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Sunny days call for homemade strawberry shortcake. With juicy berries, tender buttermilk biscuits, and plenty of whipped cream, it’s the perfect way to wrap up any spring or summer meal.
Strawberry shortcake—the kind made with sugar-crusted biscuits, sweet, juicy strawberries, and heaps of whipped cream—is one of my go-to desserts once the weather warms up. And when everything is made from scratch, it’s hard to beat (so say goodbye to store-bought pound cake and Cool Whip!).
If baking biscuits from scratch sounds daunting, don’t worry. Mine are easy to make, even for beginners. The dough comes together in one bowl, and instead of rolling it out and cutting it into rounds, I simply shape it into free-form balls. The result is a craggy texture that’s perfect for soaking up all those delicious strawberry juices without getting soggy. And homemade whipped cream is a cinch.
“These are the strawberry shortcakes of my childhood that I have been trying to recreate for decades!! The slightly sweet, craggy biscuits, sweet berries and whipped cream brought back a flood of memories.”
What You’ll Need To Make Strawberry Shortcake
- All-purpose flour and Cornstarch: This combination is used to give the shortcake biscuits their structure and texture. Adding the cornstarch softens the proteins in the dough, yielding a more tender biscuit. It’s meant to mimic White Lily flour, the flour used in true Southern biscuits.
- Baking powder and baking soda: Leavening agents that help the biscuits rise, making them light and fluffy. Make sure yours are fresh so you get the right effect – they generally last about six months once opened.
- Sugar: Granulated sugar sweetens the biscuit dough, strawberries, and whipped cream, while turbinado sugar is sprinkled on top of the biscuits to create a sweet, crunchy crust.
- Cold butter: “Cut” into the biscuits so that when baked, the cold pieces melt creating steam pockets that rise, leading to a flaky, rich texture. Using unsalted butter allows you to control the saltiness of the biscuits.
- Buttermilk: Adds moisture to the biscuit dough, contributing to the tender texture and rich flavor. If you’d rather not buy a whole carton for this recipe, you can make homemade buttermilk using milk and lemon juice or vinegar.
- Strawberries & Raspberry Jam: Combined to make a sweet, juicy berry filling. The jam gives the berries a little extra sweetness and helps create a spoonable sauce.
- Heavy cream: Whipped to make a light and creamy filling for the shortcake.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Can I Use Other Berries?
Absolutely—raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, or a mix all work here. Keep the same total weight of fruit, and mash a portion as directed to help create the sauce.
How To Make Strawberry Shortcake
Combine dry ingredients for the biscuits: Combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, granulated sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl. Whisk them together to evenly disperse the ingredients.
Add the cold butter: Add the pieces of butter to the bowl and use your fingertips to rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with pea-sized clumps of butter within. You’re aiming for it to look similar to the texture in the bowl below.
Add the buttermilk: Using a rubber spatula, stir the buttermilk into the flour and butter mixture until the dough comes together into a sticky, shaggy mass.
Pro Tip: Stop stirring as soon as you don’t see any more streaks of dry flour. Over-mixing the dough can make the biscuits dense.
Shape the biscuits: Using lightly floured hands, form the dough into 8 craggy-looking balls and place on the prepared baking sheet. Each biscuit should be bigger than a golf ball but smaller than a tennis ball. Sprinkle the tops with the turbinado sugar.
Pro Tip: Don’t worry about making them perfect—it’s better if they’re a little rough around the edges. Those edges catch the turbinado sugar, which turns into caramelized bits in the oven.
Bake: Bake the biscuits for 13 to 15 minutes, until golden, then remove them from the oven and set them aside to cool while you prepare the strawberries.
Mash some of the berries: Put one-third of the berries in a medium bowl and use a potato masher or fork to mash them into a chunky purée.
Mix and macerate: Add the remaining strawberries, raspberry jam, and sugar. Let sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes, until the berries release their juices and the mixture becomes saucy.
Make the whipped cream: While the berries macerate, whip the heavy cream using an electric mixer or by hand until soft peaks form. Sprinkle the sugar over the cream and beat until soft peaks return. Careful not to overwhip!
Assemble: Split the biscuits in half horizontally with a serrated knife and place the bottoms on 8 dessert plates. Spoon about three-quarters of the strawberries and their juices over the biscuits, letting some spill onto the plates. Add a generous dollop of whipped cream and the biscuit tops. Finish with the remaining berries and cream, and serve immediately.
Make-Ahead & Freezing
A little prep ahead means you can spend less time in the kitchen when it’s time for dessert. Get the biscuits ready in advance, whip the cream a few hours early, and save the berries and assembly for just before serving.
- Biscuits: Shape the biscuits and refrigerate for up to 1 hour before baking. For longer storage, freeze the unbaked biscuits on a baking sheet until firm, then transfer to a freezer-safe bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Bake straight from frozen, allowing a few extra minutes in the oven.
- Whipped cream: Make it a few hours ahead, stopping just short of the finished consistency. Cover and refrigerate, then give it a quick whisk by hand before serving.
