Homemade Lemon Cupcake muffins

I am a huge fan of muffins and lemon poppy seeds muffins are one of my favorite. Unfortunately I couldn't get the black poppy seeds here in India. I tried making it without poppy seeds it turned out awesome. I am sure you would enjoy making this as well as the muffins. I tried the icing for the first time in my life. I loved making the butter cream icing and it did take some time in the hand mixer to prepare it. The outcome was sweet but not the actual icing on the cupcake. I couldn't stop tasting the icing as it was all lemony.

 I tried several nozzles and practiced on some cupcakes the results weren't great though as my hands weren't steady. My friends suggested I practice a few times and I would get it right; so rightly said I haven't lost hope.

Below are the ingredients and the recipe.

Ingredients:

1. All purpose flour - 1 cup
2. Baking Powder - 1 t.spn
3. Baking Soda - 1 t.spn
4. Salt - 1/4 tspn
5. Softened Butter - 1/3 cup
6. Regular Sugar - 3/4 cup. If prefer medium sweetness use 1/2 cup
7. Eggs - 2
8. Lemon Extract - 1 t.spn
9. Vanilla Extract - 1 t.spn
10. Lemon Zest - 1 tbl spn
11. Milk - 1/2 cup
12. Lemon Juice - 3 t.spn

Preparation:

1. Preheat Oven to 180°C. 
2. Sift ingredients 1 - 4 in a bowl keep aside
3. In a large mixing bowl add butter and sugar. Mix well until it becomes light and fluffy. I used a hand mixer.
4. Add the eggs one by one while mixing. once it's incorporated well with mixture add lemon zest, vanilla extract and lemon extract mix well.
5. Then add the dry ingredients in 3 parts and mix well. First add 1/3 of flour mixture and blend well, pour in 1/3 of milk & blend followed by 1 t.spn lemon juice. Repeat the same procedure for rest of the flour.
6. Transfer to muffin tins and bake for 15 - 20 minutes. The timing vary based on the type of oven and the quantity. I got mine baked in 17 minutes in convection (6 muffin tray)

Each mouthful taste lemon. Your house would smell fabulous when they are getting baked. You can decorate these cupcakes with colorful icing. Happy baking !!!!