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Home » Cake & Cupcakes » Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

Published: Feb 15, 2022 · Modified: Apr 4, 2022 by Allison · 50 Comments

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This beautiful Strawberry Buttercream Frosting is naturally colored and filled with real strawberries. This easy frosting is loaded with flavor and it comes together in minutes. The perfect topping for cake, cupcakes, brownies, and more!

Strawberry Buttercream Frosting is what spring and summer dreams are made of. But, good news – you can make this frosting year round. You’ll want to put it on anything and everything.

Strawberry buttercream frosting swirled in a white bowl.

This Strawberry Buttercream became a regular in our dessert rotation six years ago when we used it on our Strawberry Cupcakes.

This is the perfect way to make a pretty pink frosting without any food coloring. Yep, you read that right – no food coloring. Real strawberries bring the beautiful pink color to our frosting. And every bite is bursting with the flavor of sweet fresh strawberries.

Jump to:
  • Ingredients needed
  • Recipe overview
  • Ingredient spotlight: freeze dried strawberries
  • Can you use fresh strawberries?
  • What to put strawberry frosting on?
  • More frosting recipes
  • Recipe
Closeup of strawberry cupcake topped with strawberry frosting

Ingredients needed

  • Unsalted butter
  • Powdered sugar
  • Freeze dried strawberries
  • Vanilla
  • Strawberry jam
  • Milk OR fresh strawberry puree (more on this below)
Strawberries, powdered sugar, vanilla, butter, jam.

Recipe overview

Start by grinding the freeze dried strawberries into powder. Pour it through a fine mesh sieve and discard the seeds. You will be left with a fine pinkish/red powder that will add tons of strawberry flavor to the frosting.

Freeze dried strawberries in a white bowl.

Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat butter until smooth, Add powdered sugar and beat until combined.

Butter and powdered sugar in a white bowl.

Add the freeze dried strawberry powder, jam, vanilla, and milk/strawberry puree.

Butter, powdered sugar, jam, and freeze dried strawberries in a white bowl.

Beat until smooth and combined.

Strawberry frosting in a white bowl

Ingredient spotlight: freeze dried strawberries

Freeze dried strawberries are strawberries that have low water content and are dried out and crispy. They can be found on the dried fruit aisle (I get mine at Target or Whole Foods). Note: they are not dried strawberries which are soft and chewy (like a raisin).

Because they are dry they allow us to add a deep, more intense strawberry flavor without adding too much moisture which could make the frosting thin and runny.

Pulse the freeze dried strawberries in a food processor or blender until ground into a fine powder.

Freeze dried strawberries in a white bowl.

Can you use fresh strawberries?

Yes! I love making this recipe with fresh, pureed strawberries. Just pop 5-10 strawberries in a blender or food processor and process until smooth. You’ll need 2-3 tablespoons of strawberry puree and you’ll use it in place of the milk to thin out the frosting.

Make sure your strawberries are juicy and sweet otherwise they won’t add much flavor.

What to put strawberry frosting on?

  • Strawberry Cupcakes
  • Brownies
  • Brownie Bites
  • Chocolate Cupcakes
  • Sugar Cookies
  • Vanilla Cake
Sugar cookies topped with pink strawberry frosting.

More frosting recipes

  • Sugar Cookie Frosting
  • Cream Cheese Frosting
  • Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
  • Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting

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Recipe

Close up of Strawberry Cupcake topped with strawberry buttercream

Strawberry Buttercream

This beautiful Strawberry Buttercream Frosting is naturally colored and filled with real strawberries. This easy frosting is loaded with flavor and it comes together in minutes. The perfect topping for cake, cupcakes, brownies, and more!
4.73 from 18 votes
Print Pin SaveSaved!
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Dessert
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 2 cups (enough to generously frost 12 cupcakes or a single layer 8 or 9 inch cake)
Calories: 223kcal
Author: Allison – Celebrating Sweets

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup freeze dried strawberries
  • ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted if lumpy, plus more if needed
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 generous tablespoon strawberry jam
  • 2 tablespoons milk OR 5-8 fresh strawberries*, plus more if needed

Instructions

  • In a small food processor, blend freeze dried strawberries until they turn into powder. Pour the powder into a fine mesh sieve, discarding the solids and seeds, keeping the fine powder that came through the sieve. Set the powder aside, you should have a scant ¼ cup.
  • With a hand mixer, or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl and the beater as necessary. Add the powdered sugar, ½ a cup at a time, beating until combined. 
  • Add freeze dried strawberry powder, vanilla extract, jam, and either 2 tablespoons of milk OR 2 tablespoons strawberry puree. Beat on medium speed until fully combined, being sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl and beater as needed. If necessary, adjust the consistency by adding more powdered sugar to thicken, or more milk or strawberry puree to thin it out.

