MINI LEMON DROP CUPCAKES (2024)

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!

See Also

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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!

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!

ENJOYLEMON 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.