Soft and fluffy strawberry cupcakes with creamy strawberry buttercream frosting. Make them in mini size, too!
You don’t need to get your eyes checked. Those aren’t giant strawberry slices. The above strawberry cupcakes are, in fact, mini size. I made today’s homemade strawberry cupcakes in both regular and mini size.
Anyway. What a HIT these were. I’ve made strawberry cupcakes before and while I loved previous recipes, I wanted to create a new recipe for them. Complete with strawberry buttercream frosting, of course. That’s what I love most about baking—there is never a stopping point. I love taking recipes I already have and mixing them up to create fresh new versions.
A few important details about the cupcake batter:
Make sure that all of your dairy ingredients are at room temperature. If you’re a regular reader (or baker), you know this is so important. To cut down on time, many ignore this step but it’s crucial to obtaining the best possible cupcake in terms of taste and texture. Room temperature ingredients are smooth and evenly incorporated, which helps produce light, airy, evenly baked treats.
Use my suggested sifted mix of all-purpose flour and cornstarch. The two produce a DIY version of cake flour. You can, of course, just use cake flour! I’ve noted that in the recipe below. Cake flour (or the DIY version) produces a lighter, softer, and much fluffier cake.
Whip those egg whites! I only use 1 egg yolk in the batter, along with three egg whites. The yolk is mixed in with the creamed butter/sugar, while the egg whites are whipped and then folded into the batter. Why do I do this? It adds air and volume to the batter. Again, creating a lighter, fluffier cake.
The strawberry buttercream frosting is where I had a lot of fun. I created wonderful strawberry buttercream candies for my Sally’s Candy Addiction cookbook and used what I learned from creating that recipe to produce my flavorful strawberry buttercream frosting that we’ll use on these cupcakes. I’ve always had trouble obtaining a perfectly creamy and smooth frosting using fresh strawberries because they are so wet. So, I use freeze-dried strawberries.
When ground up, they make the perfect flavorful “dust” to make a strawberry flavored frosting without any artificial strawberry flavoring.
Regular or mini size, these are the perfect treats for the upcoming warm weather.
More Strawberry Favorites
- Strawberry Cake
- Glazed Strawberry Bread
- Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie & No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake Pie
- Strawberry Shortcake
- Strawberry Sauce
Strawberry Cupcakes with Creamy Strawberry Buttercream
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 24 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 50 minutes
- Yield: 16-17 cupcakes
- Category: Cupcakes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Soft and fluffy strawberry cupcakes with creamy strawberry buttercream frosting. Make them in mini size, too!
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 8–9 large strawberries*
- 1 large egg + 2 egg whites, room temperature and separated
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour* (spooned & leveled)
- 1/4 cup (30g) cornstarch*
- 2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 cups (300g) granulated sugar
- 3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (240ml) whole milk, room temperature*
Strawberry Buttercream
- 1 cup (about 25g) freeze-dried strawberries*
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 4 cups (480g) confectioners’ sugar
- 3 Tablespoons (45ml) heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- salt, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a 12-count muffin pan with cupcake liners. This recipe makes 16-17 cupcakes, so you will have a few cupcakes to bake in a 2nd batch. Please read notes about mini cupcakes.
- Slice 5 strawberries and place in a food processor or blender. Pulse until strawberries are a chunky puree. You should have about 1/3 cup. Set aside. Finely chop remaining strawberries. Set aside.
- With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the 3 egg whites on high speed in a medium bowl until soft peaks form, about 2-3 minutes. Set aside.
- Make the cupcakes: Sift the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside. Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the sugar and beat on high speed for 3-4 minutes until creamed together fairly well. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and beat on medium-high speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the whole milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, and mixing each addition just until incorporated. Do not overmix. Fold egg whites, 1/3 cup strawberry puree, and finely chopped strawberries into the cupcake batter. The batter will be velvety and slightly thick.
- Spoon batter into cupcake liners filling halfway. Bake for 20-24 minutes or until the tops of the cupcakes spring back when gently touched and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
- Make the frosting: Using a blender or food processor, process the freeze-dried strawberries into a powdery crumb. You should have around 1/2 cup. Set aside. With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy – about 2 minutes. Add confectioners’ sugar, strawberry powder, cream, and vanilla extract with the mixer running on low. Increase to high speed and beat for 3 full minutes. Add 1/4 cup (30g) more confectioners’ sugar if frosting is too thin or 1 more Tablespoon of cream if frosting is too thick. Add a pinch of salt if frosting is too sweet. Frost cupcakes as desired. I used a Wilton 1M piping tip. Leftover prepared cupcakes can be stored covered tightly at room temperature for up to a day or in the refrigerator up to 5.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Prepare cupcakes and frosting 1 day in advance. Keep cupcakes covered tightly at room temperature and the frosting covered tightly in the refrigerator. Unfrosted cupcakes can be frozen up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before frosting and serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 12-count Muffin Pan | Cupcake Liners | Food Processor or Blender | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Silicone Spatula | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Piping Bag (Disposable or Reusable) | Wilton 1M Piping Tip
- Layer Cake: You can easily turn these into a layer cake. Simply pour batter into two greased and lined (with parchment paper rounds) 9-inch cake pans and bake for 27-35 minutes. Cakes are done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Frost as desired.
- Mini Cupcakes: For around 36 mini cupcakes, line mini cupcake pans with liners or spray with nonstick spray. Prepare cupcakes and frosting as directed. Bake mini cupcakes for 12-13 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Strawberries: I highly recommend fresh strawberries. Frozen strawberries are fine. Thaw before using in step 2.
