Bursting with real strawberries, these soft and fluffy fresh strawberry cupcakes are the ultimate berry treat. Topped with creamy strawberry buttercream, each bite is light, sweet, and naturally flavored. They’re the perfect dessert to celebrate strawberry season—and a beautiful way to showcase them!
I originally published this recipe in 2015 and have since added new photos and more helpful success tips. I also made 3 small improvements to simplify and improve the recipe, which are reflected in the printable instructions below.
This new-and-improved strawberry cupcake batter is now a little more similar to my favorite vanilla cupcakes recipe. Have you made those before? I love that recipe so much that I decided to include it in my new cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101. The book simply wouldn’t have felt complete without it! That recipe is a great starting point for playing around with other flavors, such as today’s fresh strawberry cupcakes.
So Much to Love About Strawberry Cupcakes
- Buttery soft and fluffy cake crumb studded with juicy bits of fresh berries
- Topped with uber-flavorful, sweet strawberry buttercream frosting
- Like strawberry cake in handheld form
- Recipe makes a big batch, about 20 cupcakes
- Real strawberry flavor in every bite, because we’re using real strawberries!
Recipe Testing: 3 Recipe Improvements
This recipe was originally published in 2015. After years of baking these cupcakes—and listening to helpful feedback from readers—I decided to make a few small tweaks to see if I could simplify the process without sacrificing the flavor and texture. After lots of testing, my team and I are happy to say: we did it!
Here’s what we updated in the recipe below:
- We swapped from all-purpose flour + cornstarch to cake flour.
- We skipped whipping the egg whites separately; it was an extra step that isn’t necessary if you make another change. We lost a little fluff by skipping that extra step, so we…
- Replaced some milk with sour cream. Sour cream helps create super soft, fluffy, moist cupcakes. I love using it in baking.
If you’d rather stick with the original version, see the recipe Notes below.
One reader, Sandra, commented: “Sally and Kitchen Crew, thank you for the updates on this recipe. I made them last weekend and shared them with my daughter and her family. She said they are ‘phenomenal,’ so now I named them ‘Sally’s Phenomenal Strawberry Cupcakes with Creamy Strawberry Buttercream Frosting.’ ★★★★★“
One reader, Stacy, commented: “These came out absolutely delicious and beautiful! The buttercream color and strawberry-forward flavor were out of this world! I made little fondant blue stars as toppers and gave them to neighbors as Independence Day treats. They were a big hit! ★★★★★“
Essential Ingredients You Need:
- Fresh Strawberries: Of course you need fresh strawberries for fresh strawberry cupcakes! Frozen strawberries are not ideal because they are too wet and weigh the batter down.
- Cake Flour: This recipe used to call for a mix of all-purpose flour and cornstarch, but in our recent tests, my team and I found that using cake flour gives a better result. If you can’t find it, you can still use AP flour + cornstarch—follow the instructions for this cake flour substitute.
- Softened Butter: The base of the batter is made by creaming together butter and sugar. Here’s a helpful tutorial and video if you’d like a deeper look at how to cream butter and sugar properly. Be sure to use proper room-temperature butter, which is actually cooler than you think (about 65°F (18°C) is ideal).
- Eggs & Egg Whites: Eggs provide structure and help emulsify the ingredients. The batter requires 1 egg plus 2 egg whites for a soft, light texture. Using 2 eggs instead will weigh down the crumb.
- Sour Cream: This adds pure moisture while keeping the batter light. Plain yogurt works as a fine substitute.
- Milk: Whole milk makes for the best taste and texture, but lower-fat or nondairy milk can work in a pinch. I use buttermilk in this vanilla cake recipe, which is typically a fine substitution for both sour cream and regular milk in baked goods. For these cupcakes, however, the crumb stays a little tighter when using sour cream + whole milk.
How to Make Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes
Let’s start with the star of the show, the strawberries.
After you’ve rinsed, hulled, and chopped your strawberries, you’ll puree some of the berries. You can use a blender or a small food processor, and pulse until you have a chunky puree.
