Skip the store-bought and make summertime strawberry shortcake completely from scratch with this recipe! Biscuits recipe updated in 2022. Using less flour and baking powder, adding a bit of baking soda, and including a dough folding step, these sweet biscuits are better than ever. They’re simply perfect for holding juicy strawberries and fresh whipped cream!
Today is real food and real flavor brought to life without any peanut butter swirls, caramel drizzles, rainbows, chocolate chunks, candy bar pieces, sprinkles, or unicorn magic. Strawberries + sweet biscuits + whipped cream. Every summer has a different song anthem with the latest chart-topping hit, but the summer dessert anthem stays the same year after year. And that dessert we just can’t get out of our heads, tastes delicious any time of day, and soothes our summertime soul is most definitely strawberry shortcake.
Here’s What You Don’t Know About Strawberry Shortcake
Completely homemade strawberry shortcake is easier than you think. Skip the store-bought biscuits and whipped topping. Instead, have fun making strawberry shortcake at home. Load the homemade biscuits up with juicy strawberries and homemade whipped cream that, again, is so simple. If you can reach for store-bought whipped cream in the dairy aisle, you can make fresh whipped cream at home.
I hope I’m not overwhelming you with all this homemade goodness—I promise it’s all very doable. It might even be easier than making strawberry shortcake cupcakes. And that’s what summer is about, right? Simple, happy, pure homemade goodness that celebrates the season’s fresh flavors.
Fresh Strawberries for Strawberry Shortcake
You only need two ingredients for the strawberry filling: sugar and fresh strawberries. Chop up the strawberries and mix with a little sugar. The sugar helps strawberries release all their delicious juices, which will seep down into the sweet biscuits and whipped cream. (Aka the best part about strawberry shortcake!) I recommend mixing the strawberries and sugar together before you make the biscuits; this gives the strawberries some time to juice up.
Use Cold & Cubed Butter in the Biscuits
Use a food processor or pastry cutter, like we do for pie crust, to cut the cold butter into the dry ingredients, as detailed in the printable recipe below.
How to Make & Shape These Biscuits
Biscuits for this strawberry shortcake are not nearly as tall and fluffy as regular biscuits. Just to set your expectations appropriately! Don’t expect a super tall biscuit.
The shaping process is exactly like our regular biscuits using the fold and flatten method. Flattening and folding biscuit dough creates multiple flaky layers, just as it does when we make homemade croissants. This step is a lot easier than it looks. First, pour the crumbly dough onto a floured work surface:
Flatten the dough to about 3/4 inch thick with your hands or use a rolling pin:
Fold both ends into the center:
Turn it:
Flatten again and repeat 2 more times.
Use a biscuit cutter to shape them. You can use a 3-inch biscuit cutter or 2.75-inch biscuit cutter. You can bake the biscuits on a lined baking sheet, cast iron skillet, or round cake pan. A brush of heavy cream and sprinkle of coarse sugar gives the sweet biscuits a delightfully crisp top.
Homemade Whipped Cream
Just 3 ingredients here: cold heavy cream or heavy whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla extract. The colder the heavy cream, the more volume your whipped cream has. Unlike store-bought whipped cream, you can control the amount of sugar. I prefer lightly sweetened whipped cream with strawberry shortcake, so we’ll only use 2 Tablespoons. And another thing! Homemade whipped cream tastes 100x better than store-bought.
With its light and billowy texture, whipped cream is the perfect topping for pies, cakes, cupcakes, cheesecake, trifles, and so much more.
Let’s Assemble Strawberry Shortcake
After the biscuits bake, it’s time to assemble the strawberry shortcakes. Strawberry shortcake is fantastic with warm biscuits, cold strawberries, and cold whipped cream—but you can also wait for the biscuits to fully cool.
Assembling the strawberry shortcakes is the fun part! You can totally set up a “strawberry shortcake bar” where everyone makes their own stacks. And you could definitely add blueberries to the sweet strawberries for a patriotic treat in the summertime.
More Fan-Favorite Summer Desserts
- Key Lime Pie – only 3 ingredients in the filling
- No Bake Cheesecake
- Peach Cobbler – with homemade biscuit topping
- Fruit Pizza
- Lemon Blueberry Cake & Blueberry Pie
- Strawberry Bread
Homemade Strawberry Shortcake
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: serves 10-12
- Category: Shortcake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Fresh summer strawberries shine in this simple homemade strawberry shortcake recipe. The biscuits don’t rise super tall, but you’ll enjoy their crisp crumbly texture paired with the soft whipped cream and juicy strawberries.
