Sprinkles Strawberry Cupcakes

These strawberry cupcakes are based off the Sprinkles Strawberry Cupcakes recipe and with fresh strawberries in both the cake and the frosting, they’re packed with fruity flavor!

(This recipe for Sprinkles Strawberry Cupcakes was originally published in August 2010, but was updated with new photos in 2019).

I can’t remember the last time I was this tired. Like, if I hold a blink too long, I’ll instantly be out for the rest of the night. Every time I see a bed on a television show or commercial, I think “Awww doesn’t that look nice?” I just saw 3 different people on Twitter say something about hitting the sack, and I got insanely jealous. I’ll probably wake up tomorrow and think, “Oh no! I forgot to write a blog post!” And then I’ll run to my computer to check it out, only to see a whole post on cupcakes. It’s that kind of tired.

In case you haven’t noticed, cupcakes are my go-to, my support, my best friend and confidante. OK, that’s getting weird. But really.

I actually made these cupcakes for Chels’s birthday last week. She’s not super into chocolate and I wanted something more fun than vanilla. But Chels loves all things strawberry, so, when I spotted a recipe for strawberry cupcakes, I knew they would be perfect. And so pretty, too!

SPRINKLES STRAWBERRY CUPCAKES RECIPE

Allegedly, this recipe is the same as the one from Sprinkles. I’ve never actually had the pleasure of tasting Sprinkles strawberry cupcakes, but if someone wants to send me some, I’ll let you know. Until then, I’m trusting Martha Stewart’s opinion that they are, in fact, Sprinkles’ strawberry cupcakes. Because what Martha says goes. All I know is that I wanted a delicious strawberry cupcake recipe and these Sprinkles strawberry cupcakes ended up being winners!

My favorite thing about this Sprinkles strawberry cupcakes recipe is that it uses fresh strawberries! You could use frozen strawberries, too, but my point is, it doesn’t use strawberry flavoring… The flavor is really from the fruit! You’ll start by blending your strawberries into a puree. You’ll have enough here to use for both the cupcakes and the frosting and maybe a little bit leftover, too (to drink??).

Then, mix your dry ingredients together in a bowl. And in a smaller bowl, mix that strawberry puree with milk and vanilla.

Cream the butter in a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, gradually add the sugar and beat until it’s nice and fluffy. Slow the  mixer to a medium speed and add in the egg and egg whites… Adding egg whites to your cupcakes makes them nice and extra fluffy! Alternate adding the flour mixture and the strawberry/milk mixture and blending until just combined. Be very careful not to over-mix as the cupcakes will be too dense if you do!

I wanted to go natural with these cupcakes, but ended up adding a couple drops of red food coloring to my batter because I wanted the cupcakes to be nice and red.

Divide the batter into cupcake papers in a tin and bake for 22-24 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean.

While the cupcakes were baking/cooling, you should make the strawberry frosting! It’s easy… Just beat the butter and salt in a stand mixer (or a large bowl with a hand mixer) on medium speed until light and fluffy. Then reduce the speed and add confectioners’ sugar and beat until well combined. The original recipe recommends using cold butter, but I didn’t find much of a difference in how the frosting turned out and cold butter is so much more difficult to work with.

Add vanilla and 3 Tbsp strawberry puree. If you feel like adding a 4th Tbsp, go for it! Martha claims the frosting should dense and creamy, like ice cream. I can totally see that.

Most recipes for strawberry frosting will have you either reducing the strawberry puree into more of a syrup, using an extract, or using freeze-dried strawberries. Doing any of those things will leave you with a stiffer more buttery buttercream. But they either take a lot of time (making and cooling the reduced puree), are artificial (using the extract), or require you to use ingredients you may not have on hand (using freeze-fried strawberries). Making the frosting with the simple strawberry puree is definitely the easiest way to do it; your frosting will just be a little runnier than the typical stiff buttercream.

