These blueberry filled cupcakes with basil buttercream pack some pretty incredible and complementary flavors in a small treat. The post here will guide you every step of the way in making this refreshing and unique cupcake. From the fresh basil in the frosting to the fresh blueberries (though frozen berries would work fine, too*) on the inside, people will be so impressed you made this showstopper at home.
This dessert joins the growing list of my favorite cupcake recipes!
Whether I'm making strawberry filled vanilla cupcakes or using mango buttercream for my mango cupcake recipe, fruity flavors can really enhance a classic but delish cupcake like vanilla or almond.
🫐 To give some other blueberry recipes a try, check out my:
Jump to:
- 💙 Why You'll Love this Recipe
- 📋 Ingredients for Cupcakes with Blueberry Filling
- Best Results: Baking in Grams
- 📖 Step-by-Step Cupcake Instructions
- Instructions for Homemade Blueberry Compote
- ⚡️ Important Note on Using Granulated vs. Powdered Sugar in Basil Buttercream
- 🌿 Basil Frosting Instructions
- Assembling Blueberry Filled Cupcakes
- Cupcake Storage
- More Recipes Like these Blueberry Filled Cupcakes
- Blueberry Filled Cupcakes with Basil Buttercream
💙 Why You'll Love this Recipe
Unique but yummy taste - If you're thinking basil buttercream and blueberries are weird, think again. This is the kind of pairing that deserves a fair shot because it's just that good.
Seasonal, fresh flavors - The blueberries add sweetness and flavor. Their juices lend softness and moisture to the inside of each tender, fluffy cupcake.
Easy to make - The base of the cupcake, the filling, and the basil buttercream are all easy to make at home with no particularly special ingredients or tools.
📋 Ingredients for Cupcakes with Blueberry Filling
The recipe card below contains all the ingredients you need, but here are some key ones:
- Fresh basil - Mixing basil leaves with granulated sugar in a food processor or blender helps release its aroma. Its sweet yet slightly peppery and is truly an epic pairing with blueberry. Plus, when mixed with your butter, this herb gives your frosting the most beautiful and natural shade of green - no food coloring necessary!
- Blueberry compote - Use your favorite store-bought blueberry jam OR make your own easy homemade blueberry filling. With frozen or fresh blueberries, water, and a bit of sugar and lemon juice, this fresh blueberry sauce is so easy to create. Store-bought or homemade, either choice is tasty and will work well inside these soft, tender cupcakes.
Best Results: Baking in Grams
If you’re not already, use a kitchen scale for accuracy in baking.
While I include cups and grams in my recipe cards, weighing your ingredients and writing or following a recipe using a standard metric like grams ensures consistency.
I highly recommend investing $30 or less in a kitchen scale.
📖 Step-by-Step Cupcake Instructions
About an hour before beginning this recipe, place butter, eggs, and buttermilk on your kitchen counter so they reach room temperature.
Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a standard muffin tin with 12 paper liners.
Step 2: To a large bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt.
Step 3: With the bowl of an electric mixer OR in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together unsalted room temperature butter, vanilla extract, oil, and sugar on medium-high speed for 4 minutes. Stop mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs and beat again for 1 minute.
Step 4: Add half of your bowl of dry ingredients and half of your buttermilk to your mixing bowl. Mix on low speed for about 45 seconds before repeating step to incorporate all buttermilk and flour mixture. Scrape down the sides of bowl to combine all ingredients.
Step 5: Pour and evenly spread the cupcake batter into your prepared cupcake liners (about 50 grams in each cavity). Bake for 14-16 minutes or until cupcakes appear buttery and dense but bounce back at the touch of your finger.
Step 6: Let cupcakes cool in pan about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
Instructions for Homemade Blueberry Compote
Skip this step if you'd rather opt for store-bought and want to save time. However, this blueberry compote cupcake filling is easy to whip up in your kitchen!
Add blueberries, granulated sugar, water, and bottled or fresh lemon juice to a covered pot on the stove over medium heat.
Let blueberries cook down for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once they’ve softened, place them in a heatproof container in the refrigerator to cool and thicken.
If you only have frozen blueberries, nix the step of adding water to your pot or small saucepan. The frozen berries will already have water content in them.
If you forget this step - no worries! Your berries may just require more time to break down and cook! But slow and steady wins the race, keeping them from overcooking. 🙂
⚡️ Important Note on Using Granulated vs. Powdered Sugar in Basil Buttercream
This basil buttercream can be made with either granulated sugar or powdered sugar, depending on the strength of your device. Whether you use a food processor, blender, or another tool, you need an appliance that can grind your ingredients into a powder.
If your food processor is strong, blending fresh basil leaves with granulated sugar and cornstarch creates a fine, basil-infused sugar that works beautifully in the frosting.
However, if your food processor isn’t as powerful, I recommend combining the basil with powdered sugar instead.
In this case, you won’t need cornstarch—simply combine and blend basil with three cups of powdered sugar in place of the granulated sugar.
While the option with powdered sugar may leave some small bits of basil in the frosting, the end result won’t have a gritty texture, as powdered sugar is already very fine.
Both methods deliver a flavorful basil buttercream, so choose the one that works best for you!
🌿 Basil Frosting Instructions
My post for basil buttercream breaks down the steps for making this fresh, naturally green frosting
To create basil sugar to use in this frosting, you'll need fresh basil, granulated sugar (you're making your own powdered sugar, infused with basil!), and cornstarch.
You'll need the other usual suspects for buttercream: unsalted butter, room temperature, kosher salt, and a cream. Whipping cream, heavy cream, or milk of your choice all work. Know that milk will give your frosting a thinner consistency while the creams thicken it.
You can also add lemon juice or distilled white vinegar to offset sweetness if you'd like.
