You’ll love this classic, easy Strawberry Shortcake Recipe. The homemade shortcake biscuits are impressively soft and layered with juicy strawberries and whipped cream.
We love strawberry recipes that use plenty of strawberries, like our No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake, and this crowd-pleasing Strawberry Pretzel Salad. Strawberry shortcakes are one of the most iconic strawberry desserts, and it does not disappoint.
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Strawberry Shortcake Recipe
This traditional strawberry shortcake recipe comes together quickly and it’s made completely from scratch, which is perfect for summer because you don’t have to spend a ton of time in the kitchen making it. Just like Panna Cotta, this is completely homemade but feels like a shortcut dessert.
Shortcakes are a great party dessert because you can set them up buffet-style and let guests build their own. They are best eaten fresh, but thankfully, they are super easy to bake and assemble.
Strawberry Shortcakes Video
See how simple it is to whip up this delicious recipe. Natasha gives you all the tips to make this classic Strawberry Shortcake one of your favorite summer desserts!
What is a Strawberry Shortcake?
Old-Fashioned Strawberry Shortcake is a stacked dessert with buttery homemade biscuits, strawberries macerated (juiced up) in sugar, and lightly sweetened soft whipped cream. The earliest recipe for strawberry shortcake dates back to the 1500s. It is popularly made with strawberries, but you can substitute them with other berries or sliced stone fruit like peaches (see our suggestions below!).
Homemade biscuits are so easy to make, and if you haven’t tried them, you are in for a treat! They exceed store-bought ‘bisquick’ in taste and quality.
Ingredients
Strawberry shortcake recipes include three parts: buttery, fluffy homemade biscuit, macerated strawberries, and whipped cream. These three ingredients are so easy to make, but together, they taste out of this world!
Substitutions
While this classic dessert is perfect just as written, try these swaps for a quick twist on the traditional dish.
- Swap the Fruit – Fresh blueberries, raspberries, diced mangos, peaches or our easy Cherry Sauce would taste great in place of the strawberries. Or for a fall twist, try Sauteed Apples and Caramel Sauce.
- Flavored Cream – Fold citrus zest into the whipped cream for a fresh flavor twist
- Garnish – Add a few basil leaves for a pretty and elevated presentation.
How to Make Strawberry Shortcakes
This classic strawberry shortcake recipe is best when the elements are made from scratch–and it’s just so easy! It starts with homemade biscuits and what sets these apart from our classic Biscuits is a teensy bit of vanilla and a little more sugar since these are meant to be served as a dessert.
Step 1: Make the Biscuits
- Sift together the dry ingredients with a sieve: flour, baking powder, sugar and salt
- Cut in the Butter – Add COLD butter into dry ingredients until coarse crumbs form. You can use a pastry cutter or a food processor.
- Combine milk, cream, and vanilla and drizzle over flour mixture. Mix until it starts coming together.
- Transfer to a floured surface, pat into a rectangle, fold in half, and repeat.
- Cover with a tea towel and rest 30 minutes at room temperature then pat into a 5″x10″ rectangle (3/4″ tall). Use a 2 1/2″ round cookie cutter or shark knife to cut out biscuits and bake.
Pro Tip:
For the best-rising biscuits, dip the biscuit cutter into flour with every biscuit you cut and push the cutter STRAIGHT DOWN without twisting.
Step 2: Macerate Strawberries
Mix the sliced strawberries with sugar while your dough is resting. This allows the strawberries to macerate and juice up in the refrigerator, forming a natural strawberry syrup that is so good soaked into the biscuits.
Step 3: Make Whipped Cream
In a cold mixing bowl, whip the heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla extract until soft peaks form.
Step 4: Serve Individual Strawberry Shortcakes
Slice the biscuit using a fork to pierce around the center, then spoon macerated strawberries over the base, followed by sweetened whipped cream. Cover with the top of the biscuit the spoon on more whipped cream and strawberries.
