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These Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes are moist, tender and totally addicting! There are pieces of chopped strawberry in the cupcake and they are topped with strawberry buttercream! So much flavor and perfect for spring and summer!
Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes
I have loads of strawberry-based desserts on this site and certainly no shortage of variations of strawberry cake and cupcakes. What I love about these though is that they are pretty straight forward with a one-bowl vanilla cupcake base and chunks of strawberries in the batter. There’s plenty of strawberry flavor from the chunks of berries and then they are topped with a delicious strawberry buttercream. These cupcakes are light, moist and full of flavor. I’m so in love!
This is actually the second time this recipe has been updated. The original version was posted way back when I first started this blog, in 2012. Then it was updated in 2014. And now it’s being updated again, only this time the recipe is basically the same.
There are a few little updates to the method for the cupcake to give you a smoother batter that’s easier to put together, plus a little more chopped strawberry. And then the strawberry buttercream now uses a reduced strawberry puree, rather than just a regular strawberry puree, to give you that extra strawberry flavor. But overall the cupcake is the same. Despite being about 7 years old, it’s still delicious and just as wonderful now as when I originally shared it. Love it!
Recipe Ingredients
For the Strawberry Cupcakes
- All Purpose Flour
- Baking powder and Baking Soda: The combination of the two gives this cupcake the ultimate texture.
- Salt: For flavor.
- Butter: Unsalted and melted, since this recipe doesn’t cream the butter.
- Sugar
- Vanilla Extract
- Eggs: Large sized eggs.
- Sour Cream: Not only does sour cream add moisture, it also helps to keep the batter thick enough so that the strawberries don’t all sink to the bottom of your cupcakes.
- Milk
- Chopped Strawberries: One and half cups of chopped strawberries for cupcakes that are loaded with flavor!
For the Strawberry Buttercream
- Strawberries: You’ll need about 1 1/2 cups of chopped strawberries, measured after chopping.
- Unsalted Butter: Control the amount of salt in your buttercream by adding it yourself. Butter should be room temperature.
- Powdered Sugar: For volume and thickness.
- Vanilla Extract: For flavor.
- Salt: To taste
How to Make Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes
These cupcakes are quite simple to make. I LOVE that they use only one bowl for the cupcake batter! Unlike my typical cupcake recipes, there’s no creaming involved, so they are super quick to make.
Make the Strawberry Cupcakes
- Prepare for Baking: Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare a cupcake pan with cupcake liners.
- Combine Dry Ingredients: Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
- Combine Butter, Sugar and Vanilla: In a large bowl, whisk the melted butter, sugar and vanilla extract together until well combined.
- Add Eggs, Sour Cream and Milk: Add the eggs, sour cream and milk one at a time, mixing well after adding each. Adding them one at a time ensures they all incorporate nicely, without giving you a lumpy batter.
- Add Dry Ingredients: Add the dry ingredients and whisk together until combined, but do not over mix. You want the batter to be evenly mixed and smooth, but don’t over do it or you could end up with tough cupcakes.
- Stir in Strawberries: Fold in the chopped strawberries gently. You don’t want to beat up your strawberries or over mix the batter.
- Bake: Fill the cupcake liners a little more than half full and bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Make the Strawberry Buttercream
- Make the strawberry reduction: Using a strawberry reduction doubles up the strawberry flavor. To make it, you’ll puree your strawberries, then cook them down by half. So after pureeing your strawberries, you should have about 3/4 cup of puree. Add the puree to a small sized saucepan and cook over medium heat. Allow the mixture to come to a slow boil, stirring consistently to keep it from burning, until it has thickened and reduced to about 6 tbsp, about 10-15 minutes. To measure, pour the puree into a measuring cup. If it’s more than 6 tbsp (between 1/4 and 1/2 cup), add it back to the pan and continue cooking. Set aside to cool when it’s done.
- Beat Butter: Add the butter to a large mixer bowl and beat until smooth.
- Add Powdered Sugar: Carefully add about half of the powdered sugar and mix until smooth and well combined.
- Add Strawberry Reduction, Vanilla and Salt: Add 4 tablespoons of the strawberry reduction, vanilla extract and the salt to the frosting and mix until well combined.
- Finish Powdered Sugar: Add the remaining powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
- Get the Right Consistency: Add additional strawberry reduction as needed to get the right consistency and flavor.
Assemble the Cupcakes
- Pipe the Frosting: Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes. I used Ateco tip 844.
- Garnish: Decorate with a strawberry half, if desired.
More Great Strawberry Recipes
Strawberries and Cream Cupcakes
Homemade Strawberry Cake
No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake
Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes
Strawberries and Cream Cheesecake Cake
Strawberry Crunchy Layer Cake
Watch How To Make Them
Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 14-16 Cupcakes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
These Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes are moist, tender and totally addicting! There are pieces of chopped strawberry in the cupcake and they are topped with strawberry buttercream! So much flavor and perfect for spring and summer!
Ingredients
CUPCAKES
- 1 2/3 cups (217g) all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup (168g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup (207g) sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup (115g) sour cream
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp milk
- 1 1/2 cups (200g) chopped strawberries
FROSTING
- 1 1/2 cups (200g) chopped strawberries
- 1 1/4 cups (280g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 5 cups (575g) powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch or two of salt
- Strawberries, for decorating
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C) and prepare a cupcake pan with cupcake liners.
- Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk the melted butter, sugar and vanilla extract together until well combined.
