There’s not much better than homemade strawberry shortcake, especially when you can get the ratios of strawberry to shortcake to whipped cream correct. There are plenty of easy strawberry shortcake recipes out there that start with a cake mix or a biscuit mix, but none of those are nearly as good as homemade (and I love cake mix recipes). And honestly, making strawberry shortcake from scratch is almost as easy as all of those recipes and so much better! So find some fresh strawberries and get to baking because this is a delicious dessert that you don’t want to wait to make! And if you have leftover strawberries, you could make your day even sweeter by using them in this delicious strawberry shortcake dip! Serve this as dessert at summer parties, for Mother’s Day, for Easter, or really any time of the year if you can find good sweet strawberries! Or even just juicy strawberries will do! Or any strawberries really!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Homemade ingredients – everything in this recipe is made from scratch, which means you can use high-quality ingredients and stay away from all the added stuff in box mixes, biscuit mixes, etc. Easy – while this strawberry shortcake may have a few more ingredients, it’s still very easy to make. And it’s pretty hard to screw up as long as you don’t burn the shortcake biscuits (been there, done that). So much flavor – between the cream sauce, strawberry sauce, and sweet biscuits, there is a ton of flavor in this yummy recipe! You’ll never want to go with a semi-homemade version again!
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
Strawberries – the only real ingredient note I have is to use fresh strawberries. Frozen strawberries just aren’t the same as fresh, especially in strawberry shortcake! All the other ingredients are pretty straightforward and right from your pantry or refrigerator! And if not, they’re all readily available at the grocery store. Heavy whipping cream – make sure that the cream is COLD. Don’t take it out of the fridge until right before you’re planning to use it and be prepared to make the biscuits right away so the cream stays cold.
How to make strawberry shortcake
This strawberry shortcake recipe is made in three steps – making the shortcake biscuits, making the whipped cream, and making the strawberry sauce. I mean and then there’s the whole eating thing, but I don’t count that as a step! All together, it makes the best strawberry shortcake recipe I’ve tried!
1 – Make the Shortcake
Preheat the oven to 450°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, 4 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, and salt (the dry ingredients) then add in the cream and stir with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon just until combined. Next, use a large cookie scoop or ¼ cup measuring cup to portion out the dough and drop onto the parchment lined baking sheet. Using the bottom of a glass or fingers, gently press the top of the dough down to make a round biscuit shape. Sprinkle the top of each biscuit with ½ teaspoon of granulated sugar. This will give these shortcake biscuits the sweetness you’re looking for. If you want to make these biscuits for something else (like to make breakfast sandwiches), you can skip this step! Bake the homemade biscuits in the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
2 – Make the strawberry topping
Meanwhile, chop the strawberries into small pieces. Then add the fresh berries to a medium bowl with granulated sugar and vanilla extract and stir the sliced strawberries with the other items to combine.
3 – Make the Whipped Cream
A few minutes before you’re ready to serve these or a few minutes before the shortcake is ready to come out of the oven, make your homemade whipped cream. In a separate large bowl, beat together the heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer (or stand mixer) until soft peaks form. If you’re not serving it right away, place the whipped cream in an airtight container (or at least cover) and chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
4 – Serve the Strawberry Shortcake
When you’re ready to serve, slice a shortcake in half and add a good portion of strawberries and whipped cream on top of the biscuit. Then place the other half of the shortcake on top and top with more whipped cream and strawberries. You can even have the remaining berries (if there are any) out for people to add more! This is one of my favorite summer desserts ever and one that we make often! And the best part is that the biscuits are on the sweeter side and goes perfectly with the strawberries and fresh whipped cream!
Expert Tips
Make the biscuits up to two days ahead of time and store in an airtight container until ready to serve. Freeze biscuits by baking as directed then once cooled wrapping them individually in plastic wrap. Place them (still individually wrapped) into a large zipper top freezing bag, squeezing out any excess air before placing in the freezer. They’ll keep for up to three months. Double the biscuit recipe and use half of them in these in this delicious strawberry shortcake and use the other half (without the sugar sprinkled on top) with this homemade sausage gravy for biscuits and gravy! Prep berries up to a day in advance and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Make the whipped cream as fresh as possible for the best results but if necessary, you can make the night before and store covered in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Don’t overmix the biscuit dough. These are cream biscuits so you want the cream to stay cold and over mixing can warm it up, leading to drier biscuits. Omit the sugar topping if you want to reduce sugar in the recipe.
More Easy Strawberry Recipes
If you like strawberries, you’re in luck! If you have leftover strawberries after making the shortcake, check out these other delicious strawberry recipes! We’ve got plenty of treats that use juicy berries!
Strawberry cheesecake cones – this is a good recipe when you want to serve something like ice cream without dealing with the melt factor, plus they’re delicious! Mixed berry cobbler – berries combined with a cobbler layer, lemon zest, and lemon juice make this one of the best summer desserts ever! Strawberry fluff salad – this yummy dessert salad is the perfect finish to any meal! Strawberry cheesecake bars – delicious layers of cheesecake, strawberry filling, and a crumb (made out of coarse crumbs) on the top! Easy strawberry danishes – make these for a yummy brunch with easy step by step directions that start with store-bought crust!
