
My daughter is allergic to dairy(Milk+Egg)!!
So i am not able to use eggs. Can you please suggest me what would be the best egg substitute for this recipe?Reply
Sheena Strain says
Hi Padma,
The recipe is already dairy free so you’re good to go there, I typically bake with Earth Balance vegan butter. As for an egg replacer, I’m afraid I’m not up to date on what would work here as I don’t usually bake without eggs but there are several brands of egg replacer on the market that you should be able to find in Whole Foods or in the ‘healthy’ section of your local grocery store. I think they will alter the texture of the cupcakes but they should still work, let me know how it goes!
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Cathy says
Could you use grass-fed butter in place of the dairy free margarine? Has anyone done that with success? Thanks!
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Sheena Strain says
Hi Cathy!
you sure could use any butter in place of the margarine 🙂 At the time I made the recipe I was not able to tolerate butter in any form, but the recipe will work with either butter or margarine.
Reply
Amy says
Did I.miss.an.ingredient? I didn’t get a batter at first but a lumpy mess. I added almondmilk until it looked like a normal cake batter and the turned out good but just wondering where the liquid is.Reply
Sheena Strain says
Hi Amy,
I’m not sure exactly what you’re asking when you ask where the liquid is? Do you mean in the cake batter? This recipe does not have any additional liquid in the cake batter other than the eggs and lemon juice, I don’t have almond milk in my recipe.
Did you substitute any ingredients? If you missed an ingredient then yes, that would affect the outcome of the recipe, but I’m not able to know what ingredient you might have missed.Reply
Kimberly says
Just made these with roasted poppy seeds. And, instead of a lemon-flavored frosting, I made a vanilla-flavored frosting. The two flavors mixed together are absolutely delicious! I will definitely use this recipe in the future. Probably next week, since my father will eat them all tomorrow!Reply
Sheena Strain says
That sounds great!
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Stacie says
Omg same becky
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Aoife says
These cupcakes are really delicious!!! So easy to make and they make huge quantities. Perfect for birthday party. And they keep for a couple of days too. Thank you!!!Reply
Dawn says
What kind of flour mix is good to use in this recipe? Do you make your own or buy already made? I’m looking for a gluten free flour recipe good for cakes and cup cakes.
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Sheena Strain says
Hi Dawn, I typically make my own blend as I’ve found that it is almost always better than store bought. I have a post here that details how to make your own blend with the gluten free flours you can find locally, sometimes I can’t always find the ones I want but that’s ok as long as you can work with the proportions in the recipe post you can change them up very easily.
http://www.noshtastic.com/gluten-free-flour-recipe-all-purpose-blend/Reply
Karen says
I’ve got to admit, I was skeptical about these cupcakes right up until I cooked one off and tasted it. These are really quite good! I made a batch to go with some boxed (and I never do boxed but I needed to save time) as a GF option for some guests and these were miles better than the boxed o es! I o my wish I hadn’t played around with a baking sugar substitute, but that’s on me.Reply
Sheena Strain says
Hi Karen! Glad to hear they worked out for you! I’ve never tried baking sugar substitutes, they may be more tricky to bake with as you discovered but I know lots of bakers who like them.
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Anne says
Thanks Sheena! I did use a pre-mixed gluten-free flour with gum but I did not add extra. I may have over-filled but I had enough batter to mak 9. I did beat them for a while because, as I said, the batter did not initially come together for me so that may have done it. The batter was still pretty stiff despite the extra lemon juice. I’m going to try them agai until I get them right. What came out of the oven, despite the collapse, was extremely tasty!! As my sister is a recently diagnosed celiac, I’m trying to learn to make stuff that she can enjoy as well so…..practice makes perfect, right! Thanks for responding so quickly! Much appreciated.Reply
Anne says
The batter tasted really good but they fell in while baking! Baked them for 18 minutes. I did add a little extra lemon juice because the batter did not seem to be coming together for me. I am not a gluten-free baker so I am learning here. Would the extra lemon juice have made them fall in?
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Sheena Strain says
Hi Anne, I’m so sorry they collapsed for you, that’s annoying when it happens! The additional lemon juice may have caused the batter to be too thin, I guess it depends how much extra you added. There are a couple of reasons for cakes collapsing and I’m not sure what could be causing it for you so I’ll share what I know 🙂 The first one to check is if you used a ready made flour blend that has gum listed in the ingredients (xanthan or guar gum) did you add more gum to it? I don’t know if it will cause the cupcake to collapse but too much gum can alter the outcome of the recipe. Here are some more reasons for cake collapse: overfilling the cupcake liners, baking at a higher altitude, not baking for long enough,opening the oven door to check them halfway through – don’t do it! overbeating the batter (adds lots of air), oven temp too high can cause a rapid rise then collapse, using too old baking powder and they won’t rise properly (check if it still fizzes when added to water) I hope that helps!
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Sonja Springer says
Sheena,
I am just curious – will 1 Tblsp of cake batter be enough to make a full size cupcake? These cupcakes look fabulous!!!!!
I am definitely trying them…..just wondered about the amount of batter per cup.
Thanks!
SonjaReply
Sheena Strain says
Hi Sonja, for regular sized cupcake wrappers about a tablespoon is enough, I think that will half fill the wrappers. They should rise up to the top of the cupcake wrapper as they cook (don’t open the oven!)Reply
Jenee says
Found this the other day on Pinterest and it was a major hit at the office, thank you!!Reply
Sheena says
Yay Jenee, that’s what I love to hear, so glad your office peeps liked them!! 🙂
Reply
Danielle Hart says
My daughter and I are baking a cake today for a contest and I asked her if she wanted to do something lemon, but then I realized that I don’t have any good gluten-free recipes. I may be the only one at the party who needs it to be GF but I still want some! I like your style. I am excited to try this.
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Sheena says
Hi Danielle, I hope the party goes well and cupcakes turn out nicely for you!
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Angel Williams says
Hi, these look amazing! I am wondering if you have considered or tried using coconut oil in place of margarine?
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Sheena says
Hi Angel, I have baked some with coconut oil so it might be worth a try, but I’ve not done it for this recipe. I think if the oil is melted when you mix it in, the texture of the cake may be different as you are adding in more liquid, but that’s just a guess. If a recipe (like a muffin) asks for melted oil I often use coconut oil and not margarine. I would love to be able to use butter but I can’t eat it anymore.
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