Mini Lemon Drop Cupcakes are delicious bite-sized treats that start with a lemon cake mix! The easy lemon glaze soaks into the bottoms to make these little cupcakes even more incredible.
After you try these, don’t miss this collection of our BEST SPRING RECIPES!
Little Lemon Drops are absolutely amazing and everyone will love you for making and sharing them! I took these to a barbecue and they were devoured in about 5 minutes….long before the meat even started cooking! Everyone was exclaiming about how amazing they were and I was thrilled because this recipe is so easy and it makes about 75 little cupcakes so it’s perfect for large gatherings. Although, my husband ate about a dozen himself before we even left the house so 75 of them doesn’t actually go as far as you’d think!
MINI LEMON CUPCAKES
This recipe for Little Lemon Drops actually starts with a lemon cake mix! You add a few basic ingredients to the cake mix: a box of vanilla pudding, eggs, sour cream or yogurt and milk. That’s it!
Bake the mini cupcakes, then I like to dunk them in my lemon glaze upside down. The lemon glaze absorbs into the mini cupcakes better when they’re inverted! This is a simple but delicious recipe that everyone goes crazy over.
INGREDIENTS IN MINI LEMON CUPCAKES
Here’s what you need to make these Little Lemon Cake Bites:
Lemon cake mix – The mix should be about 15.75 ounces. Any lemon cake mix will work great!
Instant vanilla pudding mix – Use a small box (3.4 ounces) and make sure the pudding mix is the instant kind. Adding pudding mix to the recipe really improves the consistency of the cupcakes!
Eggs – You will need 4 large eggs for the recipe.
Sour cream or yogurt – Sour Cream works great, but I usually use plain or vanilla yogurt – either option works great!
Milk – I almost always use 1% milk because that’s what I have on hand, but any type of milk works well. Even non-dairy options are just fine!
How to make Little Lemon Drop Mini Cupcake recipe
To make our Glazed Lemon Mini Cupcakes, you’ll first preheat the oven to 325° F. Coat mini muffin tins with cooking spray. This recipe makes 75 mini cupcakes so I ended up baking 3 batches in my mini cupcake pan that holds 24 cupcakes.
Beat the ingredients for the mini lemon cupcakes in a large bowl with an electric mixer for several minutes until blended and smooth.
Fill each muffin hole about 1/2 way full. I used a small cookie scoop and it worked perfectly! Bake each pan for about 12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool the pan on a wire rack for about 2 minutes and then turn the muffin pan over on a wire rack so that all the muffins are upside down.
Cool completely and once all the batter is cooked, you can make the glaze.
Ingredients for simple Lemon Glaze
Powdered sugar – Lots of powdered sugar makes the glaze sweet just the way we like it!
Lemon zest – The recipe calls for about 2 teaspoons of zest – I usually just use all of the zest from one large lemon.
Butter – Just a couple of tablespoons of melted butter helps to make the glaze buttery and creamy.
Lemon juice – You’ll need about 1/4 cup of lemon juice which is about the amount that you can squeeze out of one large lemon. Just use the same lemon you get all of the zest from. If you need a little bit more, you can also use lemon juice out of a bottle.
Hot water– Adds the extra liquid needed to make the right consistency for the glaze.
How to make Lemon Drop Mini Cupcake Glaze
To make the easy lemon glaze that you’ll dip each mini cupcake into, you first want to place wire cooling racks over waxed paper. This will minimize clean up a ton!
Beat the glaze ingredients in a medium bowl until smooth. Dip each mini cupcake into the glaze upside down. The bottom side of cupcakes are softer and actually absorb the glaze so much better. Set the cupcakes on a separate cooling rack, keeping them inverted. So the cupcake bottoms are now the tops!
Let the lemon drop cupcakes cool for 10-15 minutes, until the glaze is set. Make sure to eat a few before placing them out for others or you’ll never get to try one!
LEMON DROP GLAZED MINI CUPCAKES
Ingredients
Mini Lemon Drop Cupcakes
- 1 box lemon cake mix
- 1 box instant vanilla pudding 3.4 oz, dry mix
- 4 large eggs
- 1 1/4 cups sour cream or yogurt
- 1/2 cup milk
Easy Lemon Glaze
- 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tsp grated lemon zest from 1 lemon
- 2 TBSP unsalted butter melted
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice from 1 lemon
- 1/4 cup hot water
Instructions
To make the Mini Lemon Cupcakes:
- Preheat the oven to 325 F. Coat mini muffin tin with cooking spray.
- Beat the ingredients in a large bowl with an electric mixer for several minutes until blended and smooth. Fill each muffin hole about 1/2 full. I used a small cookie scoop and it worked perfectly! Bake for about 12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool the pan on a wire rack for about 2 minutes and then turn the muffin pan over on a wire rack so that all the muffins are upside down.
