These Eggless Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes are soft, extra chocolate-y, and luscious! Packed with real strawberry flavor. Easy to make with simple ingredients. The recipe includes step-by-step photos and lots of tips.
Egg-Free Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes Recipe Highlights
Today’s cupcake recipe begins with a very familiar eggless chocolate batter. To make these cupcakes, I adapted my One Bowl Eggless Chocolate Cake, which has an extra fluffy crumb and undeniably intense chocolate-y flavor.
These Eggless Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes are homemade eggless chocolate cupcakes filled with strawberry sauce or jam and topped with strawberry buttercream. And while they require a few steps, they are super easy to make.
These cupcakes are soft, super moist, and tasty but not overly sweet. And the strawberry buttercream is the perfect addition. It’s creamy, fresh, and completely packed with real strawberry flavor.
Consider these your perfect dessert to share with loved ones!
Ingredients You’ll Need
Amounts are included in the printable recipe below (scroll down). You’ll need:
Ingredients Notes & Substitutions
Please check the recipe card at the bottom of the post for exact quantities and detailed instructions (scroll down).
For the Eggless Chocolate Cupcakes:
- Butter: I prefer to use unsalted butter, but if you only have salted butter handy, you can use it. In this case, skip the salt called in the recipe.
- Oil: Vegetable or canola oil – Or any light-tasting oil of your preference.
- Sugar: Regular white granulated sugar o caster sugar.
- Buttermilk: You don’t have buttermilk? No problem!! Check out my recipe for Easy Homemade Buttermilk Substitute [Video].
- Sour cream: You can substitute sour cream for plain regular yogurt. I recommend using the full-fat versions. If sour cream is difficult to find in your country, learn How to Make Sour Cream at Home.
- Vanilla extract: For optimal flavor, reach for pure vanilla instead of imitation. Even better, try homemade vanilla extract!
- Coffee: This is optional, but I recommend its addition because it enhances the chocolate flavor. Adding a little bit will make things taste more “chocolatey” without giving a coffee flavor. If you don’t want to add coffee, just add 1 tablespoon of hot water.
- Flour: Standard all-purpose flour works best here; skip the cake flour, bread flour, and wheat flour.
- Unsweetened natural cocoa powder: I like to use unsweetened natural cocoa powder instead of Dutch-processed, because it’s more acidic and reacts with baking soda, allowing your baked goods to rise.
- Baking powder & Baking soda: Make sure they’re not expired or too old.
- Salt: I prefer kosher or sea salt. If you only have table salt handy, I recommend reducing the amount to half.
To Fill & Decorate:
- Strawberry sauce or jam: You can use homemade or store-bought. I often use my Easy Strawberry Topping Sauce to fill these cupcakes.
- Strawberry buttercream: It’s similar to classic buttercream frosting, but with the addition of strawberries to give it a sweet and tart flavor that compliments the cupcakes so well!
- Fresh strawberries: This is optional but makes the cupcakes look extra cute!
Step By Step Recipe Photo Tutorial
1 – Make the Eggless Chocolate Cupcakes
Combine the oil, melted butter, and sugar. Then, whisk in buttermilk, sour cream, vanilla extract, and coffee; whisk until well combined.
Add the dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; mix until just combined.
Fill the cupcake liners about two-thirds full and bake.
2 – Make the Strawberry Buttercream
This Strawberry Frosting is the perfect complement to these cupcakes. It’s rich, creamy, and has a delicious strawberry flavor. To make the strawberry frosting, you can use homemade strawberry puree or freeze-dried strawberries. If you use sliced freeze-dried strawberries, use a blender or food processor to process them into a powdery crumb.
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3 – Fill the Cupcakes
- Use a knife (or a cupcake corer) to carve a hollow in the center of each cupcake.
- Fill the center of each cupcake with strawberry sauce or jam, then place the carved piece back on top.
- Spread or pipe the frosting evenly on the cupcakes.
4 – Decorate
You certainly don’t have to use a piping tip + bag to decorate the cupcakes – spooning the frosting in is perfectly fine. I find a piping tip makes things a little neater but do whatever is best for you.
Eggless Cupcakes Baking Tips
Measure the ingredients correctly. I highly recommend using a kitchen scale.
Preheat the oven at least 15 minutes before you get started to give it plenty of time to reach the ideal recipe temperature.
