These Lemon Lavender Cupcakes are the perfect spring treat. For Easter, Mother's Day, or just because, they're bright and full of flavor and sure to be the favorite dessert!
It's rare that there's a gluten free, dairy free, paleo baked good recipe that you can make and not know that the end result is all of the above. But these lemon lavender cupcakes are certainly one of them.
They are flavorful, bright, moist, and delicious. The combination of lemon and lavender tastes like spring. They're perfect for a spring BBQ, an Easter party, Mother's Day brunch...or just because.
Why you have to use muffin cup liners
A picture is worth a thousand words.
I was trying to just grease the muffin tin, rather than use paper cupcake liners. Note: THIS DOES NOT WORK. They stick like a mofo. Just save yourself the time and the mess, and use the dang liners. The cakes come out perfect, fluffy, and delicious.
Help! My cupcakes sunk!
It's ok. They're supposed to.
Anytime you're baking with non-conventional ingredients, the chemistry is going to be a bit wonky. When you bake these cupcakes, they will come out of the oven fluffy and rounded on top. As they cool, the middles are going to sink - flat or maybe even lower.
It does not affect the flavor or the structure of the cupcake at all. Allow them to sink, and then just fill that tiny little indentation with frosting when you ice them. No one will be any the wiser.
How to make lavender frosting
These were originally made for me by a friend and baker. Her original recipe called for coconut cream. I tried 3 times to make the frosting with coconut cream, and each time, it just failed. Turned into liquidy mush.
It seemed like it was because the maple syrup and lemon juice were too much liquid, but it could have been user error. When I finally contacted her about it, she said she had whisked it by HAND. Ain't nobody got time for that.
So I switched it up. I had lots of luck with palm shortening for my whoopie pie filling, so I decided to give it a go here. Results? Perfection.
You just combine that shortening with the other icing ingredients and whip it until it is fluffy like so:
How to frost cupcakes
You could just use a knife and frost these cupcakes the easy way. If you feel like being fancy, you can certainly get yourself an icing bag and tips and make pretty peaks.
If you don't have an icing bag, but you do have an icing tip, use this hack - cut the corner off of a sandwich bag, push the icing tip through from the inside, then fill the bag with frosting and squeeze. Boom, frosting bag.
Fancy frosting or no, they're delicious either way. Guess it just depends on how extra you are feeling.
You can whip up this icing while the cakes are in the oven. They bake for about 25 minutes, and I swear, when you finally eat one, you'll never know they're paleo.
These lemon lavender cupcakes make the perfect springtime dessert. I do recommend the lemon zest and lavender on top as a garnish - they definitely brighten things up, and make the cupcakes so pretty to look at!
Cupcake Pro Tips:
- Make sure to use cupcake pan liners. Simply greasing the muffin tin won't work - they will stick!
- Only fill your cups about ¾ of the way full. Overfilled cups will not create puffier cupcakes, but spillover flat tops.
- After baking, the cupcakes will be a bit sunken in the center. This is normal.
- Once iced, garnish tops with lemon zest and a sprinkle of lavender.
- Be stingy with the use of the lavender. Over-use can result in a soapy flavor. Just a touch will do.
- If you refrigerate the cupcakes after frosting, the frosting will harden. Bring them back to room temp to soften.
- Frosted cupcakes will store in the fridge for up to a week.
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Recipe
Lemon Lavender Cupcakes
Bright and lightly sweet lemon lavender cupcakes are frosted to cupcake perfection. These cupcakes make the perfect springtime treat!
Ingredients
Cupcakes:
- 1 cup coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 8 large eggs
- 1 cup honey
- ½ cup coconut oil, , melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 medium lemons, zested and juiced
Icing:
- 1 ¼ cup palm shortening
- 6 tablespoon maple syrup
- 3 ½ teaspoon lemon juice
- 2 ½ teaspoon culinary lavender
- 2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake papers.
- In a large bowl mix coconut flour, baking soda, and salt together.
- In a separate bowl whisk eggs, then stir in oil (slightly cooled so it won’t cook the eggs when added), lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla, and honey.
- Slowly (in two sets) mix egg mixture into flour mixture until no lumps remain.
- Spoon batter into cupcake paper-lined pan, about ¼ cup or just under per cake-paper.
- Bake 25-30 min or until a knife comes out clean.
- While the cupcakes are baking, in mixing bowl combine all icing ingredients.
- Whip until the shortening gets fluffy and peaks begin to form.
- Spread on cupcakes or put in a piping bag and pipe as desired.
- Garnish with additional zest and just a tad bit of lavender.
Notes
Make sure to use cupcake pan liners when making these cupcakes.
When the cupcakes come out, they will end up 'sinking' a bit in the center. This is expected, and won't be seen once we frost them! 🙂
Be stingy with lavender – it can easily turn into a soapy flavor so overdoing it is not recommended in any way shape or form!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 15 Serving Size: 15 cupcakesAmount Per Serving: Calories: 399Total Fat: 30gSaturated Fat: 20gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 99mgSodium: 207mgCarbohydrates: 30gFiber: 1gSugar: 25gProtein: 5g
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Connie
Can I use jasmine flower powder, not tea, instead of lavender? Will it be a nice flavour for this recipe?
Jessica
Hi Connie - I am not familiar with jasmine flower powder, so I can't speak to that. You could certainly try it and see how it comes out!
Connie
Do the cupcakes have a light n fluffy texture like the normal cupcakes?
Jessica
Hi Connie - yes, these cupcakes have a light and fluffy texture to them. As they use alternate ingredients you may notice a difference in taste or texture from a "traditional" cupcake.
Connie
For the icing, can I use swiss meringue lemon buttercream instead? Will it be too heavy on the cupcakes? What other substitutions can I use besides palm shortening and coconut cream?
Jessica
Hi Connie - I've never used swiss meringue buttercream, so I'm afraid I can't tell you if it will be too heavy or not. I'd recommend perhaps trying on one and seeing how it goes? The palm shortening and coconut cream are what makes the icing light and fluffy, and I don't think there are any equal subs that will behave the same way and still stay in the paleo space.
Alexandra
8 eggs? Is that a typo?? Holyyyyyyy
Jessica
Hi Alexandra - it is not a typo! It is a lot of eggs, but you'll find that the cupcakes come out light and fluffy, and do not taste eggy at all.
Ali
If I werr to do this with coconut cream how much would i need ? Thanks !! Lovely recipe
Jessica
Hi Ali - are you meaning the icing, using coconut cream instead of palm shortening? I would suggest using the same amount, although I haven't tried it yet. If you do, let us know how it turns out!