This sweet strawberry cupcake recipe embraces everything we love about summer!
This is a super easy shortcut recipe starting with a doctored cake mix! We add a boost of strawberry flavor and bake until fluffy!
Topped these cupcakes with a swirl of fresh strawberry frosting for the perfect bite.
Easy Strawberry Cupcakes
- The secret to these delightfully delicious cupcakes is the addition of strawberry Jell-o in the batter!
- Bake strawberry cupcakes as minis, regular, or jumbo sized and they’ll be the hit of any party or picnic!
- Keep summer going all year long. Make batches of strawberry cupcakes, cool, and freeze until ready to frost!
- Top with fresh strawberry frosting and enjoy!
Ingredients
Cake Mix – Any brand of white cake mix works for this recipe! To change it up, swap white cake for lemon cake mix. Use the dry mix in the recipe below.
Frosting – Keep this 4-ingredient recipe on hand to use on future baked treats! Prepared frosting can be used if time is short, like a plain white frosting, or for a cheesecake flavor use ready-made cream cheese frosting. Scoop the frosting into a large bowl and gently fold in the strawberry puree.
Add a dash of strawberry extract and/or red coloring if desired.
How to Make Strawberry Cupcakes
The hardest part will be waiting for these to be ready to eat!
- Mix cupcake ingredients and bake (as per the recipe below).
- Prepare strawberry frosting using fresh or freeze dried strawberries per the recipe below.
- Pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes.
Top with a little scoop of macerated strawberries.
Cupcake Tips & Tricks
- Eggs will whip up better and produce a lighter, fluffier cupcake if they are at room temperature. Run eggs under warm water or place them in a cup of warm water for a couple of minutes.
- Use an ice cream scoop to create uniform portions into each cupcake well.
- Let the butter soften at room temperature for faster mixing. Add powdered sugar a bit at a time until frosting is the desired consistency. Mix in a little heavy cream if the frosting becomes too thick.
- If you’re not using cupcake liners, use a pan-release with flour to ensure that they won’t stick inside the pan.
- Strawberry puree must be cooled completely before making it into frosting or else the butter will melt and the frosting won’t be light and fluffy. Prepare the puree several hours ahead or even the day before and store it in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Use a non-stick pan or skillet with a wide surface to cook the strawberry puree, this helps it gel faster and prevents it from sticking to the pan.
Storing Strawberry Cupcakes
Keep leftover strawberry cupcakes in a covered container for up to 4 days. Freeze cupcakes in zippered bags for up to 4 months and thaw until ready to ice, or freeze frosted cupcakes wrapped in plastic for up to 3 months.
Strawberry Surplus?
- Strawberry Trifle – the perfect make-ahead dessert
- Strawberry Poke Cake – made with Jello
- Strawberry Crisp – with a sweet crunchy topping
- Easy Strawberry Shortcake – light & delicious
- Strawberry Rhubarb Pie – sweet & tart
Did you make these Strawberry Cupcakes? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Strawberry Cupcakes with Fresh Strawberry Frosting
Equipment
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 1 box white cake mix
- 1 box strawberry Jell-O (4 servings size)
- 4 eggs
- ⅔ cup vegetable oil
- ⅔ cup milk
Frosting
- 1 pound fresh strawberries or 1 cup freeze-dried
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 4 – 4 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 3-4 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Combine all cupcake ingredients in a medium bowl. Mix with a hand mixer on low for 1 minute. Mix on medium for 2 minutes.
- Line 24 cupcake wells with liners or grease very well.
- Divide the batter evenly between the wells.
- Bake according to box directions.
Fresh Strawberry Frosting
- Puree fresh strawberries in a food processor until smooth *see notes for freeze-dried strawberries. Place in a non-stick saucepan over medium heat and simmer until reduced to ⅓ cup (approximately 15 minutes) while stirring. Cool completely.
- Cream butter and 1 cup of powdered sugar with a hand mixer until fluffy. Add the cooled strawberry puree and mix well.
- Add powdered sugar a bit at a time until the frosting is thick and fluffy. If the mixture is too thick, heavy cream can be added 1 tablespoon at a time to reach desired consistency.
- Pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Cake, Dessert
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
can you use frozen strawberries for the frosting as well? if so same amount?
Yes you can use the same amount of frozen strawberries, just thaw them before pulsing.
This is a decent recipe but I think the directions are a little confusing. For instance is says bake cupcakes per box instructions and I took that as meaning use the ingredients/directions per the box. So it took my brain a minute to realize it just meant the temperature and time.
Also no where in the instructions does it tell you how much freeze dried strawberries you’ll need. FYI I used simple truth freeze dried strawberries and the 2oz package was not a full cup after pulverizing. And I used a clear bag and a rolling pin since I don’t have a food processor. It also doesn’t tell you when to add in the vanilla. So I just did that after I did the butter and first cup of sugar.
And I guess cuz of the jello we add the cupcakes rise a lot more. So some of my cupcakes were super large and hanging over the paper cup edge. I tried to do even tablespoons per cup but I guess I was off on a few. I think I used maybe 3 cups sugar? And 2 tablespoons of whipping cream to thin it out. But it didn’t make enough icing for all the cup cakes. I wanted more strawberry flavor and less sugar flavor and since I only had 2 oz freeze dried strawberries…
So overall easy recipe. I like the flavor of the freeze dried strawberries. I used a strawberry cake mix instead of white. I wanted a really strawberry flavored cupcake. No need to add food coloring. It came out all very pink and pretty. I think I could have baked my cupcakes less recipe on box said 16-19 minutes. I did 18 but maybe the jello makes it airy enough to need less bake time? Anyway. Decent recipe. A keeper with a few tweaks. Wish I could post a pic. They are pretty darn cute.
You certainly are a pretty sweet dish
Can you bake this cake in a 9 inch fluted cake pan and are you able to substitute frozen strawberries in the frosting for fresh ones?
Hi Paula, you can absolutely make this recipe into a cake. As for the frozen berries we haven’t actually tried this recipe with them. Please let us know how it turns out!
How many cupcakes does this usually make?
This will make 24 cupcakes.
What is the food coloring and strawberry extract used for?
If desired, they can be added to the frosting to make the color more pink and/or the flavor a little bit stronger. If you’d like to add them, they can be mixed in at the end once the desired consistency is reached.
Amazing!
Your recipes look absolutely gorgeous so looking forward to trying them
Thank you Lesley! :)
Set me up for daily emails if possible.
Blessings,
Christina
Hi Christina! You can enter your name on the top right hand side if you click here. Be sure to confirm your email address to receive daily emails.
They taste amazing and im sure they are going to be even better with my cool whip frosting. Thank you for sharing. I made these for a friends bday get together tonight and im going to have to tell everyone to open with caution. lol
Did you use just egg whites in the batter or add the yolks?
I used the yolks too. :)
This looks amazing! Can this also be made as a cake instead of cupcakes?
Absolutely!