These blueberry cupcakes are light, fluffy and incredibly moist vanilla cupcakes filled with lemon flavor and pockets of fresh blueberries. They’re topped with a sweet and tart lemon cream cheese frosting and more blueberries. Make these lemon blueberry cupcakes for a wonderfully easy and delicious dessert.
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Why Should You Make This Recipe
There are few flavor combinations I love more than blueberry and lemon. My Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins, Lemon Blueberry Cookies, Blueberry Pound Cake, Blueberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake, Mini Blueberry Muffins and Easy Lemon Blueberry Scones are just a few I love from the blog. I know you’ll love my newest berry and lemon recipe just as much as I do!
- Layers of flavors and textures: From the moist and fluffy vanilla cupcake filled with fresh lemon and blueberries, to the sweet, tart and creamy lemon cream cheese frosting, these blueberry lemon cupcakes will delight your senses.
- Easy to make, bake and eat: These vanilla blueberry cupcakes look and taste like you just bought them from the bakery, but are so simple to make. All you need is a mixer and a muffin pan.
Ingredients
These blueberry cupcakes with cream cheese frosting requires only a handful of simple ingredients to make and you probably already have them in your house. Here’s what you’ll need.
Blueberry Cupcakes
Dry Ingredients: Gather all purpose flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.
Wet Ingredients: Gather butter, lemon zest, eggs, sour cream, milk, lemon juice, vanilla extract and blueberries.
Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
Gather unsalted butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, lemon juice, vanilla extract and salt.
For topping the cupcakes, gather fresh blueberries and lemon zest.
Substitutions
These moist lemon and blueberry cupcakes are as easy to make as they are delicious. Here are my recommended substitutions to make these cupcakes if you need them.
- All purpose flour: To make these cinnamon crunch muffins gluten free, use a good 1-1 gluten free flour. I recommend using the one from Bob’s Red Mill.
- Baking Powder: This acts as a leavener in this blueberry cupcake recipe.
- Unsalted Butter: Feel free to use an equal amount of salted butter in place of the unsalted butter. Just make sure to omit the added salt. Vegan butter or plant based can also be used in place of regular unsalted butter for this recipe.
- Granulated Sugar: This blueberry lemon cupcake recipe calls for granulated sugar, but maple sugar would also work well to make these cupcakes refined sugar free.
- Lemon Zest and Juice: Replace the lemon with any citrus you like. Lime, keylime, meyer lemons, orange, they all work well in this recipe!
- Eggs: This recipe has not been tested without eggs.
- Sour Cream: Greek yogurt works well in place of sour cream.
- Milk: Use any milk you like.
- Vanilla Extract: This adds a lovely background flavor that pairs really well with lemon and blueberries.
- Blueberries: You can fresh or frozen blueberries. If using frozen berries, do not let them thaw or overmix as this will cause a more muddied look. Also note that the baking time will be a bit longer if using frozen berries.
Variations
- Mini Blueberry Cupcakes: Prepare the lemon blueberry cupcake recipe according to the recipe directions. Grease or line a 24 ct. mini muffin pan with mini cupcake liners. Preheat the oven to 350 F (177 C) and fill each cupcake liner with about 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of cupcake batter. Bake for 12-16 minutes. This recipe makes about 36 - 42 mini cupcakes. Check out my Mini Blueberry Muffins for another delicious spring and summer muffin recipe.
- Blueberry Cream Cheese Frosting: Top these delicious blueberry cupcakes with an equally delicious blueberry cream cheese frosting. To make this simply follow the recipe directions for lemon cream cheese frosting, but replace the 2 tablespoons lemon juice with 2 tablespoons blueberry jam or preserves. You can also follow my Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting recipe and use freeze dried blueberries in place of the strawberries.
- Blueberry Cupcakes with Cake Mix: Make lemon blueberry cupcakes from cake mix by using a 15.25 oz. box of lemon or vanilla cake mix in place of the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Follow the rest of the instructions and ingredients as written in the recipe.
How To Make
Learn how to make the best blueberry cupcakes in a few easy steps.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F (177 C). Line a 12 ct. muffin pan with cupcake liners. In a mixing bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together until well combined.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Beat the butter into the dry ingredients until a crumble texture.
- In another bowl whisk the eggs, lemon zest, vanilla extract, lemon juice, sour cream and milk together until well combined.
- Stir the wet ingredients into the dry butter crumble mixture until just combined. Do not overmix. Stir in the flour coated blueberries.
- Use a 3 tablespoon sized cookie scoop to scoop the cupcake batter into each of the cupcake liners. Bake the blueberry and lemon cupcakes for 18 - 22 minutes. The cupcakes are finished baking with the tops spring back quickly when lightly touched. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove to cool to room temperature on a cooling rack.
- Make the lemon cream cheese frosting by beating the cream cheese and butter together until smooth and well combined. On low speed, beat in the sugar ½ cup (60 g) at a time, followed by the lemon juice, vanilla extract and salt. Increase the speed to medium until the frosting is your desired consistency.
- Pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes using a 1M star tip. Top the berry cupcakes with more fresh berries and lemon zest.
How To Store, Freeze and Thaw
Store unfrosted vanilla blueberry cupcakes: Place the cupcakes in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Then transfer them to the fridge for up to 3 more days.
Store frosted lemon blueberry cupcakes: Once the cupcakes are topped with cream cheese frosting, they must be stored in the fridge. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 - 7 days.
Freeze the cupcakes and frosting: Make sure the cupcakes are completely cooled to room temperature. Individually wrap each lemon blueberry cupcake in plastic wrap and place in a ziplock bag. Store in the freezer for up to 2 months. Make and freeze the lemon cream cheese frosting in a separate ziplock from the cupcakes.
Thaw the cupcakes and frosting: Transfer the cupcakes and frosting to the fridge to thaw overnight. Bring the thawed cupcakes and frosting to room temperature, assemble and enjoy!
M’s Expert Tips
- Bring cold ingredients to room temperature.This allows the ingredients to mix together more evenly which requires less mixing, resulting in soft, fluffy and moist cupcakes.
- Don’t overmix the cupcake batter. Always use the lowest speed on your electric mixer.
- Use small blueberries. I prefer baking with small blueberries such as wild blueberries. If using frozen blueberries, do not thaw them before mixing into the cupcake batter.
- Don’t overfill the cupcake liners. Only fill the cupcake liners about ? full. This helps the cupcakes bake with even flat tops.
- Chill the frosting. If the frosting is too soft to pipe, chill it in the fridge for 20 - 30 minutes. For more tips make sure to check out my Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting post.
FAQs
The main difference is in their appearance and sometimes the in method they are prepared. Cupcakes usually have flat even tops, while muffins have cracked, domed and more textured tops. To keep these blueberry cupcakes light and fluffy, I like to use the reverse creaming method which mixes the sugar into the dry ingredients and then incorporates the butter.
My go to for super moist cupcakes and cakes is full fat sour cream.
Toss the fresh or frozen blueberries in 1 tablespoon per cup of berries. This should be just enough to coat the berries without adding too much extra flour. While the berries bake, the flour catches the juices and holds the berries in place.
Other Cupcake Recipes to Try
If you try this Blueberry Cupcakes recipe please rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Doing so helps other readers decide if this is a great recipe to bake. Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram using @olivesnthyme so I can see what you’re baking! Happy Baking! -M
Blueberry Cupcakes Recipe
Equipment
- 1 stand mixer with paddle attachment or electric hand mixer with beaters
- 1 large cookie scoop (3 tbsp, 45 ml) optional
- 1 piping bag with preferred piping tip optional
Ingredients
Blueberry Cupcakes
- 1½ cups (180 g) all purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 large eggs (US), room temperature
- 2 lemons, zested
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) lemon juice
- 1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla extract
- ¼ cup (59 ml) milk, room temperature
- ¼ cup (60 g) sour cream, room temperature
- 1 cup (140 g) fresh or frozen blueberries tossed in 1 tablespoon (8 g) flour
Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
- 4 cups (480 g) powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (140 g) fresh blueberries, for topping
- 1 lemon, zested for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F (177 C). Line a 12 ct. muffin pan with cupcake liners.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together until well combined.1½ cups (180 g) all purpose flour, 1½ teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon salt, 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- Pour the dry ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Beat the butter into the dry ingredients until a crumble texture.½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- In another bowl whisk the eggs, lemon zest, vanilla extract, lemon juice, sour cream and milk together until well combined.2 large eggs (US), room temperature, 2 lemons, zested, 2 tablespoon (30 ml) lemon juice, 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract, ¼ cup (59 ml) milk, room temperature, ¼ cup (60 g) sour cream, room temperature
- Stir the wet ingredients into the dry butter crumble mixture until just combined. Do not overmix. Stir in the flour coated blueberries.1 cup (140 g) fresh or frozen blueberries
- Use a 3 tablespoon sized cookie scoop to scoop the cupcake batter into each of the cupcake liners.
- Bake the blueberry and lemon cupcakes for 18 - 22 minutes. The cupcakes are finished baking with the tops spring back quickly when lightly touched. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove to cool to room temperature on a cooling rack.
- Make the lemon cream cheese frosting by beating the cream cheese and butter together until smooth and well combined.On low speed, beat in the sugar ½ cup (60 g) at a time, followed by the lemon juice, vanilla extract and salt. Increase the speed to medium until the frosting is your desired consistency.½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, room temperature, 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature, 4 cups (480 g) powdered sugar, 2 tablespoon (30 ml) fresh lemon juice, 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon salt
- Pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes using a 1M star tip. Top the berry cupcakes with more fresh berries and lemon zest.1 cup (140 g) fresh blueberries, for topping, 1 lemon, zested for topping
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