Easy Gluten-Free Lemon Cupcakes

You don’t need to be a professional baker to make a delicious batch of lemon cupcakes. These easy gluten-free lemon cupcakes topped with strawberries and a thin layer of lemon icing for extra flavor, are made in two bowls, no extra equipment needed and quite simple foolproof directions.

I made these cupcakes for my Mom in anticipation for Mother’s Day, after all I had get my love for food from someone, and what better way to return all the love she has given me then with cake!

Be sure to scroll to the bottom of the post to wrap Mom’s gift basket with Yankee Candle. But I want to know what will your Mom enjoy in her basket?

This post has been sponsored by Yankee Candle® but all opinions are my own.

For years I struggled to come up with ideas for a Mother’s Day gift. You see, I wanted my gift to be very special and unexpected, so I ended up brainstorming and stressing myself for days. Of course my Mom enjoyed her gifts no matter what.

I remember the first time I gave my Mom a food-themed basket. I had just arrived from a trip and was not able to spend much time shopping. I ran to a store and bought her favorite foods; coffee, baked goods, tea towel, olive oil, nuts a mini cutting board and built a basket.

This was by far the gift that brought the biggest smile, which made my heart happy!

As the saying goes, the greatest pleasure in life are in the simplest things. That day I understood the beauty of recognizing my Mom’s likes, the ways she finds pleasure daily and adding a touch of love to it.

Being a home body who enjoys eating, a gift basket filled with goodies did more than bring a smile to Mom’s face. As she enjoyed these goodies daily, it reminded her of me and how much I love her!

It’s safe to say that most Mom’s enjoy good food, down time at home and family time, regardless of what life looks like for our Moms these days, whether they are still busy at work, slowing things down or are happily retired.

So for this Mother’s Day grab a basket and let’s build our Mom a beautifully wholesome, fresh and delightful gift that she will always remember.

How to build the perfect basket for Mother’s Day gift

• start by creating a theme; mine is “lemon love” because my Mom is obsessed with lemon and honestly so am I. Since Mother’s Day take place in spring I encourage you to find something within season, like berries, gardening, spring flowers, etc…
• bake something fresh – like these easy gluten-free lemon cupcakes or these carrot cupcakes or this amazing lemon blueberry buttermilk cake.
• grab your favorite candle – Yankee Candle has an amazing selection of super high quality, beautiful, fresh fragrances to choose from and you can always personalize your Yankee Candle by adding a family photo. I grabbed a Signature jar of Yankee Candle Iced Berry Lemonade, this fragrance is so clean and fresh, seasonal and goes really well with my theme.
• fresh flowers are always a must! Stick to your theme color so your basket is super pretty!
• tea towels are a great addition and something you can never have enough at home.
• other accessories such as; cutting board, serving board, photo frame, or theme related items such as gardening tools or books.
• finishing touches – add the final touch to your gift basket with a big bow. Keep it themed!

Now that we have a beautiful basket for Mom, let’s bake the cake! Before we get into the recipe I want you to know that you do not need to fear. Many of us find baking intimidating but it doesn’t have to be. Well maybe if you are making homemade croissant or something to that level, but not this cake!

This easy gluten-free lemon cake was tested in cupcake format and mini loaves. If you want to bake one big loaf it will take longer to bake. On the other hand if you bake mini muffins, it will cook much faster than jumbo cupcakes.

What you need to make gluten-free lemon cupcakes

• gluten-free flour – I like to use Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 gluten-free flour. It already includes xanthan gun so you don’t need to buy an extra ingredient.
• baking powder – to increase volume and lightens the texture.
• salt – always add a pinch of salt to balance out flavors.
• sugar – I tested this recipe using 3/4 cup of sugar instead of 1 1/4 to significantly reduce the amount of sugar in this recipe. The lemon balances out the sweetness so it’s most definitely not a very sweet cupcake recipe.
• lemon zest and lemon juice – my cupcakes are naturally flavored with both fresh lemon juice and lemon zest. I used two full size lemons to collect 2 tbsp of zest and about 1/4 cup of lemon juice.
• eggs – for this recipe I used 4 eggs
• vanilla extract – for additional flavor
• yogurt – this recipe was tested with cream cheese, yogurt and cottage cheese. The texture of cream cheese was a bit dense but otherwise very good and flavorful. The cottage cheese batch turned out a bit grainy. Yogurt yield my favorite batch with good texture and density. However, any of these options are valid substitutions.
• butter – unsalted, one whole stick to be softened or melted in microwave.

Simple lemon icing ingredients

• confectioned sugar – to be sifted to avoid lumps
• lemon juice – have in hand about 3-5 tsp of fresh lemon juice. Add one by one until you reach a good consistency (it will be about 4!)
• strawberries – for the topping!

How to make gluten-free lemon cupcakes

1. For this recipe you will need two large bowls and a small bowl for the lemon icing. I tested these gluten-free lemon cupcakes in a stand mixer and found that it was absolutely not necessary the extra equipment, however you are welcome to use yours. A hand mixer will work just fine too, but I used the old-fashioned hand whisk method.
2. To the first bowl add the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk to combine ingredients. 
3. To the second bowl add the sugar and lemon zest. Whisk well until zest is well incorporated in the sugar. This will help distribute flavor evenly. Then add in lemon juice, eggs, yogurt, vanilla extract and softened butter, one by one whisking well in-between (see recipe. notes)
4. Slowly add liquid batter into flour bowl, whisking vigorously to incorporate the ingredients. If you have to do it in batches, four pours until liquid batter is done. Finish mixing ingredients with a spatula. 
5. Pour batter into 6 jumbo muffin/ cupcake cups or 3 mini loaves. Bake at 350F degrees for 30-32 for cupcakes and 38-40 mini loaves. However keep an eye out a few minutes before it is done. Insert a toothpick to make sure the inside is cooked. 
6. Transfer cupcakes to a cooling rack and allow it to be completely cooled before adding icing.

How to make lemon Icing

1. Add sifted confectioned sugar to a small bowl and 2 tsp of lemon juice to start. Work your way up to 4-5 tsp of lemon juice as needed. 
2. Top cupcakes with a half strawberry then pour lemon icing over strawberry lemon cupcakes.