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Strawberry Crunch Poke Cake is an easy dessert recipe with a delightful texture of soft cake, sweetened condensed milk filling, whipped cream, and Golden Oreo cookie strawberry crumbles on top.

For more strawberry desserts be sure and try Strawberry Pretzel Pie and Strawberry Cheesecake Lush.

A cake inside the cake pan with one piece out of it.

Delicious Strawberry Crunch Poke Cake

This luscious strawberry crunch poke cake is similar to the flavors in strawberry shortcake, but with tons of strawberry flavor and strawberry crunch!

It starts off with an easy and super moist strawberry cake that gets ‘poked’ and then filled with sweetened condensed milk. The frosting is simply Cool Whip that is topped with a strawberry infused & Golden Oreo cookie crumble crunchy topping.

If you want the perfect potluck cake for summer gatherings, or a delicious dessert for family diner, then this is it! Easy to make with only 10 total ingredients.

EASY Simple Ingredients Needed

Strawberry Poke Cake Ingredients

Strawberry Cake Mix
Water : I always recommend using filtered or purified water when using water in baking. Sometimes the tap water can alter the taste if it’s not filtered or purified. Even bottled water will work great here.
Large Eggs
Vegetable Oil : Using vegetable oil makes the cake so moist and tender!
Sweetened Condensed Milk

Strawberry Crunch Whipped Frosting

Cool Whip
Golden Oreo Cookies
Butter : Melted butter is used to bind all the “frosting” ingredients together and to give it that sweet strawberry crunch. I prefer using salted butter, but unsalted butter can be used if that’s what you prefer.
Strawberry Jello Mix : This is the strawberry gelatin powder. Do not prepare it! Measure out 1 tablespoon of the gelatin powder from inside the box.
Dried Strawberries : Provide a strawberry crunch to the cake and gives it more strawberry flavor.

How To Make Strawberry Crunch Cake (Printable Recipe Card)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9×13 cake pan with nonstick cooking spray, and set it aside.

In a large mixing bowl, add the strawberry cake mix, water, eggs, and oil. Use a wooden spoon, or an electric hand mixer, to mix until everything is thoroughly combined. Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan.

Bake the cake according to the package instructions (on the cake mix) for a 9×13 pan. It’s usually about 25-30 minutes.

Remove the cake from the oven and immediately use a chopstick, or the handle of a wooden spoon, to evenly poke holes all over the cake.

Pour the sweetened condensed milk over top of the cake, making sure to get some in each poked hole. Evenly spread around the extra on top of the cake. Cover the cake with plastic wrap or a lid, and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Spread the cool whip over top the cake in an even layer.

Place the golden Oreos and melted butter into a food processor, and pulse until the Oreos are a fine crumb and coated in the butter. Add in the strawberry jello mix and dried strawberries. Continue pulsing until the crumbs look pink and the strawberries are chopped up into small pieces.

Sprinkle the strawberry crunch mixture over top the Cool Whip and gently press it down so it “sticks” to the cool whip layer.

Cut into squares and enjoy!

How To Store Leftovers

Store any leftover cake inside the cake pan, making sure it’s covered with plastic wrap or a lid, in the fridge for up to 4 days. You can also remove individual slices to an airtight container for storage. The crunchy strawberry topping will get slightly softer the longer it’s in the fridge, but that has never stopped my family from eating leftovers!

Can I Make Any Substitutions?

Golden Oreos : You can use any variety of vanilla sandwich cookies instead, vanilla wafers, vanilla cookies, or Nilla Wafers are another excellent choice.
Strawberry Cake Mix : Although I recommend using a strawberry cake mix for that pink color and strawberry flavor, you could use a white cake mix instead but just know that it will affect the flavor slightly. You may want to add some strawberry extract into the white cake mix mixture to get some of that flavor in the cake.
Whole Milk : I recommend sticking with a higher fat milk for the cake recipe. You could use half and half as an alternative or even strawberry milk instead to really intensify the strawberry flavors!

Use Homemade Whipped Cream Instead of Cool Whip

If you prefer to not use Cool Whip then you can easily make your own homemade whipped cream instead. Add 1.5 cups of heavy whipping cream into a medium bowl, use an electric hand mixer, to beat until stiff peaks form. This will take about 4-5 minutes. It’s best to start on low speed and increase the speed as needed.

Recipe FAQ’s

Can I Add Fresh Strawberries To The Cake?

I don’t recommend using fresh strawberries instead of the dried strawberries; fresh strawberries have moisture and it will make the cookie crumble very soft and soggy. If you want to use fresh strawberries for strawberry season in the cake, I suggest serving some sliced or chopped strawberries alongside each serving of cake.

What If I Don’t Have A Food Processor?

You can use food processor, mini food chopper, or even a blender. If you don’t have either of those then simply add the cookies and dried strawberries into a gallon sized Ziploc bag and use a rolling pin, or something else that is heavy, to crush until they’re in fine crumbs. Add the crumbs along with the melted butter and strawberry gelatin powder into a small bowl and stir together until combined.

Can I Make The Cake Ahead of Time?

Yes you can! Poke cakes are an excellent dessert choice if you want to make it ahead of time. Once the holes are poked and the sweetened condensed milk is poured over the cake, you can cover the cake and leave it in the fridge for up to 24 hours before adding the toppings. You can even add the Cool Whip on and let it refrigerate, this way the cool whip layer will be chilled and thickened when you’re ready to add the cookie topping and serve it. I actually prefer to do it that way cause I like the Cool Whip layer (or homemade whipped cream layer) to be nice and chilled & fthickened for serving.

Strawberry Crunch Poke Cake

Delicious Strawberry Crunch Poke Cake