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Easy Strawberry Cupcakes use my favorite method for doctoring cake mix to make cupcakes that are bursting with strawberry flavor. Top them with strawberry buttercream for double the sweetness!
You guys, it’s been quite the start of a week.
I know I shouldn’t complain at all because we just got home from an amazing vacation in Boca Grande, Florida, but I seriously feel like I’m suffering from a vacation hangover.
I’m so freaking tired, I have pretty much zero motivation to cook, bake, or even work.
Napping. That’s pretty much what I have motivation for right now.
I blame it all on Ohio’s weather – rain, clouds and just all around blah-ness. Which is pretty much the complete opposite of the glorious weather we just experienced for two weeks.
If I’m being real, I haven’t even unpacked my suitcase. I kinda keep telling myself there’s realllllly no point because it’s 40 degrees in Ohio right now, so it’s not like a beach wardrobe is a necessity.
However, instead of napping, or binge watching something on Netflix, I’m trying to get our lives back into a routine.
Even my sweet babe is having a hard time getting back into the swing of things and has consistently begged me for just 5 more minutes every morning I’ve gotten her up for school.
Basically we’re all struggling around here.
When we are all on the struggle bus like this, I like to reach into my arsenal of easy recipes. Sometimes just the act of baking, even if it’s something simple like Easy Strawberry Cupcakes, can kick my butt back into gear.
MAKING STRAWBERRY CUPCAKES WITH CAKE MIX
You guys love my Doctored Cake Mix. I get a ton of questions from readers curious if they can adapt the recipe with different flavor combinations.
Of course you can! This is one of my all-time favorite tricks.
I am all about berry recipes this time of year, so turning a simple vanilla cake mix into Easy Strawberry Cupcakes is a must.
Boxed vanilla cake mix combines with Greek strawberry yogurt and fresh strawberries to create simple, moist cupcakes that are bursting with strawberry flavor.
The diced fresh strawberries in the batter are what really make Easy Strawberry Cupcakes out-of-this-world good. They add extra flavor and texture to these cupcakes.
Add on a swirl of strawberry buttercream and you’ve got one stellar cupcake with minimal fuss.
STRAWBERRY BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
Of course you can top your Easy Strawberry Cupcakes with any flavor of homemade buttercream frosting that you like. (Lemon frosting would be delish!)
But me? I love to double the strawberry flavor with strawberry buttercream frosting.
To make buttercream bursting with flavor and tinged a natural light pink, I simply swapped the milk I would normally use in my buttercream for fresh strawberry puree.
You can add a drop or two of food coloring if you’d like an even bolder pink color, but I personally like seeing the darker flecks of strawberry in the light pink frosting.
MORE EASY CUPCAKE FLAVORS
If strawberries aren’t your thing, that’s ok. You can use the method for these Easy Strawberry Cupcakes to make other fruity cupcake flavors.
The world is your oyster here, folks!
Try it with peach Greek yogurt and fresh peaches, or blueberry yogurt and fresh blueberries. I’d love to hear the combinations you come up with, and how they worked for you.
Easy Strawberry Cupcakes
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes:
- 1 box French Vanilla cake mix 15.25 ounces
- ½ box instant vanilla pudding mix 3.4-ounce box
- 1 cup Greek strawberry yogurt
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup water
- 4 eggs lightly beaten
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup diced fresh strawberries about 10 medium berries
For the Frosting:
- 2 cups unsalted butter room temperature
- 1.5 pounds confectioners' sugar sifted (24 ounces or about 5.5 cups)
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- About 8 medium fresh strawberries pureed (you'll need 4-5 tablespoons of puree)
Instructions
For the Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tin with paper liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat together the cake and pudding mixes, Greek yogurt, oil, water, eggs and vanilla. Beat for about two minutes on medium speed until well combined. Fold in diced strawberries
- Using a large cookie scoop, distribute the batter between 24 muffin wells; about 3 tablespoons of batter per well.
- Bake in preheated oven for 18-22 minutes or until the tops of the cakes spring back when lightly touched. Allow cupcakes to cool inside muffin tins for about 10 minutes. The cupcakes may develop a slight divot in the center as they cool, but no worries, you'll cover that with delicious frosting.
- Remove cupcakes from muffin tins and allow to fully cool on a wire rack. Once cupcakes are cool, prepare your frosting.
For the Frosting
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed for about 5 minutes.
- Turn the mixer down to low speed and gradually add in the confectioners' sugar until it is completely incorporated. Add in vanilla and 3 tablespoons of the strawberry puree, mix until incorporated. Turn off the mixer and check the buttercream for taste and texture. Gradually add in the last 2 tablespoons of strawberry puree until you reach the desired level of strawberry flavor. Please note that adding more than the recommended 5 tablespoons could result in a thinner frosting. Turn the mixer back up to medium-high speed and beat the mixture for about 3-4 minutes or until light and fluffy.
- Pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes and if desired, garnish with fresh strawberries.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Tried these and the flavor is good but they come out flat and dense (but moist). You can see that the pics here seem to show a flat top that has been frosted (the recipe references this), and it has happened to other commenters, so it’s not just me. A pan of 12 cupcakes and 3 mini loaf pans all fell to be flat or sunken within moments of coming out of the convection oven. The idea is good, but maybe try halving the yogurt and adjusting the eggs to be closer to what the mix normally uses.
Be careful, I followed this recipe to the “t”, all ingredients at room temp, and they did not turn out. They sunk quite a bit after taking out of the oven and were very heavy and dense. That is a lot of wasted ingredients.
Does this make 24 regular size cupcakes or 24 mini?
Meredith-
The recipe makes 24 regular size cupcakes. I hope this helps.
-Jamie
P.S. thank you, you’re awesome!
Andrea-
Thanks so much!
-Jamie
i tried with plain greek yogurt and it had the tang that buttermilk usually adds. does all yogurt do that or should i try again with flavored yogurt? will the sour cream do the same thing? it goes great with strawberry but i’m trying to perfect a white cake or butter cake recipe mix.
Andrea-
I have used Greek style yogurt in this recipe many times without issue. I find that sour cream and Greek yogurt are quite similar in the flavor department.
-Jamie
Going to bake the Strawberry Cupcake, I was wondering if I use 15.25 ounce French Vanilla cake mix with the pudding all ready in the cake mix should I also use instant vanilla pudding mix.
Vicky-
I think it will work out either way. The pudding mix just makes it extra moist and adds a little more flavor. I hope this helps.
-Jamie
Is it Okay to use canned strawberry? since we do not have fresh strawberries available.
Kim-
I have not attempted this recipe with canned strawberries, so I cannot attest on how they will perform. If you give it a try, please let me know how it works out.
-Jamie
This is probably a silly question but do you make the pudding mix up or just use it dry?
Donna-
You use it dry – I hope this helps.
-Jamie
I’m looking to make these tomorrow for my daughters 9th birthday so that she can share with her classmates. I was wondering if you use the “Betty Crocker – pudding in the mix” cake mix, do you also still need the instant vanilla pudding mix? Or do you only use the pudding mix when you have just regular french vanilla cake mix?
Aubrey-
I use the pudding in the mix. Hope this helps.
Jamie
I made these cupcakes two years ago for my daughters second birthday. We were blown away with how good they were. Two years later and I am going to make a cake using your recipe for her 4th birthday. I will let you know how it turns out!
That is great, I’m so glad you are making it again. I would love to hear how it turns out! Thanks!
-Jamie