Classic Strawberry Shortcake
This classic strawberry shortcake recipe is everything I want in a dessert! Flaky homemade biscuits, sweet strawberries, and homemade whipped cream. If you’ve never had strawberry shortcake with biscuits, you’re in for a treat!
Looking for more fresh fruit recipes? Check out my Greek Yogurt Fruit Bites, Crumbl Fruit Pizza Cookies, and Peach Cream Pie. Or, try my twist on strawberry shortcake, Strawberry Shortcake Trifle. The combination of fresh fruit with some kind of sweetened cream is always a winner!
Why This Recipe Works
- Easy strawberry shortcake recipe. I adore homemade strawberry shortcake on biscuits, but making perfect flaky biscuits for strawberry shortcake can be tricky. I did a ton of research on biscuits and debated whether to make them with eggs or without. Ultimately I found that making the dough with eggs makes this biscuit recipe slightly more foolproof for the best strawberry shortcake.
- Classic and elegant dessert. While old-fashioned strawberry shortcake seems like a humble dessert with simple ingredients, the layers of biscuit, strawberries, and whipped cream can actually make for a stunning presentation. It’s perfect to enjoy at home with your family or to make for a more upscale event like a wedding party.
Ingredients for Strawberry Shortcake
- Strawberries: Of course, the star of a classic strawberry shortcake recipe has to be the strawberries! This recipe uses one and a half pounds of strawberries.
- Granulated sugar: White sugar gets mixed with cut strawberries to make them a little syrupy and enhance their natural juices. A bit of sugar also goes into the biscuits and a little sugar is sprinkled on top of them for a bit of crunch. The lightly sweet biscuits make a wonderful complement to the juicy berries.
- All-purpose flour: For the biscuit dough.
- Unsalted butter: Key to making flaky biscuits for strawberry shortcake is keeping the butter cold.
- Buttermilk: Besides adding flavor and moisture to the biscuits, buttermilk will react with the leavening agents to help the biscuits rise.
- Vanilla extract: I find a touch of vanilla enhances the flavor of the overall dish when it’s all put together.
- Egg: I find that it is possible for biscuits to be so flaky that they fall apart, not ideal for biscuit strawberry shortcake. Adding an egg to the biscuit dough helps it stay together.
- Heavy whipping cream: No traditional strawberry shortcake is complete without some whipped cream! I like to mix a little Greek yogurt into mine to give it some more substance, and I love the slightly tangy flavor.
How to Make Strawberry Shortcake
- Prep oven and pan. Preheat your oven to 425°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Macerate strawberries. Hull and quarter 24 oz of strawberries. For extra large strawberries, you may want to cut them into smaller pieces. Toss the cut strawberries with ⅓ cup of granulated sugar, and set aside.
- Mix dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, add 2 cups of all-purpose flour, ¼ cup granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, and ½ teaspoon of salt. Whisk them together.
- Add butter to flour mixture. Cut ½ cup of cold butter into cubes, then cut the butter into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter. You can also use two knives if you don’t have a pastry cutter. Avoid using your hands, because it’s important the butter stay cold.
- Add wet ingredients. Stir in 1 cup cold buttermilk, 1 egg, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Don’t overmix—this makes a crumbly dough.
- Knead dough. Lightly flour a clean countertop and turn your dough out onto it. Gently knead it a few times, just until the dough comes together. Pat the dough down until it’s ¾ of an inch thick.
- Cut biscuits. Use a biscuit cutter to cut the shortcake dough into circles, 2½-3 inches across. Place the biscuits on the prepared baking sheet and sprinkle them with 2 teaspoons of granulated sugar. At this point, if you find that the dough has gotten too warm, you may want to pop it into the freezer to let it chill again before baking.
- Bake biscuits. Bake biscuits in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. Once they’re done baking, remove them from the oven and allow them to cool for at least 15 minutes before assembling and serving.
