Strawberry Shortcake

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This Strawberry Shortcake is the perfect summer dessert. Homemade shortcake biscuits are cut in half and stuffed with juicy strawberries and homemade whipped cream. An old-fashioned, irresistible treat!

Why You’ll Love This Strawberry Shortcake Recipe

• The best biscuits. I get so excited about fresh shortcake biscuits – buttery, tender, and just the right amount of sweet. They are quick to make and the perfect canvas for strawberries and whipped cream!
• A strawberry celebration. There really isn’t a better way to celebrate summer than with fresh, sweet strawberries made even sweeter as they soak in sugar. They release this incredible, syrupy sauce as the sugar breaks them down. You’ll want to put it on everything.
• Great for a crowd. This is a great low-maintenance dessert for a crowd. Make the biscuits, whip up the whipped cream (literally), and prepare the strawberries. Then put everything out on a table and let your guests assemble their own individual strawberry shortcakes.

What You’ll Need

Here’s what you’ll need to make this strawberry shortcake recipe. Be sure to scroll to the recipe card below for precise measurements.

For the strawberries

• Strawberries – Look for bright red berries that smell sweet. I highly recommend fresh strawberries over frozen ones, which can get mushy when thawed.
• Sugar – The sugar draws some of the moisture out of the strawberries, creating the “sauce”.

To make the shortcakes

• All-purpose flour – Be sure to measure accurately and preferably with a food scale. Using too much flour can give you overly dense biscuits.
• Baking powder – For the perfect rise and texture.
• Sugar – There’s just a bit to add some sweetness, moisture and a lovely texture.
• Salt – Salt ensures you don’t have bland biscuits. Don’t leave it out.
• Unsalted butter – Make sure the butter is nice and cold and do your best not to handle it too much. You want it to stay in its solid state until the biscuits get popped in the oven.
• Heavy whipping cream – The heavy cream should be cold. This will help keep the butter from melting.
• Eggs – Be sure to use large eggs, not medium or extra large.
• Vanilla extract
• Coarse sugar – The sugar gives this subtle crunch, a bit of extra sweetness and pretty sparkle to the biscuits. Feel free to leave it off, if you prefer.

For the whipped cream

• Heavy whipping cream – Use cold heavy cream. If it’s too warm, it won’t whip up and hold volume properly.
• Powdered sugar – For sweetness and to help stabilize the whipped cream so that it doesn’t wilt.
• Vanilla extract

How To Make Strawberry Shortcake

Here’s a quick look at how to turn this easy strawberry shortcake recipe into a mouthwatering reality. Check out the recipe card below for more detailed instructions.

• Prepare the strawberries. Toss the strawberries with sugar and let them chill in the fridge for 1-2 hours.
• Prep. Preheat the oven to 375°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

• Combine the dry ingredients. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
• Cut in the flour. Cut the butter into the flour mixture until coarse crumbs are formed. Note: I like to use a food processor to make this process quick and easy, but you can also do it by hand.
• Add the wet ingredients. Combine 1 cup of heavy cream, 1 egg, and vanilla, and stir the mixture into the dry ingredients until a dough forms.

• Create layers. Bring the dough into a ball on a floured cutting board. Flatten it out and then fold it into thirds. Gently pat it back into a 1-inch thick square.
• Cut. Use a 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter to cut out biscuits. Gather the scraps, fold them together, pat them back into a square, and cut out the remaining biscuits.

• Prepare to bake. Arrange the biscuits on the baking sheet with space between them. Whisk together the 1 egg and 1 tablespoon of cream and brush it over the biscuits. Sprinkle the tops with coarse sugar.
• Bake. Bake for 17-20 minutes.
• Cool. Transfer the biscuits to a wire rack to cool.

• Make the whipped cream. Beat the heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla on high speed until medium to stiff peaks form.
• Assemble. Cut the biscuits in half horizontally and fill them with strawberries, strawberry juices (the strawberries will release juices as they chill), and whipped cream.

Tips for Success

• Don’t overwork the dough. Overworking the dough can cause the glutens in the flour to overdevelop, giving you tough biscuits. Plus, the heat from your hands can cause the butter to melt (see my point below on keeping the cold butter cold).
• Flour up the biscuit cutter. Dip the biscuit cutter in flour between cuts. This will help keep the dough from sticking.
• Cutting technique. When cutting the biscuits into rounds, press the biscuit cutter straight down and resist the temptation to twist it. Twisting the cutter can cause the biscuits to lose their flaky layers.
• Choose your strawberries wisely. Aim for bright red strawberries that smell sweet. And grab a few more than you think you need. You really can’t have too many!
• Don’t skip the chill. After coating the strawberries in sugar, let them sit in the refrigerator for at least 1-2 hours. The sugar will draw the juices out of the fruit, making a sweet, flavorful syrup.
• Cold heavy cream. If the heavy cream is too warm it won’t whip up and hold volume properly. So keep it in the fridge until you’re ready to use it.

Keep The Butter Cold!

Easily one of the most important part of making any biscuits is starting with cold butter and keeping the butter cold while cutting it into the dry ingredients and mixing that all with the wet ingredients. The little pockets of butter contribute to the light, airy, flakey texture of the biscuits. If you can keep the butter from melting into the dough up until the point the biscuits get popped in the oven, you will have the best results. One thing I like to do is use my food processor just for cutting the butter into the dry ingredients. It’ll help evenly distribute the butter throughout the dry ingredients quickly, similar to how I make my pie crust. You can totally do it by hand, but I find it takes longer and the butter is more likely to soften and leave me with larger bits of butter.

How To Store Homemade Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberry shortcake is by far best served fresh. If it sits in the fridge (or at room temperature) fully assembled for too long, the biscuits will get soggy. So you’ll want to store any leftover components separately.

• Counter/Refrigerator. Seal the biscuits in an airtight container and store them at room temperature for up to 4 days. Seal the strawberries in a separate airtight container and store them in the fridge for up to 3 days. When you’re ready to enjoy, make a fresh batch of whipped cream and assemble the desserts.
• Freezer. You can seal leftover biscuits in an airtight container and store them in the freezer for up to 1 month. Allow them to thaw at room temperature (or overnight in the fridge) when the time comes. Unfortunately, neither the strawberries nor the whipped cream thaw well. So you’ll want to make them fresh and assemble the strawberry shortcakes once the biscuits have thawed.

More Strawberry Desserts

• Strawberry Shortcake Cake
• Strawberry Shortcake Trifle
• Strawberries and Cream Cupcakes
• Strawberry Whipped Cream
• Mini Strawberry Cheesecakes
• Easy Strawberry Cheesecake
• Strawberry Shortcake Icebox Cake

Watch How to Make it

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This recipe was modified from Martha Stewart.