If you love making easy cupcakes, you’ll love this Strawberry Cupcake Recipe with Cake Mix. This shortcut recipe uses freeze dried strawberries so you can enjoy them year round, even when it’s not strawberry season.
In case you’re worried…even though you’re using a boxed cake mix, these moist cupcakes still qualify as homemade strawberry cupcakes.
Phew, you’re off the hook! You can rest easy tonight.
Strawberry Cupcakes Recipe with Cake Mix
These delightful pink strawberry cupcakes are so FUN! They’re amazing for a princess party, Valentine’s Day, or anytime you’re craving a burst of fresh tasting strawberry goodness. Like my Strawberry Cheesecake Cookies, except in cupcake form.
And again, how can you now love a recipe from a cake mix??!
It makes life easier and you can still fancy up the frosting to make these look like they came straight from the local bakery.
Ingredients
Here’s what you need to make these easy strawberry cupcakes. Be sure to check your fridge and pantry before heading to the grocery store!
To make the strawberry cupcakes:
Vanilla Cake Mix - instead of using a strawberry cake mix , we're using vanilla cake mix (I used Betty Crocker brand, probably because it was on sale). This means you may even have our starter ingredient in your pantry already!
If you don't have vanilla cake mix, you can also use yellow cake mix.
white chocolate chips - these are optional, but delightful
wet ingredients - eggs, milk, water and your favorite strawberry jam
To make the strawberry buttercream frosting
freeze-dried strawberries - these give an amazing strawberry flavor plus a beautiful pink color. They’re usually by the dried fruit. Our Aldi grocery store always has them on hand and Target does, too.
powdered sugar
butter - make sure your butter is at room temperature. Set it out before you start!
milk
vanilla extract
How to Make Strawberry Cupcakes with Cake Mix
The full instructions are in the recipe card below, but here's a quick overview.
- Set your butter out now for the frosting later. Prep your muffin pan by spraying with nonstick cooking spray, or use paper cupcake liners.
- Combine the dry ingredients - this is your cake mix and white chocolate chips, if you're using them.
- Combine your wet ingredients - eggs, water, milk and strawberry jam.
- Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix using a hand mixer or stand mixer.
- Pour cupcake batter into the pan and bake for 14-17 minutes.
- Cool for 5 minutes in the muffin pan before transferring to a cooling rack. Cool completely before frosting.
Next up, let's talk about the buttercream frosting!
Frosting Recipe for Cake Mix Cupcakes
- Put the freeze dried strawberries in a blender or mini food processor. Pulverize until the strawberries are powdered.
- Mix the powdered sugar and the powdered strawberries.
- Cream the butter until it's nice and fluffy. This takes about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the milk and keep mixing until the milk and the butter are combined
- Gradually add the powdered sugar and carefully mix to combine sugar with butter mixture. Continue to add until all the powdered sugar is incorporated.
Again, make sure your cupcakes are cooled before you move on to frosting them!
How to frost a cake mix cupcake
You can frost cupcakes in different ways
- Put frosting in a piping bag with a tip of your choice and pipe the frosting on top of the cupcakes.
- If you don’t have a piping bag, you can use a Ziplock bag. Put the frosting in the bag and cut the corner. I usually cut around ½ inch or less.
- Use an offset spatula or a butter knife and spread the frosting on top of the cupcakes.
- Decorate to your wish. You can leave them as is, add some fresh strawberries on top, or even some sprinkles
How to make strawberry cupcakes with cake mix ahead of time
This is a light and fluffy cupcake from a cake mix. You can make the cake ahead of time. Store in an airtight container in the fridge and pipe them right before serving.
How to store cupcakes with buttercream frosting
Once the cupcakes are decorated, you can keep them for a few days (2-3) at room temperature in an airtight container or in the fridge for up to 5 to 6 days. I would not recommend freezing already decorated cupcakes.
Baking can be exhausting and time-consuming...if you complicate things. So let's not!
Instead, let's have fun with easy baked goods recipes…that make the process a whooooole lot easier!
More dessert recipes using cake mix
The recipes below all use cake mix, which makes it even easier to whip up anything from brownies to cupcakes. This is an easy way to get your kids involved in cooking too!
If you make these strawberry cupcakes recipe with cake mix, stop back in and leave a recipe review or comment below. I’d love to hear from you!
Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting
Ingredients
- 1 box Betty Crocker Vanilla Cake Mix 15.25 oz (This cake is light and moist, but you can also use a yellow cake box mix)
- 1 cup white chocolate chips optional You can use mini chocolate chips or regular chocolate chips as well
- 3 eggs
- ½ cup of milk
- ½ cup water
- ¾ cup strawberry jam your favorite one, I used Smucker’s
Strawberry Buttercream
- ½ cup powdered freeze-dried strawberries
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons milk you can use whole milk or cream also
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
To make the cake:
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Prepare your cupcake pan by greasing it, or use paper liners.
- In a large mixing bowl combine the cake mix and the chocolate chips. Mix well.
- In a medium bowl, combine eggs, water, milk, and jam. Mix until they are all combined.
- Pour into the flour mixture, with a hand mixer, on low speed, mix until the flour is all incorporated, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl. You can also use a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
- Pour the cupcake batter mixture into the prepared pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 14 to 17 minutes. Your time may vary with a different cake mix. To make sure it is cooked, I insert a toothpick in the middle and if it comes out clean, it is cooked.
Cool in the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
For the Strawberry Buttercream
- Powdered the freeze-Dried strawberries. I put them in a blender, and pulse until I have a powder, though you could also use a mini food processor.
- In a medium-size bowl, mix the powdered sugar and the powdered strawberries. Mix until the powdered strawberries are well mixed in with the sugar. Set aside
- In a large bowl, with a hand mixer, cream butter until nice and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes
- Add the milk and keep mixing until the milk and the butter are combined (20 seconds)
- Add about a third of the sugar mixture and carefully mix to combine sugar with butter mixture.
- Repeat step 5 until you have used all the sugar.
- Stop mixing once the ingredients are all well combined.
To frost cupcakes
You can frost the cupcakes in different ways:
- Put frosting in a piping bag with a tip of your choice and pipe the frosting on top of the cupcakes.
- If you don’t have a piping bag, you can use a Ziplock bag. Put the frosting in the bag and cut the corner. If the frosting comes out as a thin string, you'll need to make the cut a little larger. I usually cut around ½ inch or less.
- Use an offset spatula or a butter knife and spread the frosting on top of the cupcakes.
- Decorate to your wish. You can leave them as is, add some fresh strawberries on top, more freeze-dried strawberries, or even some fun sprinkles
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