Success Tip: If the strawberries aren’t turning into a puree and keep getting stuck in your blender, try adding a little of the milk you’ll need later in the recipe to help move them along.
You can if you’d like. If you’re used to making my strawberry cake recipe, or if you have tried my white chocolate strawberry cupcakes, you know that I reduce the strawberry puree down to concentrate the flavor. I don’t take that extra step here, but you certainly could. Start with twice the amount of chopped strawberries in step 2 below and reduce them on the stove to 1/3 cup, following the same instructions in strawberry cake.
Set aside the remaining chopped berries—you’ll fold those into the batter at the end.
After that, prepping the cupcake batter is pretty standard. Whisk together your dry ingredients, cream butter and sugar together, add the egg, egg whites, and vanilla, and beat again to combine. The mixture will look curdled, and that’s normal at this point. Beat in the sour cream, then, in separate additions, add the dry ingredients and milk. Add the strawberry puree. This is a wonderfully creamy batter:
Then fold in the chopped strawberries:
Spoon the batter into your cupcake liners, filling only about 3/4 of the way. If you over-fill, the cupcakes will spill out over the sides and you’ll have some mushroom-shaped cupcakes. This recipe makes around 20 cupcakes, so you’ll need to use 2 standard 12-cup muffin pans (leave a few cups empty), or bake in batches.
Because there is no food coloring in the batter, the baked cupcakes are a pink-tinted beige color. If you’d like to tint the batter, I recommend gel food coloring. Just 1 small drop of this “dusty rose” gel food coloring or this “soft pink” gel food coloring.
Again, the pictured cupcakes were not colored!
Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
Fresh strawberries can end up curdling your buttercream, so you need freeze-dried strawberries to make the best strawberry buttercream frosting.
When you grind them, freeze-dried strawberries make the perfect flavorful “dust” to make a strawberry frosting without any artificial strawberry flavoring. They deliver the most intense (and natural) strawberry flavor while, at the same time, do not alter the texture of the actual frosting. And they turn it a naturally pretty pink color, too!
Where to buy freeze-dried strawberries? I usually find them at major grocery stores in the dried fruit section or you can try Target, Trader Joe’s, or online here or here.
On the pictured cupcakes, I used piping tip Ateco #826.
I adore this naturally flavored strawberry buttercream on pistachio cupcakes, too. And if you love cream cheese frosting, you could also try today’s fresh strawberry cupcakes with the strawberry cream cheese frosting from this recipe for strawberry cake.
More Favorite Strawberry Desserts
- Strawberry Cake
- Glazed Strawberry Bread
- Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie
- Strawberry Shortcake
- Strawberry Sauce
- Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
- 1-Layer Strawberry Shortcake Cake
- Strawberry Vanilla Crisp
Strawberry Cupcakes with Creamy Strawberry Buttercream
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 21 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: 20 cupcakes
- Category: Cupcakes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Made with real strawberries, these soft and fluffy fresh strawberry cupcakes with strawberry buttercream are the quintessential summertime cupcake. These cupcakes are a wonderful treat to make when fresh strawberries are in season.
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 1 and 1/4 cups (200g) chopped strawberries, divided
- 2 and 1/3 cups (280g) cake flour* (spooned & leveled)
- 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
- 1 large egg + 2 egg whites, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (120g) full-fat sour cream, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (120g) whole milk, at room temperature
Strawberry Buttercream
- 1 cup (about 25g) freeze-dried strawberries
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3 and 1/2 cups (420g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1/4 cup (60ml) heavy cream or whole milk, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- salt, to taste
- optional, for garnish: fresh strawberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a 12-count muffin pan with cupcake liners. This recipe makes around 20 cupcakes, so line a second muffin pan with more liners (or bake in batches).
- Place 1/2 cup (80g) of the chopped strawberries in a food processor or blender. Pulse until strawberries are a chunky puree. You should have about 1/3 cup (80g). (Tip: If they’re getting stuck and not breaking down into a puree, add a splash of the milk to help move them along.) Set aside.