- Cool completely and once all the batter is cooked, you can make the glaze.
To make the Lemon Glaze:
- Place the wire racks over waxed paper. Beat the glaze ingredients in a medium bowl until smooth.
- Dip muffins in glaze to coat the bottoms (which are now the tops!) and the sides and let the excess drip off back into the bowl.
- Place each lemon drop back on the wire racks until the glaze is set.
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Nutrition
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Can you freeze Lemon Drop Mini Cupcakes?
I recommend you freeze the mini cupcakes baked, but not dipped in the glaze. Store the cupcakes in an airtight container or freezer bags for up to 3 months in the freezer. Once you’re ready to serve them, let them thaw on the countertop, then proceed with the instructions for making the glaze and dipping the cupcakes.
What to do with leftover lemon zest or lemon juice
Having lemon zest or lemon juice leftover is a fantastic problem to have! You can refrigerate both for up to a month, or freeze them for up to 6 months. Usually what I do is place them in an airtight container in the fridge, then after a week, if I still haven’t used them, I transfer them to the freezer. These are my favorite airtight containers to use- I love all the varying sizes they come in, and foods last so much longer in them!
ENJOY LEMON DESSERTS? SO DO WE! HERE ARE MORE YOU CAN TRY:
- Easy Lemon Quick Bread
- Lemon Poke Cake
- Lemon Buttermilk Pound Cake
- Lemon Ice Box Pie
- Lemon Butter Bars Recipe
- Lemon Sugar Cookies
- Lemon Raspberry Muffins
- Lemon Buttermilk Bread
- Lemon Pudding Cookies
- Lemon Lush Dessert
- Lemon Cream Cheese Bars
Mini Lemon Drop Cupcakes are delicious bite-sized treats that start with a lemon cake mix! The easy lemon glaze soaks into the bottoms to make these little cupcakes even more incredible.
Molly says
Adorable and delicious!
Jessica says
🙂 Thank you!
Melinda says
May you use almond milk or cashew milk in this recipe Thanks
Jessica says
I haven’t tried it, but I swap Almond milk into a lot of my recipes so I imagine it’d be fine!
Lane & Holly @ With Two Spoons says
I love lemon-these look so good!
Megan @ MegUnprocessed says
These are cute! I love lemon. Great treats!
Elena Reinisch says
These look great! Can’t wait to try them!
Sandy says
Hi Jessica!
Was this recipe developed using the original 18.5oz box or the new box of cake mix with less cake mix in it? Thanks! Will be baking these soon!
Nellie says
The mix I use is 16.5 ounces. Hope that helps!
hilde says
have you considered adding poppy seeds?
sweettooth says
Made these today- was not impressed:-( Cake was too spongy:-(
mom of 1 teenager says
Hello,These look amazing! I’m thinking about having these for Super Bowl Sunday. What do you think? I thought they’d be perfect cause of them being kinda small.Thanks in advance for the reply.
Jessica says
They’re perfect for the Super Bowl! GO FALCONS! 😉
TONYA says
I found this recipe on Facebook. I made them for a party at work and my co-worker love them. I want to try this recipe key lime cake mix.
Jessica says
Great idea – and so lad you liked them!!
Sur says
My husband loves lemons! Making these for Valentine’s day.
Louise says
Has anyone had problems with them sticking? Every muffin stuck to the pan. I did spray them with cooking spray but they stuck. Still delicious! 🙂
Jessica says
I think sticking has to do more with the pan than the recipe, unfortunately. I have a really hard time with my baked goods sticking too! I now use the non-stick spray specifically for baked goods- it has flour in it. You can get it at the store right by the other non-stick spray. I’m sorry your treats stuck! Hope this helps- I feel your pain!
T.Smith says
The commercials almost made me abandon this recipe entirely! What a waste of time for those of us who want to get down to the business of baking! I can see one commercial…but one every few seconds?! I won’t be visiting this site again anytime soon.Good recipe though…..I’ll figure out how to make it….I wasn’t going to sit through another commercial.
Jessica says
I’m so sorry- let me check my video settings and adjust that. The ad breaks vary, so I appreciate you letting me know! I do hope you give the recipe a try- it’s wonderful! Have a great day — Jessica
Shelly says
These are the same as Paula Deen’s Lemon Blossoms.
Jessica says
They’re similar, but not the same… Paula Deen uses oil whereas we use sour cream and milk. I like the flavor better our way. 😉
Kathy says
These look wonderful! With football season coming soon, they will be perfect for our tailgating parties. Thanks!
Andrea says
These are delicious! Light and fluffy, and you can just pop in your mouth!! Just the right amount of sweetness too.
Jessica says
Thank you so much Andrea! Glad you enjoyed them!
Judy says
I tried these and they were great. Great for a party.. i added lemon pudding instead of vanilla.