This easy recipe for homemade Strawberry Crunch Cupcakes will become your new favorite! Moist vanilla cupcakes with my signature cream cheese frosting and a delicious fruity strawberry crunch topping. Trust me, the strawberry shortcake crunch takes these cupcakes to the next level.
I first posted this strawberry crunch cupcake recipe in 2022, but I am always reading readers' questions and comments to update it and make it even better for you. I've added new tips, variations, and photos, so keep reading to check them out.
Read what others said about this recipe
"These are so delicious and decorative, I love the creamy frosting with the crunchy topping! Thank you" Tom
Best Strawberry Crunch Cupcakes Recipe
If you grew up in the US, you must remember those Good Humor Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Bars! If not, you must try them when you visit the States next. The flavor and texture of strawberry crunch are insane; now you can try it on a cupcake.
This recipe requires no fancy ingredients, and the steps are straightforward and uncomplicated. Even beginner bakers can master it! My recipes are always from scratch, with my pro baking tips and easy-to-follow instructions.
The cupcakes are super moist and delicious, and the silky, rich cream cheese frosting is the perfect contrast to the strawberry crunch. They are so good; I'm sure they'll wow your friends and family!
Katalin's Take On How to Make The Actual Strawberry Crunch
Strawberry crunch topping is a great way to add texture, flavor, and color to desserts. It tastes incredible on cupcakes and in my full-size Strawberry Crunch Cake, which is excellent for special occasions. It's made from Golden Oreos and freeze-dried strawberries, but the key is to add melted butter as you blend it all, as this gives you bigger, stickier chunks.
Trust me, this is what makes my strawberry crunch recipe irresistible! I also don't use jelly, like some recipes, as it can make it mushy. And if you have leftovers, you can sprinkle strawberry crunch on ice cream, yogurt, or oatmeal. It's amazing!
The Vanilla Cupcake Base Comes Together Really Easily
Preheat your oven to 350℉/175℃ (no fan) and prepare a cupcake tin with muffin liners.
Cream the room-temperature butter and sugar together until they are pale and fluffy using an electric hand whisk or stand mixer. I have an entire article about how and why to cream butter with sugar; it will produce baked goods with a lovely light and airy texture, so make sure to get it right.
Then, slowly add the room-temperature eggs and allow them to incorporate into the mixture before adding the next one. Stir in the vanilla extract.
Sift the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt) into a separate bowl. Turn the mixer down to low speed (or use a rubber spatula), and add the dry ingredients in thirds, alternating with the room-temperature milk. Don't overmix; it just needs to be incorporated.
Next, we add my secret baking hack for a super moist sponge. In a small bowl, stir together the vinegar and baking soda. It will foam up. Immediately fold it into the cupcake batter using a spatula. The vinegar and baking soda mixture will make your cupcakes extra moist and fluffy, without the taste of the vinegar, so make sure you don't skip it.
Divide the batter evenly between the cupcake liners, filling each about three-quarters full. Be careful, as cupcake liners are coming in different sizes, so you might be able to bake slightly more or fewer cupcakes than 12.
Bake the cupcakes at 350℉/175℃ for 20–22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Let the cupcakes cool completely on a wire rack. Don't attempt to frost them while they're still warm, as the frosting will melt.
My Signature Silky Cream Cheese Frosting
Ensure all the mascarpone and cream cheese are very cold before you begin; this helps them whip up properly. Also, use high-fat cream cheese, like Philadelphia, and high-fat mascarpone, as low-fat dairy products contain more water.
Sift the powdered sugar to remove any lumps, then whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl using an electric hand mixer until they reach a creamy, fluffy consistency. You can also use your stand mixer with the whisk attachment, but don't overmix it, or it can go runny and then split.
Make The Strawberry Crunch
Place the Golden Oreo cookies and freeze-dried strawberries into a food processor and pulse until they crumble into evenly sized-pieces. Don't go too far, and blend them into powder! You can also put them both into a ziplock bag and bash with a rolling pin.