- Set aside the remaining 3/4 cup (120g) chopped strawberries to be folded into the batter in step 6.
- Make the cupcakes: In a large bowl, whisk the cake flour, baking powder, and salt together. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a silicone spatula as needed. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) Add the egg, egg whites, and vanilla and beat on medium-high speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Beat in the sour cream. The mixture will look a little curdled and that’s normal and expected.
- Add about half of the dry ingredients and half of the milk, and mix on low speed until incorporated. Add the remaining dry ingredients and remaining milk, as well as the strawberry puree, and mix until just combined. Do not over-mix. The batter will be creamy and slightly thick. Fold in the chopped strawberries.
- Spoon batter into cupcake liners, filling only about 3/4 full. Bake for 21–24 minutes or until the tops of the cupcakes spring back when gently touched and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean with just a few moist crumbs.
- Allow to cool in the pan for 5–10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.
- Make the frosting: Using a food processor or blender, process the freeze-dried strawberries into a powdery crumb. You should have about 1/2 cup. In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add confectioners’ sugar, strawberry powder, cream, and vanilla. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high speed and beat for 2 minutes. Taste. Beat in a pinch of salt if frosting is too sweet.
- Frost cupcakes as desired. I used piping tip Ateco #826. Garnish frosted cupcakes with fresh strawberries, if using.
- Cover leftover cupcakes tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. I recommend a cupcake carrier for storing and transporting decorated cupcakes.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can bake the cupcakes 1 day in advance. Keep cupcakes covered tightly at room temperature and frost the day of serving. You can make the frosting and store it covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 days before using. After refrigerating, beating in a splash of heavy cream or milk will help thin the frosting out again, if needed. (It stiffens in the refrigerator.) Unfrosted cupcakes can be frozen for up to 3 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 | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand Mixer) | Silicone Spatula | Cooling Rack | Small Icing Spatula or Piping Bag (Reusable or Disposable) + Piping Tip Ateco #826 | Cupcake Carrier
- Update in 2025: This recipe was originally published in 2015. Since then, I’ve made three subtle changes to simplify the process and the result tastes even better! The version written above reflects those updates. If you’d rather stick with the original version, here’s how: (1) Use 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour plus 1/4 cup (30g) cornstarch instead of cake flour. (2) Skip the sour cream and use 1 cup (240ml) whole milk instead. And (3) instead of beating the egg and egg whites directly into the batter (step 4), whip the egg whites separately until fluffy, then gently fold them in along with the chopped strawberries.
- Mini Cupcakes: Bake for about 11–13 minutes, same oven temperature.
- Cake Flour: I strongly suggest using cake flour in this recipe. If you can’t find it, try this homemade cake flour substitute.
- Sour Cream & Whole Milk: Sour cream and whole milk are strongly recommended for the best taste and texture. If needed, plain yogurt (either Greek or regular) works instead of sour cream. Same goes with a lower-fat milk (I don’t recommend nonfat). Nondairy milk works in a pinch. You can replace both the whole milk and sour cream with buttermilk (1 cup/240ml) if needed.
- Can I Tint the Cupcake Batter? Because there is no food coloring in the batter, the baked cupcakes are a pink-tinted beige color as pictured above. If you’d like to tint the batter, I recommend gel food coloring. Just 1 small drop of this “dusty rose” gel food coloring or this “soft pink” gel food coloring.
- Can I Reduce the Strawberry Puree in Step 2? You can if you’d like. If you’re used to making my strawberry cake recipe, or if you have tried my white chocolate strawberry cupcakes, you know that I reduce the strawberry puree down to concentrate the flavor. I don’t take that extra step here, but you certainly could. Start with twice the amount of chopped strawberries in step 2 and reduce them on the stove to 1/3 cup, following the same instructions in strawberry cake.
