The best vegan strawberry shortcake is simple and perfectly sweet with layers of shortcake, vegan whipped cream and fresh strawberries.
Did you know that shortcake is basically a scone? I didn’t know this.
Not until I decided to go ahead and make some vegan strawberry shortcake that is. Then I found out pretty quick.
It’s basically scones that you layer with sweetened strawberries and whipped cream. Which is always going to be a great idea!
Making this recipe is as easy as baking up some scones, er, I mean shortcakes, which is really very easy to do. So let’s get baking!
How To Make Vegan Strawberry Shortcake
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and add the salt and baking powder and mix together.
- Add vegan butter and rub it in with your fingers until the entire mix is crumbly. Add the caster sugar.
- Mix lemon juice with soy milk and allow to curdle into buttermilk. Add it to the dry ingredients along with the vanilla extract and mix in with a spoon.
- Flour a surface and turn the dough out onto the surface. Add more flour as needed to stop it sticking to your hands and form the dough into a big ball. Flatten out the ball just enough to be able to cut out 4 cakes.
- Dip a smooth cutter in flour and then cut out the cakes and place them on a parchment lined baking tray. Roll the remaining dough into a big ball, flatten out again and cut out 2 cakes. Repeat for another 2 cakes and then whatever is left over will form the remaining shortcake.
- Brush the top of the shortcakes with soy milk.
- Place them into the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown on top.
- While the shortcakes are baking slice your strawberries and place them into a big bowl, stir in the sugar and then place into the fridge.
- Prepare your whipped cream by removing the can of coconut cream from the fridge – being careful not to shake it. You’ll see the cream section will have risen to the top, scoop out only the cream part leaving the watery part behind in the can. Whip this up in your stand mixer until whipped. Add powdered sugar and whip again.
- When the shortcakes are baked, slice them in half and then layer with sweetened strawberries and whipped cream.
Baker’s Tips
Keep a watch on them as they bake. Ovens vary and I have had some differences in baking times when using different ovens for these. Usual baking time is 20 minutes, but I have had them ready in as little as 15 minutes depending on the oven. When they are nicely browned on top, then they are done.
You definitely want the cream to be sweetened for this. The overall recipe is not super sweet, while you do add sugar to the strawberries, and there is a little added to the shortcake as well, it’s still not super sweet. If you didn’t sweeten the cream, the result could be a little too savory for a dessert, and this is a dessert! So go on and sweeten the vegan whipped cream.
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
Self raising flour – this recipe uses self raising flour (or self rising flour). You can replace it with all purpose flour with a few small adjustments. Just increase the baking powder to 2 tablespoons and the salt to 1 teaspoon.
Caster sugar – is also known as superfine sugar. You can also use regular granulated sugar.
Soy milk – we used soy milk, but almond milk also works great.
Vegan whipped cream. We topped this recipe with vegan whipped coconut cream, but if you have a coconut allergy, then any non-dairy whipped cream will be great to use. Just note that it will taste best if you sweeten the cream with a little powdered sugar as well.
Gluten free. If you want to try these as gluten free then a gluten free self raising flour is going to be the best bet. I have not tested this as gluten free though, so can’t be sure of the result.
Storing Instructions
Keep leftover shortcakes at room temperature and consume within 2 days though the fresher the better.
More Delicious Vegan Strawberry Desserts
- Vegan Strawberry Cake
- Vegan Strawberry Cupcakes
- Vegan Strawberry Ice Cream
- The Best Strawberry Smoothie
- Vegan Chocolate Covered Strawberries
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Strawberry Shortcake
Ingredients
For the Shortcake:
- 3 cups Self Raising Flour (375g) plus more for sprinkling
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ cup Vegan Butter (112g)
- ¼ cup Caster Sugar Superfine Sugar
- ¾ cup Soy Milk (180ml) plus more for bushing the tops
- 2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice Freshly Squeezed
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
For the Strawberries:
- 16 ounces Fresh Strawberries (450g) sliced, about 3 cups
- ¼ cup Caster Sugar Superfine Sugar
For the Vegan Whipped Cream:
- 14 ounce Can Coconut Cream chilled overnight
- 3 Tablespoons Powdered Sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 430°F (220°C)
- Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and add the salt and baking powder and mix together.
- Add vegan butter and rub it in with your fingers until the entire mix is crumbly. Add the caster sugar.
- Mix the lemon juice with the soy milk and allow to curdle into buttermilk. Add it to the dry ingredients along with the vanilla extract and mix in with a spoon.
- Flour a surface and turn the dough out onto the surface. Add more flour as needed to stop it sticking to your hands and form the dough into a big ball. Flatten out the ball just enough to be able to cut out 4 cakes. Dip a smooth cutter in flour and then cut out the cakes and place them on a parchment lined baking tray. Roll the remaining dough into a big ball, flatten out again and cut out 2 cakes. Repeat for another 2 cakes and then whatever is left over will form the remaining shortcake.
- Brush the top of the shortcakes with soy milk and then place into the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown on top.
- While the shortcakes are baking slice your strawberries and place them into a big bowl, stir in the sugar and then place into the fridge.