Ingredients
Strawberries +Â Whipped Cream
- 6–7 cups quartered strawberries
- 1/4 cup +Â 2 Tablespoons (75g) granulated sugar, divided
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (240ml) heavy cream
Biscuits
- 2 and 3/4 cups (345g) all-purpose flour, plus extra for hands and work surface*
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 4 teaspoons aluminum free baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt (I recommend fine sea salt)
- 3/4 cup (180g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- 1 cup (240ml) cold buttermilk*
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) heavy cream or buttermilk
- coarse sugar, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Start with the strawberries: Stir the strawberries and 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar together in a large bowl. Cover and set in the refrigerator until ready to use. This time allows the strawberries to release their delicious juices.
- Make the biscuits: Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C). Mix the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl or in a large food processor. Whisk or pulse until combined. Add the cubed butter and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter or by pulsing several times in the processor. Pulse until coarse crumbs form. If you used a food processor, pour the mixture into a large bowl.
- Pour buttermilk on top. Fold everything together with a large spoon or rubber spatula until it begins to come together. Do not overwork the dough. The dough will be shaggy and crumbly with some wet spots. Pour the dough and any dough crumbles onto a floured work surface and gently bring together with generously floured hands. Have extra flour nearby and use it often to flour your hands and work surface in this step. Using floured hands or a floured rolling pin, flatten into a 3/4 inch thick rectangle as best you can. Fold one side into the center, then the other side. Turn the dough horizontally. Gently flatten into a 3/4 inch thick rectangle again. Repeat the folding again. Turn the dough horizontally one more time. Gently flatten into a 3/4 inch thick rectangle. Repeat the folding one last time. Flatten into the final 3/4 inch thick rectangle.
- Cut into 2.75 or 3-inch circles with a biscuit cutter. (Tip: Do not twist the biscuit cutter when pressing down into the dough.) Re-roll/flatten any scraps and cut more circles until you have around 10-12 biscuits.
- Arrange in a 10-inch cast iron skillet (see note) or close together on a parchment paper or silicone baking mat lined baking sheet. Make sure the biscuits are touching.
- Brush the tops with 2 Tablespoons heavy cream or buttermilk and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown on top. Remove from the oven, then cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes before assembling.
- Make the whipped cream: Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the heavy cream, 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar, and vanilla on medium-high speed until soft-medium peaks form, about 3 minutes.
- Slice the biscuits in half and layer with strawberries and whipped cream. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: Each part of this recipe can be prepared ahead of time. Make the biscuits up to 3 days in advance and store covered tightly at room temperature—or freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw completely before using. Prepare the strawberries in step 1 up to 1 day in advance. Prepare the whipped cream up to 1 day in advance. Store both in the refrigerator.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowls | Pastry Cutter or Food Processor | Wooden Spoon or Rubber Spatula | Rolling Pin | 3-Inch Biscuit Cutter or 2.75-Inch Biscuit Cutter | 10-inch Cast Iron Skillet | Baking Sheet | Silicone Baking Mat or Parchment Paper | Pastry Brush | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand)
- Flour: Starting with cold flour is helpful when making biscuits. If you can remember, place the flour in the freezer 30 minutes before beginning.
- Baking Powder: To avoid a chemical aftertaste, make sure your baking powder is labeled aluminum free. I usually use Clabber Girl brand and though the ingredients state aluminum, I’ve never noticed an aluminum aftertaste.
- Buttermilk: You can substitute whole milk for buttermilk if desired. Acidic buttermilk isn’t needed in order for the biscuits to rise since we’re using baking powder. However if you’d like the tangy flavor, which I highly recommend, you can make your own sour milk substitute. Add 2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice or white vinegar to a liquid measuring cup. Add enough cold milk to make 1 cup. (You need 1 cup in the recipe, plus 2 Tbsp for brushing– you can use regular milk to brush on top.) Whisk together, then let sit for 5 minutes before using in the recipe. Whole milk is best for the DIY sour milk substitute, though lower fat or nondairy milks work in a pinch. (In my testing, the biscuits don’t taste as rich or rise quite as tall using lower fat or nondairy milks.)
- If you’re using a cast iron skillet:Â If your cast iron skillet isn’t well seasoned, I recommend greasing it with a little vegetable oil or melted butter. Brush a thin layer of either on the bottom and around the sides. No need to heat the cast iron skillet before using, though you certainly can by placing it in the preheated oven for 15 minutes before arranging the shaped biscuits in it.
- Older Version of This Recipe: We tested and retested this recipe based on reader feedback. Old version of this recipe called for 3 cups (375g) all-purpose flour and 2 Tablespoons baking powder (no baking soda). The written recipe above yields better results with more flavorful and taller biscuits.
Wonderful! Just enough sweetness in the shortcake, not too much. Delicious, great crumb and light texture, crispy edges and bottom. Excellent!
I need 50 medium strawberry shortcakes about 2″ biscuits. How many quarts of strawberries will I need and how many patches of biscuits and can they be made in one patch.
