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Look no further for the best vegan strawberry shortcake recipe. Flaky homemade biscuits layered with fluffy coconut whipped cream and sweet strawberries, make a memorable dreamy dessert that’ll wow your taste buds. All you need is 10 simple ingredients!
We recently served this vegan strawberry shortcake at Jasmine’s 29th birthday party, which was a hit! Everyone was raving about them and asking for the recipe, so you can have confidence that these were thoroughly taste-tested. Add this strawberry shortcake to the list of Vegan Desserts To Try This Spring!
Ingredients You’ll Need
For the Biscuits
- Dairy-free butter: The key to light, flaky biscuits is very cold ingredients. We recommend cubing your dairy-free butter and freezing it for optimal flakiness. Our preferred butter is Country Crock plant butter, but Miyokos, Earth Balance, and Violife all make great dairy-free butter alternatives that work well in this recipe.
- Non-dairy milk: We like soy milk for our dough, but feel free to use the plant-based milk you prefer. Our homemade almond milk would be great here.
- Vinegar: An acid is essential to most baked goods to react with the baking powder and soda to make our biscuits fluffy. Apple cider vinegar is our go-to for baking, but feel free to substitute it for white vinegar, which has a neutral flavor.
- Flour: All-purpose flour is recommended for these biscuits. We haven’t tested these with gluten-free flour, or any other types of flour, but if you want to mix in up to 50% whole wheat flour, that is always an option. Bob’s Red Mill is always our go-to.
- Sugar: Since we are using these biscuits for a strawberry shortcake, we are making them slightly sweeter than traditional biscuits. If you are adamant about making sure you’re using vegan sugar, we recommend using organic sugar. We like to use the Wholesome brand.
- Salt: Not only does salt add flavor to the biscuit dough, but it also helps strengthen the gluten in the dough, giving it more structure.
For the Layering
- Strawberries: A simple mix of juicy strawberries, fresh lemon juice, and granulated sugar makes the perfect sweet pairing.
- Coconut whipped cream: You can of course use your favorite store-bought vegan whipped cream such as So Delicious Cocowhip, but we absolutely love our coconut whipped cream recipe! It’s made with just 2-ingredients: full-fat coconut milk and powdered sugar (and optional vanilla extract).
Equipment Needed
How to Make Vegan Strawberry Shortcake
Prep the Ingredients and Biscuit Dough
- Prep the strawberries. In a large bowl, toss together the chopped strawberries, granulated sugar, and lemon juice until well combined. Set in the fridge while you prep the biscuits to help the strawberries release their excess juices.
- Cube the dairy-free butter. Using a sharp knife, cut the butter into small cubes. Place in a freezer-safe container and set in the freezer to chill.
- Make the vegan buttermilk. In a large liquid measuring cup, whisk the apple cider vinegar and soy milk together until combined. Place both the buttermilk and a separate large mixing bowl in the freezer for 10 minutes to chill. This will keep the biscuit ingredients as cold as possible and yield tall, flaky biscuits.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients. Once the large mixing bowl has chilled for 10 minutes, remove it and add in the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix until well combined.
- Process together the frozen butter and flour mixture. Using a large cup food processor, add 3/4 of the flour mixture along with the cold vegan butter cubes. Process on high for about 30 seconds until a breadcrumb-like texture forms. Add the contents of the food processor back into the mixing bowl with the remaining 1/4th of the flour mixture.
- Form the biscuit dough. Set aside 2 tablespoons of the buttermilk in the refrigerator, then add the remaining buttermilk in with the biscuit dough ingredients. Gently mix together until just incorporated and crumbly.v
Cut and Bake the Biscuits
- Roll the dough. Transfer the biscuit dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Using your hands, pat the dough into a rough rectangle, about 3/4″ thick. Fold the dough into thirds, then use a rolling pin to roll the dough again until 3/4″ thick. Fold it into thirds a last time and roll the dough once more until 1-inch thick.
- Cut the biscuits. Using a 2 3/8″ biscuit cutter, firmly press the biscuit cutter into the dough, forming round circles. Place the prepared biscuits about 1/2’inch apart on the baking sheet. Re-roll out the leftover dough to cut additional biscuits as needed, or cut the dough into squares or diamonds using a pastry cutter to avoid any leftover dough scraps.
- Chill the biscuits. Place the baking sheet with the biscuits into the freezer for 10 minutes while the oven preheats.
- Bake. Brush the vegan strawberry shortcake biscuits with the reserved buttermilk and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake until fluffy and golden, between 16 and 21 minutes.
- Serve. Allow the sweet biscuits to cool slightly, then serve your vegan strawberry shortcake as desired.
Serving Suggestions
Vegan strawberry shortcake is the perfect sweet treat to serve for any special occasion, such as birthdays, Valentine’s day, at-home date nights, or national Strawberry Shortcake day (June 14th!).
Serve your lightly sweetened homemade biscuits with fresh strawberries, a generous dollop of vegan whipped cream, and fresh mint for garnish. You can also serve with a scoop of your favorite dairy-free ice cream to make your shortcake extra indulgent!