Serving a crowd? You can also lay out a tray of biscuits, a bowl of strawberries, and a dish of whipped cream allowing guests to serve themselves buffet-style.
Make-Ahead
To make it simple to serve this dessert to a crowd, you can make each element ahead.
- Make the biscuits a day or two ahead, or make and freeze for up to 3 months.
- Stir the strawberries with the sugar and store the mixture in the fridge for up to a day ahead.
- Whipped cream stays fresh for a few hours in the fridge. Make it before the party leaving the cream with slightly softer peaks, and then finish whipping to soft peaks right before serving.
Classic Strawberry Shortcake is such a beautiful and fun dessert to serve at your next gathering. The taste of homemade biscuits, macerated strawberries, and homemade whipped cream is worth every moment it takes to make them from scratch.
More Easy Strawberry Recipes
We always have a ton of sweet, delicious strawberries during strawberry season. After you try this Strawberry Shortcake Recipe, treat yourself to these other delicious strawberry recipes!
- Easy Strawberry Cake
- Strawberry Lemonade
- Strawberry Sauce
- Strawberry Scones
- Chocolate Covered Strawberries
- Strawberry Smoothie
Strawberry Shortcake Recipe
Ingredients
Shortcake Biscuits:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more to dust
- 1 1/2 Tbsp baking powder
- 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 5 Tbsp unsalted butter, cold, diced
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, cold
- 1/2 cup milk, cold
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Macerated Strawberries:
- 1 1/2 lbs strawberries, hulled and sliced
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
Whipped Cream
- 1 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1 1/2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
How to Make Biscuits
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together dry ingredients then sift together. Add 5 Tbsp diced cold butter and cut it into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter or with a food processor until it resembles course crumbs.
- Stir together 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup heavy cream, and 1/2 tsp vanilla and pour over flour mixture. Fold together with wooden spoon until dough starts coming together then turn out onto a well-floured surface.
- Pat into a rectangle. Fold in half and pat down slightly into another rectangle. Fold in half a second time and pat down into a rectangle. Cover with a tea towel and rest for 30 minutes at room temperature (65˚-75˚F).
- Preheat the oven to 425˚and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Gently pat into a 5” x 10” rectangle (3/4” thickness). Use a floured 2 1/2" round cutter to cut out 8 rounds. Dip in flour with each cut and push straight down into the dough without twisting the cutter.
- Transfer rounds to lined baking sheet, 1/2” apart and Bake at 425˚F for 13-15 minutes or until golden on top. Cool biscuits on a rack for 10 minutes before assembling.
Macerate Strawberries
- Slice strawberries and place into a large bowl. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup sugar and stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Make Whipped Cream
- In a mixing bowl, beat together 1 cup cold heavy cream with 1 1/2 Tbsp sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla for about 2 minutes on medium/high speed or until medium-soft peaks form.
How to Assemble Strawberry Shortcakes
- Split biscuit in half. Add strawberries with some sauce. Top with generous dollop of cream. Cover with biscuit top, add more cream and strawberries.
Notes
- Make the biscuits 2-3 days ahead if stored in an airtight container on the counter, or in the freezer for 3 months.
- Strawberries can be mixed with sugar and stored in the fridge for 24 hours.
- You can make the whipped cream a few hours ahead by whipping the cream slightly less than soft peaks. Cover and store in the refrigerator, and then finish whipping just before serving.
Nutrition Per Serving
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
Turned out great! Thanks so much for the wonderful recipe!!
You’re welcome, Nancy! Thank you for sharing.
I was looking for a recipe for strawberry shortcake and found your recipe. It turned out really well and the biscuits were so fluffy. The vanilla in the biscuits made the house smell so good.
Whenever I need a consistently good recipe, I come to your website first. I know that you do a lot of research for each of your recipes. Thank-you for your hard work! It is always a pleasure to watch your videos and I always learn a new technique with your recipes.
Aw, thank you so much, Sharon!