Hi Larya! We aren’t sure exactly, but guess the recipe as written will make about 15-18 2 inch biscuits. You would need to make 3-4 batches. We recommend making separate batches instead of multiplying the recipe to avoid over-working the dough. A quart of strawberries yields about 4 cups of slices strawberries, so you will need about 5-6 quarts of strawberries. This is my best guess, as we haven’t tested it ourselves, but please let us know how it goes!
Thank you for your reply. They were great. I made 5 batches of 3″ biscuits. With 16 pints of strawberries. I did use 2 cans of whipping cream. I needed 50. Shortcakes. Perfect. With a few extra biscuits.
Loved this recipe – super easy and quick. Perfect for a spontaneous Saturday morning breakfast! We changed the strawberry recipe and did peaches instead and it was incredible!
planning on making these today. Can I use a sugar substitute on the strawberries? Thank you.
This recipe looks delicious and I can’t wait to make this for my roommates! I was just wondering how many pints (or grams) of strawberries I should buy to yield 6-7 cups of or the recipe? Thank you 🙂
1 pint of whole strawberries yields about 1 3/4 cup of sliced strawberries.
I love this recipe! Although when I baked the biscuits for around 15 minutes at 425°, they burnt on the bottom and I’m not sure if that’s due to the heavy creamy dripping and burning the bottom or if I left them in for too long. Do you have any suggestions?
Hi Gaby, thank you so much for trying this recipe. It doesn’t sound like you burned them– instead, we find it’s usually the heavy cream/buttermilk that can burn on the bottom. If you try the recipe again, skip the heavy cream/buttermilk brush on top or go a little lighter on it.
These were very good although when I make them again I’ll use a bit more sugar. Thank you for the great tips!! At 68 and years of baking I never knew you shouldn’t twist the biscuit cutter AND that they should be touching. That really worked!!
Hello,
Would it be possible to use frozen strawberries? And if yes, how would I prepare the berries… should I defrost, strain to let out excess water and then mix with sugar?
Looking for an alternative… the fresh strawberries we get in my country aren’t always sweet.
Hi Tyler! Fresh strawberries are best for strawberry shortcake. You can use other fruit that is in season if you prefer! Other berries would be delicious.
Do you think I would get good results if I substituted all-purpose flour for almond flour to make the biscuits gluten-free?
Hi Molly, almond flour has very different baking properties and is not necessarily always a good substitute. If you play around with it, though, you may want to adjust the wet ingredients since almond flour can’t absorb liquid like all-purpose flour does. Instead of almond flour, you might also try using a 1:1 gluten-free flour (like Bob’s Red Mill or Cup4Cup) to make this recipe gluten-free. Let us know what you try!
I love this recipe! These shortbread biscuits are amazing! I had to use 2% milk and vinegar and they turned out delicious :). Thank you so much for this recipe. A definite keeper!
Do I need buttermilk or can I just use regular milk? Thanks.
Can you use low fat cultured buttermilk or does the buttermilk need to be full fat?
Thank you, these look delicious!
Hi Gina! You can use low fat buttermilk here.
The shortcake is the best! Thank you so much!
It’s off season for strawberries but I found some that looked pretty good. And then I found your recipe! I feel very fortunate to have found your recipe.
I had leftover dough so I rolled it out a little thinner and cut out smaller circles. I cut out tiny circles in the middle of half of them. I topped the other half with a bit of jam and pinched a top to the bottom. I kept the same temp and baked them for 10 minutes.
Delicious! Made the recipe exactly as written. I did, however, leave the ingredients in the food processor while adding the buttermilk and only pulsed it enough to mix roughly. I cubed the butter and kept it in the freezer until needed. Really good recipe!
Hello Sally
Great recipe! Love your work! I have had great success with this recipe. I am wondering however about the difference between your two biscuit recipes: this one included in strawberry shortcake recipe versus your original biscuit recipe. The difference I see between them in 1/2 cup of flour. I also note that the biscuit in strawberry shortcake recipe uses 1/4 cup of sugar while the other uses honey. Are these ingredients interchangeable? Finally, I noticed that in one recipe you insist on frozen grated butter while the other uses cubed cold butter. Are these differences in the recipes significant? I like the idea of a biscuit which resembles an English scone). Do you think other ingredients like cranberries, blueberries can be added to the biscuit recipe ? Thank you
Hi Nicki! I’m just seeing your comment now, so my apologies for the delay responding. I’m so glad that you enjoyed this strawberry shortcake recipe. This recipe yields sweeter biscuits, so I use more sweetener/sugar. I also want more volume, so that’s why there is more butter and flour. (I didn’t add more liquid because it simply wasn’t necessary.) Frozen grated butter is definitely helpful, but you can get away with very cold and cubed butter. The colder the butter, the better.
