In this Instructable, I will show you how to make strawberry cupcakes from scratch. I love strawberries and I love cupcakes. So this easy moist homemade strawberry cupcake recipe is a perfect combination of those flavors. They are so incredibly easy to make and you can easily turn it into a strawberry cake instead if you like. If I can do it, you can do it. Let's get baking!

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Follow the easy steps below or watch the video tutorial, or do both! :)

Step 1: Ingredients and Tools

You may print the recipe here if you like.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups of cake flour or all-purpose/plain flour (320g)
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder (12g)
1/2 tsp. of salt (2g)
3/4 cup unsalted softened butter (170g)
1 3/4 cup white granulated sugar (337g)
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract (5ml)
1/2 cup sour cream (optional) (123g)
1 1/4 cups of milk (whole, 2%, 1%, almond, etc.) (312ml)
1 cup diced strawberries, doesn't have to be exact (166g)
Red food coloring (optional) 5 to 10 drops or more as needed

Tools:

Bowl
Mixer
Sifter
Whisk
Spatula
Paper cups
Muffin pan
Piping bag or plastic bag for decorating with a star tip
Wire rack

Step 2: Mix the Dry Ingredients

Begin by preheating the oven to 350 F/176 C. Now whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder until well combined. You may also use a sifter if you like.

Step 3: Butter and Eggtastic

Now in a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar with a hand mixer or stand mixer. Then add in the vanilla extract and one of the eggs. Mix until combined, then add in the other egg and mix.

Step 4: Sour Cream and Milk

Time to add in the sour cream, or you can use an unsweetened Greek yogurt if you like. This will help make the cupcakes moist. But it is optional, you can leave it out. Mix until just combined.

Step 5: Finish the Batter

Remove the beaters and put the mixer away. From now on complete the batter by hand. Fold and stir in the dry ingredient mixture a third of it at a time, until just combined. This ensures that we don't over mix the batter. If you overmix the batter, the texture becomes more dense and chewy, as opposed to being light and fluffy.

Step 6: Strawberry Time!

Now fold in the diced strawberries. You can leave the cake batter like this if you want, or add in several drops of red food coloring. Totally up to you. :) Alright the strawberry cupcake batter is complete.

Step 7: Bake Those Cupcakes

Now fill up two muffin pans with 24 cupcake liners, although you may actually be able to get 26 cupcakes from this batter. Scoop in the cake batter into each cup filling it about 3/4ths of the way full. I usually use a 1/2 cup measuring cup to make sure I get the exact same amount of batter in each one.

Next, bake the cupcakes, on the middle rack, for 16 to 24 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean when you poke them in the middle. When they come out of the oven, allow them to cool for a few minutes in the pans and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.