Delicious Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes are fluffy and tender with bursts of fresh, juicy strawberries and sweet icing on top! This dessert recipe is perfect for summer celebrations and can easily be made vegan and gluten free!
These Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes are easy to make and they are packed with fresh strawberries and flavor! There are pieces of chopped strawberry in the cupcake and they are topped with your choice of vanilla icing or vegan cream cheese icing! These are the perfect way to incorporate summer berries!
Strawberry Shortcake Ingredients Needed
- Plant-based Milk: We recommend using unsweetened almond milk or oat milk to keep these vegan and make them extra moist. If you're not vegan or dairy-free, regular milk will also work.
- Vegan Butter: Melted vegan butter adds richness and makes these super tender. If you're not vegan or dairy-free, regular butter will also work.
- Sugar: Use cane sugar or purecane sugar substitute to make these perfectly sweet.
- Baking Powder: Baking powder helps these cupcakes to rise and get fluffy.
- Vanilla Extract: For extra flavor!
- Lemon Juice: Just ½ teaspoon of lemon juice for bright flavor and the acidity also gives these a lovely texture.
- Flour: All-purpose flour works great. If you prefer gluten-free cupcakes, we recommend using a gluten-free replacement flour like King Arthur Measure for Measure Flour!
- Strawberries: We recommend fresh strawberries for the best flavor and texture.
- Icing: For extra decadence you can top these with vanilla icing or a cream cheese frosting.
How to Make Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Prepare the vegan strawberry shortcake batter in a medium mixing bowl. Use a fork or whisk to mix the oat milk, melted vegan butter, purecane (for sugar-free) or cane sugar, baking powder, vanilla, and lemon juice together. Then, add the regular or gluten-free all-purpose flour and mix until a smooth batter is formed. Fold in the diced strawberries.
Step 2: Pour the batter into 16 cupcake molds that have been lined with paper cupcake liners. I like to lightly spray my liners with nonstick cooking spray to help them not stick to the paper. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until the cupcakes are completely risen and lightly golden on the tops.
Step 3: While the cupcakes are baking, make the vanilla or cream cheese frosting by whisking either of the frosting ingredients together.
Step 4: Once they're done baking, remove the cupcakes from the oven and carefully transfer them onto a wire cooling rack. Once they've cooled, drizzle them with the frosting and serve topped with more strawberries. You may also enjoy these unfrosted, as muffins!
Expert Tips
- Measure the flour correctly: For perfectly soft and fluffy cupcakes, it's important to make sure you're using the correct amount of flour. Do not scoop flour into the measuring cup. Instead, spoon it into the measuring cup and without packing it down or shaking the measuring cup, use the back of a butter knife to level off the flour.
- Don't over mix the batter: Once the flour is added to the wet ingredients, be sure to mix only until the ingredients are combined, and gently fold in the strawberries.
- Ripe strawberries: Use the freshest, ripest strawberries you can find! They should be bright red and plump.
Frequently Asked Questions
To ensure soft and moist cupcakes, this recipe calls for milk and melted butter. The fresh strawberries will also add moisture to the cupcakes.
The lemon juice acts as a leavening agent when used with a base (baking powder) to produce carbon dioxide and help these cupcakes bake up nice and fluffy with the perfect amount of lift.
We recommend fresh strawberries for the best results. However, frozen strawberries will work. Thaw and drain before dicing them and adding them to the batter.
Storage Recommendations
- To Store: Store any leftover strawberry cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2-3 days. For longer storage, transfer them to the fridge and they will keep for up to one week. However, they will dry out quicker in the refrigerator.
- To Freeze: Place in a freezer safe container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight and top with icing before serving!
More Vegan Cupcake Recipes
- Vanilla Coconut Cupcakes
- Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes
- Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes
- Lemon Cupcakes
- Vegan Funfetti Cupcakes
Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes
Ingredients
Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes
- 1 ½ cup unsweetened oat or almond milk or regular milk
- ¼ cup melted vegan butter or regular butter
- 1 cup cane sugar or ⅓ to ½ cup purecane sugar substitute
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ teaspoon lemon juice
- 2 cup regular or gluten free all purpose flour If gluten-free, I recommend King Arthur Measure for Measure gluten-free flour. Please don't substitute any other flour such as almond flour, baking flour, etc.
- 2 cup freshly diced strawberries
Vanilla Icing
- 1 cup purecane powdered sugar or regular powdered sugar
- 4 tablespoon unsweetened oat or almond milk or regular milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 ½ cup powdered sugar or purecane powdered sugar substitue
- 4 oz vegan cream cheese frosting or regular cream cheese
- 4 tablespoon softened vegan butter or regular butter
Instructions
Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- Prepare the vegan strawberry shortcake batter in a medium mixing bowl. Use a fork or whisk to mix the oat milk, melted vegan butter, purecane (for sugar-free) or cane sugar, baking powder, vanilla, and lemon juice together. Then, add the regular or gluten-free all-purpose flour and mix until a smooth batter is formed. Fold in the diced strawberries.
- Pour the batter into 16 cupcake molds that have been lined with paper cupcake liners. I like to lightly spray my liners with nonstick cooking spray to help them not stick to the paper. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until the cupcakes are completely risen and lightly golden on the tops.
- While the cupcakes are baking, make the vanilla or cream cheese frosting by whisking either of the frosting ingredients together.
- Once they're done baking, remove the cupcakes from the oven and carefully transfer them onto a wire cooling rack. Once they've cooled, drizzle them with the frosting and serve topped with more strawberries. You may also enjoy these unfrosted, as muffins!
Notes
- To Store:Â Store any leftover strawberry cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2-3 days. For longer storage, transfer them to the fridge and they will keep for up to one week. However, they will dry out quicker in the refrigerator. Â
- To Freeze:Â Place in a freezer safe container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight and top with icing before serving!
Nutrition
The recipes on Peanut Butter and Jilly can easily be adapted to fit a vegan lifestyle, a gluten-free lifestyle, or both depending on the ingredients you use. Please review the ingredients lists carefully and refer to our recommendations in the Notes of the recipe card to make this recipe compatible with your needs. Nutrition information provided is an estimate, and will vary based on specific brands of ingredients used and cooking methods.
Skye says
How can I make this into a cake ?
Jillian says
Hi Skye, I would increase the baking temperature to 375 and bake for about 30 minutes or until it's golden around the edges and a toothpick comes out clean from the center 🙂
Shina says
I made this for a friend bday but I couldn’t get the icing to look like yours white and thick and instead of runny Icing...
Jillian says
Hi Shina! Hope they were tasty! Perhaps try adding a little more powdered sugar next time to help thicken the frosting!