Biscuit Strawberry Shortcake with Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream
Strawberry shortcake is the perfect spring or summer dessert! Flaky homemade, slightly sweet biscuits are the perfect vehicle for juicy strawberries and fresh whipped cream.
Strawberry Shortcake was one of my favorite desserts as a kid. My mom would get those round little pound cakes with the dip in the middle. Do they still sell those?? Either way, I have a new favorite way to strawberry shortcake. My biscuit recipe is less sweet and creates just the right balance of sweetness and cake-like texture. In-season strawberries and homemade vanilla whipped cream seal the deal. Let’s make them!
Tips for success
Fresh strawberries: Strawberry shortcake is best when strawberries are in season, deep red and ripe. All you need for the strawberry filling is strawberries and sugar. You will add the sugar the the strawberries first so the sugar can cause the strawberries to release their juices.
Cold ingredients: Make sure your butter is cold (pop it in the freezer for 10-20 minutes before starting). Cream and egg should also be cold when making the biscuits. You will also want to make sure your heavy whipping cream for the whipped topping is cold.
Cold bowl & beaters: Putting your mixing bowl and electric beaters in the freezer before you start the recipe is a good idea! A cold bowl and beaters helps the whipping cream stiffen up faster and ensures success.
Raw sugar: While not absolutely critical, adding a sprinkle of turbinado sugar to the tops of the biscuits before baking adds a delightful sweet crunch to this dessert that really kicks it up a notch.
Ingredient notes, substitutions and swaps
Matcha whipped cream! This is a fun swap for all my matcha peeps out there! Simply add matcha powder to your heavy cream, you can skip the vanilla or keep it! Instructions are in the recipe card!
Add blueberries for a patriotic 4th of July treat!
You can use vanilla extract to flavor your whipped cream instead of vanilla bean paste if you wish, or leave it out entirely. Either way, your strawberry shortcake will be amazing!
How to make the biscuits
I’m going to show you the step-by-step process for the biscuits because I think it’s helpful to see what the dough should look like as you make and shape it.
Mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder & soda, salt and sugar). Then add the cold, grated butter and stir. Add the cream and egg. Stir gently until the dough comes together a bit. But still crumbly.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface and push the dough mound towards the center then down. Then start trying to fold the dough over itself to knead.
Repeat until a fairly smooth dough is formed, still a little crumbly around the edges is fine.
Use a rolling pin to roll to about 1/2 and inch, then use a 3-inch biscuit cutter to cut biscuits out of the dough.
When you’ve made all you can, smush the dough back together and repeat the rolling and cutting process until you’ve used all the dough.
Place cut biscuits on a parchment-lined baking sheet, brush with cream and sprinkle with raw sugar before baking at 400F for 15 minutes.
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PrintBiscuit Strawberry Shortcake Recipe
Strawberry shortcake is the perfect spring or summer dessert! Flaky homemade, slightly sweet biscuits are the perfect vehicle for juicy strawberries and fresh whipped cream.
- Prep Time: 35 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 10–12 1x
- Category: dessert
Ingredients
- 16 oz fresh strawberries, hulled and chopped into small pieces
- 1/3 cup + 4 tbsp granulated sugar, divided
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup salted butter (one stick), cold & grated
- 2 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, divided
- 1 egg, beaten
- raw sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
Instructions
Prep
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- Place bowl and beaters for whipped cream in the freezer.
- Place chopped strawberries in a bowl and sprinkle with 1 tbsp sugar. Stir and set aside.
Biscuits
- Add biscuit dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl: all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and 1/3 cup sugar. Stir.
- Add grated butter (its helpful to freeze it for 10-20 minutes before you grate it), stir. Then add the other wet ingredients: 3/4 cup of heavy whipping and the beaten egg. Stir gently just until the ingredients start to come together. Its ok if its kinda crumbly.
- Turn the dough out onto a clean + floured work surface. Push the mound together, then press down. Then start trying to fold the dough over itself to knead. It will take a few passes for it to start to come together enough to roll with a rolling pin. It’s fine if there’s some crumbly bits around the edges. Once the dough is mostly together/smooth though, use a rolling pin to roll to about 1/2 inch. Use a 3-inch biscuit cutter to cut out biscuits.
- Place biscuits on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Once you make all the biscuits you can in the first go, smush and roll the extra dough together and flatten it again to 1/2 an inch to cut out more biscuits. It should make about 12 biscuits. If you have any extra cream, brush the tops of the biscuits with it for extra golden browness, if not don’t worry about it! But do sprinkle your biscuits with a little raw sugar before place in the oven for 15 minutes.
Whipped cream
- Make the whipped cream. Add the remaining 1 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream to the cold bowl with 3 tbsp sugar and 2 tsp vanilla bean paste. Beat with an electric hand mixer or with the whisk attachment in a stand mixer until soft peaks form (meaning if you stop the mixer and stick into the whipped cream and lift, a little peak will form aka it doesn’t just return to liquid).
Assembly
- Assemble strawberry shortcakes: Slice biscuit in half with a serrated knife and place bottoms on serving plate. Top with a little whipped cream and a spoonful of berries. Then top with other biscuit half. Top that with more whipped cream and berries. Repeat with remaining shortcakes. Enjoy!
Notes
Matcha whipped cream: to make these with matcha whipped cream, add 3 tbsp matcha powder to the whipping cream before you start mixing. You can skip the vanilla or leave it in. But don’t skip the sugar! Beat as instructed. The matcha lumps will get beaten out by the time the whipped cream is ready.
Butter and other cold ingredients: it’s important that the butter and cream are cold. Chill butter for 10-20 minutes in the freezer before grating for best results. Get your dry ingredients ready before you grate the butter so you can add it right away.
Cold bowl/beaters: chill the bowl and beaters in the fridge or freezer before starting to encourage the whipping cream to stiffen up quickly
Berries: ripe, in-season berries are best. Try adding blueberries for a festive, 4th of July dessert.
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