Right temperature butter is KEY! Softened butter should easily bend without breaking and will give slightly when pressed. If your finger sinks into the butter and looks oily, it’s way too soft.
Don’t overmix the batter. Instead, mix just until you’ve evenly distributed the ingredients throughout the batter.
Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 full. If you overfill the liners, they won’t rise properly.
Bake the cupcakes as soon as the batter is ready.
Don’t open the oven door until the cupcakes have set. Leave the oven closed until the minimum time stated in the recipe.
Every oven is different, so baking times always have to be taken with a grain of salt. Oven thermostats can be wildly off, and that will all affect baking time, so keep an eye on yours. The cupcakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely!! I have done it, and it is delicious.
I do not recommend freezing filled cupcakes, but you can freeze unfrosted cupcakes for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before filling, frosting, and serving.
Yes, you can! Bake at the same temp for about 11-12 mins.
Variations
- You can fill the cupcakes with whipped cream and chopped strawberries, or even fill them with the same strawberry buttercream you going to use to frost them.
- Top the cupcakes with covered chocolate strawberries.
- Not feeling like chocolate cupcakes? No problem! Use my Eggless Vanilla Cupcake recipe instead.
- This recipe can easily be turned into mini cupcakes. The batter should make around 24 mini cupcakes.
Storing & Freezing Instructions
- Unfrosted cupcakes can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 1 month; defrost at room temperature before frosting and serving.
- Frosted cupcakes can be stored at room temperature for up to 1 day, or in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Take into consideration that the cupcakes will lose some of their fluffiness if refrigerated or frozen.
Make-Ahead Instructions: Prepare cupcakes 1 day in advance. Keep cupcakes covered tightly at room temperature and fill/frost the day of serving. Strawberry frosting can be prepared the day before too.
More Eggless Cupcake Recipes You’ll Love!
- Easy Eggless Red Velvet Cupcakes
- Eggless Funfetti Cupcakes
- Easy Eggless Oreo Cupcakes
- Eggless Carrot Cake Cupcakes
- Eggless Vanilla Cupcakes
- Easy Eggless Strawberry Cupcakes
- more eggless cupcakes…
Eggless Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes
Equipment
Ingredients
Fort the Eggless Chocolate Cupcakes:
- 4 tablespoons (60 g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) vegetable or canola oil
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup (180 ml) buttermilk
- 1/4 cup (60 g) sour cream
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) hot water
- 1 teaspoon (1 g) instant espresso coffee (optional)
- 1 1/4 cup (175 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (45 g) unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Strawberry Buttercream
- 1 cup (230 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 4 cups (480 g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) whole milk or heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) pure vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) strawberry puree (see notes)
Filling:
- 1/3 cup (80 g) strawberry sauce or jam
Instructions
Make the Eggless Chocolate Cupcakes:
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line a 12-cup cupcake pan with cupcake liners.
- Combine the melted butter, oil, sugar, buttermilk, sour cream, and vanilla extract in a large bowl and whisk together.
- In a small bowl, combine the hot water and instant espresso powder, if using. Add to the butter mixture; mix to combine.
- Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; stir until just combined.
- Fill the cupcake liners about two-thirds full.
- Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then remove the cupcakes from the pan. Place the cupcakes back on the rack, and cool to room temperature, about 1 hour, before frosting.
Make the Strawberry Buttercream:
- Using an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer on medium speed, beat the butter in a large bowl until smooth and creamy, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low, add 1 cup of the confectioners’ sugar, and keep mixing until incorporated. Add the milk, vanilla extract, and salt. Once incorporated, add the remaining 3 cups confectioners’ sugar; beat on low speed for 1 minute, then increase the speed to medium-high and beat for 4 to 5 minutes until the frosting is smooth, fluffy, and spreadable, scraping down the bowl once or twice.
- Add strawberry puree and mix until well incorporated.
Fill the Cupcakes:
- Use a knife (or a cupcake corer) to carve a hollow in the center of each cupcake.
- Fill the center of each cupcake with strawberry sauce or jam, then place the carved piece back on top.
Decorate:
- Spread or pipe the frosting evenly on the cupcakes. Top each cupcake off with a strawberry half, if desired, and serve.
Nutrition
Eggless Baking Frequently Asked Questions
You’ve asked, and I’ve answered! Read on for a handful of answers to the most frequently asked questions about eggless baking.
Originally posted in January 2021, the post content was edited to add more helpful information, with no change to the recipe in July 2022.
