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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 made these for my son’s birthday party and they are delicious!
I subbed with avocado oil and King Arthur’s gf flour. Worked out lovely!
Hey Lara,
Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I am thrilled to hear that it was enjoyed, we appreciate the feedback! xTieghan
Hi! These look gorgeous and delicious! I’m planning to make them with a kid with coconut allergy. Is it possible to substitute with butter or a neutral oil?
Thank you so much!
Hey Lior,
Absolutely, either of those will work well for you! Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx
I didn’t love this recipe. I think had there been real fresh strawberries in it, it would’ve made a big difference. It ended up tasting a little powdery with all the strawberry powder
Hey there,
Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback, sorry to hear it was not enjoyed! xx
If wanted to make this gluten free which type of flour do you recommend? Also would I need to adjust the measurements?
Hey Mallory,
I would use an equal amount of gluten free flour, I really like Bob’s Red Mill. I hope this recipe turns out amazing for you, let me know if you give it a try! xx
These cupcakes are so delicious!!! Unfortunately I think I overbaked them. I need a thermometer for my oven I think! Even overbaked, they taste amazing. Can’t wait to make these again.
Hey there,
Awesome!! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! Have the best week:) xxT
I love your recipes, however this one was a big miss for me. I’m an experienced baker but couldn’t seem to get this one right. I knew something was off when the batter was more like thick buttercream, then I re-read and checked the recipe 3x to see if I missed something. I then started reading the comment section and realized it wasn’t just me having these issues. These came out very dense and undercooked inside, even when I kept some in the oven until they were dark brown to see if I could get them cooked through. Once I read the comments I knew it wasn’t just me and maybe something is missing from the recipe instructions. Wish I could say I loved them because I usually love your recipes!
Hey Christen,
Thanks for giving the recipe a try, sorry to hear you had some issues. There is nothing missing from the instructions:) Was there anything you adjusted in the recipe? Most people had issues with the strawberry powder and used too much. Is it possible you did the same? Let me know how I can help! xTieghan
Thanks for writing back. I usually do play around with recipes when I bake, but for this one I actually followed the directions exactly, which is why I was surprised it didn’t work out. I measured the 3 cups freeze dried strawberries whole (before blending to a powder) and then measured 2/3 of the powder into the batter. Maybe I read those directions incorrectly. Totally could have been something on my end, but I did recheck everything at least 3x. It sounds like others have had success with the recipe so I’m glad it worked out for some!
My first round of baking these also did not go as planned. When I first read the recipe I thought it meant 3 c of the strawberry powder, so I bought three bags and blended it all up. It was about 1 c. I decided to keep going because why not, and then added the milk at the wrong step (not too big of a deal). When they got in the oven and I was reading the recipe again, it dawned on me that the 3 c of strawberries probably meant 3 c prior to blending them. Oh well. Got them out the oven and some were burnt on the bottom. But despite all my mishaps, they still taste very good. I decided it was not worth icing them, so now I have strawberry muffins for the week. I definitely will try making these again and hopefully my second time goes better. ?
Hey Tessa,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, sorry about any confusion with the strawberry powder, you will want to use 3 cups before blending so about 1/2 cup once blended:) I hope you’ll give them another try!! xTieghan
Hi there I’m in NZ and we have big blocks of butter, not “sticks of butter”. Could you advise how many grams would be in a stick of butter so that I can measure it out please? 🙂
Hi there,
1 stick of butter is equal to 113 grams. Please let me know if you have any other questions!! x
I want to make this for my friends birthday but she cannot eat dairy. Any substitutions you might recommend?
Hi Kelly,
You could try using some dairy free substitutes, I am just not sure how well it will workout for you. I have a bunch of vegan recipes on the blog, here are a few you might enjoy:
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/chewy-chocolate-peanut-butter-bars/
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/vegan-double-chocolate-chunk-cookies/
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/strawberry-pink-drink/
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/vegan-snickers/
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/healthy-coconut-tart/
I hope this helps! xTieghan
It’s hard to find freeze dried strawberries here. Can I just leave this out?
Hi Susan,
No, sorry you absolutely need these for the recipe:) Try ordering them online! xTieghan
These cupcakes taste amazing! Make sure you measure the strawberries BEFORE grinding them into a powder. The batter is definitely thick (like muffin batter), so after starting with the 1/4 cup milk that is listed in the ingredients, I continued adding more to thin it out closer to a cupcake batter consistency (I think I ended up using 3/4-1 cup total). They still ended up a little dense, as if a muffin and a cupcake had a baby… and are DELISH!
Thanks for all the great recipes, Tieghan!
Hey Christine,
Awesome!! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! Have the best weekend:) xTieghan
Tieghan, you have outdone yourself with this one! These cupcakes are ridiculous!!! I made these for my Daughter’s birthday today…YUM doesn’t even come close! They are moist, bursting with strawberry flavor, and so pretty! And that frosting is amazing. Thanks, girl!!!
Hi Kris,
Awesome!! Thanks for making this recipe, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! Have a great week:) xTieghan
I was so excited for these, but found the coconut oil completely overwhelms the strawberry flavor. I might try again with butter or a neutral oil, but probably not anytime soon.
Hi Kathleen,
Thanks so much for trying the recipe and sharing your review, sorry to hear that they were not enjoyed! xx
I would like to make this into a medium sized smash cake for my little girls 1st birthday, will the batter translate into a 6” round cake pan? I’m afraid it won’t bake through?
Hi Ellen,
I’ve not tried this, but it should work, you are just going to need to increase your bake time. Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love the recipe! xx
Can I substitute coconut oil with butter? Is it the same ratio? Can’t find the coconut oil and some people don’t like the coconut flavor ?
Hey there,
Sure, you can use an equal amount of melted butter:) Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx
Can’t wait to try! Could these be made gluten free by subbing the flour 1:1?
Hi Ashley,
Yes, that will work well for you! Let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xT
I will have to subsitute the coconut oil because my husband’s deathly allergic to coconut. What do you recommend I substitute it with? Vegetable oil, olive oil?? Thank you so much. I can’t wait to make these for my daughters graduation party ??
Hey Kristi,
Vegetable oil will be totally fine to use here! Let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx
I’m about to try this but is it enough batter to make a cake?? These look so beautiful!! ?
Hey Faith,
Totally, this would work well in a 9×13 baking dish to make a sheet cake! Let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
If only we could add pictures!!! I had to substitute blueberries as I couldn’t source strawberries where I live. Absolutely the lightest most lovely cupcake. I came off nightshift and made these badboys before bed. My goodness. Thank you so much for this. I will use this time and time again. Amazing!! All my nurse friends thank you ?
Hey Rose,
I love to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks so much for giving it a try and sharing your review:) xxTieghan