It’s very important that you wait until the strawberry cupcakes are completely cool before frosting them with the strawberry frosting. I used a Wilton 1A pastry tip to easily pipe my frosting on. It’s my new favorite way to frost cupcakes… SO easy and it always looks nice. Of course, if you want to add sprinkles onto the cupcakes, too, go for it! Sprinkles strawberry cupcakes kind of deserve actual  sprinkles, right??

And then it’s time to indulge. These cupcakes are incredibly moist and full of real strawberry flavor, in both the cake and the frosting. Plus, they’re pretty little guys, too. I know I added in some food coloring, but I absolutely love the color these cupcakes ended up being.

Now I’m just sad these are no longer sitting in my fridge. Especially since tomorrow is Friday and, well, Friday calls for cupcakes. Oh and yes, I do recommend keeping these cupcakes in a cool spot, mostly due to that frosting. I mean, that is, if you don’t eat them all in one sitting immediately after frosting them. And I can’t say I’d blame you if you did!

At least I now have a glorious weekend ahead of me with plenty of time to make some new cupcakes if I so desire. Seriously though, I haven’t looked forward to a weekend this much in a long, long time. This crazy week of work hasn’t allowed me enough time to do things like sleep. So, this weekend will be sleep, pool, relax, sun, cupcakes. You know the drill. And since tomorrow’s Friday night, that obviously calls for some red wine and Dateline (which, by the way, y’all made me feel so much better about my Friday night routine by saying you do basically the same thing).

And with that, I fall into bed and hope to have sweet dreams of cupcakes. Sprinkles strawberry cupcakes if I’m lucky. But waking up to Friday will certainly be sweet enough.

If you had to pick one, would you choose SLEEP or CUPCAKES?

If you’re looking for more fruity cupcakes, check out my recipes for Chocolate, Vanilla, and Strawberry Cupcakes and Rainbow Sherbet Cupcakes. I also love this recipe for Blood Orange Chardonnay Cupcakes from Tara’s Multicultural Table!

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Sprinkles Strawberry Cupcakes

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

25 mins

Total Time

45 mins

 

These strawberry cupcakes are based off the Sprinkles Strawberry Cupcakes recipe and with fresh strawberries in both the cake and the frosting, they're packed with fruity flavor!

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Sprinkles Cupcaks Recipe, Strawberry Cupcakes

Servings: 1 dozen cupcakes

Author: Sues

Ingredients

• 1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries (if frozen, make sure to thaw)
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted buter, room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg + 2 large egg whites, room temperature
• 2-4 drops red food coloring, optional
• 1 batch strawberry frosting (recipe below)

Strawberry Frosting

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted buter, room temperature
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 4-5 Tbsp strawberry puree (from cupcake recipe)

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and line a 12-cavity cupcake tin with cupcake papers.

2. Place strawberries in a food processor or blender and process until pureed.
   

3. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, and salt.

4. In a separate small bowl, mix together milk, vanilla, and 1/3 C of the strawberry puree. 

5. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream butter on medium-high speed until it's light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until well-combined and fluffy. Add the egg and egg whites one by one, mixing on medium speed after each addition.

6. With the mixture on low, add half the flour mixture and mix until just blended. Add milk/strawberry mixture and mix until just blended. Continue with the rest of the flour, mixing until just combined, taking care not to over-mix. If you want your cupcakes to be a bit more red, add food coloring here, too.

7. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared cupcake tin.

8. Bake for 22-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cupcakes cool in the pan for a few minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

9. Once completely cooled, frost cupcakes with strawberry frosting. I used a Wilton 1A tip to frost mine.

Strawberry Frosting

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat butter and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Reduce mixer speed and add confectioners’ sugar one cup at a time, and beat until well combined.

2. Add vanilla and 4 Tbsp strawberry puree, taking care not to over-mix. Depending on consistency of frosting, you may want to add another Tbsp of strawberry puree.

3. Keep frosting refrigerated until ready to use.

Recipe Notes

• Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart and Sprinkles Bakery