You can definitely add add-ins to this recipe. Cranberries would be delicious folded into the dough! As would blueberries. I would stay away from wetter fruits such as strawberries or raspberries.
I absolutely love this recipe. The biscuits are pleasantly sweet. I really appreciate the cooking tips and every recipe I make from this site has been easy and fabulous.
Made the biscuits and whip cream tonight to have with the strawberry topping sauce I made yesterday to have with the mini no bake cheesecakes. Followed the recipe exactly and they turned out perfectly! Baked on a cookie sheet, close together and they rose nicely and were just the right amount of sweetness. Delicious!
Thank you for always including weights. It makes my life so much easier to follow a recipe without translating amounts. You are my go to for any and all baking recipies and questions. Also this is one of the easiest and tastiest strawberry shortcake recipe. It’s become a family favorite.
Excellent shortcakes! I just shape the dough Into a rectangle and cut into squares..no scraps and dough is not overworked. I do the same with my biscuits. No one seems to mind that they’re square!
I’ve never made strawberry short cake from scratch not to mention using ‘biscuits’. I followed the recipe completely and all turned out beautifully. Initially I was apprehensive as to the taste since I was using biscuits from scratch. Then, I started receiving lots of compliments from my guest so I thought I’d finally sample my own serving. Truly, it was a lovely dessert and worth the extra effort in making biscuits from scratch. I’m looking forward to leftovers.
Just made these, veganized. Amazing taste and texture! We’re having this for dinner with some Rose’. Thank you for the recipe!
Just made these are they turned out great! Baked them in a cast iron skillet. I was out of vanilla extract so I used almond in the whipped cream. It was delicious. They look picture perfect. Wish I could post a photo.
OMG. Biscuits turned out perfect using plain light yogurt instead of Buttermilk. Brushed the tops with an egg/water mixture instead. Seconds for everyone! Excellent, easy recipe.
We really enjoyed this shortcake. It was delicious, quick and easy to make to. It was light and tender. Thanks for sharing. BK
Made this for the first time for the 4th of July for a family party. The strawberry shortcake was a big hit all around. In fact, the grandkids loved these so much that the 6 year-old asked if they could take some leftovers home!! (I gave them all of it because I was so touched.) I did invest in a pastry cutter and otherwise, everything was easy to execute and it all turned out perfectly –and I am not a baker. Will be bringing this along on an upcoming getaway, too. Thanks for the excellent recipe.
Que grandee una de las mejores charlas que he escuchado, gracias!
They tasted good and there were some tips I’ve previously know, e.g. not twisting the cutter. I too found that they didn’t rise as much as I expected (or pictured). I used Bob’s Red Mill flour. They were pleasant. I forgot to brush the top w/ /whipping cream to make the sugar stick. I rarely follow recipes without some adjustment so I was a bit disappointed. Still, we got organic strawberries from a local stand and each did each other proud.
I tried this recipe and it was great. My son loved the biscuits with strawberry preserves. I used a berry mixture instead of strawberries, but it was incredible! I WILL use the biscuit recipe again, for sure! Thank you for sharing.
I have now made these twice. Proportions are not correct. The first time I made them, I added the full one cup of liquid which resulted in a slurry. I had to add about 1/2 cup more flour just to get it dry enough to handle. But definitely not crumbly. The second time I only added 3/4 cup liquid. The mix was just dry enough to handle but still not crumbly. Next time I’ll reduce the liquid to 2/3 cup liquid and I expect it will be perfect. Neither batch rose much more than original height but I was able to slice them in half. Both times I cooked them for 22 minutes to get them to a golden color. The good thing is that both batches still tasted very good.
I loved them they came out perfectly fine,I made it for my older sisters they loved thanks for sharing, plenty of love
Wonderful outcome. I made homemade buttermilk, added a bit more sugar. Baked them close together and they came out an inch tall, buttery n flaky! I believe the trick is to not overwork the dough. Finally, I found what we call “a Keeper” of a recipe.
Thanks, Sally! I used to always make shortcake just like my grandma did. She used Bisquick, but added 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons sugar to the box recipe. They were scrumptious. A few years ago, they changed Bisquick. They weren’t as good after that. Recently, they changed it again. Forget it. No good at all, so I went on the hunt for a recipe. Came here! I didn’t have buttermilk, so used half and half with 2 Tblsps lemon juice and forgot to brush with cream & sprinkle sugar on, but they were quite good in spite of that! (I did add a smidge more sugar and butter, but the forgotten topping would likely fix that. It seemed like 1 tsp salt would be too much, but it was fine. I think I have my memory comfort food worked out thanks to you! I’ll definitely use buttermilk next time, too! We used to have this for supper on a June night in the 60’s– so wonderful!!!