Melt the butter (I put it in the microwave for 20-30 second increments on low power) and then let it cool slightly. It must be runny but not hot to combine correctly with the topping.
Now add the butter and a pinch of salt (don't skip this!) to the Oreo strawberry mixture and stir until everything is combined. Don't be tempted to add more Oreos, as the crunch topping will firm up as it cools.
Place the mixture in the fridge until you're ready to decorate your strawberry crunch cupcakes!
Now, the Fun Part! Assemble
Pipe the cream cheese frosting on top of each cupcake. The nozzle tip is not too important in this recipe since the frosting will be fully covered with the strawberry crunch topping, anyway.
Gently dip each frosted cupcake upside down into the strawberry crunch to fully coat it in the topping.
Sprinkle each cupcake with even more crunchy strawberry crumble and then decorate with sliced fresh strawberries and crushed Golden Oreos.
Leftovers? This Is How You Store Them
Your strawberry crunch cupcakes are best served fresh, but any leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 1-2 days.
The frosting and strawberry crunch will not freeze well, so I don't recommend freezing them once they're frosted. However, I like making batches of the vanilla cupcake base to have them ready to go in the freezer. Store in ziplock bags or wrapped in plastic food wrap.
For more information, read my guide on how to store and freeze cupcakes.
Try Different Flavor Variations
Now that you've mastered the strawberry crunch cupcake recipe, you can adapt it to suit your taste!
Try other cookies instead of Golden Oreos, but make sure to add enough butter if they don't have a cream filling, as the mixture needs fat to act as a binder. I like to add regular Oreos sometimes to get a chocolate hit. You could also swap out the freeze-dried strawberries for freeze-dried raspberries.
Grating some lemon, lime, or orange zest into the cupcake batter can add some delicious citrus zing to the recipe! You could even add some shredded coconut.
If you want to double down on strawberry flavor, scoop out a little bit of each cupcake and fill them with strawberry compote before frosting.
Baking With Dietary Restrictions? Check these helpful substitute guides
While substituting ingredients is possible, baking is a science, so this will often require you to reformulate the recipe somewhat. Unfortunately, I cannot provide specific instructions for every diet!
Replace the all-purpose flour with a gluten-free blend to make this cupcake gluten-free. You can also refer to my flour guide for more alternatives.
You can try using high-fat, dairy-free milk, butter, and heavy cream substitutes, but remember that dairy-free products will have a different taste and texture. Swap out the eggs with one of these egg substitutes.
If you don't have mascarpone, the frosting recipe also works with very cold, high-fat content (36%) heavy cream.
Expert tips for making strawberry crunch cupcakes
- The milk, butter, and eggs must be at room temperature before you begin making the cupcakes for proper emulsification. See my guide on softening butter quickly for tips on doing so without using a microwave.
- Use good-quality vanilla extract, not synthetic-tasting vanilla essence, in the vanilla cupcake base.
- Don't make the baking soda and vinegar mixture in advance. The longer it sits, the slower the chemical reaction will be, and the less your cupcakes will rise!
- Do not overfill your cupcake liners, or they can mushroom out of the cases.
- Avoid overbaking the cupcakes, as it can dry them out. And we always want fluffy, moist cupcakes!
- Don't leave out the salt! While it might seem odd to add salt to dessert recipes, it will enhance the flavor of the strawberry crunch topping and also balance the sweetness.
- Never frost-warm cupcakes! Wait until it is thoroughly cooled and at room temperature, or it may melt the frosting.
- If the frosting feels too soft to pipe, place it in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up.
Some Useful Equipment
For consistency and precision, always weigh your ingredients with the help of a digital scale.
Switch to using a rubber spatula when incorporating the foaming baking soda mixture to avoid overmixing the batter, which can result in a tough cupcake sponge.
Bake cupcakes in a good-quality cupcake tin. Invest in an inexpensive digital oven thermometer to check your oven is preheating correctly and ensure you are baking at the right temperature.
Cool your tasty cupcakes on a wire cooling rack to let them come back to room temperature. Then, you can pipe frosting like a pro using a piping bag!
