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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.
Mmm…I love the idea of customizing the cake to your taste! Your frosting looks so yummy, how do you pipe it on like that?
Great recipe – can’t wait to try it – but with peaches instead of strawberries. My question: how to change the buttercream from strawberry to peach… would it work to substitute the same amount of pureed peaches?
Thanks – and happy baking!
The basics of this recipe has been around for longer than I care to admit (OK I know for at least 30 years) and you are so right Jamie…it’s imminently pliable. I’ve seen it used for pistachio cake (vanilla cake mix and pistachio pudding), Kahlua cake (chocolate cake and Kahlua liqueur) and my own personal favorite I make for every Christmas, rum cake (french vanilla cake and french vanilla pudding with a butter/rum glaze poured into holes you poke into the cake). I revised that recipe a couple of years ago to also come up with what I call Manhattan Cake (yellow cake mix and vanilla pudding with a bourbon/butter glaze and maraschino cherries).
I mentioned to a friend two years ago that maybe I should develop a full recipe; you know…scuttle the box cake mix. She was adamant that I not and she is right; sometimes there is nothing wrong with an easier method…especially if the end result is good.
Well, these look gorgeous…I already know they taste that way too! I think the variations are endless and that’s part of the fun isn’t it?
Hi, I really love your recipes and they’re very helpful in my kitchen, even your hints about measures and how to use ice cream spoons to spread the batter in the cupcake lines.
Well my problem is that I live abroad and I don’t have packages of French Vanilla cake mix. Actually, we have similars, but they’re not good. Which one of your recipes in MBA do you think would be better to replace the one above?
These are so perfect looking. Love it!
These are gorgeous!
Do you still add more pudding even though there’s pudding in the cake mix?
NinNH-
Yes, check out the notes section of the recipe for info on the brand that I use. Thanks for stopping by.
-Jamie
Yum, yum, yum! I like taking a box mix and fancying it up. Great stuff! :)
Cant wait, these look awesome!
This is wonderful, Jamie! I love the addition of Greek yogurt…I can’t imagine how moist it is. These are right up my alley!