Storage Instructions + Make Ahead Options
Leftover shortcake biscuits will keep for up to 3 days at room temperature. The strawberries and coconut whipped cream will both keep for up to 5 days when stored in an airtight container.
The biscuits can also be frozen for up to 3 months and thawed completely at room temperature when ready to use.
If you’d like to make your vegan strawberry shortcake components ahead of time to prep for a party, the biscuits can be prepared everything up to 24 hours in advance. When stored properly, it will be just as delicious as fresh from the oven – the ultimate make-ahead dessert!
Recipe FAQs
We have not tested a gluten-free version of these biscuits, so it’s hard to say! If you give it a try, let us know your results in the comments, or find a gluten-free-friendly recipe in our gluten-free recipe archives.
The peak harvesting season for berries is in Spring and early Summer, typically May through July. Many say that June is the prime time to purchase strawberries, making strawberry shortcake the perfect summertime dessert recipe!
History has it that the original strawberry shortcake recipe was a crumbly cake made with a lot of shortening, earning it the nickname “shortcake.” Today, many people choose to make their strawberry shortcakes with spongecake, but we went the classic dessert route and stuck with buttery biscuits.
In theory, this may work, but the biscuits will not be as light and fluffy because the fat will not cut into the flour the same way cubed vegan butter will.
More Delicious Vegan Dessert Recipes You May Enjoy:
- Gluten-Free Lemon Poppyseed Breakfast Cookies (10-Ingredients + 1-Bowl)
- Easy Peanut Butter Squares
- Classic Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Apple Galette with Peanut Butter Caramel
- 4-Ingredient Vegan Biscuit Donuts
- Vegan Cheesecake Brownies (Gluten-free)
Make sure you tag us on Instagram @sweetsimplevegan and @consciouschris and hashtag #sweetsimplevegan if you recreate any of our recipes. We love to see your photos!
Print
Vegan Strawberry Shortcake Recipe
- Total Time: 51 minutes
- Yield: 10 servings
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Look no further for the best vegan strawberry shortcake recipe. Flaky homemade biscuits layered with fluffy coconut whipped cream and sweet strawberries, making a memorable dreamy dessert that’ll wow your taste buds. All you need is 10 simple ingredients!
Ingredients
Strawberries
- 2 lbs strawberries, hulled and quartered
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Biscuits
- 8 tbsp (112g) vegan butter, cold
- About 1 cup (250 mL) cold soy milk
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2½ cups (300g) all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp (24g) baking powder
- 1 tbsp (15g) granulated sugar, plus more for topping
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
Vegan Whipped Cream
Instructions
- Prepare the strawberries: Combine the chopped strawberries, granulated sugar, and lemon juice in a bowl. Mix thoroughly and set in the fridge for the berries to release their juices while you prepare the other components.
- Make biscuits: Remove the vegan butter from the refrigerator. Using a sharp knife, cut the butter into small cubes. Place the butter in a freezer-safe container and set it in the freezer to chill.
- In a large liquid measuring cup, add the apple cider vinegar. Then, add the soy milk until it reaches the 1 cup line. Mix and allow this to sit to form vegan buttermilk. Place the buttermilk and a large mixing bowl in the freezer and allow these to chill for 10 minutes.
- Remove the bowl from the freezer and add in the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix until well combined.
- Grab a food processor and add 3/4 of the flour mixture in. Remove the butter cubes from the freezer and add them in as well. Run the food processor on high for about 30 seconds to break down the butter and create a breadcrumb-like texture. Add the contents of the food processor back into the mixing bowl with the remaining 1/4th of the flour mixture.
- Remove 2 tablespoons of the vegan buttermilk and set it aside in the refrigerator. Then, using a spatula, create a well in the middle of the flour mixture, add in the remaining buttermilk and then quickly and gently mix everything, just until incorporated. It will be crumbly!
- Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Pat the dough into a rough rectangle about 3/4″ thick using your hands. Fold the dough into thirds, and then using a rolling pin (preferred) or your hands, gently roll the dough into another 3/4″ thick rectangle and fold it into thirds again. Lastly, roll the dough out until it is 1-inch thick.
- Using a 2 3/8″ biscuit cutter, closely cut the dough into circles. Be sure to only press and NOT TWIST the biscuit butter. Place the biscuits about 1/2-inch apart on the baking sheet. You can reform the scraps into more dough and cut them out, but we only recommend doing it once. To avoid leftover dough scraps, you can also cut the dough into squares or diamonds.
- Place the baking sheet with the biscuits into the freezer for 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 430°F.
- Remove the biscuits from the freezer, brush them with the reserved buttermilk mixture and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Place them into the oven for about 16 to 21 minutes or until fluffy and golden.
- Allow the biscuits to cool slightly before serving. Pull the biscuits in half and layer them with whipped cream, strawberries, and strawberry juices, and enjoy!
Notes
- The berries can be prepared in advance and stored in the fridge until ready to serve.
- Instead of using a food processor, you can cut the butter using a fork or a pastry cutter. Simply add the butter to the flour mixture and use one of the two to “cut” the butter into the dry ingredients and create a breadcrumb-like mixture.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 21 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
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