- Make whipped topping. While your biscuits cool, make your whipped topping. In a large bowl, whip 1½ cups of cold heavy cream together with 3 tablespoons of white sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla until stiff peaks form. If you would like to add the optional ¼ cup of Greek yogurt, add it when you start to get soft peaks, and then continue beating until the whipped cream expands and becomes billowy. Careful not to overmix.
- Assemble and serve. Cut the biscuits in half. Layer strawberries and cream on the bottom half of the biscuit, then top it with the second half. Enjoy!
Recipe Tips
The key to super flaky biscuits is keeping the butter cold. Try to handle the dough as little as possible, and if you notice it getting warm, pop it in the freezer for a few minutes to chill.
While I love traditional strawberry shortcake, feel free to mix it up by using different fruit! Other berries like blueberries, blackberries or raspberries are good, or stone fruit like peaches, plums, and apricots. Pick a fruit that’s soft, and simply prepare it the same way you would strawberries.
For a lemon strawberry shortcake twist, add lemon zest to your biscuit dough, and include lemon curd in your layers.
Make Ahead, Storing, and Freezing
Make Ahead: You can prep all of the ingredients at least a day in advance. The baked biscuits can be kept at room temperature for 3 days, or frozen for up to 2 months. The strawberries and whipped cream can both be made a day in advance. Wait to assemble until just ready to serve.
Storing: Store leftover components in separate containers. Biscuits can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days, while strawberries and whipped cream should be kept in the fridge in airtight containers. Be aware that whipped cream will go flat, but it should still taste good. The strawberries will continue to get more liquid, too.
Freezing: The biscuits can be frozen for up to 2 months, but I don’t recommend freezing whipped cream or strawberries.
Recipe FAQs
The term “short” refers to baked goods and pastry that are really crumbly or flaky. Classic shortcakes are crumbly and flaky, therefore, short!
You can freeze the biscuits from this classic strawberry shortcake recipe, but not the whipped cream or strawberries.
There are many variations of strawberry shortcake. Popular options include serving it with pound cake or angel food cake, but the most traditional kind is made with biscuits, a “short” crumbly cake. All versions are delicious though!
More Strawberry Recipes
- Strawberry Butter
- Strawberry Pineapple Smoothie
- Kiwi Strawberry Popsicles
- Virgin Strawberry Daiquiri
- Fresas con Crema
Classic Strawberry Shortcake
Ingredients
Strawberries
- 24 oz strawberries - hulled and quartered. (if the strawberries are quite large you can cut them down even more to make them an appropriate bite-size).
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
Biscuits
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter - cold and cubed
- 1 cup buttermilk - cold
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar - for topping
Whipped Topping
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream - cold
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup plain greek yogurt - (optional!! – however, I love the tang and heartiness greek yogurt adds to a whipped topping). Do as you wish, it's delicious either way.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Prep the strawberries. To a medium bowl add the quartered strawberries and granulated sugar. Toss to coat. Cover and place in the refrigerator until ready to use. (This allows the strawberries to release their juices).
- Make the biscuits by whisking the sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the dry mixture. Stir the egg into the buttermilk and add the vanilla. Mix into the crumbly mixture.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times until the dough comes together. Pat the dough until it’s about ¾” thick. Use a biscuit cutter to cut the dough into 2 ½ – 3 inch circles. Place the biscuits on the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle with the 2 teaspoons of granulated sugar. If the dough seems too warm, pop the sheet into the freezer for a few minutes. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. Remove from the oven and let them cool for 15 minutes before serving.
- While the biscuits are in the oven you can make the whipped topping. In a medium bowl beat the heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla extract until stiff billowy peaks form (don’t overbeat!)If you are adding the plain greek yogurt to the whipped topping do as follows: whip the heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla until soft peaks form. Add the greek yogurt and then beat until billowy soft peaks form. Don't overmix!
- To assemble the shortcakes. Cut open the biscuits and layer the strawberries and whipped cream overtop the bottom half of biscuit. Add the top half over top and enjoy!
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