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Sweet, simple, and delicious, Double Strawberry Cupcakes. Light and fluffy strawberry cupcakes with both strawberry jam and dried strawberries for double the strawberry flavor. Each light pink berry-filled cupcake is generously frosted with a sweet cream cheese strawberry frosting. These cupcakes are nothing short of delicious. Each sweet mini-cake is layered with fresh berries and sweet vanilla cake. The perfect berry-filled cupcake for any and all occasions.
This is possibly the cheesiest thing I’ve ever said, but these cupcakes just make you feel happy inside. It’s the light pastel colors and happy flowers on top. Which honestly feel so perfect for this time of year as we slowly come out of winter and into spring.
When I set out to make these, I really had no plan. I mean, I obviously had a recipe written, but I wasn’t sure how’d they’d turn out.
After completely failing to add milk to the first batch (due to forgetfulness), I got the second batch just right. And it turns out my mistake the first time around helped me in the long run. For one, I knew if the cupcakes had any chance of being light and airy, they needed milk. But I also knew I needed MORE strawberries.
So I doubled up on the berries the second time around and then we were in business!
Here are the details
I knew I wanted these to be easy, but also to have incredible strawberry flavor – and REAL strawberry flavor. So many strawberry cakes have everything but real strawberries.
I ended up using a combination of strawberry jam and freeze-dried strawberries to create the perfect cupcake. The first step is to blend the dried strawberries into a fine powder. You can do this in a food processor or blender. You’ll use the strawberry powder for both the cupcakes and the frosting.
Making the batter is simple, mix the wet with the dry – nothing fancy. I love using coconut, yogurt, eggs, and then honey to sweeten. You can use sugar too, but we love subbing in honey when possible.
And then, plenty of high-quality strawberry jam. The jam has real chunks of strawberries and adds most of the yummy berry flavor. Using jam gives the most concentrated and delicious strawberry flavor. Plus, store-bought jam is easy, almost no prep work is involved.
Next, add in all the dry ingredients…the flour, the strawberry powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Then bake um up!
While the cupcakes bake, make the frosting
Cream cheese, butter, sugar, more strawberry powder, and a splash of both vanilla and milk. Beat that all together and you’ll have one of my favorite cake frostings.
No one ever knows there’s cream cheese in the frosting. But it’s what makes this frosting extra special and leaves everyone wanting more.
When cooled, frost each pale pink cupcake. I like to decorate these with crushed dried strawberries and fresh chamomile flowers.
Of course, you could also use some fresh strawberries, that would be so pretty!
What I love most is how cute these turned out with minimal effort. Perfect cupcakes to bake for both spring and summer, and especially upcoming Easter! They’re pretty hard not to love.
Looking for other spring strawberry recipes? Here are some favorites:
Strawberry Chamomile Naked Cake
Lemon Strawberry Dutch Baby with Ricotta Cream
Lastly, if you make these Double Strawberry Cupcakes, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Double Strawberry Cupcakes
Servings: 18 cupcakes
Calories Per Serving: 517 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 3 cups freeze dried strawberries
- 1 cup melted coconut oil
- 1/3 cup plain greek yogurt or sour cream
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup honey or granulated sugar*
- 1 cup high-quality strawberry jam
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup milk
Strawberry Frosting
- 6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 2 sticks salted butter, at room temperature
- 2 1/2-3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup warm milk
Instructions
- 1. In a blender or food processor, process the freeze-dried strawberries into a fine powder.2. Preheat oven to 350° F. Line cupcake molds with paper liners.3. In a large bowl, beat together the coconut oil, yogurt, eggs, honey, strawberry jam, and vanilla. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add about 2/3 of the strawberry powder (save the remainder for the frosting). Mix until just combined, then slowly beat in the milk until fully combined.4. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared pans. Bake 25-30 minutes, until the tops are just set, and no longer wiggly in the center. Remove and let cool.5. To make the frosting: In a stand mixer, beat together the cream cheese until whipped. Add the butter and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the powdered sugar, remaining strawberry powder (about 3 tablespoons), and vanilla. Beat until the frosting is light and fluffy, then slowly stream in the milk until your desired consistency is reached, you may not use it all. 6. Frost each cupcake with crushed freeze dried strawberries + chamomile flowers if you have them!
Notes
Honey Replacement:use an equal amount of granulated sugar. Using sugar will give you a lighter cupcake
I assume i can use two cake rounds and do normal time and temp that i would normally do for rounds?