Try Some Of My Other Cupcake Recipes
If you loved these strawberry crunch cupcakes, try these next:
- Lemon poppyseed cupcakes
- Mocha cupcakes
- Strawberry shortcake cupcakes
- White chocolate cupcakes
- Oreo Cupcakes
Make sure to also check out my Spring Desserts recipe collection!
Have you tried this recipe?
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Strawberry Crunch Cupcakes
Equipment
- Digital scale
Ingredients
Vanilla Cupcakes
- 113 g (½ cups) Unsalted butter at room temperature
- 150 g (¾ cups) Granulated sugar
- 2 Egg at room temperature
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 120 g (½ cups) Whole milk at room temperature
- 185 g (1½ cups) All purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Baking powder
- ½ teaspoon White vinegar
- ½ teaspoon Baking soda
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 230 g (1 cups) Cream cheese full fat (33%+) e.g. Philadelphia, use it cold
- 115 g (½ cups) Mascarpone full fat (41%+), use it cold
- 60 g (½ cups) Powdered sugar sifted
Strawberry Crunch
- 110 g (10 pieces) Golden Oreos
- 20 g (2 tablespoons) Freeze dried strawberry
- 30 g (2 tablespoons) Unsalted butter Melted but not hot. Butter is needed to create the bigger chunks, but it can be left out if aiming for a more sandy texture.
- Pinch of salt
- Few slices of fresh strawberries to decorate
US customary cup measurement is an indicative figure only. Measure the ingredients with a digital scale by weight (gram). Baking is art but also science which requires precision and accuracy.
Instructions
Vanilla cupcakes
- Line a cupcake tin with muffin liners and preheat the oven to 350℉ (175℃), no fan.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the room temperature eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla extract.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the room-temperature milk. Mix only until combined—do not overmix.
- In a small bowl, stir together the vinegar and baking soda. It will foam up, so quickly fold it into the batter just until incorporated.
- Divide the batter evenly between the cupcake liners, filling each about three-quarters full.
- Bake for 20–22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Avoid overbaking, as it can dry them out. Let the cupcakes cool completely on a wire rack before adding any filling or frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Whip together the cream cheese, mascarpone, vanilla and sifted powdered sugar using an electric hand mixer. Once the frosting reaches a fluffy, pipeable consistency, stop whipping to avoid it becoming runny.
Strawberry Crunch
- Start with the melting butter in the microwave, then let it cool slightly while preparing the crumbs.
- You can make the crumbs using a food processor or by placing the cookies and dried strawberries in a ziplock bag and crushing them evenly with a rolling pin.
- Then, add a good pinch of salt to balance the sweetness. Finally, add the melted but not hot butter to the mixture. The butter acts as a binding agent, creating bigger chunks.
Assemble
- Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, pipe the frosting generously on top. Then, gently press the frosted tops into the strawberry crunch mixture, turning slightly to ensure the crunch sticks well and covers the frosting fully. Finish by decorating each cupcake with a fresh strawberry on top.
- Serve the cupcakes fresh. Any leftovers can be stored covered and refrigerated for 1-2 days.
Notes
- Measure your ingredients with a Digital scale for accuracy.
- All ingredients for the cupcake must be at room temperature to properly emulsify: eggs, milk, etc..
- Do not skip the white vinegar+baking soda "secret ingredient" for the most perfect moist cupcakes:)
- For the frosting, make sure you use high-fat content cream cheese and mascarpone. Low-fat dairy products won´t whip up properly.
- While whipping the cream cheese frosting, pay very close attention to the consistency and stop whipping immediately after it gets fluffy. Overbeating would result in breaking the cream and instead of becoming stiffer, in fact, it will get runnier.
- Never frost warm cupcakes; make sure they are chilled to room temperature.
- Be careful not to break down the cookies and freeze-dried strawberries too much. You want the texture to be crumbly, not like dust.
- Check whether the frosting is stable enough before proceeding with dipping it into the crunch
Tom
These are so delicious and decorative, I love the creamy frosting with the crunchy topping! Thank you