Strawberry Cupcakes

February 7, 2023

The best strawberry cupcakes: tender crumb, chock full of strawberry flavor, and topped with a delicious strawberry cream cheese frosting!

Baking Tips:

The best results, I’ve found, come from using dehydrated strawberries. They help achieve a strong natural strawberry flavor without the sogginess of using fresh strawberries. You can find dehydrated strawberries in most grocery stores, just make sure that they don’t have anything added to them and are just pure strawberries.
- The dehydrated strawberries have to be crushed to a fine powder for this recipe. You can use a mortar and pestle or you can place the dehydrated strawberries in a small ziplock bag and use a heavy utensil (rolling pin, ladle, etc.) to pulverize the strawberries.
Another key component here is the buttermilk. I’ve tried this recipe with yogurt and while they came out fine, the texture turned out much better with buttermilk.
I added some white chocolate chips to these cupcakes, but they are optional.

These cupcakes are great on their own, but if you’d like to add some frosting to them, I highly recommend this strawberry cream cheese frosting.
As with the cupcake batter, this frosting also uses crushed dehydrated strawberries. It adds great natural strawberry flavor and a smooth consistency to the frosting.

Feel free to top frosted cupcakes with some crushed dehydrated strawberries and chopped up fresh strawberries.
Make sure to not overmix the batter as that will deflate the air bubbles, which help the batter expand and become fluffy while baking.
Avoid overtaking! My oven takes about 18 minutes to bake these cupcakes, but ovens vary so I would suggest testing the cupcakes about 15-16 minutes into baking. If you insert a toothpick or sharp knife in the center of the cupcake and pull it out, it should come out clean if they’re done (i.e. no crumbs).
Frosted cupcakes can keep refrigerated in an airtight container for 2-3 days. Unfrosted they can keep for 4-5 days and can also be frozen! If you’re baking ahead of time, I highly suggest freezing them the day of baking.

If you’re looking for a chocolate cupcake recipe, be sure to check out my Bailey’s Cupcakes recipe!

The best strawberry cupcakes ever: tender, moist and full of strawberry flavor. Topped with a delicious strawberry cream cheese frosting!

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 18

Course Dessert

Servings 12 cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350°. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. Set aside.
Using a potato masher or mortar, grind the dehydrated strawberries to a powder (some tiny pieces are fine). If you're going to make the frosting, pulverize the 1/2 cup dehydrated strawberries needed for that along with this cup to save time. Set aside. *See note
In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together on high until pale and fluffy (3-4 minutes). Mix in the eggs and vanilla until combined.
In a medium bowl, combine all dry ingredients. In batches alternating between dry ingredients and buttermilk, add in the rest of the ingredients and mix until just combined (overmixing will result in a less tender cupcake).
Scoop batter into cupcake molds until about 2/3 full. Bake in oven for 18-19 minutes (you can test doneness by inserting a toothpick into the middle of a cupcake, which should come out clean if done). Let cool for 5 minutes then carefully remove cupcakes onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

In a large bowl, mix the butter and cream cheese on medium-high until fluffy and incorporated. Add in the vanilla, powdered sugar and dehydrated strawberries. Mix until combined .

Take a piping bag or offset spatula and spread the frosting on each cupcake. Enjoy!

*I like to put the strawberries in a small ziplock bag for easy clean up

Keyword cupcakes, strawberry cupcakes, strawberry dessert

stasiaskitchen