- Flour: I use a combination of sifted flour + cornstarch to produce cake flour—if you keep cake flour in the pantry, use 2 and 1/3 cups (268g) instead of the specified all-purpose flour and cornstarch.
- Milk: For the richest and moistest cupcakes, use whole milk. Buttermilk would be great too!
- Freeze-Dried Strawberries: 25g is accurate—freeze dried strawberries weigh next to nothing! You can find them in the dried fruit/nut aisle. Or order them online. If you can’t find them, try the raspberry frosting from my lemon raspberry cupcakes but swap out the raspberry jam for strawberry flavor. Or try my strawberry whipped cream instead.
- Be sure to check out my 10 tips for baking the BEST cupcakes before you begin!
You’re going to love these.
I just made this for my Husband who’s been requesting a strawberry cupcake for a while, and these were fantastic. The recipe was easy to follow and the little cakes came out perfect at about 19mins. I followed the instructions exactly. The frosting perfectly complements the cake which itself isn’t very sweet, very balanced. Definitely a keeper!
Hi, love your recipes and was about to begin making these cupcakes. However, as I was reading thru the recipe I noticed several ingredients with asterisks but no reference to these. Saw notes but no asterisk references. Should they be ignored or???? Thx!
Hi Linda, an asterisk indicates a corresponding recipe note in the Notes section, which comes immediately following the recipe. Hope this helps!
Can I use the cream cheese frosting recipe from the cake on these instead of butter cream ?
Hi Jack, absolutely!
My family loved this recipe so much! I had 3 teenagers in the house today and they shared until the last cupcake. They had a basketball match in the driveway to see who would win the last cupcake. My heart is happy. I liked the lightness of the frosting – this will be a go to for me for the rest of the summer.
I made these cupcakes for dessert at my quarterly grade school luncheon. I’ve known these ladies for a very long time; and it is not easy to impress them, but each and every one of them raved about these.
I stuffed them with the strawberry filling from your Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes recipe and iced them with your White Chocolate Strawberry Frosting (from your White Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes recipe). The cupcakes were moist and the white chocolate in the frosting made these even better.
I will definitely make these again.
Hi, I’ve been using this recipe possibly since you first released it, it’s the best I’ve ever found. But I lost my old paper copy, and now when I go back to use the online recipe, the 2021 update has some issues for me. 1. – I am pretty sure I remember using 2 full cups of chopped fresh strawberries (which I tried yesterday to be sure – totally worked). I agree w/mashing/pureeing a bit of that total, but telling someone “8-9 lg strawberries” without a measure or weight might be confusing. 2. I found scrolling back and forth between all of your notes to be a bit of a pain – ie, the flour substitute. Most likely ppl making this recipe are headed to the store anyway, and I’d personally start with recommending the real lower-gluten cake flour rather than the substitute. 3. The egg directions (1 egg plus 2 whites, divided, then later whip the whites) was a bit confusing even for a longtime baker – maybe just say 1 yolk, 3 whites? 4. The amt. of vanilla seems enormous to me and enough to mask the strawberry flavor (again, compared with the original I remember). That’s it for the negatives! Positive – huge improvement in recommending pulverized freeze dried strawberries for the frosting – that’s actually the one thing I’d been changing from your original recipe. Hard to get big strawberry flavor from liquid and the extracts just aren’t the same. Thanks for this tried-and-true recipe! It’s been a family hit for many years.
These cupcakes turned out perfect. I used buttermilk and some sour cream in place of the whole milk. So moist. The buttercream is beyond good.
These cupcakes have become a staple for my family – requested many times for birthdays and other special occasions. The cupcakes are light and fluffy and so flavorful, but the star of the show is the strawberry buttercream! Sooo delicious – I’ve used it on other cupcakes, cookies and bars over the years and I always get compliments and people asking for the recipe. I’m always happy to send them your way!
I can’t wait to make these! I would like to incorporate some fresh rhubarb into the strawberry mix, but I don’t think the baking time would be long enough to cook the rhubarb, especially for mini cupcakes. I am considering par cooking the rhubarb pieces in sugar and cooling it down before mixing with the strawberry mixture. Do you think this would work?
Hi Linda, we haven’t tried incorporating rhubarb into these cupcakes before, but you can certainly give it a go. If you go the route of pre-cooking the rhubarb, be sure to blot any excess moisture from the rhubarb before adding to the batter. Let us know what you decide to try!
These cupcakes came out perfectly and perfectly delicious! I was very excited because the recipe does not use oil or crisco.
I did not have freeze dried strawberries, so I used the remainder of the puréed strawberries. I had extra sugar on hand in case it got too watery, but it worked very well without adding extra sugar.
Thank you so much for a great recipe!
Could I freeze these cupcakes before I frost them?
You bet! See recipe notes for freezing instructions.
I’m not fast, so by the time I added the whipped egg whites, some were no longer whipped (they were back to liquid egg whites). Next time, I’ll wait to whip them right before I need to add them. The texture of the batter looks unsettling, like curdled milk 😐 And they didn’t rise much in the oven. They still taste normal, though. The star, though, is the buttercream. It is delicious and pretty and has a strong strawberry taste. Note: I added the strawberry extract to the cake batter and frosting to boost the flavour. I will definitely make this buttercream again, maybe with your chocolate cupcakes.