Need an easy cupcake to make for all your summer parties? These Strawberry Jello Cupcakes are perfect! With a delicious strawberry taste and a gorgeous pink color, this semi-homemade dessert is one you’ll love to share with friends.
Growing up, my mom always made us this Strawberry Jello Angel Food Cake. It was refreshing and creamy and a dish we had at all our potlucks and parties. It introduced me to using flavored Jello to flavor desserts and now it’s one of my dessert ingredients. Ever.
These easy Strawberry Jello Cupcakes are full of strawberry flavor and have the prettiest pink color that your guests will love. Best of all, it doesn’t even need to be strawberry season!
Why this recipe works
You may be able to tell from the name of this blog that I really enjoy cupcakes. Whether they’re Alcohol Infused Cupcakes or cupcakes in a jar, I’ll eat them.
Using a boxed cake mix keeps these Strawberry Jello Cupcakes quick. The strawberry Jello gives them tons of flavor and they can be prepped and baked in about 30 minutes.
A simple strawberry frosting is a perfect way to top them off. A slice of fresh strawberry tells everyone exactly what they’re in for flavor-wise.
It’s a great recipe to have the kids help with and they’ll love when the Jello powder turns the batter bright pink! The color makes them a great idea for baby and bridal showers and all kinds of other parties too!
Looking for more strawberry recipes? Try my favorite Strawberry Shortcake Dump Cake, make my quick homemade Strawberry Ice Cream with Condensed Milk, indulge in my ridiculously easy Strawberry Snack Idea or make some Strawberry Simple Syrup for a Strawberry Basil Margarita.
Ingredient Notes
White cake mix is my favorite thing to use in this Strawberry Jello Cupcakes recipe because it really lets the strawberry flavor shine through.
But if you only have a yellow cake mix, that will work, but it will change the flavor slightly. Not in a bad way, though, yellow cake mix is never bad! You could even try it with strawberry cake mix for another layer of flavor.
Strawberry Jello makes these such a gorgeous color and a yummy flavor I love to have all summer long. But you can use other flavors of Jello if you prefer.
Or, you can make these easy Red, White and Blue Jello Poke Cupcakes instead!
How To Make Strawberry Cupcakes With Jello
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners and set aside.
To a large bowl add the boxed cake mix and the whole milk.
Add vegetable oil.
Add the dry Strawberry Jello powder. (You can also Make Your Own Fun Dip at Home with Jello! and Jello Flavored Popcorn!
Add the eggs.
Mix until everything is well incorporated. You can do this by hand with a whisk, or give it a quick mix with a hand mixer.
Divide the batter between the cupcake liners until ¾ full and put in the oven.
Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and from the pan and let it cool down completely before decorating.
Decorate with an easy strawberry buttercream frosting and garnish with a sliced strawberry.
The buttercream uses my basic vanilla buttercream recipe with some strawberry jam to give it the best flavor to pair with these Strawberry Jello Cupcakes. Or you could use my simple Cool Whip Frosting.
Tips and Tricks
- You can change up the flavor of the cake by changing up the flavor of the Jello.
- To add a more intense strawberry flavor you can add a little bit of strawberry extract.
- I haven’t tried it yet, but I don’t see why you couldn’t add some chocolate chips to the batter for a chocolate covered strawberry-esque flavor!
Frequently Asked Questions
Adding gelatin to a cake mix can have two different effects. In this recipe, I’m using the dry powder to flavor the batter. But in my Strawberry Jello Angel Food Cake recipe, I add hot water to the Jello to activate it. Not only does it give the dessert flavor, but also help to u0022set upu0022 since it is a no-bake cake.
Fresh strawberries are best and I just use them as a garnish. Frozen strawberries release a lot of liquid that can cause a mess. As a pretty unskilled baker, I like to stick with recipes that I know will work and not sink or fall apart if I can help it! That’s why I didn’t add any to the actual batter.
You can add Jello to buttercream to help flavor it. You can add 1-2 tablespoon of flavored Jello to your buttercream recipe. I prefer to use strawberry Jam for the flavor. It’s the perfect sweetness and has a bit of a more fresh strawberry flavor (in my opinion).
If you plan on storing these cupcakes before eating, let them cool completely then store them in an air-tight container, at room temperature for up to 2 days. Then you can frost them before serving. If the cupcakes are filled with a filling or topped with a frosting, you will need to refrigerate them which can make them lose their freshness faster. See this great article about keeping cupcakes fresh from The Spruce Eats.
This recipe for Strawberry Jello Cupcakes is a fast and easy way to have a delicious strawberry dessert any time of the year.
Related Recipes
Strawberry Jello Cupcakes
Equipment
- Larg Bowl
- Hand Mixer
Ingredients
Strawberry Jello Cupcake
Quick Strawberry Jam Buttercream
- 1 batch Best Ever Vanilla Buttercream
- ¼ cup strawberry jam
- 2 tablespoon powdered sugar
Instructions
To Make the Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners and set aside.
- In a large bowl combine all the ingredients together until everything is well incorporated either by hand or a hand mixer.
- Divide the batter between the cupcake liners until ¾ full and take to the oven.
- Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until done (a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean).
- Remove from the oven and from the pan and let it cool down completely before decorating.
To Make Frosting
- Make a batch of my Vanilla Buttercream.
- Add the strawberry jam and powdered sugar and mix well until blended.
- Decorate with the Strawberry Jello Cupcakes with the frosting and garnish with a sliced strawberry.
Notes
- You can change up the flavor of the cake by changing up the flavor of the Jello.
- To add a more intense strawberry flavor you can add a little bit of strawberry extract.
- I haven’t tried it yet, but I don’t see why you couldn’t add some chocolate chips to the batter for a chocolate covered strawberry-esque flavor!
- Store unfrosted cupcakes in an air-tight container, at room temperature, for up to 2 days. Frost right before serving.
Donna says
Tried the recipe, followed to the LETTER…still they fell in the middle . I even mixed for exact time indicated (I believe it is too much). I just want to let everyone out there know DO NOT mix according to the time indicated here. Just mix it until it’s all blended, not a second longer. I think that’s what happened is because it was OVER mixed.
Sharon Garofalow says
I’m sorry these didn’t work for you! I’ll make that note in the post.