Hi Natasha,
I wanted to make these for 4th of July, but I need to double(triple?) the recipe. Any ideas if it can be done with success or is it better to do one at a time? Thanks!
Btw, my kid loves watching your videos with me. He gets excited when your kids are on and bums when he doesn’t see them for a while. Lol He also wants to know when you and your sister are going to make another video and spew water while telling jokes? Very funny!! 😀
Hi Bella, I bet doubling this recipe will work! Aww, that’s the best! Thank you so much for sharing that with me. I’m all smiles knowing they get excited watching our videos.
Well Natasha, I just have to say I am VERY impressed with your extremely quick response! Many other recipe bloggers don’t even take the time to answer a question. If they do, it’s days, weeks or months later, but usually well after the fact. 🙄
Thanks again for quick response and many blessings to you and your family for a happy, healthy 4th! 😘
Thank you for your kind and thoughtful compliment, Bella! Tell your son hi from all of us!
Natasha could I use refined, (tasteless coconut oil, hardened in the fridge), instead of butter? I just prefer the taste of CO to butter.
I haven’t tested that but I think it could work. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe, Maria.
Have always enjoyed you receipes for a long time. They are always so easy to prepare. And taste unbelievable. Wife and I are throughly enjoying your cook book.
.
Thank you for that wonderful comment and compliment, Donald! I hope you get to try even more of my recipes soon!
I’ve always been intimidated to make strawberry shortcake from scratch but this recipe was surprisingly easy and extremely yummy. My family was so impressed that I made it myself!
Love it when the whole family is enjoying my recipes! Thanks a lot for sharing, Jenny!
The best strawberry shortcake I have ever made! My whole family absolutely loved this!
That’s wonderful, Mel!
These shortcake recipe is easy to make with basic ingredients. They turned out fluffy and golden-brown,i topped them with cream and berries! So good!
Thank you for trying the recipe, Bree! So glad you enjoyed it.
Natasha, I made these shortcakes and they turned out terrible. I am so so sorry but I think there’s something wrong with the list of ingredients. I think the amount of baking powder is wrong. I followed it even though I wondered it says one and a half tablespoons. They tasted terrible. I make so many of your recipes and all of them turn out great this is the first one that did not. Can you double check the ingredients amounts? I have your cookbook. I follow you on Instagram and I look at a lot of your recipes online. Please double check this thank you.
Hi Sheila, that is a typical measurement for baking powder when making biscuits. Make sure to use aluminum free baking powder and also do not substitute with baking soda which will taste bad and will be way to strong here.
Natasha, you are a treasure. Ordered your cookbook and I love it. There are some different recipes in it and I’m trying them all. I have sticky notes everywhere in it. Most of all, I enjoy watching your videos and get a big kick out of them all. You entertain and it adds to the enjoyment of the videos. Thank you so much for the wonderful recipes and for being you!
Thank you so much, Pat!
Hello.
I love your recipes and make them almost every day.
I have one question.
I would like to make Strawberry Shortcake tomorrow,
Why do you let the Shortcake Biscuits dough rest?
Other Biscuits recipes are baked without resting, so I wanted to know why.
I would appreciate it if you could tell me.
Thank you.
Great question. Resting can allow liquids to properly soak through everything and avoids flour clumps. It relaxes the gluten, hydrates the flour and improves overall flavor and texture. I hope this is helpful.
Thank you for your answer.
I learned a lot from your answer. Even though the cookies look the same, I realized that each step of the baking process has its own meaning.
I made this biscuit right away, with a light and crispy surface and a moist inner layer,
The sweet and sour strawberries and rich whipped cream went well together and were very delicious.
The classic strawberry shortcake is not available in Japan,
I was able to make it myself and it was a dream come true.
Thank you so much for your wonderful recipe.
I just got your cookbook in the mail yesterday and I’m so excited to put it to use!
I’m your biggest fan. Can I freeze leftover biscuits for future use??
Hi Tracy! Thank you! It would be fine to freeze just the biscuits.