These mini Lemon Drops are a perfect treat for lemon fans. Tiny lemon cakes are drenched in a mouthwatering lemon glaze making them delicious and addicting.
Easy Lemon Drop Cakes
I am a huge fan of all things lemon, and these Lemon Drops are my latest experiment. The original recipe called for a cake mix, but it made 75 lemon drops. I didn’t need that many, so I decided to come up with my own recipe. I am thrilled with how they turned out.
I took them to a bridal shower, and they were a big hit! They are soft and buttery, and the lemon glaze soaks into every nook and cranny, making every bite delectable. Be careful, they are hard to stop eating!
How to Make Lemon Drops
Don’t worry, even though they are from scratch, lemon drops are easy. You start off by bringing butter and water to a boil, and pouring them over your dry ingredients. Next you add your sour cream, egg, lemon juice, and zest.
After beating everything till smooth, you add the batter to your prepared mini muffin tins. I used two 24-cup pans. I like to use my mini cookie scoop to fill the cups. So handy!
Fresh lemon zest is the secret to incredible lemon flavor, so don’t leave it out. If you love lemons, you are really in for a treat!
We love all things lemon, especially in the summer time, and we hope you’ll love these mini lemon cakes (aka lemon drops) for your next get together. I’m warning you now that they’re addicting, so beware!!
Love lemon like I do? Here are a few more recipes to try:
- Butter Cookies with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
- Amazing Lemon Brownies
- Lemon Curd
- Lemon Cookies
- Lemon Cheesecake
- Lemon Sheet Cake
- Lemon Bars
Lemon Drop Mini Cakes
Ingredients
Lemon Glaze
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp fresh lemon zest
- 1 Tbsp melted butter
- 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp milk
Instructions
- Spray mini muffin pans with non-stick spray; set aside.
- Whisk together flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda in a mixing bowl; set aside.
- Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add water and bring to a boil.
- Pour hot mixture over dry ingredients and beat with a hand beater till barely blended. Beat in the sour cream, egg, zest, and lemon juice till smooth.
- Scoop batter into muffin pans. Bake at 325° for about 12 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes, then turn onto cooling racks. Cool completely before glazing.
- Dip lemon drops bottom side down into the glaze. Let excess glass drip off into the bowl, then invert lemon drops top side down onto cooling racks. (Place waxed paper underneath the cooling racks for easier clean up.) Let sit till glaze hardens.
Lemon Glaze
- Whisk all glaze ingredients together in a small mixing bowl. Heat for about 10 seconds in the microwave till glaze is very thin.
Notes
Wonderful recipe! Used the cake release but they still stuck!
Sorry they stuck! Thanks so much for trying this recipe!!
Hi, this recipe looks absolutely amazing, but is there any way to scale it down? We’re a family of three, so we can really only go through a dozen of these…
You could just cut the recipe in half or take some to a neighbor 🙂
Loved how easy it was to make this. My boss asked whether I knew how to make lemon drop cakes, and I didn’t. So I jumped on the internet and googled for recipes. I’m so glad I found yours. I’ve always preferred making bite sized cakes instead of a whole cake. I’ve found that I love of people like it that way too.
Now you on to my question. Would it be better to keep the mini cakes in air tight container and in room temperature, or should they be refrigerated?
So glad you loved this recipe! Most cakes, frosted and unfrosted, are perfectly fine at room temperature for several days so an air tight container at room temperature for your lemon drop cakes would be perfect. 🙂
can they be frozen?
I personally haven’t tried freezing them.
They wouldn’t come out of pan. I sprayed it good to. And a vary runny batter .so mixed with cream cheese and made balls and glazed vary good
Sorry they stuck! They should have come out, since you sprayed it well. And, I am not sure why it was runny, but I am glad you liked them!
Soooooo delicious!! The recipE made exactly 48 mini cupcakes! I filled them abou 2/3 full. Cook time was per at 12 min. I ran Short on icing Though, would recommend making Abou 1 1/2 times the amount. No need to doublE it.
Happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing that!
Omg. Tried these first time changed nothing and they taste amazing. However my icing isnt thinning to look this Pretty its more of a drIZzle but still i love It.!
I am glad you think so 🙂 Usually, to make the icing more thin, add more liquid. Thank you!
At any point can these be frozen????
I haven’t tried freezing them, but maybe before the glaze point?? Then thaw, then dip in glaze.
Love these cakes. I, too, didn’t have mini muffin tins, so I looked for comments made by others with the same predicament. Here’s what I came up with: I used a single 2.5″ muffin tin lined with cupcake baking cups that I sprayed generously with Pam baking spray. I added an extra tablespoon of flour and a half teaspoon of baking powder to the mix, measured all liquid ingredients carefully, and filled each of the cups with two heaping tablespoons of batter, making exactly 12 small muffin size cakes. I preheated my oven to 350°, dropping the temperature to 325° immediately after placing the tin in the oven on the center rack. I baked them for 22 minutes. Time will vary based on the oven, but I watched them carefully through my glass oven door until they had risen evenly across the tops and the edges had started to brown. Only then did I open the oven to check for doneness with a toothpick. Once cooled, I turned them upside down and dipped the tops in the glaze. So pretty. I just removed the paper from one of them with no problem and ate it. Awesome! Thank you so much. We do love lemon in this house. Hope this helps other lemon lovers who don’t have mini pans.
Thank you for sharing what you did! That sounds great. Glad you liked them!
Hi – I have the mini muffin tins…can I add the paper lining instead of spraying and having them get stuck?
You sure could 🙂 Hope you like them!
I made these for my daughters baby shower and they were a big hit. I normally dont like anything lemon flavored desserts, but these are very delicious. Yummy
I am happy you liked them & tried them 🙂 Glad they were a hit! Thank you!
These are incredible. So tender, so moist. Definitely will become a favorite!
Yay! Happy to hear that! Thank you!
Best way to mail these?? Thank you
Oh, that’s hard! I haven’t mailed them before. You would need to find some way to keep them from moving all around & fresh. I would check google.
Can the zest be substituted?
I haven’t tried substituted it. It really does add a lot of the flavor.
I’ve made these a few times and each time they come out even more delicious! So lemony and they melt in your mouth!
Was wondering if you have ever tried baking this recipe in a loaf pan????
I am glad you like it! I have not made this specific recipe in a loaf pan, but if you search lemon loaf on my site, there are quite a few delicious lemon breads 🙂
These just came out of the oven and are cooling. I am not a fan of lemon but my guests love it so I will have to wait to get a review on the taste.
I was worried about others comments that they stuck in the pan. I purchased a “Super Silicone Technology” silicone mini cupcake pan two years ago and it is fabulous. Just to be on the safe side, I did spray it with Pam Baking spray and they popped out. For the second batch, I did not respray the pan and that batched popped right out too.
They look wonderful!
I am surprising 21 people in church next month with baked goods that I will be delivering to their porch before our Zoom meeting. This will be one of the baked goods I include!
That’s so nice of you! Thank you for trying them! I hope they are a hit with everyone!
Update! These were a hit with my family. Even my husband who does not like lemon, loved them! I told him I was going to give away the leftovers and he said “NO…I want them!” Moist, lemony and delicious! Thanks so much for a great bite-size recipe.
Haha..love that!! Tell him thank you & thank you for letting me know 🙂