- Where to Buy Freeze-Dried Strawberries: I always find them in my regular grocery store in the aisle with the dried fruit. Target, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe’s carry them, and I’ve also found them in some health food stores. You can also buy them online. Do not use the chewy/gummy dried strawberries. You need FREEZE-dried strawberries, which grind into a powder. If you can’t find them, try the raspberry frosting from my lemon raspberry cupcakes but swap out the raspberry jam for strawberry jam. Or try my strawberry whipped cream instead.
- Be sure to check out my 10 tips for baking the BEST cupcakes before you begin.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Can fresh and freeze dried raspberries be substituted? Thx!
Yes, absolutely. Let us know how they go!
Wow, I am blown away with how delicious these are. Easy to make, and as always I appreciate everything listed in grams. Thanks for another great recipe!
Can I use the cream cheese frosting recipe from the cake on these instead of butter cream ?
Hi Jack, absolutely!
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!
Could I freeze these cupcakes before I frost them?
You bet! See recipe notes for freezing instructions.
I wanted to make these cupcakes but swap out the strawberry frosting for your chocolate butter cream frosting. Because ultimately we are chocolate lovers. Would that frosting be okay here?
Hi Stephanie! You certainly can, but the strawberry flavor may get lost – a lot of it comes from the buttercream. Perhaps you could still fill the cupcakes with strawberry buttercream, like we do with our chocolate covered strawberry cupcakes recipe.
Hi! I’m planning on making these soon, but I was wondering if fresh strawberries are necessary in the batter? Or could I replace that with freeze dried strawberries? Thank you!
Hi Ari, the fresh strawberries are necessary in the batter—we don’t recommend freeze dried strawberries in their place. Hope you enjoy the cupcakes!
Hello! I want to make this recipe, but I’ll be using cream cheese frosting so I want to make sure the strawberry flavor really comes through in the cupcakes. Could I add some freeze dried strawberries to the batter as well? If so, how would I go about doing that as far as measurements with the other ingredients? Thank you!
Hi Brittanie, We don’t recommend adding the freeze dried strawberries to the cake batter. When we tested it the taste and texture of the cake were pretty bad! You can however add them to your cream cheese frosting. Try the strawberry cream cheese frosting that we use on this strawberry cake.
Very often I have berries, lemons, etc. that I need to use soon so I look for a recipe which uses the items. I wish there was a way to just type in the key word ” rhubarb” for instance and your recipes containing rhubarb would come up. It would be so much easier than spending a lot of time trying to search out a recipe to use. Any way to do that?
Hi, yes, there is a way! If you click on the menu button at the top right of the site, you’ll see an option for “Browse by Ingredient.” Hope this helps!
Hello I am still confused on amount of eggs. Your recipe list calls for:
1 large and and 2 egg whites…. But
Step 3 calls for 3 egg whites
Step 4 doesn’t say how many yolks to use.
Can you please specify? I’m making this on Friday for early Mother’s Day celebration.
Why is my frosting curdling?
Hi Simone, buttercream can curdle when the butter is too warm. Make sure to start with proper room temperature butter. You can try chilling the frosting and re-whipping.
Can we use skin milk
Hi Charles, you can use skim milk instead of whole milk, but the cupcakes won’t be quite as rich or moist. We recommend sticking with whole milk!
I paired this cupcake with your lemon cream cheese frosting recipe. Both were fantastic, and I received so many compliments.
I loved the cupcakes. I haven’t made the frosting yet but cupcakes were so good. My daughter was so happy to have light, fluffy, strawberry infused cupcakes. Thank you!
I love your recipes Sally Could I use freeze dried strawberries to give the batter/cake a pink/red color (instead of food coloring)?
Hi Kat! We don’t suggest it, in recipe testing we found that adding freeze dried strawberries to the batter gave it a less than desirable texture.
Thank you for responding!!
I just made these today, but I topped with a cream cheese frosting. The tang of the cream cheese meshes PERFECTLY. Delicious!
Will it affect the results if I cut the recipe in half? I know doubling isn’t always good because the batter can get tough, but wondering if there is a problem with halving it. Thank you!
Hi Jane, you should be able to halve this recipe. Or, make the full batch now and freeze half the cupcakes for later!
