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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.
Can you substitute frozen strawberries for the fresh?
i need to know this too Michelle
In the country where I live we don’t have Greek Yogurt, can I substitute it with regular one or simply leave it out of the recipe?
Thanks :)
Vanessa-
Sour cream would work well too! I hope this helps.
-Jamie
Please tell me what size tip you use for frosting and maybe a how-to-frost tutorial please!! LOVE YOUR SITE!
Heather-
I used a large star tip for this frosting. I hope this helps. Have a great day.
Jamie
Heather-
You can view a piping tutorial here: https://www.mybakingaddiction.com/snickers-cupcakes/ scroll down towards the bottom. I filmed it a couple of years ago. Have a great day.
-Jamie
I made these! Should the baked cupcake be a bit ‘mushy’ inside because of the strawberries in the batter? At first I though the batter wasn’t baked through but found it was the strawberries that were soft and made the cupcake mushy inside?
Sara-
I am so sorry to hear yours were mushy. I didn’t have this issue at all, the strawberries definitely soften up due to the baking process, but definitely weren’t mushy. If you baked them completely through, I am kind of perplexed as to what the issue was. Sorry I am not more of a help.
-Jamie
It’s very possible I underbaked them, or the strawberries had too much juice in them, so to speak. I’m going to try again regardless, once strawberry season hits again :) thanks for your response!
Sara, I had the same problem sort of. I think I was surprised at how moist they were so I baked them a little longer. They came out like what I’d call ‘Strawberry Cobbler’ consistency. I also changed the ingredients a bit because I used a different cake mix. I really enjoyed them and my co-workers did too. Thank you for sharing the recipe Jamie.
Hey fellow bakers! :-)
My cupcakes are doing the same thing – mushy and caved in. I just noticed that it said “1/2” box of pudding so i am going for a 3rd attempt. :-) They look too good to quit trying. :-) Any suggestions? Im using Pillsbury cake mix with pudding already in it……
Thanks for the great recipe! Made these for my mom’s birthday and everyone loved them and I mean loved them. Brought the rest to work and I’m getting complimented left and right. The frosting I could eat with a spoon…thank you, thank you!
Julie-
I am so glad to hear that you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks so much for taking the time to report back on your experience with the recipe.
-Jamie
Jamie,
I’m a beginner with know change recipe experience…how do I know how much of anything I can substitute without changing the batter to the point that the cake doesn’t reuse? How do I know what’s the right measurements?
Is there a basic 101 formula?
With boxed mixes, you can keep the core ingredient (eggs, oil, etc.) amounts the same, but simply play around with flavor combinations. I hope this makes sense. Have a great day.
Jamie
Did you add the yogurt to the mix? How did that work out?
Hi I Was just wondering about the instand pudding and french vanilla cake mix. as i live in australia and wouldnt even know where to buy them.
Nicole-
Unfortunately, I don’t have a substitute for boxed cake mix. My best advice would be to use your favorite yellow cake recipe and add in fresh strawberries. I hope this helps!
-Jamie
these were so amazing my whole family enjoyed them they cant wait for more!! They wont stop bugging me!! THANKS SO MUCH!!!!
I used to always just bake from scratch until I found Anne Byrn’s “The Cake mix Doctor”. Her Fresh Orange Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting is so good. My friends never ate orange cake before and I love it. I have never had strawberry cupcakes myself, but they look delicious and I love the variations in your recipe by adding extra pudding and the Greek yogurt. I will be making this soon. Just recently discovered your Blog (I must have been living under a rock) and am addicted. Lots to look at and so many recipes to try….
I tried these last night with fresh peaches instead of strawberries as I had some ripe peaches to use up. Turned out SOooooo good. Moist, fresh, and delicious. Definitely doing these again. I would like to find an icing that isn’t so sweet though. My hubby prefers less sweet icing, me…I could eat buttercream on all desserts!
Rebekah-
That sounds fantastic – thanks for sharing your idea with us!
-Jamie