Hey Nikki,
Sure, that should work well for you! I hope you love this recipe, let me know how it turns out! xT
The flavor was good but the cupcake was very dense and didn’t rise much at all. I think due to the recipe calling for 1 cup of coconut oil. It just made the batter too heavy. I would cut the coconut oil down to 1/2 cup next time. The frosting is absolutely delicious though!
Hi Jennifer,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback! Sorry to hear they were dense. Do you think your baking powder and soda had anything to do with it? I don’t think reducing the coconut oil would be the best idea, I worry that would make them dry! xx
I have made these twice and they are delicious! I don’t think you need to fuss too much about the amount of strawberry powder – I had approx two cups pre-blending and just put all of that into the batter (I didn’t frost them this most recent time). I used sugar, not honey, and I think it was slightly less than 3/4 cup. The texture and flavor is so good!!
Thanks so much Kelsey!! Love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you and thanks for your feedback:) xT
Can I use butter instead of coconut oil?
Hi Heather! Yes, you could use melted butter instead of coconut oil! xT
Hey, is it 3 cups before or after turning the freeze dried strawberries to powder!? Thank you!
Hi! It’s 3 cups before turning them into a powder! xT
I’ve been reading through all the comments and trying to figure out how much powdered strawberries to use.. I can’t find a straight answer. I bought powder for this recipe. I’d like to know exactly how much powder you used for each step.
Hey Ashley! So sorry for any confusion, I would say you should need about 5-6 cups of the powder!
You would definitely not come away with MORE powder than whole strawberries after pulverizing… I would also just add in the amount we need to reserve/add to the frosting in the actual written recipe for the frosting. It would be much easier to follow.
Hi! Is it possible to make the batter or frosting ahead of time? Or would you not recommend? I am planning on baking in a 9×13. Thanks!
Hi! You could make it ahead of the time! xT
Hello!
I am trying to bake these into sheet pan cakes, what would you suggest as far as bake time/temp? Also, I generally like lighter and less dense cakes, would adding some cornstarch help lighten it up to make it similar to cake flour?
Hey Kaley! I haven’t ever tried these as sheet pan cakes, but I would maybe cook at 350 for about 20 mins and then add more time on from there depending on how quickly it bakes?
Which would be a better replacement for coconut oil, olive oil or melted butter?
I would use melted butter! xT
If you are using Freeze-dried strawberry powder (therefore skipping the processing of Freeze-dried strawberries into powder), how much would you use? I bought freeze-dried strawberry powder.
Thanks!
Hi! I would use about 2-3 cups of strawberry powder! xT
I want to make this for my sons bday so bad because he is a huge strawberry lover, but I don’t see any added strawberries to the frosting in the recipe? Do I need to add some dried strawberries in there as well ?if so how much? 🙏🏻❤️ Thank u
Hi there,
Please refer to step 5 for the measurements and instructions, you are going to add strawberry powder to the frosting:) I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xT
Is there anything you can use instead of 3 cups of freeze dried strawberries?
Hi Katelyn,
So sorry, you need the freeze dried strawberries for this recipe. Please let me know if there is anything else that I can help with! xx
Help! I’m in the middle of making the cupcakes and already pulverized the freeze dried strawberries. I added 1 cup of the powder to the batter so far. What I supposed to measure before I pulverized them?
Hi Veronica,
You are going to measure 3 cups of strawberries, add them to the food processor, the add 2/3 of the powder to step 3. I hope this helps! xx
Yummy recipe probably thanks to the dried strawberries in the batter and frosting. I might make this recipe again, but I would definitely use sugar instead of honey. I used honey over sugar which I do Not recommend doing. The honey slightly overpowered the strawberry flavor, and those freeze dried strawberries aren’t cheap.
Thanks for the feedback!
This recipe is one of my faves and gets a great response when i take them anywhere, thank you!!
Hi Les,
Wonderful!! I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your comment, so glad it was a hit! Happy Memorial Day weekend!🇺🇸
I would love to make this recipe but …. I don’t like coconut. Does the coconut oil give a coconut taste? Can I replace the coconut with something else?
Thank you
Hi Lisa,
You can use another neutral oil that you enjoy:) Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love these cupcakes! xT
I’ve made these for my daughters birthday two years in a row now and they are well loved by her and anyone else who gets one. They are a pretty pink which she loves and tastes of genuine strawberry instead of artificial which most kids cakes favour.
I am wondering if I’d be able to make this recipe into a full cake? I assume the cook time would increase but I wonder if it would work out?
Hey Laura,
Thanks so much for making this recipe:) Yes, I would bake this in a 9×13 cake pan and then just start checking for doneness at 30 minutes, I think that should work well for you! Let me know how this turns out! xT
Did anyone try in the cake pans 9X13? I think I’ll need to do this for my daughters bday too