Once your frosting is to your liking, load it into a piping bag, fitted with the decorating tip of your choice!
Assembling Blueberry Filled Cupcakes
If you have a cupcake corer to add filling to your cupcakes, great! I do not, but no problem.
Instead, take the wider end of a large piping tip (like the size of 1M, 2D, etc). Make a hole in the center of your cupcakes and go about ¾ of the way down into it.
Scoop 2-3 teaspoons of filling into the hole of each cupcake.
Cover each small hole in the middle of the cupcake by using a pastry bag and piping basil frosting directly onto the top of the cupcakes.
Garnish with white sprinkles, fresh basil leaves, juicy blueberries, or leave as is.
Cupcake Storage
If you want to prep these delicious cupcakes in advance for special occasions, you can freeze them (frosted or unfrosted) for up to three months. Place them in an airtight container in your freezer, and bring them out an hour or two before you'd like to serve them.
I have a detailed guide for freezing cupcakes if you're curious about the many ways you can successfully do this!
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More Recipes Like these Blueberry Filled Cupcakes
If you're a fan of blueberry and other fruity recipes, give these ideas below a try.
Blueberry Filled Cupcakes with Basil Buttercream
Easy to make at home, these blueberry filled cupcakes with basil buttercream are a fun and refreshing take on classic cupcake flavors.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Frosting & Assembly: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 75 minutes
- Yield: 12 cupcakes 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 1 ½ cups (190 grams) all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 8 tablespoons (113 grams) unsalted butter at room temperature
- ⅔ cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- ⅔ cup (160 grams) buttermilk, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons canola oil (or other colorless, odorless oil like vegetable or grapeseed)
Blueberry Compote
- 1 ½ cups (8 oz/225 grams) blueberries, fresh or frozen
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon water (nix the water if using frozen berries)
- 2 teaspoon lemon juice, bottled or fresh
Basil Buttercream (See notes*)
- 8 tablespoons (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3 cups (600 grams) of granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- ¾ cup (around 30 grams) fresh basil, loosely packed, rinsed and patted dry
- ⅓ cup (85 Grams) heavy cream (for a thicker frosting) or milk (for thinner)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- Pinch of salt
- Optional: A few drops of lemon or lime juice (or white vinegar) to cut sweetness; add to your preference
Instructions
Cupcake Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 F and line a standard muffin tin with 12 paper liners.
- To a large bowl, add and whisk together all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt. Set aside.
- Using the paddle attachment in the bowl of a stand mixer, cream your unsalted room temperature butter, vanilla extract, oil, and sugar together on medium speed for 4 minutes. Stop mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs and beat again for 1 minute.
- Add half of your bowl of dry ingredients and half of your buttermilk to your mixing bowl. Mix on low for about 45 seconds before repeating step to incorporate all buttermilk and flour.
- Pour and evenly spread the batter into your prepared cupcake liners (about 50 grams in each cavity). Bake for 14-16 minutes or until cupcakes appear buttery and dense but bounce back at the touch of your finger.
- Let cupcakes cool in pan about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
Blueberry Compote
- Add all blueberry compote ingredients together to a covered pot over medium-high heat. Let blueberries cook down for about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally, and once they’ve softened, place them in a heatproof container in the refrigerator to cool and thicken.
Basil Buttercream (See notes*)
- To a food processor, add your rinsed and patted dry fresh basil, as well as your granulated sugar. Pulse until ingredients are mixed and then add cornstarch, pulse until you have the texture of powdered sugar. Now you have basil-flavored powdered sugar!
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using a handheld mixer, beat the unsalted butter, basil-infused powdered sugar, salt, heavy cream or milk, and vanilla extract on low for about 30 seconds before increasing speed to medium high for 5 minutes.
- Test taste and add a drop or two of lemon juice to cut sweetness if desired.
- Set aside frosting in bowl until ready to use for topping cupcakes. You’ll then add it to a piping bag fitted with a tip of your choice or use a spoon or spatula to spread it onto your baked goods.
Cupcake Assembly
- Use the wider end of a large piping tip (like the size of 1M, 2D, etc), and make a hole in the center of your cupcakes that goes about ¾ of the way down into it.
- Scoop 2-3 teaspoons of filling into the hole of each cupcake. Firmly pack it down for more fruity flavor!
- Cover each small hole in the middle of the cupcake by using a pastry bag and piping basil frosting directly onto the top of the cupcakes.
Notes
Granulated vs. powdered sugar and choosing the option that best matches your food processor’s strength. Opt for powdered if using a weaker food processor (or if you're out of cornstarch):
- If using granulated sugar, blend it with fresh basil and cornstarch to create basil-infused sugar before adding to the buttercream.
- If using powdered sugar, skip the cornstarch and use three cups of powdered sugar instead. This method may leave small basil bits but avoids any gritty texture in the end result.
Nutritional values are approximate and may vary based on specific ingredients, brands, and preparation methods. For the most accurate information, please consult a registered dietitian or nutritionist.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cupcake
- Calories: 657.58 kcal
- Sugar: 65.92g
- Sodium: 278.08mg
- Fat: 36.58g
- Saturated Fat: 21.42g
- Unsaturated Fat: 15.0g
- Trans Fat: 1.25g
- Carbohydrates: 80.5g
- Fiber: 0.83g
- Protein: 4.0g
- Cholesterol: 112.67mg
Hope Grante
All natural cupcakes! Sounds delicious, I will make them this evening. Do you think I could make this with other herbs growing in my yard, like chocolate mint?
Susan
Thanks so much!
I do think this could work with other herbs but can't say for sure as I haven't tried it (yet!).
Given that mint and basil leaves are pretty similar texture-wise, I believe you'd be safe with this swap. And chocolate mint sounds amazing!