Best strawberry buttercream frosting ever! Make a day before so that flavor really comes out. So good! Thank you for this recipe!
Do I need to reduce the strawberry puree like you suggest with the strawberry cake?
Thanks.
Vicky
Not in this cupcake recipe– just add it right to the batter. I do have another strawberry cupcake recipe where you reduce the puree if you want to try those instead. They have a stronger strawberry flavor.
Hi Sally
Can I double this recipe for more cupcakes ?
Thank you so much in advance.
Hi Sonia, For the best taste and texture it’s best to make this recipe twice instead of doubling it.
Hi Sally!
I have a very important question for you, because well, you are after all a baking genius!
I wonder if i could put strawberry slices in the cupcakes, instead of the puree and dice?
I want to get more texture, but an also thinking that they’ll probably soften and dissolve up in the oven?
What do you think?
Hi Tiffany, you can certainly try it, though the texture around the strawberry slices may taste a little gummy. I recommend sticking to the recipe, but let me know if you try it.
Hi, may I ask how long can the frosting stay out in the room temperature? I’m making these for a bbq party and it will be 30minute drive from my place. Do you think I should frost the cupcakes before or make the frosting first then frost the cupcake when I arrive?
Hi Alissia, After decorating anything with buttercream frosting, it’s fine for 1 day at room temperature. After that, I would definitely refrigerate it. But, use your best judgment and whatever you are comfortable with- I’ve never had any problems leaving frosted desserts at room temperature for a day. However if it is very hot where you live I do recommend keeping the air conditioning on in your car so the frosting doesn’t melt 🙂
Hi! Is there a way I can substitute the freeze dried strawberries?
Hi Amy, Freeze dried strawberries are the absolute best way to get real strawberry flavor without compromising the texture of the frosting. If you try to use pureed strawberries your frosting will be thin and likely still need a flavor boost from strawberry extract, although you can certainly go this route if you wish.
Hey Sally I made your homemade strawberry cake into cupcakes which are cooking right now. I want to pair them with a strawberry buttercream but have no freeze dried strawberries. I do have strawberry extract and some remaining strawberry puree is there a way I can use one of these instead? I hope I get a reply soon as I need these tonight lol
HI Jennifer, You can add some of your strawberry puree but if you add enough to give it a lot of flavor your frosting will be too thin. I would suggest you add a little of the puree (and reduce the cream if needed) and also use your strawberry extract until you get the best flavor.
Hello! I have made these cupcakes before and they are always a huge hit!! My daughter has requested cherry cupcakes for her birthday this year. I was wondering if you would recommend replacing the strawberries in this recipe with maraschino cherries? Or is there a different recipe base you would recommend to add cherries to? Thanks!! I’ve never trusted any recipes other than yours for all of my kids birthday cakes 🙂
Hi Sally, I was wondering if I could use strawberry jam in this recipe instead of strawberry purée. I assume I would have to cut back on some of the sugar since sugar is added to the jam. How much would be safe to say if that is the case. Do you recommend anything else? I have frozen strawberries but afraid to use them since it could make the batter watery. Thank you!
You sure can! I’m unsure how much without testing myself and I would slightly reduce down the sugar as well.
This frosting is the BEES-knees! It rocks! I have made it one 3 separate occasions the most recent for a friends wedding cake and sure enough everyone thinks it’s the most amazing thing they’ve ever had! I’ve modified to suit my personal pallet but the essence of you is certainly still there! Thanks for being amazing! 🙂
I’ve now made these as regular cupcakes, mini cupcakes, and a layer cake! For the layer cake, I used the cream cheese frosting from your Lemon Blueberry Layer Cake and added about 1/4 cup freeze dried strawberry powder to it – it was fabulous, everyone loved it! Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Sally,
Love the strawberry frosting idea but I’m curious- will it hold up well being at room temp for a while? I would like to bring it to a birthday celebration but don’t want the cake to look droopy by the time I get there. Thanks!
The frosting will definitely hold up for a few hours, yes!