Notes

*To use fresh strawberry puree instead of milk to thin out the frosting, add 5-8 strawberries to the food processor or blender (after using it for the freeze dried strawberries). Process the fresh strawberries until pureed. You’ll need 2-3 tablespoons of fresh strawberry puree. 

Nutrition

Calories: 223kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 30mg | Sodium: 2mg | Potassium: 3mg | Sugar: 30g | Vitamin A: 355IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 3mg

Nutritional Information is an estimate based on third-party calculations and may vary based on products used and serving sizes.

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Comments

  1. Teresa H

    August 03, 2019 at 6:03 pm

    Just made this for some strawberry cupcakes for a baby shower, this recipe is amazing! I’m allergic to strawberries and usually don’t mind not having any, but I tried a tiny bit and now I’m sad I can’t have more . Everyone at the baby shower LOVED it, especially the mommy-to-be (strawberry was her request) and was so shocked there was no artificial flavors.

    Reply
    • Celebrating Sweets

      August 04, 2019 at 2:24 pm

      I’m glad everyone enjoyed it! Sorry to hear that you weren’t able to. 🙁 Thanks for taking the time to comment! -Allison

      Reply
  2. Jennifer M

    December 09, 2019 at 2:46 am

    5 stars
    This recipe work wonderfully. I actually needed to use raspberries versus strawberries. Because raspberries have a deeper color it cane out a wonderful pink. Thank you! I’ll be using this again!

    Reply
    • Celebrating Sweets

      December 09, 2019 at 12:44 pm

      Fantastic! Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂

      Reply
  3. Saeeda

    April 02, 2020 at 6:54 pm

    Hi, if you wanted to use all powder and no real strawberries, what would be the measurements for that? Thanks.

    Reply
    • Celebrating Sweets

      April 03, 2020 at 3:53 pm

      Maybe increase to 3/4 cup freeze dried strawberries. You’ll also need some liquid, preferably milk or half and half, add it in step 3. Start with 1 tablespoon and add a little at a time until you reach your desired consistency. Enjoy!

      Reply
  4. Tasha

    June 26, 2020 at 6:24 pm

    This is probably the dumbest question ever, but I just bought the ingredients to make this frosting this weekend. It calls for 1/2 cup of freeze dried strawberries so I bought two 2 oz bags. Am I using both bags or just a 1/2 cup measuring cup? Sorry, I’m a brand new to baking and I’m a bit confused because the 2 oz bags are way more than can fit in a 1/2 cup measuring cup.

    Reply
    • Celebrating Sweets

      July 02, 2020 at 12:07 pm

      You only need what will fit in a 1/2 cup measuring cup (unless you are doubling the recipe). Enjoy!

      Reply
  5. Caroline

    January 17, 2021 at 1:44 pm

    5 stars
    I love this recipe and tried using raspberries instead because I was out of freeze dried strawberries. I think that I almost like the raspberry version better because it is a little sharper and is a great contrast to a sweet cake!

    Reply
    • Allison

      January 18, 2021 at 11:46 am

      Yum! I think the tartness of the raspberries sounds great. Thanks for sharing your experience. 🙂

      Reply
  6. Kim

    January 27, 2022 at 1:19 pm

    5 stars
    Super easy and delicious. Thank you

    Reply
    • Allison

      February 01, 2022 at 9:55 am

      You’re welcome! 🙂

      Reply
  7. Erin

    February 17, 2022 at 9:21 am

    5 stars
    Delicious! I used it on top of chocolate cupcakes.

    Reply
    • Allison

      February 21, 2022 at 6:49 pm

      Perfect! Glad you enjoyed it!

      Reply
  8. Jenn

    February 17, 2022 at 1:00 pm

    5 stars
    Love love love this sassy strawberry buttercream frosting! Thanks so much for the recipe!

    Reply
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aboutHi, I'm Allison! I'm a busy wife and mom with a passion for cooking and baking. This is where you'll find my favorite homemade recipes, designed to help you make every day delicious! Read more....

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