The Best Strawberry Shortcake
Quick and easy, this is the very BEST Strawberry Shortcake recipe. Tender, flakey biscuits are topped with juicy strawberries and a freshly whipped vanilla kissed cream. Simply the most fabulous strawberry dessert for spring and summer.
Classic Strawberry Shortcake
So, Take Your Child to Work Day is still a thing….and it sounds like, for many kids, it’s just a day to stay home from school. Which would be the same here except I’m a demon mom, apparently, and if you’re going to “go to work with me” you’re going to work with me.
I used to take Katie to the office but since I’m now working from home, Landon decided he wanted to go to work with me a couple weeks ago. And so, I decided to immerse him in my life as a food blogger/recipe developer.
I had a ton of things to do that day, which totally didn’t get done, but the one thing we did make turned out to be pretty spectacular and it is The Very Best Strawberry Shortcake recipe ever made. Well, at least in this house.
I made this same recipe a few years back and the photos turned out terribly. I ended up never posting it here because…..life. So, this year I added it to the MUST POST ON THE BLOG THIS YEAR list (yes, there’s a whole list) and Landon got to help me in the kitchen this time.
We posted the whole day over on Instagram where you can see the recap in my highlights. He had so much fun helping me that we ended up creating a few more recipes to share together in the next few weeks.
What is Strawberry Shortcake
Strawberry Shortcake is a dessert made of a rich biscuit dough that’s baked and served with sweetened fruit. That’s kinda correct except they forgot the heaping piles of whipped cream that you absolutely HAVE to serve them with.
Such a simple description….which is quite fitting because this is a simple recipe.
How To Make It
To create my easy homemade Strawberry Shortcake recipe I started with the same biscuit recipe from my Peach Shortcakes from many years ago except I used regular flour instead of the whole wheat and I left out the lavender.
Back in the day I used to make Bisquick Strawberry Shortcake but then I realized it’s just as easy to make Homemade Strawberry Shortcake from scratch!
The result is a super easy strawberry shortcake recipe that’s ready in less than an hour, including the cooling time, making the whipped cream from scratch and macerating the strawberries which is just a fancy way of saying….sweetening the strawberries with sugar to draw out their juices. 🙂
Macerating berries is one of the simplest ways to coax out the juices of your summer berries and only takes two ingredients. Your strawberries and a bit of sugar.
Simply cut up a few berries and toss with sugar. Allow them to sit for a bit until the juices develop and then store in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use.
Can I macerate strawberries overnight?
YES, in fact, your strawberries will be even better if you macerate them overnight which allows the flavors to become even more flavorful and complex! So, rule of thumb for berry maceration is one hour or overnight.
Can I make Strawberry Shortcake in advance?
For best results, you can make the components of this easy strawberry shortcake recipe in advance and store them separately until you’re ready to serve.
Make the shortcakes and cool to room temperature. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and store at room temperature for up to 24 hours.
Make the whipped cream and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours.
Macerate the strawberries overnight and store in an airtight container for up to 24 hours.
This recipe for strawberry shortcake is so simple your kids can make it themselves. With very minimal mess!!! Seriously, except they are kids so they may make more of a mess than is totally necessary so that’s the risk we take we we let them loose in the kitchen, am I right?
But….if you don’t let them make it and you do it yourself, they’re fantastic for Sunday brunch or a light lunch…or hey, how about Mother’s Day?
And a reminder that you can make the biscuits up to 24 hours in advance to make things go even faster or you can even freeze them up to two months ahead….if you’re a die-hard planner.
More Strawberry Recipes
And if you’re looking for even MORE super fast strawberry recipes you HAVE to check out this Chilled Strawberry Soup that I copied from my favorite Disney World recipe OR this kinda, sorta no-bake Strawberry Pie that’s my absolute favorite.
I also love making this classic Strawberry Pretzel Salad recipe and if you have a surplus of fresh strawberries this year be sure to FREEZE them using this guide so you can whip up THESE EASY STRAWBERRY SMOOTHIES all winter long!
AND if you really love me…can you please go give me a follow over on Facebook because I share some fun stuff there. So, the more you share..the more you’ll see from me. People helping people here. 🙂
Get the Recipe: The Very Best Strawberry Shortcake Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
Equipment
- baking sheet
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the strawberries and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Cover and refrigerate.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the butter is broken into pea sized pieces.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla and milk. Add the mixture to the dry ingredients and stir just until moistened. (If the mixture still seems too dry add an additional tablespoon of milk.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead lightly and then rool the dough into a circle about 3/4 of an inch thick. Using a 3-inch biscuit cutter or a small glass, cut out four circles and then ball the dough up to roll out again. Cut out two more biscuits and then repeat for the remaining two biscuits.
- Place the biscuits close together on a sheet pan lined with parchments and bake approximately 12-15 minutes or until golden. Remove and let cool on a wire rack approximately 10-15 minutes.
- While the biscuits bake, whip the cream, remaining vanilla and confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until soft peaks form.
- Cut the biscuits in half and spoon the fruit along with the juices over the bottom half. Add a heaping tablespoon of whipped cream and top with the other half of the biscuit.
- Serve immediately.
7 Comments on “The Best Strawberry Shortcake”
Nice twist on an old fashioned recipe. Add some lemon zest into the macerating berries. Yum.
Good tip!
Absolutely Delicious! I can’t wait to make it again.
Is it OK to use Pillsbury flakey layers biscuits instead of doing it all from scratch. I plan on cutting the berries, using some blueberries on top also to match for memorial day? It’s my son’s birthday also. It will be pretty quick but I also think with shortcake tarts aka cups,layered with strawberries and fresh whipped cream on top…I hope it’ll work out well! I’ll vote n if it’s not like I suspected them to be as good. I have a great feeling these will work out just as good or use regular biscuits from scratch, maybe I’ll roll some sugar or pour some on top when they bake, anyone have an other advice of how to cook or how I should while making it fast quicker than normal please let me know!
They will definitely work but won’t taste as great as homemade….and the homemade doesn’t take long to make at all but I’m for shortcuts when needed. So, go for it! 🙂
Hello is there an option If I don’t have heavy cream? I would love to try and make this today just don’t have the cream.
Unfortunately you do need heavy cream to make the whipped cream.