- Strawberries and assembly: Prepare the berry mixture shortly before serving, allowing about 10 minutes for the juices to develop. Keep the components separate until you’re ready to assemble so the biscuits don’t get soggy.
Strawberry Shortcake Video Tutorial
Strawberry Shortcake
Ingredients
For the Biscuits
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-in (13-mm) chunks
- ¾ cup buttermilk (see note)
- 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
For the Strawberries
- 2 lb strawberries hulled and sliced ¼-inch (6-mm) thick
- 3 tablespoons seedless raspberry jam
- ½ cup granulated sugar
For the Whipped Cream
- 1½ cups heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
Instructions
For the Biscuits
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C) and set an oven rack in the middle position. Line a 13 x 18-in (33 x 46-cm) baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, granulated sugar, and salt.
- Add the pieces of cold butter. Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with pea-sized clumps of butter within.
- Add the buttermilk and stir with a rubber spatula until the dough comes together into a sticky, shaggy mass. Do not overmix.
- With lightly floured hands, form the dough into 8 craggy-looking balls and place on the prepared baking sheet. (They should be bigger than golf balls but smaller than tennis balls.) Don't worry about making them perfect—it's better if they are a little rough around the edges.
- Sprinkle the tops with the turbinado sugar and bake for 13 to 15 minutes, until the biscuits are golden.
For the Strawberries
- Put one-third of the berries in a medium bowl and, using a potato masher or a fork, mash them into a chunky purée. Mix in the remaining berries, along with the raspberry jam and granulated sugar. Let the berries sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes, until saucy.
For the Whipped Cream
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or beaters), whip the heavy cream until soft peaks form. Sprinkle the granulated sugar over the cream and beat until soft peaks return. Do not overbeat. (Alternatively, the whipped cream can be beaten by hand in a deep mixing bowl with a whisk.)
To Assemble
- Using a serrated knife, split the biscuits in half horizontally and transfer the bottoms to 8 dessert plates. Spoon about three-quarters of the macerated berries and their juice evenly over the biscuit bottoms. Let some of the berries spill out onto the plate.
- Top with a generous dollop of whipped cream and cover each with a biscuit top. Spoon more berries and cream over each shortcake and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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I have made this many times and it’s always requested for every bridal shower and baby shower I go to.
I forgot to dip the biscuit’s in the turbinado sugar before freezing them. Should I defrost them first before baking them so I can get it to stick? The sugar really makes them delicious
Sure, Denise, that would work. Enjoy!
This is by far the most fabulous recipe for strawberry shortcake biscuits I’ve ever encountered. Thanks for sharing! (I did add a bit of vanilla bean paste to the dough.)
Here’s a tip I discovered, by chance or by luck, that might be useful to others—I was about to slide the sheet of biscuits into the oven when I got a call from the family members who were coming to eat them. Something had come up and they had to postpone a day. I put the pan into the fridge, just as it was. I didn’t even bother to cover it. Twenty-four hours later they came out of the fridge and went directly into the oven. They suffered no loss in quality—neither in texture or in taste—whatsoever!!
I’d forgotten how much I love this dessert and how simple it is to make. We’re going to be having these much more often going forward.
I thought the biscuit recipe was very easy to follow and make . Next time I will eliminate the salt , I thought they were too salty
I’ll omit the salt next time. Too salty.
This was the best strawberry shortcake I have made in my entire life. I always resented other recipes which yielded hard, crunchy biscuits — but this one masters the art of texture. Served it to my mom, her husband, and very picky bf. My moms husband literally said, ” This dessert is like watching a movie that at first you’re unsure about, but then it turns out to be the best movie you’ve watched in your entire life.” He, too, perceived shortcake to be hard and scone like, and this recipe opened him up to a whole other realm of possibillities. My mom, who isnt even fond of strawberries, and my boyfriend who is skeptical of everyone’s cooking and the fact that I often opt for healthier alternatives, said it was divine. I did, however, follow my own recipe with the strawberries — much less sugar – about 1 tbsp , no jam, and addition of 1 tbsp lemon juice. The shortcakes are otherworldly, just make sure to follow the tips about cold butter and be sure to under-mix rather than over!
These ended up so wonderfully! Thanks for the great recipe!
I made this for my mom on Mother’s Day. The best recipe I’ve made in ages!
I would like to make this for a large gathering, which will require tripling the recipe. Will the biscuits be okay if I make them a few hours before?
Sure Dora, that should be fine. Hope everyone enjoys!
Dora- I’m also making these for a large crow next week. Did it work ok to make the biscuits a few hours before? Im thinking I need to make them 5 or 6 hours before…do you think that will be ok?
Thanks for the help!
Gretchen Freund
Can you make the dough and let it sit over night and bake the next morning? If that is doable, would I leave dough in refrigerator or out in cool kitchen?
Hi Nancy, you can shape the biscuits and refrigerate them for up to an hour before baking, but I wouldn’t let them sit overnight. Sorry!
Can you pat out the dough and use a biscuit cutter instead?
Sure, that should work.
So good