- Add the eggs and whisk together until well combined.
- Add the sour cream and whisk together until well combined.
- Add the milk and whisk together until well combined.
- Add the dry ingredients and whisk together until combined, but do not over mix.
- Fold in the chopped strawberries.
- Fill the cupcake liners a little more than half full and bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Remove cupcakes from the oven and place on a cooling rack to cool.
- To make the strawberry buttercream, make the strawberry reduction. Add the strawberries to a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. You should have about 3/4 cups of puree.
- Add the puree to a small sized saucepan and cook over medium heat. Allow the mixture to come to a slow boil, stirring consistently to keep it from burning, until it has thickened and reduced to about 6 tbsp, about 10-15 minutes. To measure, pour the puree into a measuring cup. If it’s more than 6 tbsp (between 1/4 and 1/2 cup), add it back to the pan and continue cooking.
- When the puree has thickened and reduced, pour into a large measuring cup and allow to cool to at least room temperature. This strawberry mixture can be made ahead, if you like, and stored in the fridge.
- Add the butter to a large mixer bowl and beat until smooth.
- Carefully add about half of the powdered sugar and mix until smooth and well combined.
- Add 4 tablespoons of the strawberry reduction, vanilla extract and the salt to the frosting and mix until well combined.
- Add the remaining powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Add additional strawberry reduction as needed to get the right consistency and flavor.
- Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes. I used Ateco tip 844. Decorate with a strawberry half, if desired.
- Cupcakes are best when stored well covered in the fridge for 2-3 days. Serve at room temperature
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Cupcake
- Calories: 275
- Sugar: 26.3 g
- Sodium: 100.8 mg
- Fat: 15.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 34.1 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 42.6 mg
Filed Under:
Enjoy!
Can I use frozen Strawberries since they are not in season around here?
I tend to find that strawberries can be a little mushy when you thaw them, so they may be hard to cut. But you could give it a try. Other than the texture, they should be fine.
Made these today for my sisters’ birthday. They are great! So moist and delicious.
Will make again. Thank you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Can I use the batter for a cake? What size pan would I use? How long should I bake it? Thanks. The cupcakes are amazingly good!
I’m glad you enjoyed them! I find that as a cake, it can be fairly dense. It’s not my preference, but you could try it. I do have several strawberry cake options you could take a look at.
I’m wondering if these cupcakes can be frozen and if so, for how long? Also, can the frosting be frozen too? Thanks
You can definitely freeze the frosting. I haven’t really tried freezing the cupcakes. I don’t know if the strawberries in them will get a little too mushy after freezing, but you can certainly try it.
If I need to make 36 cupcakes, can I just double this recipe? Or are there other adjustments I need to make?
You might need 2 1/2 recipes worth the get enough, but you shouldn’t need to make other adjustments.
Hi! Curious if I can substitute greek yogurt for the sour cream and/or wholemeal flour for the all purpose flour? Thanks 😀
I haven’t tried either. The yogurt should be fine, although I don’t think the result is quite as good. And did you mean whole wheat flour? If so, I wouldn’t recommend it. I think the flavor of whole wheat can be disguised in chocolate, but not as well in vanilla.
These are absolutely amazing. Made the recipe exactly as written…perfect. Gave some to my neighbors. They asked for more…haha. So good!! Thank you
Awesome! So glad they were a hit!
Hello Lindsey, I love your recipes! I am looking for a raspberry cupcake recipe – do you think I can swap out the strawberries with raspberries?
I’m so glad you enjoy them! Yes, I’d think raspberries would work well.
I am an experienced baker. I made this recipe but had to make a few substitutions. Allergies and what I had on hand.
1. I made a half recipe but still got 12 cupcakes.
2. I used Bob’s Red Mill egg replacement as per directions. Egg allergy.
3. I used half and half instead of milk. What I had on hand.
I baked for 20 minutes and the tester came out clean.
They rose in the oven but not much. As they cooled, they cratered a lot.
Texture was still wet and gooey.
I baked them another 10 minutes with no improvement.
I assume it was the egg replacement, but maybe also the half and half.
Any helpful thoughts?
TIA,
It’s hard to comment on the results, since I haven’t tested these with egg replacements or half and half. I will say that half and half is going to have more fat than milk, which could affect how long they need to bake, how well they rise and make them more dense.
These are absolutely delicious
I’m so glad to hear they worked out well!
I have made these cupcakes a few times using freshly picked strawberries and everyone RAVES about them!! They are seriously delicious! I have made them using both of your vanilla cake recipes and both are great with the strawberry frosting and filling. When it’s strawberry season, these are my go to!
Awesome! So glad to hear that!
I am a firm believer that a treat once in a while is a good thing, but make it worth the calories. These cupcakes are exactly what I have in mind. Absolutely decadent and delicious plus lovely to look at. Possibly the best frosting I’ve ever had. A bit of a project, but reasonable to make with my teenage stepdaughter. We got 16 cupcakes and wound up with a little extra frosting.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Looks great! Would it be possible to blend up the chopped strawberries so the cupcakes have that pink color?
I wouldn’t recommend it with these cupcakes. They wouldn’t actually be pink without adding food coloring, plus that would change the consistency of the batter and final cupcakes, plus it may not add quite the same strawberry flavor. If you’d like something more like that, I’d check out one of these recipes. The cakes can be made as cupcakes.
Strawberry Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Homemade Strawberry Cake
Strawberry Cake (like a box mix!)