- Prepare your whipped cream by removing the can of coconut cream from the fridge – being careful not to shake it. You'll see the cream section will have risen to the top, scoop out only the cream part leaving the watery part behind in the can. Whip this up in your stand mixer until whipped. Add powdered sugar and whip again.
- When the shortcakes are baked, slice them in half and then layer with sweetened strawberries and whipped cream.
Notes
- Self raising flour – this recipe uses self raising flour (or self rising flour). You can replace it with all purpose flour with a few small adjustments. Just increase the baking powder to 2 tablespoons and the salt to 1 teaspoon.
- Caster sugar – is also called superfine sugar. You can also use regular granulated sugar.
- Soy milk – can be replaced with almond milk.
- Storing – keep leftover shortcakes at room temperature and consume within 2 days though the fresher the better.
I love this recipe. Since it called for self rising flour, I omitted the additional baking powder & salt. It turned out great. Will be my go to shortcake biscuit.
….and I used cashew milk & apple cider vinegar rather than lemon ???? juice.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Shell!
Hi Alison! Could you make these with almond milk? Thanks!
Sure!
Hello! I have these in the oven right now, but I wanted to ask if the dough is supposed to be super hard? I used the measurements as you said, but I ended up not even having to use extra flour or even surface my board. I wonder if the butter needed to be melted?
I’m curious to know how they’ll turn out – I’m not a baker, so really hope these turn out. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Andrea, it may be that you used a bit too much flour. The butter doesn’t need to be melted, but the flour should be measured correctly, this article from The Spruce Eats about measuring flour correctly may help! Hopefully they still turn out well.
Hi there! I haven’t made this recipe yet but I had a question about using homemade self-rising flour with the recipe.
I found online that to make self-rising flour you take 1 cup of all purpose flour and add 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder, and a 1/4 tsp of salt, but your recipe also calls for 1 tsp of baking powder.
So at the end after making the self-rising flour on my own, there would be 5 1/2 tsp of baking powder in the recipe. Do you think that the shortcake would still come out the same?
Please let me know! I wanted your advice before I went ahead and tried it out. Thanks!
Hi there! You can absolutely make your own self raising flour and this sounds exactly right. If you were just making it for this recipe though, then there’s no need. You can also make this with regular all purpose flour. Just adjust the recipe to use 3 cups of all purpose flour, 2 Tbsp baking powder and 1 tsp salt. Everything else will be as normal. Otherwise if you do make self raising flour then just follow the recipe exactly. 🙂
Thanks for this recipe. Looks delicious! Can you prepare the dough ahead of time and leave it in the fridge overnight before cutting?
Also, could the strawberries be cut and left in the fridge overnight as well?
Hi Jen! I think that would be fine! Make sure the strawberries are covered so they don’t dry out. 🙂
the biscuits work well on their own without the whipped cream and strawberries as well! I use this recipe to make biscuits to have with chili. love it 🙂
Thanks Gracie!
Hi Alison,
Thank you for this recipe…I LOVED them!!!
Will definitely make again!
Wonderful! Thanks so much for the awesome review! 🙂
I loved them! I am not the greatest baker, but they were really easy to make and delicious. Will defnitely make them for Scones soon!
One thing: mine were already starting to get a bit too brown after 13 minutes, so be careful. Always depends on the oven and the thickness of the shortcakes.
Hi Joanna, so happy you enjoyed the recipe and thanks for the awesome review. And thanks for the tip, you’re totally right, ovens vary so it’s always wise to keep a check. 🙂
Hi Alison! you think i can change the vegan margarine for vegetable shortening? i have in my fridge and need to use it up. 🙂
Hi Diana, I have no experience at all with shortening, I’ve never used it as it’s not an available ingredient in my part of the world. Sorry I can’t advise!
Can I use coconut sugar? I plan to make these for my daughter’s birthday party! We’re having a tea party these seem to be perfect for this event! ❤️
Hi Ashley, I think it should be okay, I haven’t tried this with coconut sugar but since it is also a granulated sugar my guess is it should be okay, the only thing is the color will be darker since coconut sugar is dark in color. All the best! 🙂
I want to make this for a friend’s birthday, so I was wondering if you would be able to use Bob’s red Mill gluten free baking flour instead of the self rising flour called for.
Hmmm, I’m really not sure Leah, you could give it a try, it might well be fine, I’m not sure if there might need to be other adjustments made to the recipe, I have not tried this one as gluten-free so am not really very sure of how it might turn out. All the best!
I believe that if you aren’t using self rising flour, you add an additional 1tsp Baking powder and 1/4 tsp salt.
Thanks Brook, yes this works if you only have all purpose flour apparently, you can make all purpose flour into self raising with those additions. 🙂
made this recipe last night for the first time and it turned out amazing! thanks so much!
Wonderful Katherine! Thanks for posting! 🙂
I am not a very good baker, but these came out really good and they were easy to make. Thank you so much!!
Fantastic! So happy to hear! 🙂
This recipe is, once again, eye-catching and a real treat!
Eye-catching and mouthwatering, delightful tea time treat.