Delight any strawberry lover with a batch of these strawberry crunch cupcakes featuring a moist cupcake topped with a velvety vanilla frosting and sweet strawberry-infused cookie crunch.
Prep Time10 minutesmins
Cook Time26 minutesmins
Total Time36 minutesmins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Strawberry Crunch Cupcakes Recipe
Servings: 24
Calories: 423kcal
Ingredients
Strawberry Crunch
⅛cupunsalted butter,melted
1½tablespoonsstrawberry gelatin powder
13golden Oreo cookies,crushed
Cupcakes
15.25ouncesStrawberry Supreme cake mix,I used Duncan Hines brand
1cupwhole milk
½cupcanola oil
3largeeggs,room temperature
3tablespoonsstrawberry gelatin powder
Frosting
2cupsunsalted butter,softened to room temperature
1tablespoonvanilla extract
¼teaspoonsalt
4cupspowdered sugar,sifted
Optional Garnish
12smallfresh strawberries,halved or quartered if they are very large
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two standard muffin pans with paper cupcake liners and a large rimmed baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper. Set them aside.
To make the strawberry crunch, stir together the melted unsalted butter and strawberry gelatin powder in a medium mixing bowl until the powder has dissolved into the melted butter. Add the crushed golden Oreos and stir. All of the cookie crumbs should not be coated with the strawberry gelatin. You want to see a color contrast.
Spread the strawberry crunch in an even layer on the parchment-lined rimmed baking tray and bake for 8 minutes. Allow to cool on the counter while you prepare the rest of the recipe.
In a large mixing bowl, using a handheld mixer on medium speed, beat together the Strawberry Supreme cake mix, whole milk, canola oil, eggs, and strawberry gelatin powder for 2 minutes.
Divide the batter evenly between the paper-lined muffin cups. Bake for 17 to 19 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely on the counter.
While the cupcakes are cooling, you can make your frosting by beating the softened butter in a large mixing bowl on medium-high speed for 2 minutes or until the butter is light and fluffy.
To the butter, beat in the vanilla extract and salt.
Add the sifted powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating thoroughly between additions until all the powdered sugar has been added. Your frosting should be light and fluffy.
Transfer your frosting to a large piping bag fitted with a large decorative piping tip.
Once your cupcakes have cooled completely, you can place them on a serving platter and pipe the frosting onto each strawberry cupcake.
Garnish each frosted cupcake with the strawberry crunch and half of a small fresh strawberry.
Notes
One 3-ounce box of strawberry gelatin has 6 tablespoons of powder mix in it. This makes it very easy to split one small box for use in both the strawberry crunch and strawberry cupcake parts of the recipe.
Crush the Oreos either in the food processor or in a Ziploc bag with a rolling pin to get the crumbs for the strawberry crunch.
Using an ice cream scoop makes it very easy to evenly distribute the cupcake batter between each muffin cup. You will need to fill your muffin cups ½ to ¾ full.
Oven temperatures vary and may need to be recalibrated periodically to ensure they are accurate. Make sure to check your cupcakes at the lower end of the recommended baking time.
Once these cupcakes have been garnished with the fresh strawberries, they should be served immediately.