Description
This fresh, sweet, and delicious Vegan Strawberry Shortcake is a crowd pleaser! With options to make from scratch or save time with shortcuts.
Ingredients
Scale
Strawberries
- 3-4 cups strawberries, quartered or diced
- 3-4 tablespoons organic cane sugar (see note 1)
Biscuits (or use store-bought)
- 350g unbleached all purpose flour (see note 2)
- 3 ½ tablespoons double-acting aluminum-free baking powder (see note 3)
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup refrigerated canned coconut cream or vegan butter (see note 4)
- ⅓ cup unsweetened non-dairy milk (keep an extra tablespoon or two on hand)
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or fresh lemon juice
Whipped Cream
- Store-bought Vegan Whipped Cream (1-2 containers) (see note 5)
- Or try my Aquafaba Whipped Cream
Instructions
- Prepare strawberries: If you want strawberries with a bite to them, serve immediately after chopping and stirring. But I personally like them to get a little tender and juicy. Put your chopped strawberries in a bowl, stir with the sugar, cover, and let refrigerate 1-24 hours. They’ll release some water but also kind of sit and muddle in their own delicious strawberry juices, and get a little soft but not mushy (just don’t do it *too* far in advance!
- Make the biscuits: Either make store bought canned biscuits according to package instructions or follow my recipe. I very highly recommend using a biscuit cutter for this because it’s thin enough to not disrupt the height of the biscuit. When you use a glass, you can “mush” down the sides and it won’t rise properly. I know this from experience but it’s also a well documented problem. A cookie cutter or a clean can can work in a pinch, but really a cheap set of biscuit cutters are incredibly useful and easy to store.
- Prep for baking: Place one of your oven racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit (205 degrees Celsius) and line a baking tray with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Make the vegan buttermilk: In a measuring cup for liquids, add your non-dairy milk and vinegar or lemon juice. Stir well and set aside.
- Save time with a food processor: You can use a food processor or a bowl and a spoon for the next part. If you don’t have a food processor, I recommend using a pastry cutter to cut in the coconut cream / vegan butter but a fork will also work with a bit more elbow grease.
- Make the pastry dough: To your food processor or a large bowl, add the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Pulse or stir for just a second to combine. Add the cold coconut cream or vegan butter (chopped) and pulse or use a pastry cutter/fork to evenly distribute the fat throughout the mixture, until no large chunks remain and a coarser texture appears. Add the vegan buttermilk mixture (it’s normal for it to separate; give it a quick stir and pour it in) and mix until just combined. A moist but not sticky pastry dough should form. Do not overmix.
- Flatten dough: Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and bring together with your hands. Flatten with your hands or a rolling pin (briefly) until it is a uniform ½ inch thick … blob. It doesn’t need to be any specific shape.
- Cut biscuits: Cut as many biscuits as you can and carefully transfer over to the lined baking sheet, ensuring that the uncooked biscuits are touching each other. They will help each other rise… so sweet. :’) Take the leftover scrap dough, bring it back together, cut as many biscuits as you can, and repeat until you run out of dough. This recipe makes about 8-10 biscuits. Don’t throw out the last little bit of scrap! Ball it up and place it at the end of your rows of biscuits. You’ll be really tempted to eat one when they’re fresh out of the oven, and then you’ll have one to snack on while you patiently wait for the rest to cool. Harder than it sounds--which is why the little scrap biscuit dude is worth it.
- Optional step: Brush the tops of the biscuits with vegan egg wash made from 3 tablespoons of non-dairy milk mixed with 1 tablespoon of maple syrup. OR try coconut oil--I don’t eat that so I have not personally tested it, but it seems as though many people on the internet swear by it.
- Bake: Place on the middle rack in the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes or until the tops have very lightly browned. Don’t over bake because the bottoms are darker than you realize.
- Chill out: Let them cool. I’m serious. Let them cool until they’re just warm to the touch. I tried to pull mine off too early one time. Know what happened? They split. No fun. When they’re cooled, use a serrated knife to slice them in half (like English muffins).
- Assemble: So, now we can really make vegan strawberry shortcake -- in about one minute. Optionally, place a dollop of whipped cream on the plate. Extra sweetness, plus it kind helps it sit in one place. And it looks nice. Then, place the bottom half of the shortcake down. Add a layer of strawberries (I recommend trying not to get too much of the strawberry water on there), and a thick layer of whipped cream. Place the top layer of shortcake on top, add another thick layer of whipped cream, and a few strawberries on top. If you’d like, drizzle a little of that strawberry water on top now. Serve immediately and enjoy!
- Store: This dessert is best stored with the components separated. Keep the biscuits in a container on the counter, refrigerate the strawberries in a bowl, and refrigerate your whipped cream whether it’s store bought or homemade.
Notes
- Note 1: I say organic because some cane sugars are filtered through animal bone char, making them not vegan, and brands aren’t required to disclose this information. So while some brands have stepped forward and said that they don’t do this, I just buy organic to be sure. That being said, coconut sugar will also work. You could also omit the sugar completely if you prefer.
- Note 2: I’ve only tested these with unbleached all purpose flour. If I were to make them gluten-free, I’d use a good quality cup for cup gluten-free blend. I’ve personally used and loved King Arthur Measure for Measure Gluten-Free Flour and Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour. I’ve also heard good things about Cup4Cup.
- Note 3: We use a fair amount of baking powder in this recipe, so I recommend purchasing double acting aluminum-free baking powder. The aluminum isn’t a huge issue normally, but when you use a fair amount like this recipe does, you want to make sure you’re not going to have any weird aftertaste.
- Note 4: You need a super cold solid fat to make a fluffy biscuit dough. I use refrigerated (for at least 12 hours) canned coconut cream (coconut milk’s thicker sister), but vegan butter also works great. If going for vegan butter, I’d go for a solid one like the kind that comes in a stick (I’ve heard great things about Miyoko’s vegan butter, and chop into small cubes. The coconut cream doesn’t really need to be chopped but when you get it out of the can just use small spoonfuls and distribute it through your flour mixture (more on that later in the recipe below).
- Note 5: For the whipped cream, you can make some like how I did in my Aquafaba Whipped Cream recipe, or as a shortcut you can use any brand you like of vegan whipped cream. I prefer the stuff in a container (as opposed to pressurized in a can, I feel like you get less for the money), so the So Delicious CocoWhip is REALLY good. However if you have a Whole Foods near you, they carry a 365 generic plant-based whipped topping that’s just as good and half the price. Hint: it’s what I used here because *I* was in a time crunch, lol.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Dessert, Snack
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: Vegan, Oil-Free, Nut-Free, Soy-Free, Can Be Gluten-Free, Vegan Strawberry Shortcake